PrimeFunction is assisting a large non-profit: Chicago Cares in integrating social media into their event coverage and fund raising efforts. This is an ideal application for all of the social media related technologies to help connect these communities. We were able to create an initial presence for them through Twitter and FaceBook, as well as cover large events as they happen. This weekend is another large event: Celebration of Service 2010. We will be there again to help connect the Chicago Cares community. You can see more at: http://givetochicagocares.org and follow through the hashtag #chicares.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idgSmallBusiness/idUS118563159020091110?sp=true

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/la-fi-facebook-smallbiz27-2009oct27,0,7673578.story

http://www.reuters.com/article/smallBusinessNews/idUSTRE59K3L120091021

C.G. Lynch has posted a thoughtful piece regarding corporate policy and social media that I read at CIO Magazine‘s site.  I think the most compelling point for me was that guidelines should be generated collaboratively.  The modes of social media usage employed within your company is roughly the same as the number of employees involved with social media.  An entity the size of a corporation can’t possibly anticipate all the variations of social media usage currently at play under its umbrella.  Even if it managed to do so today, it would be wrong by tomorrow.

cglynch

Wrote: How to Write a Twitter Policy for Your Employees. http://bit.ly/R1V9D. #cio Thanks @jowyang, @carolinedangson.

The social media landscape is fluid, as is its usage.  Centralized definition of the policy can never hope to be current.  Think of Brittanica vs. Wikipedia.  Brittanica needs to release periodic appendices to keep its content from going out of date.  Even so, Wikipedia remains largely more accurate largely due to the fluidity of the content.  In the same manner, your policy will remain more relevant if it can be more fluid.

In short, your policy process needs to become social.

Much has been made in the news of the celebrity Twitter users with mega followings. Ashton Kutcher is sporting 3+ million followers, Oprah’s got 1.9 million. While this shotgun blast approach works in these situations where many will wait for a scrap of info to fall off the content table, the value for many is realized much closer to home.

Social media is at its best when it is, well… social. It is a mechanism for strengthening relationships (either interpersonal or within a group). There is an old question asking whether it is better to have a few good friends or a thousand acquaintances, and the answer is almost always “yes” – depending on what you’re trying to do.

If you have a well-established brand (i.e. Oprah), being able to blast ~2 million of your closest acquaintances with the latest tidbit helps strengthen your brand. If you’re a small business (a restaurant, for instance), what would you do if 2 million customers responded to a promotional post anyway? The fact that you’re not prepared to handle such an influx of business would create a negative experience for many.

The correct answer is that for small to medium-sized businesses, social media offers an opportunity to strengthen existing relationships and grow the size of your “inner circle” a little at a time. Use these channels to garner more feedback, offer exclusive deals or preferential treatment to the faithful, and create a sense of community around the products and services you offer. The results will be more repeat business, the ability to tailor your offerings to meet the needs of your closest customers, and controlled growth of your fan/evangelist community.

So, unless you’re already a mega brand, look to social media as a way to increase the quality of your interactions. You and your customers will benefit from the high quality ties that bind.

Not too long ago, I typed this into Twitter: “I’m going to plant a tree even though it’s not Arbor Day.” Within minutes, the National Arbor Day Foundation was following me. I didn’t think too much about it at the time, but felt a little weird. After all, I didn’t care that much about Arbor Day, trees, or planting trees. It was an idle comment.

Since that incident, I’ve garnered many followers from idle mentions. I haven’t followed a single person, company or cause back because of it. They weren’t paying attention to what was important to me, they were looking for what was important to them.

I would’ve been more impressed by the Arbor Day people if they had sent me a message to ask if I needed advice about planting trees or types of trees that would be good for my location. Follow people at their point of need and then give them a reason to follow you based on their requirements. It’s more work to build a following this way, but the quality of followers you get will be much higher.

If you don’t do this, you run the risk of alienating people or worse, becoming an object of ridicule on social media networks. Twitter has a low tolerance for nonsense.

A new addition to the world appeared yesterday, a little baby girl named Alyson.  In congratulating the parents I asked “So should we set up a web site for her on the day she was born?”  They thought it was a great idea, and within two hours of her birth, Alyson had a presence on the Internet.  I thought this could be a unique little gift that she could use her entire life.  Of course then it follows that we should also establish a presence in Facebook and Twitter, though I don’t think her status will be much to read for a while.  However, she will have these ready for her, ostensibly with introductions and well wishes from friends and family…. and a whole lot of spam I imagine.

Think of all the pictures and slides and mementos of childhood. Many people, including myself, are prone to finding them, scanning them, and placing them on Facebook to share and remember.  Alyson won’t ever have to do that, everything since the day she was born will be there for her, cataloged into albums, and always available online.

So will Facebook even be around?  Will data be able to be shared and easily moved?  How long are these services expected to retain content?  All of these are questions to be pondered.  Who knows what services and channels will be popular when Alyson is old enough to manage and share them, but she already has a head start on all of that.  She is a Social Media Baby, before she can even be just a beautiful social baby.

IT professionals at your company probably spend hours erecting software shields around your internal network. They also work to keep the outside world from intruding on productivity by monitoring for sites they deem to be inappropriate to business and preventing them from reaching employee computers. After all, Facebook and Twitter are nothing but time wasters, right?

On the face of it, the logic seems sound. The problem is it’s completely wrong. Increasingly customers, thought leaders, and researchers have an established presence on social media sites. There are people that employees need to reach and information they must have, regardless of the reputation of these sites.

Employees aren’t waiting for IT to catch up to the new reality. They are using mobile devices to perform necessary tasks during work hours, or they’re waiting until they get home to conduct work-related social media activities from their home computers. Our research shows that 55% of employees use social media for work outside of the office while 78% use these sites during work hours.

It’s a mistake to rely on firewalls to decide what’s appropriate social media access for a company. That requires a sound social media policy, informed management and trained employees. Is your company ready for the new reality? Contact Prime Function to learn how to improve company policy and employee awareness.

Social Media updates to a real-world event keep volunteers informed and engaged.

As part of a recent social media event campaign we ran for a non-profit organization, we aggregated all of their event content and volunteer’s social media output into a single spot. The purpose behind this was to increase the visibility of the event and highlight their good works as well as give potential donors an opportunity to donate.

What we didn’t realize is how important the online event coverage was for the volunteers who had to stay behind to monitor phones and deal with logistical problems. Many of these volunteers had spent months preparing and planning, but had no way to actively participate in the event that was their biggest fundraiser. With this site, they could easily follow the progress of the event, get instant volunteer feedback, and feel like they were there.

Do you have people who need to stay in the office when big company meetings or conferences take place? Or volunteers that man the phones just in case something happens? We can help you pull your video and social media output together so no one is left behind. Contact us at info@primefunction.net.