One of my social media pals told me about what he called a really cool Hawker Beechcraft group page on Facebook.  I’ve done several blog posts on companies including Cutter Aviation, Duncan Aviation and Gulfstream Aerospace that have also created Facebook pages. 

It’s a nice page, with a picture of a Hawker 4000 jet, an official company description, a photo album with 14 pictures, 251 active members and wall posts praising the company to high heavens.  I was nodding my head about what a good job Hawker Beechcraft had done in creating the group.

But when I called the company’s corporate communications department to ask some questions about the page, I was told it wasn’t an official page.  But, a spokeswoman said, Hawker Beechcraft is working on creating its own Facebook page.

So this got me thinking – how should companies handle tribute pages like this?  Hawker Beechcraft was fortunate, because this page is obviously an homage to the company created by a fan of the company who has attracted 251 like-minded people.

So I gave a call to social media expert Ludo Van Vooren of Aerospace eBusiness.  Van Vooren has just completed a survey on business aviation and social media, which you can see here.

A company’s initial reaction would be a concern about losing control, said Van Vooren.  “That is a control you can no longer exert.  Even if [Hawker Beechcraft] were to shut down the page, people can regroup, call it something else and continue,” he said.  “It would help Hawker Beechcraft to join the page and contribute to influence the page.”

If I were Hawker Beechcraft, I’d call the creator of the page and offer to join forces, said Van Vooren, especially when there are already good people there.

“It would be different if it was a Hawker Beechcraft page that said `Hawker Beechcraft sucks,’ with people ranting,” said Van Vooren.  “Then you might want to create your own page.  But if it’s all positive and well done, try and contribute.  Don’t try to control it, but instead, influence it.”

The Hawker Beechcraft group page is very positive, said Van Vooren.  “They should be flattered that there’s such interest in the company,” he said.  “It’s something they should encourage and foster the conversation.”