FOREWORD

“I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

—SENATOR LLOYD BENTSEN,VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, OCTOBER 5, 1988

That stinging retort may be lost on recent generations, but for those of us who watched it live, it will forever remain as part of our collective memory. Essentially it has come to mean you’re a pretender to the throne.

When I was approached with the opportunity to lead Ford Motor Company’s social media efforts in late 2007, I was struck with the incredible opportunity and responsibility that holding such a position would entail. Having worked with large brands as a consultant and agency representative, I had a good sense of some of the challenges that ...

Get The Social Media Strategist: Build a Successful Program from the Inside Out now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.