It is obvious that LinkedIn wants us to spend more time on LinkedIn. Given the title of this presentation that was posted on their blog ”Start a conversation on LinkedIn” and the nice integration with Twitter.

I have tried it and it works. This could be very interesting when people ask questions and you wish to bring in an expert (person or organization) or direct someone to a job link. I do however wonder if you can disable this function on the receiving end. What if I like my privacy and don’t wish to be mentioned? I’ll look into this.

Like your article Leon. Just some thoughts from my side… Sustainable consumption can only be achieved after sustainable production. A consumer might ‘demand’ sustainable goods from a company, but will still buy what is available a good price. We did some research on that in The Netherlands. You and me are running out of time if we use the old school marketing. Companies that do well in communicating about their ‘sustainable or responsible’ product / production can only do so, because it’s easier to communicate about something that comes from within than to create an image. Marketers are responsible for understanding their product and how it’s been produced. Too much focus is put on what a consumer wants, focus on your product and make it something that is worth buying because it makes a responsible contribution to society instead of ‘just being a product of marketing, communication and PR’. Shareholders should demand high responsible production methods instead short term gains. Marketers and communication people should do a better job at listening to companies suppliers and those who work in sourcing and production departments to better understand the issues that we face. High oil prizes, high commodity prizes, issues on health and safety, labour issues. How can you expect a consumer to understand what’s going on if you don’t know yourself and are unable to understand the real message?

You can read the article here:
http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/communications/brands-more-trusted-millionaires-espousing-sust-consumption

Communicating about sustainability is more than just publishing a sustainability report or putting a sustainability claim on your package. It’s about truely ‘getting it’. Why is it so important to build a sustainable / responsible product? It’s about truely understanding how your product is build. It’s time to put more focus on listening to what is happening with organizations stakeholders and taking action towards what is right. Not just for profit, but also for people and planet. Because to whom will you sell your product if nobody is here to sell it too? Or if you don’t have enough resources to create your product?

Some of the things I should be able to setup in Google Analytics after this training:

• advanced filters
• advanced segments
• advanced reporting
• special dashboards
• e-commerce tracking
• multi channel conversion tracking

And some other things. Like with many things best practice can only be development by doing. So I know what I’ll be working on the next couple of months at Solidaridad & for some other sites. At least I have an other certificate to show.

Introducing Nehmi Klaassen

Nehmi Klaassen. “I am a media and communications professional with a passion for harnessing the power of social media to build networks. Having worked for a congressional office, IBM and a large civil society organization; I have come to value and understand how both the private and public sector work. Through the creation of cross industry partnerships and collaborations, organizations within the third sector can engage new audiences, raise awareness and inspire action in the most unlikely of places. As a “Third Culture Kid”, I grew up in over 5 different countries and learned that communication is key. Given the dynamic digital era we live in, it is even more pertinent that we know how to communicate, listen and engage in positive, constructive ways. It is through an event like Be Good Be Social, that we invite people to share and learn about how we can use social media tools to better our future.”

#BeGoodBeSocial Amsterdam

Be Good Be Social is an event that centers around using social media for social good, specifically for the third sector. Originating in the UK, the event is now moving to Amsterdam, where the full day will bring together third sector professionals, digital advocates, open data experts, social entrepreneurs and even social media newbies. Nehmi Klaassen: “As an enthusiast of the digital platform myself, I was very excited to be asked to bring Be Good Be Social to Amsterdam. Hosted at Knowmads Amsterdam, a school for young entrepreneurs, Be Good Be Social Amsterdam will become a platform for creative ideas and collaboration, inviting everyone who attends to contribute, learn and connect.”

You can order your tickets here.

More information about Be Good Be Social is available at www.begoodbesocial.org.uk.

Database building & data representation

First, let’s make one thing clear, I’m not a database analyst or planning monitoring & evaluation expert. But I do understand the importance of data and building a nice representation of data from a database that makes those numbers stick. It’s critical in communications to show your statistics in a proper way.
In general I believe that you have to think ahead before you start anything. If you know your goals, you can determine what key preformance indicators (KPIs) you wish to track and what variables you need in your database.  (I leave it up to the experts to fill in the gaps when it comes to the process of database collection etc.) But once you have figured out what to track over a number of year you can start thinking about how to make that look nice on a website or during a presentation. But you’ll need a proper database to record your data.

In the presentation by Hans Rosling, that you can view below, you can see that the numbers come alive when he shows different statistics over time. For example

• income per capita
• number of babies per woman

Together with his unique way of presentation (easy to understand, great humor & to the point – you sometimes get the feeling your watching a horse race!) he makes statistics look more appealing.

Hans Rosling about religion & babies

Gapminder.org

At Gapminder.org, Hans Rosling is co-founder of Gapminder, you can play around with different data sets on Gapminder World. Perhaps you can digg up some interesting that supports your goals towards a sustainable future. Gapminder is a non-profit foundation based in Stockholm building a fact-based world. If you like what you hear & see on the website please consider a donation cause I feel we need more of this fact sharing.

The importance of having solid data when making decisions is critical. And after you have enjoyed this video, please reflect on how much you could achieve in communications when you use good data representation of the challenging issues you are working on and how your solutions contribute to changing these issues. I’m looking forward to hearing how you deal with creating good presentation of your statistics.

Statistics and Social Media Content

Have you considered #StatsThursday on Twitter? Showing the latest statistics related to your organizations. Or using an infographic on Facebook? Or starting to pin your infographics to Pinterest? There are many ways to use statistics but don’t make your data look boring. Make sure you get the juice out of your statistics and represent them well in your social media content.

Talking about data, at Solidaridad we are currently recruiting a Planning Monitoring & Evaluation Coordinator for our Network organization based in our office in Utrecht, The Netherlands.