“In the realm of social media, there are two kinds of people: women and men.” ~ Tom Peters

I recently had the pleasure of attending a talk with best selling author and leadership visionary Tom Peters, best known for his book In Search of Excellence. If you ever have the opportunity to hear Tom speak, I would highly recommend getting front row tickets. Tom is frequently considered the most important business thinker since Peter Drucker, and his insights into the world of social media will certainly inspire you.

The event was hosted at Baked and Wired, a cozy bakery and coffee shop in the heart of Georgetown in Washington DC. I arrived several minutes early, as I wanted to ensure that I could get a good seat in direct sight of Tom. As I entered the bakery, the aromas of freshly baked cupcakes and roasted coffee were in the air, and I knew that this event would be a real special treat. I spotted an empty bench right in the center of the room, and passed by a gentleman wearing a red Washington Nationals baseball cap. A woman was chatting with him, and ushered him to one of the couches in the room. It didn’t hit me until five minutes later that this was Tom Peters. I was pleasantly surprised at how laid back and approachable he appeared. He was dressed very casually in a pair of blue jeans, sneakers, and a blue button down top. He began introducing himself to all of the early attendees, shaking hands with each and asking them what they do for a living. When he introduced himself to me, I said that I was a member of 85 Broads, and he mentioned that he’s heard of our organization and the interesting events that we do worldwide. I smiled, and gave him my 30 second pitch for our fantastic group. I then asked him if I could get a photo with him, and he was more than happy to take one. After fifteen minutes, countless handshakes and photo ops, Tom rose from the couch and began his talk.

What I enjoyed about Tom’s presentation was his candidness and honesty regarding his thoughts about the future of social media. Throughout his speech, Tom sprinkled in names of books that he’s read that helped shaped his opinions about social media. He stressed that the concept of social media isn’t new, and that it has evolved significantly over time. During the question and answer session, I had the opportunity to ask a burning question about social media and privacy (in light of a recent announcement from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg) which seemed to intrigue Tom. He said that when it comes to social media, sometimes people just want to be left alone, As a self professed “oldie”, he’s not too sure that he would trust a 26 year old to handle privacy for the Facebook user community. However, he did stress the need for leadership in social media to take more responsibility for breaches of privacy, speaking specifically about the recent breach at Google. He likened to the CEO of BP in regards their lack of taking charge and making decisions to resolve these issues in a swift manner.

Attendees left the event better educated on the impacts of social media, and happily stuffed with homemade cupcakes from the bakery. All in all, the evening was quite a success, and everyone was gushing over Tom by the end of the talk. The next Sweets and Tweets event will be held on June 15, 2010 during Digital Capital Week in Washington D.C. by host Debbie Weil, corporate blogging and social media expert. The talk will focus on DC’s Most Influential Women in Technology at the Hamiltonian Gallery. For more information about the event or to register, visit [sweetsandtweets6.eventbrite.com]. We hope to see you there!

Follow Tom Peters on Twitter at @Tom_Peters