Robin Teigland at the Stockholm School of Economics and Anders Lundkvist were kind enough to organize a meeting of local social media experts at the offices of Springtime, a Swedish PR and communications firm.  I gave a short presentation on what I saw as the ‘conventional wisdom’ on Web 2.0 and social media back home in Calfornia, and asked if it was any different in Scandinavia.  It was difficult for me to get a word in–my favorite kind of group!

The reluctance of large corporations to embrace social media tools, because of security and control concerns, was a consistent theme.  One takeaway for me was the idea that, in some respects, not-for-profits, government, and small start-ups could take the lead because they can embrace the latest, most efficient tools (e.g., Skype, Google Wave) without being blocked by corporate IT.  What interesting times we live in, when openness is not an additional burden, but actually the most efficient and effective way to do things.