Creative Digifest #SXSC2 Speaker Profile: Guy Stephens

October 10, 2012
by Lisa Harris

Guy Stephens, Social Media/Enterprise Social Network Consultant at Capgemini.

Guy has over fourteen years experience in the digital space, the last six or so focusing on social media. Guy has been described by Dr Dave Chaffey as ‘one of the world’s leading thinkers’ on the use of social media customer service, and was seen as an early adopter in this space by Business Week. While at The Carphone Warehouse he set up the use of social media within customer service, back in 2008. This work was written up in a Forrester Report – How Carphone Warehouse Uses Twitter And Social Media To Transform Customer Service.

Guy currently works with large organisations to help them understand the business transformation challenges social media has on the way they engage with their customers, as well as the impact it has on the way they work and communicate. His work covers everything from designing social media command centres through to working with companies such as Yammer, HootSuite, GetSatisfaction and Salesforce.

Guy also acts as a mentor as part of Capgemini University, a programme jointly run by the University of Reading and the Henley Business School. In addition, he also works with Behind the Screen, a project creating a new type of IT GCSE, to design the social media module. Guy is a committee member of Digital Surrey, advisor to Leaderboarded.com, founder of the Social Media Governance Forum, regular contributor to various publications, conference speaker, avid Tweeter and lazy blogger.

In what ways are digital technologies transforming our lives?

We live in curious and somewhat paradoxical times. Social media is a proxy for change, disrupting established business models. On the one hand it is bringing a level of intimacy and humanity back into areas of the business such as customer service that have for decades been defined by Taylorism, and yet walk into any public space and we’re all consumed in our own little worlds tapping away on our smartphones or iPads. Intimacy on the screen, intimacy in a virtual space, alongside an ever-increasing sense of physical alienation. A world in which strangers are friends, privacy is characterised by apathy, convenience and cognitive polyphasia … as Clay Shirky writes – when we change the way we communicate we change society.

What can the latest technologies do for you?

Everything and nothing!

If you’re not online, are you out of the game?

Which game? Whose game? Who sets the rules? What are the rules? I’m reminded of Howard Rheingold talking about digital literacies – what skills plus social, do we need to survive?

Categories: Blog, Creative DigiFest 2, and SxSC2 Bio. Tags: SXSC2.