INFORMS Open Forum

Hi all,

so let's try this out. I made an effort and searched the whole membership directory of this open forum (yes, over 8k items) for people I know. These I invited to become contacts. A lot agreed, but some responded via personal email, they were not interested in (even actively avoided) any kind of social networks.

I would be interested, in general, how you use social media in your professional lives, be it academic or non-academic. Does your institution have a "private" social medium? In some sense, INFORMS connect is such a medium, some people reacted like "Just *another* facebook? Why?", so what would you answer? What is the benefit of being part of INFORMS connect, and - more generally - of engaging with social media? Where should this develop?

Thanks for sharing thoughts,
Marco


-------------------------------------------
Marco Luebbecke
profess_OR
RWTH Aachen University
www.or.rwth-aachen.de/luebbecke/
-------------------------------------------

Marco,

Personally, I use it quite a bit.  It's faster for me to spot trending topics in Analytics & Data Science via social media than it is to search for on the internet.  So I "follow" groups and influencers and read what they have out whenever I have time.  Outside of INFORMS, I generally do not see much Social Media activity on the topic of ORMS.  But on Big Data, Analytics and Data Science, Social Media (Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+ in particular) are my sources. 

I also think its a Generational preference in communication. With Baby Boomers, Gen X, Y and who knows what they are calling the next batch all in the workforce, organizations like INFORMS will have to adapt to be able to reach across these groups. INFORMS Connect is one of those adaptions.  

The best we can do is to be aware an respect everyone's communication & Connection preferences. 

-------------------------------------------
Jennifer Leong
Associate
Booz Allen Hamilton
Annapolis MD
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2014 09:40
From: Marco Luebbecke
Subject: your use of social media

Hi all,

so let's try this out. I made an effort and searched the whole membership directory of this open forum (yes, over 8k items) for people I know. These I invited to become contacts. A lot agreed, but some responded via personal email, they were not interested in (even actively avoided) any kind of social networks.

I would be interested, in general, how you use social media in your professional lives, be it academic or non-academic. Does your institution have a "private" social medium? In some sense, INFORMS connect is such a medium, some people reacted like "Just *another* facebook? Why?", so what would you answer? What is the benefit of being part of INFORMS connect, and - more generally - of engaging with social media? Where should this develop?

Thanks for sharing thoughts,
Marco


-------------------------------------------
Marco Luebbecke
profess_OR
RWTH Aachen University
www.or.rwth-aachen.de/luebbecke/
-------------------------------------------

I use social media extensively. I treat them as TV channels. FB is for friends and family; G+ is for deeper content, LinkedIn is for professional and business news, and our internal social network at SAS is for company business. I also use discussion groups, i.e., StackOverflow, SasCommunity, OR-Exchange extensively.

I am not sure yet what service this platform provides that isn't already well covered by the existing channels. What content would I share here rather than in one of the above venues? I will hang around for a bit and see what other people share.

Cheers,
Leo.

-------------------------------------------
Leonardo Lopes
Advanced Analytics Specialist
SAS Institute
Cary NC
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2014 09:40
From: Marco Luebbecke
Subject: your use of social media

Hi all,

so let's try this out. I made an effort and searched the whole membership directory of this open forum (yes, over 8k items) for people I know. These I invited to become contacts. A lot agreed, but some responded via personal email, they were not interested in (even actively avoided) any kind of social networks.

I would be interested, in general, how you use social media in your professional lives, be it academic or non-academic. Does your institution have a "private" social medium? In some sense, INFORMS connect is such a medium, some people reacted like "Just *another* facebook? Why?", so what would you answer? What is the benefit of being part of INFORMS connect, and - more generally - of engaging with social media? Where should this develop?

Thanks for sharing thoughts,
Marco


-------------------------------------------
Marco Luebbecke
profess_OR
RWTH Aachen University
www.or.rwth-aachen.de/luebbecke/
-------------------------------------------

I am of the "older generation" (almost 59), and use email (including discussion lists) and internet extensively, but social media almost not at all. 

I am on LinkedIn, but my major use of it is to look up information about people that I don't know well (e.g., where is X working these days?), or to get contact information for people who are too "eminent" to have their email or phone number posted on the web.  (For example, if I want to invite someone to give a talk, but don't have their contact information, I might look for a colleague who knows them.)

I am not on Facebook at all, even for social purposes, and use Google + only to see my brother's family photos. 

-------------------------------------------
Vicki Bier
Professor
University of Wisconsin
Madison WI
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2014 13:01
From: Leonardo Lopes
Subject: your use of social media

I use social media extensively. I treat them as TV channels. FB is for friends and family; G+ is for deeper content, LinkedIn is for professional and business news, and our internal social network at SAS is for company business. I also use discussion groups, i.e., StackOverflow, SasCommunity, OR-Exchange extensively.

I am not sure yet what service this platform provides that isn't already well covered by the existing channels. What content would I share here rather than in one of the above venues? I will hang around for a bit and see what other people share.

Cheers,
Leo.

-------------------------------------------
Leonardo Lopes
Advanced Analytics Specialist
SAS Institute
Cary NC
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2014 09:40
From: Marco Luebbecke
Subject: your use of social media

Hi all,

so let's try this out. I made an effort and searched the whole membership directory of this open forum (yes, over 8k items) for people I know. These I invited to become contacts. A lot agreed, but some responded via personal email, they were not interested in (even actively avoided) any kind of social networks.

I would be interested, in general, how you use social media in your professional lives, be it academic or non-academic. Does your institution have a "private" social medium? In some sense, INFORMS connect is such a medium, some people reacted like "Just *another* facebook? Why?", so what would you answer? What is the benefit of being part of INFORMS connect, and - more generally - of engaging with social media? Where should this develop?

Thanks for sharing thoughts,
Marco

-------------------------------------------
Marco Luebbecke
profess_OR
RWTH Aachen University
www.or.rwth-aachen.de/luebbecke/
-------------------------------------------

Marco,

How did you search all members?  When I tried to do that, I received an error (because I hadn't put in any search terms).

Thanks,
Scott
-------------------------------------------
Scott Nestler
Chair, Analytics Certificaiton Board
Alexandria VA
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2014 09:40
From: Marco Luebbecke
Subject: your use of social media

Hi all,

so let's try this out. I made an effort and searched the whole membership directory of this open forum (yes, over 8k items) for people I know. These I invited to become contacts. A lot agreed, but some responded via personal email, they were not interested in (even actively avoided) any kind of social networks.

I would be interested, in general, how you use social media in your professional lives, be it academic or non-academic. Does your institution have a "private" social medium? In some sense, INFORMS connect is such a medium, some people reacted like "Just *another* facebook? Why?", so what would you answer? What is the benefit of being part of INFORMS connect, and - more generally - of engaging with social media? Where should this develop?

Thanks for sharing thoughts,
Marco


-------------------------------------------
Marco Luebbecke
profess_OR
RWTH Aachen University
www.or.rwth-aachen.de/luebbecke/
-------------------------------------------

:-) Scott, right. I entered Germany as country, then US, then Italy, then ... took some time...


-------------------------------------------
Marco Luebbecke
Profess_Or
RWTH Aachen University
Aachen
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2014 13:29
From: Scott Nestler
Subject: your use of social media

Marco,

How did you search all members?  When I tried to do that, I received an error (because I hadn't put in any search terms).

Thanks,
Scott
-------------------------------------------
Scott Nestler
Chair, Analytics Certificaiton Board
Alexandria VA
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2014 09:40
From: Marco Luebbecke
Subject: your use of social media

Hi all,

so let's try this out. I made an effort and searched the whole membership directory of this open forum (yes, over 8k items) for people I know. These I invited to become contacts. A lot agreed, but some responded via personal email, they were not interested in (even actively avoided) any kind of social networks.

I would be interested, in general, how you use social media in your professional lives, be it academic or non-academic. Does your institution have a "private" social medium? In some sense, INFORMS connect is such a medium, some people reacted like "Just *another* facebook? Why?", so what would you answer? What is the benefit of being part of INFORMS connect, and - more generally - of engaging with social media? Where should this develop?

Thanks for sharing thoughts,
Marco


-------------------------------------------
Marco Luebbecke
profess_OR
RWTH Aachen University
www.or.rwth-aachen.de/luebbecke/
-------------------------------------------

Hi Scott,

There are two ways for your to search all members in the Directory.

Option 1: Searching via the "Directory" tab in the main navigation field, you can insert % in any of the fields and select "Find Members" and it will display a full list.

Option 2: Navigate to the Open Forum and select the Members tab, and the entire directory will display.

Thanks!

-------------------------------------------
Courtney Biefeld
Chapter Relations Coord., INFORMS Awards Coord.
INFORMS
Catonsville MD
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2014 13:29
From: Scott Nestler
Subject: your use of social media

Marco,

How did you search all members?  When I tried to do that, I received an error (because I hadn't put in any search terms).

Thanks,
Scott
-------------------------------------------
Scott Nestler
Chair, Analytics Certificaiton Board
Alexandria VA
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2014 09:40
From: Marco Luebbecke
Subject: your use of social media

Hi all,

so let's try this out. I made an effort and searched the whole membership directory of this open forum (yes, over 8k items) for people I know. These I invited to become contacts. A lot agreed, but some responded via personal email, they were not interested in (even actively avoided) any kind of social networks.

I would be interested, in general, how you use social media in your professional lives, be it academic or non-academic. Does your institution have a "private" social medium? In some sense, INFORMS connect is such a medium, some people reacted like "Just *another* facebook? Why?", so what would you answer? What is the benefit of being part of INFORMS connect, and - more generally - of engaging with social media? Where should this develop?

Thanks for sharing thoughts,
Marco


-------------------------------------------
Marco Luebbecke
profess_OR
RWTH Aachen University
www.or.rwth-aachen.de/luebbecke/
-------------------------------------------

Hi All,
My use of social media is primarily LinkedIn for professional and Facebook for personal. I follow Twitter poorly and now wonder what I have been missing on G+. For social media to work effectively for me it needs to be integrated into my working practices. For example I now message colleagues through LinkedIn rather than searching for an old e-mail where contact details may have changed. INFORMS connect could also assist me in maintaining a relevant network of contacts. Since I live in South Africa, these virtual networks are very important.
In South Africa our OR society chapter is spread out geographically. We held our first virtual chapter meeting in March using Google Hangouts. I invited an INFORMS connection at Google to be our first speaker. It was very successful and has opened up possibilities for our chapter meetings.
What are your experiences using Google Hangouts, Skype, ... for professional networks?
Would you like to connect with your South African colleagues through Google Hangouts? We are looking for a speaker for our next Chapter meeting - short talk 20-23 min followed by Q&A.
Regards
Michele

-------------------------------------------
Michele Fisher
Decision Support
Sasol
Sasolburg
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2014 13:29
From: Scott Nestler
Subject: your use of social media

Marco,

How did you search all members?  When I tried to do that, I received an error (because I hadn't put in any search terms).

Thanks,
Scott
-------------------------------------------
Scott Nestler
Chair, Analytics Certificaiton Board
Alexandria VA
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2014 09:40
From: Marco Luebbecke
Subject: your use of social media

Hi all,

so let's try this out. I made an effort and searched the whole membership directory of this open forum (yes, over 8k items) for people I know. These I invited to become contacts. A lot agreed, but some responded via personal email, they were not interested in (even actively avoided) any kind of social networks.

I would be interested, in general, how you use social media in your professional lives, be it academic or non-academic. Does your institution have a "private" social medium? In some sense, INFORMS connect is such a medium, some people reacted like "Just *another* facebook? Why?", so what would you answer? What is the benefit of being part of INFORMS connect, and - more generally - of engaging with social media? Where should this develop?

Thanks for sharing thoughts,
Marco


-------------------------------------------
Marco Luebbecke
profess_OR
RWTH Aachen University
www.or.rwth-aachen.de/luebbecke/
-------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------
Bo Jensen
CEO
Sulum Optimization
Middelfart
-------------------------------------------



"I made an effort and searched the whole membership directory of this open forum (yes, over 8k items) for people I know. These I invited to become contacts"

Until now I felt so special, like I was your only twitter friend, that hurts Marco.. :-)

There was a social media session some years ago (before you joined twitter.. ;-)), which mainly tried to recruit OR people to start using social media more for work and not only for private friends on facebook etc. Surprisingly the room was packed and some good discussions about pros and cons, but there was a large skepticism, some even really against social media.

Now a couple of years later, I see the very same skeptical people signing up at twitter or other social services. The OR group on social media is growing rapidly and people not using it, is less likely to follow the newest trends as instant as those who do. 

 I mainly use twitter and google+, twitter for daily posts and  google+ for longer more detailed posts. The topics I post about is a mix of work related, but also other experiences or opinions from my non-working life. The post which are work related are typically about either OR or topics from the programming world.  

One of the things I like about twitter and google+ is the follower pattern, which is not at all like Facebook. On Facebook you follow your friends and what ever they post of private stuff you may or may not want to see. On twitter and google+, people follow you based on content posted, if it's interesting they will stay if not they will unfollow you. With that in mind, I can post what ever I want, no expectations, people will just leave silently if they don't like it !


Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2014 09:40
From: Marco Luebbecke
Subject: your use of social media

Hi all,

so let's try this out. I made an effort and searched the whole membership directory of this open forum (yes, over 8k items) for people I know. These I invited to become contacts. A lot agreed, but some responded via personal email, they were not interested in (even actively avoided) any kind of social networks.

I would be interested, in general, how you use social media in your professional lives, be it academic or non-academic. Does your institution have a "private" social medium? In some sense, INFORMS connect is such a medium, some people reacted like "Just *another* facebook? Why?", so what would you answer? What is the benefit of being part of INFORMS connect, and - more generally - of engaging with social media? Where should this develop?

Thanks for sharing thoughts,
Marco


-------------------------------------------
Marco Luebbecke
profess_OR
RWTH Aachen University
www.or.rwth-aachen.de/luebbecke/
-------------------------------------------

I'm a few years older than Vicki but my social media usage is more like Jennifer's. I don't use FB for much of anything, although I have an account. I use Twitter, a news reader (mainly for blogs), a few mailing lists (do those count?) and forums such as OR-X to keep up with what people are doing in OR, what articles they're citing/linking, etc. My use of LinkedIn is primarily to contact people when I don't have/can't find their email address, although I do watch some of the discussions. I also use Twitter to pass along possibly useful stuff (such as job openings) when I see them. I also have a G+ account, and I find some useful stuff there from time to time, but it's a struggle to monitor everything and G+ tends to fall by the wayside (except for posts to selected "communities", to which I can subscribe by email). I'm old enough that I still check email first and most often, and I'll usually miss "conversations" on G+ or TW unless I get an email ping.

-------------------------------------------
Paul Rubin
Professor Emeritus
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI
-------------------------------------------

One other point: Part of why I rely so heavily on email is because I prefer "push" to "pull" communication.  If I need to go onto a website to look and see what somebody has posted, that will pretty much never happen.

-------------------------------------------
Vicki Bier
Professor
University of Wisconsin
Madison WI
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 05-10-2014 18:48
From: Paul Rubin
Subject: your use of social media

I'm a few years older than Vicki but my social media usage is more like Jennifer's. I don't use FB for much of anything, although I have an account. I use Twitter, a news reader (mainly for blogs), a few mailing lists (do those count?) and forums such as OR-X to keep up with what people are doing in OR, what articles they're citing/linking, etc. My use of LinkedIn is primarily to contact people when I don't have/can't find their email address, although I do watch some of the discussions. I also use Twitter to pass along possibly useful stuff (such as job openings) when I see them. I also have a G+ account, and I find some useful stuff there from time to time, but it's a struggle to monitor everything and G+ tends to fall by the wayside (except for posts to selected "communities", to which I can subscribe by email). I'm old enough that I still check email first and most often, and I'll usually miss "conversations" on G+ or TW unless I get an email ping.

-------------------------------------------
Paul Rubin
Professor Emeritus
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI
-------------------------------------------

Hello Marco,

I got your invitation, and I hope I accepted.   There is a small glitch with my company's security that made it harder.

I am a supporter of social media.  I think that collectively we know so much more than individually.

My company is beginning to use a private social media platform.  I have supported that for years.   We are a bit "old school", so not everyone thinks it is a good idea.  

I like hearing ideas of others especially contrary ones.

I hope for INFORMS this is a positive thing and can help members connect with each other and the association.

Jack

-------------------------------------------
Jack Levis
Director of Process Management
UPS
Timonium MD
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2014 09:40
From: Marco Luebbecke
Subject: your use of social media

Hi all,

so let's try this out. I made an effort and searched the whole membership directory of this open forum (yes, over 8k items) for people I know. These I invited to become contacts. A lot agreed, but some responded via personal email, they were not interested in (even actively avoided) any kind of social networks.

I would be interested, in general, how you use social media in your professional lives, be it academic or non-academic. Does your institution have a "private" social medium? In some sense, INFORMS connect is such a medium, some people reacted like "Just *another* facebook? Why?", so what would you answer? What is the benefit of being part of INFORMS connect, and - more generally - of engaging with social media? Where should this develop?

Thanks for sharing thoughts,
Marco


-------------------------------------------
Marco Luebbecke
profess_OR
RWTH Aachen University
www.or.rwth-aachen.de/luebbecke/
-------------------------------------------

Marco,

I'll answer by avoiding your broader "social media in general" question and address a smaller, more specific concept.

The INFORMS Maryland Chapter will be using INFORMS Connect to get away from that tiresome [early-] 90s technology, the listserv. We're expecting that our chapter members are as frustrated with listserv e-mails as our leadership committee is, so we'll be transitioning as early adopters over the coming weeks. This new platform should provide for more omni-directional communication within our chapter and between our chapter and other parts of INFORMS.


-------------------------------------------
Alan Briggs
Data Scientist
Elder Research, Inc.
Odenton MD
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2014 09:40
From: Marco Luebbecke
Subject: your use of social media

Hi all,

so let's try this out. I made an effort and searched the whole membership directory of this open forum (yes, over 8k items) for people I know. These I invited to become contacts. A lot agreed, but some responded via personal email, they were not interested in (even actively avoided) any kind of social networks.

I would be interested, in general, how you use social media in your professional lives, be it academic or non-academic. Does your institution have a "private" social medium? In some sense, INFORMS connect is such a medium, some people reacted like "Just *another* facebook? Why?", so what would you answer? What is the benefit of being part of INFORMS connect, and - more generally - of engaging with social media? Where should this develop?

Thanks for sharing thoughts,
Marco


-------------------------------------------
Marco Luebbecke
profess_OR
RWTH Aachen University
www.or.rwth-aachen.de/luebbecke/
-------------------------------------------

Hello Marco,

I did not receive your invitation. I use social media to connect with colleagues and share / receive information. I use Linked In as a contacts list for professional connections and do not take part in discussions. I use twitter to follow researchers with similar interests and to bookmark pages which I may wish to return. I also share research output on twitter and sometimes Google+. I rarely use FB, I do not like witnessing people's private moments even if they do not mind sharing. Apart from these I use Research Gate and Academia, to connect with other researchers and share papers / work. My institution does not have a private social medium as far as I know, but I may not have found it yet since I recently joined. I do not see INFORMS connect as just another FB. I expect it to be more targeted at my professional needs. That's why I decided to respond to your message. To me, the benefit of using INFORMS connect could be sharing best practice and discussing research ideas. 

Cheers!

-------------------------------------------
Emel Aktas
Senior Lecturer
Cranfield University
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2014 09:40
From: Marco Luebbecke
Subject: your use of social media

Hi all,

so let's try this out. I made an effort and searched the whole membership directory of this open forum (yes, over 8k items) for people I know. These I invited to become contacts. A lot agreed, but some responded via personal email, they were not interested in (even actively avoided) any kind of social networks.

I would be interested, in general, how you use social media in your professional lives, be it academic or non-academic. Does your institution have a "private" social medium? In some sense, INFORMS connect is such a medium, some people reacted like "Just *another* facebook? Why?", so what would you answer? What is the benefit of being part of INFORMS connect, and - more generally - of engaging with social media? Where should this develop?

Thanks for sharing thoughts,
Marco


-------------------------------------------
Marco Luebbecke
profess_OR
RWTH Aachen University
www.or.rwth-aachen.de/luebbecke/
-------------------------------------------

Marco:
I think there are enough social media platforms that we don't need yet another one.  I find that there are too many platforms to track and keep up with on a professional basis, between Facebook (and the OR content there), Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google Plus.  And who knows what else I'm missing.  Not enough time, and too much content.

With respect to INFORMS Connect, I was one of the early testers for an INFORMS committee I work on.  For this purpose - INFORMS committees and subcommunities, I think INFORMS Connect has a useful purpose.

What I hope doesn't happen is that there are discussions here about general O.R. topics.  We have other fora for those kinds of exchanges.

-------------------------------------------
Irv Lustig
Manager, Optimization and Mathematical Software
IBM Research
Short Hills NJ
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2014 09:40
From: Marco Luebbecke
Subject: your use of social media

Hi all,

so let's try this out. I made an effort and searched the whole membership directory of this open forum (yes, over 8k items) for people I know. These I invited to become contacts. A lot agreed, but some responded via personal email, they were not interested in (even actively avoided) any kind of social networks.

I would be interested, in general, how you use social media in your professional lives, be it academic or non-academic. Does your institution have a "private" social medium? In some sense, INFORMS connect is such a medium, some people reacted like "Just *another* facebook? Why?", so what would you answer? What is the benefit of being part of INFORMS connect, and - more generally - of engaging with social media? Where should this develop?

Thanks for sharing thoughts,
Marco


-------------------------------------------
Marco Luebbecke
profess_OR
RWTH Aachen University
www.or.rwth-aachen.de/luebbecke/
-------------------------------------------

Irv's got a good point about other fora. We need to keep in mind that responses here are visible only to INFORMS members. If someone is answering a question or addressing a topic of general interest here, there's a good chance that the same thing will need to be said on a more public forum. Why create duplication of effort?




Original Message:
Sent: 05-12-2014 11:30
From: Irvin Lustig
Subject: your use of social media


What I hope doesn't happen is that there are discussions here about general O.R. topics.  We have other fora for those kinds of exchanges.

My use of social media is concentrated on Twitter, which I use to interact with other people and for getting what's new. I use LinkedIn to keep track of where people are working, especially when they graduate and stop reading their university email addresses. As social media can consume a lot of time, I try to limit to these media. I also read some blogs, but that's it.

I use separate social media to keep track of my friends and non-work business, such as Facebook, another Twitter account. This is necessary cause most of my communication with friends is in French, plus they are not interested in following discussions about my job.