Michelle Greer, a web marketing strategist and blogger in Austin for Discovery blogs recently won the overall social media award from the Austin American-Statesman. I was very fortunate to be honored with 25 other social media leaders as well. I was glad I was there, if only to hear Michelle's impromptu speech. Here is what the judges said about her:
A geek's geek and tireless social activist, Michelle Greer most recently was instrumental in raising thousands of dollars for Charity: Water at the successful Austin Twestival. She's been a driving force in Geek Austin, has helped Science Channel viewers learn with her Nerdabout videos and has helped pull together blood drives and social events for Burmese refugees. Said one commenter for this award, “Michelle sees solutions to problems. She's found, in social media, a powerful tool to find these solutions and makes it look really simple.” If you've ever been pulled into a project with Greer and found yourself doing something incredible and for a good cause before you even knew what was happening, you know what it's like to get Michelle Greer'd. She proves that social media is even more powerful when your heart is truly in it.
We have some powerful communication tools in social media and it is inherent upon us to go beyond the tools to responsibly using the tools to make a difference in our communities. As Michelle righly points out, as a nation we are in “a bit of a jam” and we have more tools than most to make a difference. Forward the video to 5:30 to hear what Michelle had to say. I promise that it will be worth your time.
