Trey Pennington is a marketing professional, speaker, author and fondly regarded as a true Southern gent.

What inspires you?
As a story prospector and professional speaker, it’s my joy to help people discover, develop, and deliver their own story. Story is a fabulous way to connect people to people, foster community, and encourage openly embracing others, especially those who are “different.” I use “prospector” because I believe every person has a story the world needs to hear—it just may be buried as hidden treasure. It’s a thrill to search for and help others find their own hidden treasure.

In your opinion what are the biggest issues that digital could be used to address?
When I saw my United States Congressman, shortly after the 2008 US general election, using digital exclusively for self-promotion and wantonly ignoring his fans and constituents, I asked him, through his public Twitter stream, to help us understand his purpose for being online. A twitterstorm broke out and he soon called for a public roundtable to discuss social media. He invited me to speak.  So, taking my opportunity to make my biggest point possible, I said, “Dr. King would be unimpressed. Electing a black man to be President of the United States does not fulfill his vision.
However, we have a unique opportunity, right now, to truly fulfill his dream. Social media blasts through the artificial barriers separating neighbors from each other—unnecessary distinctions between race, creed, origin, personal preferences. We stand on the cusp of a once-in-a-generation or longer opportunity to examine our presuppositions—our assumptions about the way things are and how they can be—and redefine what it means to be a member of a community.”

People laughed. I was ridiculed for bringing Dr. King’s lofty goal into a discussion about social media. Given the chance, I’d do it all over again. I truly believe social media affords us a window of opportunity we should seize. Now we can tear down walls of separation between people and create a new sense of community—where we intentionally embrace our neighbors and purposefully contribute to their success, regardless of what they look like or where they’re from.

Who/ What is the next big thing?
Two big topics seem to dominate the discussion of emerging technology: ROI and SEO. I’ll leave ROI for another day (it’s really not the next big thing anyway). Right now, SEO focuses on what you have to say about yourself. SEO experts teach folks who to create content that’s search engine friendly so they can appear on the first page of Google search results. Very soon,where you place on Google (or the other search others) will NOT be what you say about yourself,
but will, instead, be based upon what OTHERS say about you. As soon as that next big thing happens, maybe companies will stop it with the non-stop self-promotion and turn their attention away from themselves and to the people they claim to serve.

The best advice I was ever given ….
Struggling politicians routinely tell me, “We just gotta get our message out there.” Apparently, they think that if the world thought their thoughts, the world would be a better place. In one coffee shop meeting with a failing candidate, I let his protest, “We just gotta get our message out there,” go by three times. When he said it the fourth time, he ignited the solid rocket boosters on my passion: “No. You do NOT need to get your message out. You ARE getting it out, and that’s your problem. You don’t need to get a message OUT; you need to get a message IN. Stop talking and start listening.” He didn’t. He should have. He lost, finished in 6th place out of 8 candidates.

In 5 years time

In five years, I seriously doubt anyone will be talking about social media. It’s just as likely Facebook and Twitter will have come and gone as it is they’re still around. In five years, it won’t really matter. By then, all the social media experts will have been absorbed into the workforce in other capacities or will be drawing unemployment or receiving other government aid. Hopefully, we’ll be talking about solving real problems through technology and using technology to create a better future for more people than we can even imagine today. Hopefully.

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