Location Based World

I was fortunate recently to spend time at Talent Net Live at the start of the SXSW conference in Austin.   TNL it is a grass-roots event, run by founder Craig Fisher, that brings recruiting, HR and marketing professionals together to disucss the impact of technologies on the fields.   This was my second time speaking at a TNL event and I was very impressed with the diversity of topics and with my fellow speakers.   All of the sessions were top notch in terms of content and delivery.  One session caught my attention due to the almost limitless uses of the technology. Location Based Marketing and Recruiting.

As Craig Fisher moderated a discussion with Jill McFarland and Aaron Strout, it quickly became clear that like it or not, location is the new buzzword of the century.  Personally, I’ve been a bit of a skeptic and have not jumped on using all the location tracking apps that are available on Droid and iPhone.  For example, I was not using Foursquare, one of the hottest apps to come out in the last two years.  I asked Craig why I should use it and he retorted, “If you had asked me why you should use Twitter three years ago, could I have told you how valuable it would be in your daily life today?”  Touche’!

I was schooled in the ways that location based marketing, recruiting and sourcing, and many other applications are now the hottest trends in our market.  Here are a few of the top recommendations from the moderator and speakers:

• Craig Fisher–  Craig detailed how to use Foursquare to recruit as well as how to generate “buzz” with your employees. Check out his article here on How To Generate Employee Buzz on Foursquare.
• Jill McFarland– Jill did a great job using examples of marketing success via location based apps.  I especially like how Jill addresses the fear that many people, like me, have about other individuals knowing where I am.  Check out her article How You Can Avoid LBS Stalkers so that you can feel comfortable using location based apps and have your privacy protected.  She also guest posted on Aaron Strout’s blog with an interesting article called With LBS Announcements Looming, What Motivates People To Check In Anyway?
• Aaron Strout– Check out Aaron’s book Location Based Marketing for Dummies as a great resource to think about your business marketing approach differently.

The real message as it related to location based approaches is to keep an open mind and be mindful of your privacy.  By following that advice, you can begin using it to benefit your candidates, your organization, and your clients. Are you using location based apps?  Let me know the pros and cons in the comments!