Anne's Spot

Wiki--not email--for collaboration

2008-10-12T15:12:00.002-05:00

Recently, I have conducted several social media workshops. Often participants express that social media seems overwhelming. The participants say that they already feel like they have information overload, and they don't know how to handle more information.

My responses are usually:

Social media helps one keep up better with new information and ideas than current tools, like email.
Social media, particularly reading feeds, is much more efficient than not using them and allows one to increase access to more (much more) information.
Social media allows one to read and find information outside of one's normal colleague and knowledge circles.
Social media allows matching tasks and tools. Email simply is not the right tool for many of tasks we use it for. For example, wikis are better for collaboration than email. I usually have participants tell me how they work on projects together. The left side of the Wikinomics graphic is indicative of their description.

Email, although useful for some uses, is not a good collaboration tool.

This Wikinomics graphic, originally created by Chris Rasmussen at US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, obviously shows which is the better collaboration tool.

del.icio.us Tags: Email,Collaboration,Wikis

Future forces affecting education

2008-09-28T15:47:00.001-05:00

In a future trends of education discussion last Thursday, Dr. Joseph Pascarelli provided a Map of Future Forces Affecting Education, developed by KnowledgeWorks Foundation and the Institute for the Future (IFTF). The map is a forecast of forces that could affect learning in the next decade. The predictions are worth pondering for our future and how we should be changing the way we educate, manage, lead, and produce and market services and products.

I am using the map like this: If I believe the predictions within the map are true, how should education, management, leadership, and marketing change to adapt to these forces? For example, one prediction is that there is Community Value Networks. How do we make visible tangible and intangible assets (like knowledge, trust, reputation, loyalty) to create richer relationships of exchange? Addressing public education:

Lower network-coordination costs make it cost-effective to meet the needs and desires of “long-tail” niche markets in industries as diverse as music, health, and education. Numerous and diverse niche markets of learners become targets for all sorts of providers of learning experiences in the expanding learning economy (public, private, parochial, charter, home and other informal schools, and commercially based providers). Value network mapping becomes an important tool for tracking the exchange of tangible and intangible learning assets that flow between public schools and the rest of the learning economy. These exchanges create richer relationships between public schools and the community

Specifically, how does this change the way we provide higher education and Cooperative Extension education? Including and engaging community members, in both physical and online communities, to contribute in our educational efforts help learning spread more quickly and more effectively.

Other trends predicted are also provided. Pick one trend and reflect how that trend affects what you do.

del.icio.us Tags: education,trends,learning,community

A Dialogue about the Future Trends in Education

2008-09-25T20:22:00.002-05:00

Today, I attended a loosely formed group meeting that was called "Future Trends in Education Workshop and Think Tank." When Tony Cook suggested that I attend, I was glad to be part of discussion, but it was unclear what the meeting would be like and what would be discussed.

I supposed I was worried the meeting would be a waste of time. I was thinking it would be another meeting where people talk about how learning styles, environments and technologies are changing, but don't really propose any different methods or philosophies for the future. Often after a declaration of how trends are shaping our future, the discussion turns how to address the trends which includes methods that are only slightly improved over what we are currently doing. For instance, one might suggest providing education online in the same way we lecture in classrooms or placing supporting materials for classes in closed course management systems. These discussions clearly do not show an understanding of open, free flowing opportunities that we should be considering.

This meeting wasn't really a meeting at all. It was more like a series of conversations.

In today's dialogue which was led by Dr. Joseph Pascarelli, one of the questions (I rephrased it) was "If we believe that the Map of the Future Forces is the way life is changing, then how can we should education change?"

During the discussions, I wrote words that people said that described education for the future. They are not in any particular order or importance: diversity, access, inclusive, open, flexible, connected, across, collective, creative, responsive, change, ideas, shift, sustainable. (Note: Although the discussion centered around education, I believe these same changes affect management, leadership, marketing, and communications).

We also discussed (among other topics):

1. what we are about. We are part of a land-grant institution, thus we should be embracing methods, engagement, and open systems that provide education to our communities. We have the resources, thus why aren't we utilizing those resources, technologies, and opportunities that enrich the lives of others? (We do this some, but not broadly across the university.)

2. generating an environment where creative thinking can occur.

3. that we need to be responsive.

4, that we need to build creative systems.

Some interesting quotes during the meeting that I might ponder and possibly investigate later are:

"Most change happens because of a surprise, not because of a strategic plan."
"Make work more like fun."
"We're looking for opportunities to learn in a safe environment."
Most meetings have agendas that allow discussions, but the decisions are already somewhat formed. Instead dialogues should take place first. (Paraphrased)

Some sources shared during the meeting are:

Etiene Wenger Community of practice and social learning

Margaret Wheatley Listening as part of leadership

Fostering Learning in Networked World (NASA) pdf

Knowledge Works

Capra, F. Center of Ecoliteracy pdf

PeaceJam: A Billion Simple Acts of Peace

This meeting was not really a meeting, but was more like a conglomeration of discussions that happen during conferences in the hallways at break-time. We are planning to meet again and are careful not to have too much structure, but will continue the dialogue. I am looking forward to more reflection and discussions that hopefully will result in changes in approaches to education.

del.icio.us Tags: education,learning,open

Why use social media in Extension

2008-09-19T21:45:00.001-05:00

This week, Rhonda Conlon and I presented a poster session, Social Media in Extension, at Galaxy III which is a professional development conference for Extension Professionals.

In addition to the poster, we also provided a guide to help Extension professionals begin to use social media. The outline is here:

1 A Beginners Guide to Using Social Media in Extension

The guide is a wiki that can be edited by any Extension professional. Please help us improve this document.

Why Social Media

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: poster media)

del.icio.us Tags: social media,Cooperative Extension

Developing your personal and professional reputation

2008-09-07T19:53:00.001-05:00

Corinne Weisgerber, Public Relations Assistant Professor, St. Edwards University, created an excellent slideshow, Blogging and Managing Your Personal Brand.

Google is your new resume.

Tips include:

writing quality blog posts.
being relevant to a niche.
respecting what others have to say.
being straightforward about yourself.
staying engaged in the blogosphere.

Blogging & Managing your Personal Brand

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: commenting identity)

del.icio.us Tags: blogging,professional reputation,Slideshare

TweetUp with Blood Drives and Help the Red Cross

2008-09-05T21:12:00.001-05:00

Step up and help the Red Cross.

The local Red Cross (Lee County Red Cross) helped over 180 evacuees before and after Gustav threatened southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

With more storms coming, American Red Cross needs our help. They need donations of

blood.
time.
money: 1-800-REDCROSS or to the Lee County Red Cross

In Auburn, AL, we are having an #AUTweetUp (not a meet up). Those Twitters in the Auburn, AL area are encouraged to:

1. Give blood at any of these locations:

Tuesday, September 9 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Auburn University New Student Union.

Wednesday, September 10; 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Auburn University New Student Union.

Friday, September 12; 1-6 p.m. at Philly Connection, South College St., Auburn.

Tuesday, September 16; 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Lee County Justice Center on Gateway Drive in Opelika.

2. Tell others through Facebook, MySpace, in meetings, at church, and in classes to give blood.

3. Tweet using #AUTweetUp hashtag when you make the trip to donate blood.

4. Tweet when you are encouraging others to give blood.

5. Give a monetary donation to American Red Cross.

6. Plan to get training to volunteer for the Red Cross.

Not in Auburn, AL:

1. Find a blood drive near you or make an appointment to give blood during this next week.

2. Use Twitter to tell about it.

3. Give a monetary donation to American Red Cross.

4. Plan to get training to volunteer for the Red Cross.

Why you may ask that I am using this space to encourage your donations to the Red Cross?

After listening through Twitter to @leeoALredcross , CovCoRedCross, @RedCross, @JenniferRyan, and @jefferybiggs, I realize how much help the Red Cross needs and how very hard Red Cross staff work for the purpose of helping others.

I supposed Twitter has really helped me understand the importance of their work and develop a new respect for those leaders in the local and national level of this great organization.

In this weak economy and because Gustav was not as destructive as Katrina, Rita, and Andrew, people have not donated like they do when larger, more destructive storms hit our cities.

American Red Cross needs donations. From Washington Post, Hurricane Relief Efforts Create Red Cross Debt.

The American Red Cross said this morning it is going deep into debt to fund a $70 million Hurricane Gustav relief effort, an unusual occurrence even as the nation's biggest disaster-aid charity braces for a trio of powerful storms lurking in the Atlantic.

The Red Cross has raised less than $5 million toward its Gustav expenses, officials said. To recoup its Gustav cost -- most of it borrowed money -- the nonprofit organization plans to roll out an aggressive national campaign Monday.

Donate time, money, and blood to the Red Cross this week!

And, to Jennifer Ryan and Jeffery Biggs, keep up the good work.

del.icio.us Tags: Red Cross,Twitter,Blood Drive

Auburn University High Definition Board and Twitter

2008-08-30T22:56:00.001-05:00

What do you do when you are supposed to provide excitement and a service to more than 80,000 football fans? You use Twitter, of course.

Bo Cordle (@sailingbo) takes his job of running the High Definition Board at Jordan-Hare Stadium very seriously, paying attention to details and orchestrating the production of the HD system 2 hours before the game to almost an hour after the game.

From a closed room within the stadium, Bo and his crew push images, camera shots, statistics, plays, replays, and pre-made videos to HD without actually seeing the board. Interestingly last year, the orange jerseys on the first game of the season looked red on the HD board. But, Bo and the crew did not know it until after the game when friends and university representatives told him. Needless to say, they adjusted the system so orange looked orange on the screen.

In his 2nd year running the system, Bo improved the system and the production of the videos, stats, presentations, camera shots, and still meeting any new expectations of Auburn University administration and coaches.

This summer Bo set up a Twitter account @AUHD. He asked the AUHD followers to give him feedback. And we did. Look at Summize search to see some of the comments (there were other messages from people who protect their Twitter accounts that do not show up in the search).

Additionally, Bo let us know what was happening. For instance, AUHD tweeted:

Took us a little while, and we had a bit of a visual glitch, but we finally got the "Scoring Drive" stat graphic up.

The tweets from @AUHD added to my ability to understand what was happening and of course, I appreciate @AUHD asking for my opinion.

Bo used the @AUHD Twitter account to get feedback and to listen to what others were saying about his work, and to give us updates. During the game, I watched the plays on the field and then, the replays on the HD board. I also conversed with others, as well as @AUHD during the game. I did not miss a thing and had a great time at the ball game.

Now, what happens if the number of @AUHD Twitter followers grew and @AUHD continues to give us updates? My guess is there will be more improvements, but time will tell.

Often people who want to use social media look as these tools as another way to disseminate their information. Social media tools, like Twitter and Friendfeed, are much more than pushing information out. Social media is about participating in the conversation--listening and responding. Doing both means you are fully participating, listening only or "talking" only means you are participating in only one side of the conversation.

Congratulations to Bo and his crew to providing fantastic service and production in the first game of the season, but more importantly, thank you for asking and listening to our opinions!

What would happen if you used Twitter and other social media in your next big event?

Note the picture above was taken by chsibley at the Auburn vs Alabama game 2007.

del.icio.us Tags: twitter,Auburn University

Time for social media

2008-08-11T20:54:00.001-05:00

Through Twitter, Kevin Gamble shared Jeff Tippett's guest post on Social Media Mom. Jeff answers the question: how does one can find time to use social media? He makes time because that is what he does--like making time to eat.

Social media is conversations and collaborative work.

How do you make time to converse at work, at home, or in the grocery store? You just do.

What value do you gain from conversations at work, at home, and in the grocery store? Individually, some of these may seem unimportant. Cumulatively, the conversations help connect and understand others.

Jeff also admits that he uses RSS feeds to manage information and to manage "the noise" from floods of information.

del.icio.us Tags: social media

Social media and National PTA

2008-07-22T19:16:00.001-05:00

According to their newsletter, National PTA is using social media.

It looks like they are in the beginning stages. After a little time, I hope to see that they are engaging and listening. For instance, I hope to see the PTA Twitter account follow PTA members.

From their newsletter (at the bottom):

PTA Introduces Social Networking Channels

You can now connect to PTA through a variety of online social networks:

Facebook — Stay connected through PTA's Facebook Fan Page.

YouTube — Watch PTA videos and media moments.

Fotki — Photo galleries of PTA events and programs.

Twitter — Quick updates, perfect for mobile devices.

Some educators I work with keep saying "My clients don't use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc." My response generally is:

Use these tools to help yourself keep up and stay connected and learn from others.
Develop something useful with these tools so your clients can learn from you.
Eventually, they (your clients) will use these tools. You never know, some may already use them-you just don't know it.

In my explanation and response, I have not thought of how our partnering agencies maybe using these tools. National PTA is an example. Recently I discovered Covington County (Alabama) Red Cross is using Twitter. I already knew American Red Cross and my local county, Lee County (Alabama) Red Cross are using Twitter, but what I did not know is how much Red Cross is using Twitter. Local chapters seem to also have web pages, blogs or wikis.

Cooperative Extension cannot wait until the adoption is immersed in their local communities. The tools are already being used in their local communities, at least to some degree, and the use of these tools will continue to increase.

How should an educator get started?

Try something new. Try any social media tool (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Picasa, LinkedIn, Ning, FriendFeed, YouTube, Slideshare--you get the idea--try anything!).
Listen with Google Alerts.
Learn to use a news reader.
Listen with Google blog searches and keep up with changes through a news reader.
Follow a few blogs by using a news reader.
Edit something in Wikipedia, particularly if you have found something that was not fully explained.
Create something new in Wikipedia.

del.icio.us Tags: social media,Red Cross,PTA

AUTweetUp

2008-07-18T15:51:00.001-05:00

The attendees of the AUTweetUp were:

@gparmer @bowerep @bowerjb @sailingbo @JenniferRyan @snydess @matt1583 @Tex3911 @BrettPohlman @phunkit @jamersan @lawremc @aafromaa

Tweets about AUTweetUp can be found on Summize.

These folks are from Auburn University: College of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension, and the athletic department (well sort of); Office of Communications and Marketing; Natural Resources and Conservation Service; Lee County Red Cross; Jamersan Web design; and an Auburn University student.

Several people could not join us so I hoping in the upcoming weeks that someone will announce another AUTweetUp which will help us expand our group and let us get to know each other better.

This kind of gathering is always fun and I always learn something.

Maybe next time hopefully we can meet in a place where people can mingle more.

In addition meeting socially, what if also we meet for a cause, like a blood drive TweetUp? I am sure @JenniferRyan and others would help us identify an existing blood drive. We could publicize the blood drive in the ways we know how: personally, Facebook, blogs, radio, etc. And, of course we would also donate. This is not my original idea...they already did this in Austin, TX.

I don't usually think "out loud" on my blog, but here is an idea I am throwing out.

A thought about building your own professional online reputation

2008-07-15T20:54:00.001-05:00

Kate Woods, an Auburn University student in a class project blog, The Loveliest Village, makes a great point about what happens to one's public image when mishaps happen.

We all make mistakes; but being in the spotlight can be tough when a goof occurs. An image of a person can take years to build up, but a mere second can crush it tremendously.

While she is on target about how fragile our reputations are, I also wonder what happens when the mishap is the only reputation you have.

What happens if you are not famous (outside of your physical community) and if you are not known (other than locally) for your professionalism, the good work you do, and your vast knowledge in a particular area when a mistake suddenly throws you into the media limelight or onto YouTube?

All of a sudden you or your organization is known only for mishap--the mistake--the goof.

Although we never want to make mistakes, we might, at some point, publicly misstep. Having built a credible professional reputation will provide something positive to point to in times of crisis.

What is your professional online reputation? What happens when you Google your name? What happens when you Google your organization's name? Where can potential clients find you? While there is much more to building a reputation than using Google searches, start there.

Ways to share if you don't have time to comment

2008-07-14T15:17:00.000-05:00

I often tell people before they started blogging to:

1. start using a News Reader (Google Reader).

2. start following blogs of interest.

3. comment on good posts by offering your insights and suggestions as a way to practice participation. Learning to comment is an easy way to step yourself into learning to blog.

However, overtime you may find that you don't have time to comment. Chris Brogan offers tips when you find interesting blog posts but don't have time to comment.

Bookmark the post in a social bookmarking site (so others might find it).
Share it in Google Reader.
“Like” it in FriendFeed.
Stumble it in StumbleUpon.
If it’s *really* good, Digg it.
Note it on Facebook.

Don't use these tips as excuse to not comment, but sometimes you simply may not have time. Mark the post in way that it is shared and referenced.

Of Chris' suggestions, I bookmark posts in del.icio.us and/or I share them in Google Reader. Those who follow my bookmarked items in del.icio.us or my shared items in Google Reader or who follow my FriendFeed feeds will see the page I have marked. By bookmarking in one site (Google Reader or del.icio.us) and feeding those bookmarks into other sites (FriendFeed), I am giving the choice to my colleagues to choose which way they want to follow my bookmarks.

Sometimes, I also share links via Twitter depending on the topic.

There are probably other ways. What methods do you use to share interesting posts?

del.icio.us Tags: bookmarking,blogging,conversations

Disruptive innovations and education

2008-07-02T21:31:00.000-05:00

While being interviewed for a Business Week podcast, Clayton Christensen co-author of Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns how disruptive innovations will transform education. Disruptive innovations can help can cater to the way students learn.

My favorite quote is his describing disruptive technologies as a way to ..

give tools to plain ole students, teachers and parents to develop these learning tools themselves to help each other to learned the way their brains are wired.

The podcast can be found at http://www.businessweek.com/mediacenter/qt/podcasts/innovation/innovation_06_11_08.mp3

The Innovator's Battle Plan is another article on disruptive technologies.

del.icio.us Tags: education,learning,innovations

I am tagged

2008-07-01T17:10:00.001-05:00

Janyne Kizer tagged me which means I am supposed to share 5 things about myself that relatively few people know about me and then I am supposed to tag five other people. This is great exercise to show who I am--the person behind the blog posts. Maybe this will lead to easier conversations and better understanding. If you are wondering about tagging John Dorner explains it on his tagged post.

What was I doing 10 years ago?

I had just started my co-leadership role with Jonathan Davis in the Computer Technology Unit.

Five snacks I enjoy:

Dark chocolate.
Peanut butter spread on graham crackers, vanilla wafers, or a caramel rice cakes.
Roasted peanuts.
Light popcorn.
My own version of cereal mix--usually Honey Nut Cheerios, Life, Corn Chex, and Nuts (and occasionally I mix in a few chocolate chip pieces).

Five Things on My To-Do list today:

Cook dinner and I still do not know what we are having (by the time I finished this post we decided to eat leftovers or pick up something depending on who is where).
Jog at least 3 miles (I jogged 4.2 at 6 AM).
Teach a session in a for-credit class, Extension in Aquaculture.
Send emails about up-coming training sessions and web conferences (finished all but two of these).
Finish this post.

Five Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Write books

a fictional book that would make my mother blush.
a book on how people who are going through tough times teach us all by their reactions and how we have opportunities to do great things during these their tough times.
a book on parents' tip on being involved and supporting their kids in school and sports activities--it would be about behavior and kids' and parents' goals.

Hire a full-time housekeeper, and possibly, an assistant.
Create a charity organization which provides financial support to organizations whose goal is to change bad behaviors.
Hold babies in the pre-mature baby ward when parents cannot be there.
Have a house on the water, does not matter--lake, river, bay, or beach. Hey, I am a billionaire--how about all of the above.

Five jobs I have had:

Harvested and sold produce on the farmers' markets, including Birmingham and Montgomery. We were known not only as the Mims girls, but also the corn girls.
Served as Hall Director (like a dorm mom).
Interned with Federal Land Bank.
Worked as an IT specialist, particularly in IT training.
Led and managed a computer support department.

Five of my bad habits:

Drinking too many diet sodas.
Getting too easily distracted.
Writing wordy sentences
Not following up and staying connected to good friends.
Giving advice too readily and too often.

Places I have lived:

Haynes, AL (20 miles west of Prattville, AL).
Daphne, AL (on the east bay across from Mobile), more importantly, less than 45 minutes from Gulf Shores).
Auburn, AL.

Five Random Things:

I feel special for being tagged.
My oldest sister called me Annabelle when I was pre-teen and I hated it (@rbrekke this was the thing I blurted out that no one in my office knew).
I think it is absolutely great that Harrison Ford could still fit into his Indiana Jones' pants from 20 years after he made the first movie--that's impressive!
I want my kids to learn that their behavior is more important than their accomplishments.
My husband was one of my college professors. In case you are wondering, there was no inappropriate behavior, otherwise I would not have written about it. I was finished with graduate classes when we started dating. When I had him for class a few terms earlier, a friend of mine and I made fun of the way he dressed (was not then, nor now is he very stylish). Also, I hold the highest B he ever gave in Econometrics. You would think that during our 20 years of marriage, he would have considered changing that grade.

Seven people I would like to get to know better. I wanted to tag about 15 people. I hoping some of my colleagues will tag the other colleagues. These seven people are officially tagged!

Tony Glover I know you usually blog about gardening, but let us learn something else about you. Your clientele, too, would love to know more about you.
James Robinson (I really want to know your favorite recipes).
Asim Ali I know you write about technology support for the College of Education, but I bet faculty would like to more about you, too.
Kenny Smith I don't know you, but your Twitter messages make me curious--tell me more.
Jerry Thomas You don't blog often so this will be a great reason to write a post.
Becky Nibe I know you are not shy, tell us more.
Jennifer Jahedkar We have not had enough interaction and I really would like to know more.

Fire ants and being part of the conversation

2008-06-30T14:30:00.001-05:00

Using social media means we are part of the conversation. We listen, lurk, converse, share, collaborate, and learn. This post has a few ideas for listening and keeping up with the constant flow of information in the blogosphere.

Kathy Flanders asked me to blog about fire ants--not really. She wanted me to describe how lurking and being "part of the conversation" can help us spread educational knowledge and help others with their problems. Some would describe this experience as a "going to them" experience.

I read lots of blogs and feeds from lots of topics. One particular blog I follow wrote an article that suggested that grits kill fire ants and it linked to an article on natural remedies on web site called Associated Content. Though the article describes several natural remedies to kill fire ants that are probably urban legends, I commented on the one remedy on that suggested grits kill fire ants.

I commented "Grits do not kill fire ants. Research from land grant universities have tested many of these home remedies and they simply do not work. Please see the one of the many questions asked of those who research fire ants and educate the public on controls for fire ants http://www.extension.org/faq/1094".

I am not an entomologist, but I can link to research-based information.

Randomly and haphazardly, I came across the grits and fire ants article. Reading many topics outside of my expertise area is one way of listening to the noise. It's in the noise that we learn about things that we don't know we need to learn. Though the blog does not usually describe remedies, the false information is what caught my attention.

Using social media (blogging, social networking, Twitter) means we are in the midst of many conversations. We cannot rely on people finding information through our web sites. And, how do we know what people are looking for unless we listen? Also, the noise helps us learn.

Kathy and her colleagues may ask "How can we keep up and learn when fire ants are being mentioned on the web?

Use a multi-pronged approach.

1. Perform a general search on the term you are interested in. For example, "fire ants".

2. Use Google Alerts on the term "fire ants".

3. Create a feed into your feed reader to let you know when someone has mentioned this term in a blog. Create this feed from the Google blog search. I did this on the term "fire ants" and found this real estate blog that also describes home remedies that do not work....at least she discourages the use of gasoline.

4. Consider using these 2 techniques for other key terms, such as your name, researchers' names, and your organization's name.

5. Follow blogs within your areas of expertise and interests.

6. Follow your colleagues' and peer departments' blogs.

7. Search for these terms in Twitter using Tweetscan.

8. Read what is Wikipedia has said about the topic. (And you, too, can contribute to Wikipedia articles).

del.icio.us Tags: blogging,social networking,news readers,Google Alerts,Google blog search,conversations

Session on Social Media

2008-06-28T22:25:00.001-05:00

This week, I presented "Social Media" in a 20 minute session to a group of County Extension Coordinators with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Notes on this sessions are:

A survey of the participants was conducted. One item on the survey asked them to "Write down the 1^st three words that come to mind when you think of Extension." Education, 4-H, information, and people were the most common words used.

The survey also asked participants to describe their most preferred methods (cost not considered) of delivering educational programs. Program meetings, face-to-face, and home and farm visits were the most used terms.

The survey also asked the participants to indicate the most important resource. People, information, education, and knowledge were the most used.

People in our organization are our most important resource because of the relationships that they build with the people in their community.

People are influential because of these relationships and trust that they have built with people in their communities.

Social media is about developing relationships through conversations online.

55% of people who use social networks feel as strongly about their online communities as they do about their real-world communities (slide 17).

Extension has great opportunities to engaging new audiences, particularly when you consider that 87% participate in internet communities related to social causes that are new to them (slide 18).

Conversations take place anyway and we need to be participating. Being social on the web means that

we are part of the conversation.
communications are multi-way.
creditability can be realized.
trust can be attained.

Social media can help you

keep up.
keep clients informed.
share information, knowledge, resources, solutions, and expertise.
work with others.
stay connected with colleagues, faculty, industry, and clientele.
build professional relationships.
build professional reputations.
converse.

Anything you do, keep in mind: marketing, education, and communities (slide 37).

The Social Media: Learn, Share, Converse, Connect, Collaborate slideshow is saved as a Google presentation.

The informal survey was given to them when they registered and was returned to me at the end of the first day. In the survey, I asked them if they had heard or used some social media tools (I picked a few tools). The results showed that their knowledge of most of these tools was very limited. The raw data can be found in this Google spreadsheet. The survey can be found here.

I did not have time to explain how using a feed reader can help them become more efficient in keeping up with changing information on the web. We will be covering that as well as how to use some of these tools.

From the discussions after the presentation, I gathered that some are seeing that they need to start using these tools. Also, they seemed interested in the generated word clouds I created in Wordle.

I am certainly looking forward to the upcoming training sessions.

| View | Upload your own

del.icio.us Tags: social networking,social media,blogging,Twitter,Facebook

15 Minute Showcase on Twitter

2008-06-14T15:01:00.001-05:00

At the ACE conference I presented a 15 minute showcase titled, "Working Differently: Using Twitter to Connect and Converse". We covered a lot of ground in 15 minutes, but still did not covered everything. This post is the outline of the presentation and provides references that I did not get a chance to share.

*Use Twitter to tell what you are doing in 140 characters or less. Reality is that you tell what you are thinking, reading, or questioning.

*Though it sounds dumb, Twitter is a non-intrusive, responsive way to

Connect
Converse
Listen

*Use Twitter to share about yourself, your frustrations, and your funny stories. Though phatic messages are meaningless, they are the messages that overtime create connections with others.

scottfillmer Had a very nice dinner with my wife, relaxing a bit before it gets time to sleep
jerobins got coffee and bkfast, done w/ feeds and email, well INBOX One ... gonna start that now
jonathan4au Happy Friday the 13th, everyone! Let's hope the day doesn't live up to its reputation.

*Share helpful links. Examples of sharing links are:

jdorner: reading http://tinyurl.com/678clu
ittotd For those not ready to use a feed reader or who want an email of feeds, RSS FWD will send feed updates to your email http://www.rssfwd.com/
MarsPhoenix To celebrate 20K, I'm replaying landing night video from this site: http://tinyurl.com/58vy52 There's an awesome HD version avail here too.

*Use Twitter to ask a question. During the breakfast presentation, I was curious about something that the speaker said thus, I did the easiest and quickest thing -- I twittered the Question: "I am curious. What's the 1st land-grant university?" Here is about one-half of the responses.

jasonadamyoung @aafromaa - wikipedia gives you four choices http://tinyurl.com/q8pvt
jdorner @aafromaa - Iowa Agricultural Colleg and Model Farm, the predecessor to Iowa State University http://tinyurl.com/q8pv
vcverbeke @aafromaa Iowa State, 1864, from http://tinyurl.com/q8pvt
bowerep @aafromaa there are several variable answers to your question. see http://snurl.com/2h77m looks like K-State may be considered the first.
Tex3911 @aafromaa wow, I guess that's what I get for only checking wikipedia. Burn.
sailingbo @aafromaa Good luck on your showcase! Apparently Mich State was "pioneer" land grant because the rest were then modeled after it. Semantics.

*Some organizations are using Twitter to disseminate information and to listen to their customers.

AuburnU See photos from the AU study abroad program in Jordan. Aquatic, camels, & more: http://tinyurl.com/5nr97d
RedCross map of disaster response ops http://tinyurl.com/66jbxa
Birmingham_News More: www.al.com Plan for first commercial development at Grand River project in Leeds wins planning panel.
zappos Just finished lunch w/ CEO of UPS talking about future partnership opportunities w/ Zappos. Great meeting, they are great partners of ours!

*Twitter has been used in emergency situations.

People twittered about the Chinese earthquake about an hour before CNN and other media reported it.
People reported about the California fires on Twitter.
College student twitters himself out of an Egyptian jail
Tornado hit the Georgia dome.

*Several applications are available to make Twitter easy, pervasive, but not intrusive. A few are:

Twhirl
Twitterific
Twitbin
Witty
Instant Messaging
SMS
RSS Feeds

*Several other useful Twitter tools are available. My favorite tools are:

Twemes (Hashtags) Use hashtags to tag or mark messages.
Twitdir
Summize to search tweets -- ACE08 tweets

*Useful Twitter resources

Several resources are available in the wiki page for NETC 1040 session
Del.icio.us bookmarks on Twitter
Getting more out of Twitter
Twitter in Plain English

del.icio.us Tags: Twitter

Interesting lists of bloggers

2008-06-14T14:37:00.001-05:00

100 Awesome Webmaster Blogs by and for Women lists interesting blogs for and by women. The list is divided into these categories.

Women in Search
Women in Marketing
Women in Design
Social Media, Organizations, and Writing Skills
Women in Business
Women in Tech

Also, commenters shared links to other lists:

Recap: Women in the edublogosphere 2007.

Wiki list of women bloggers http://wmagicallist.wikispaces.com/.

These are great lists to find some great blogs. Enjoy

Memorial Day 2008

2008-05-26T09:32:00.000-05:00

Unknown U.S. Soldier Originally uploaded by rambleon

On this Memorial Day, I find myself thinking of all the sacrifices made so we can have the freedoms we so much enjoy.

The words, "thank you" does not described my deepest gratitude and thought for all who have served us by protecting our country and ensuring our freedoms.

del.icio.us Tags: Memorial Day