I’ve done a fair few presentations and panel discussions in my time, but tonight will be a communications first for me – I will join a conversation on the social networking app, Clubhouse.

Together with a few colleagues from the Selbey Anderson group of companies, I will be talking about the lessons we have learnt in the pandemic.  While I am sure there will be lots of interesting experiences to share and hear, what is really intriguing is the channel we are using to deliver our views and how effective it might be in helping us to reach new audiences.

Clubhouse is currently only available to iPhone users and allows them to listen to and participate in voice interviews, conversations and debates.  The company itself describes the platform as a place “where people around the world come together to talk, listen and learn from each other in real-time”.

My overriding early impression of using Clubhouse was a feeling that I had accidently dialled into the wrong conference call but, finding the discussion interesting, decided to stay.  It’s like being a covert eavesdropper, secretly listening to a chat that other people are having.

But, once I overcame my slight sense of unease, I realised that there are lots of interesting things going on.  Time is eaten up and I can imagine it’s easy to spend hours just flipping from conversation to conversation.

There are ‘rooms’ covering every topic you can imagine (marketing and communications is no exception) and, unsurprisingly, you have to apply a fairly rigorous filter to avoid content that doesn’t pass your personal ‘smell test’.

Part of the appeal of Clubhouse might lie in the fact that you must be invited to join by a member, giving an exclusive private club vibe.  However, the founders recently talked about “opening up Clubhouse to the whole world”.  While this would surely lessen any sense of it being just for a select few, maybe by removing the barriers that currently restrict membership (and use), the platform will become an integral part of the communications mix used by companies.  Time will tell.

For now, the excitement and interest around Clubhouse aren’t going away.  And when you have people with the profile of Elon Musk inviting Vladimir Putin to connect, I am sure this fascination is only going to get bigger.

The world’s most famous engineer and inventor chatting to the President of Russia.  Now that is a conversation I would like to eavesdrop on.