My "DARK SOCIAL" Experiment with WebEx & LinkedIn

I really gravitated to the term "dark social" the very first time I heard it. Matter of fact, I think it just started looping in my memory to the point I might have even started muttering it under my breath. I actually didn't even know what in the world it meant or why it was an important phrase, I just really liked the term. And, once I looked it up to get a general overview of the idea that social media often gets shared offline and its traffic goes "dark" or "untrackable" it must have been all of 30 seconds before I witnessed a coworker print content from an article he was reading online and put the paper copies on our desks to share the ideas with us. For that one moment, that annoying habit of my coworkers using a copier to share linkable content was super cool. And, I was hooked on the term and spotting all kinds of examples in real life that transformed a habit I originally judged as antiquated and a sign of being digitally inept in a secretive and super devious behavior I could champion.

Fast forward to 2018 and my participation in The Health Rosetta certification and learning cohort has started a new educational endeavor and awakening in my professional development. This journey formed an immediate need to take a step back from spewing expertise and shift into conversation and contemplation. It was a moment when I needed to take the information I was ingesting and share it amongst trusted friends offline. You know, taking a topic we read and heard online and go off to our own semi-private space to discuss topics and ideas out of the view of others. You know, kind of like a dark corner of the internet where we could socialize and speak out loud and listen to one another intently without a sales agenda. And, with the help of a few willing participants and a WebEx account already up and running "Dark Social" was born.

Dark Social, Episode 1.

Forever this will live as one of the best hour-long conversations I've ever hosted online. It was full of energy and enthusiasm and ill-prepared greatness that I will always strive to recreate. In the midst of construction starting outside my office 10 minutes before the session was scheduled, I threw the laptop in a bag and headed off to an untested and technologically challenging location to host engaging robust discussion that included great impromptu input from Kalli Ortega and Taylor Lindsey who both agreed to chime in less than 18 hours before the event kicked off and we were lucky to have another 10 contributors jumping into the conversation and adding to the vibrancy and energy our offline/online conversation.

I have no recording of the session even for learning and testing purposes, but my memory of this event and feedback from all involved was fantastic. In addition to our memories, I do have the slides saved for posterity as we covered all the topics outlined in Dave Chases's article on "10 Mistakes Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and J.P. Morgan Must Avoid to Make a Dent in Healthcare"

Dark Social, Episode 2.

The first attempt was such fun, I couldn't resist doing it again. Once I saw my friend Dan Hughes tweet an article on the West Virginia teachers' strike with words "The Solidarity of the Working Poor is Their Primary Power", it was game-on for me. I had the topic for us to take and discuss in our own little corner again.

This time, the surroundings were better and the technology worked in a fashion allowing for a much more predictable outcome. You can catch this Episode's WebEx recording linked HERE. I must give big-time props for Robson Baker, Angel Saucedo and Mike Staebler for their contributions.

Below is the SlideShare from episode #2.

Episode #3 (https://goo.gl/oGSSWd)

April 10th @ 11 am Central will be the next event. There is a homework assignment for this event just like each of the prior events. This time we'll be covering another Dave Chase article, this time on Opioid Addiction. The article's content is an excerpt from his book, but the homework is just the following LinkedIn article for Dark Social #3: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/every-addict-needs-enabler-biggest-opioid-crisis-employers-dave-chase/

To be a guest, nothing is required--just show up and join in via WebEx. (or register ahead of time)

To be a "Co-Host"--just let me know this is something you are interested in ahead of time.

Everyone is a participant and I'll enable "Panelist" functions for everyone unless the gathering outgrows a manageable amount, and that number will continue to be tested and tweaked each month as we all learn together in this experiment.