Linking with Learning Professionals. Article one: Linkedin

Social networks are growing and the labyrinth of social media tools and networks is not always easy to oversee, let be the added value what you can get out of these networks. Therefore we will on a regular base zoom in on some of the specific tools and reflect together with you what the added value could be for learning and training professionals. The first one to kick of the series is Linkedin.  For those who want a simple explanation about the tool we refer to the In Plain English series
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzT3JVUGUzM&feature=player_embedded]

What would be the real added value of Linkedin for learning professionals and institutions? To kickstart this brainstorming session we would like to invite you to read two articles and extract there all possible tips for learning professionals.
10 ways to use Linkedin
Smart ways to use Linkedin
With the background of these two articles in mind we found 10 interesting hings that any ITC-ILO learning professional could engage in:

– the entire staff and resource persons have an updated profile on Linkedin that could serve as yellow pages and reflect quite well what kind of internal expertise is available in the organisation
– all learning events are activated as Linkedin events since they automatically circulate to your professional network and the networks of your networks
– subject matter specialists can engage in technical questions and answer sessions in order to become a recognized expert in a particular field
– be active in thematic and network specific linkedin groups because some professional interest groups really make the difference
– ask advice because the chance that the collective intelligence in your entire network provide you with some good answers is very real
– benchmark with similar institutions and track their Linkedin activity, it might give you inspiration for yours
– ask the resource persons that act in your course/activity to provide you with their Linkedin profile, do the same with your participants (it might be a useful icebreaker)
– post job opportunities, internship possibilities and other available assignments out there
– having consistent links with your insititutional webpage will lead automatically to increased pageranks
– Make sure your company profile is up to date. It will also give you interesting information about the people who follow you

What other arguments could you think of?