Trafcom News

Survival of the optimized

Donna Papacosta — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:44:45 PST

The headline above is pulled from the body of an excellent blog post by Shel Holtz. If you're on the fence about the use of social media, you must read what he has to say. Shel explains that since Google has begun incorporating real-time updates into its search engine results, tweets, Facebook status updates, blog posts, and updates from news sources are now being indexed and made available for searches. Further, it's unlikely that most organizations have considered the implications of this, or made adjustments to their SEO efforts. Perhaps it's time to rethink your strategy?

The next generation of magazine or employee publication?

Donna Papacosta — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:39:27 PST

I love this demo of the next generation of Sports Illustrated magazine on a tablet. Watching it, I could foresee all kinds of print publications migrating to this format, which seamlessly blends text, audio and video. Even employee communications could take on this exciting new way of communicating.

What do you think? When will this type of publication be coming to a screen near you?

Hat tip to Dave Williams, who sent me the link.

UPDATE: More on this developing topic, as major U.S. publishers plan their own multimedia platform to rival the gray text-laden Kindle.

IABC event: Why you want a digital profile

Donna Papacosta — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:51:28 PST

If you're a communicator, you need a digital profile. As far as I'm concerned, this is true whether you're an independent, an agency employee, or work on the client side.

If you’re a Toronto-area communicator and you’re not satisfied with your current digital profile, please plan to attend this meeting on the evening of December 15, where Michelle Corsano, President of Burst Technology Marketing, will explain:

The importance of branding yourself on the Web
How to create or extend your digital footprint
How to use social media to build your brand, generate demand, and engage and communicate with your clients (even in your sleep)
How to use LinkedIn, blogs, VisualCV, Twitter and Facebook, among other social media tools, in your business.

This meeting is sponsored by the Alliance of Independent Practitioners, a subgroup of the Toronto chapter of the IABC (International Association of Business Communicators).

For details, and to register, please visit the IABC Toronto site. I hope to see you there!

Reasons to keep LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter updates separate

Donna Papacosta — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:13:40 PST

Social media sites are converging. Now you can easily update Facebook and Twitter at the same time, or LinkedIn and Twitter, or… You get the idea.

Speed and simplicity are wonderful, but what about communication? When I teach business writing, one of the first points I discuss with the class is the concept of knowing your audience and your goal. So I think of my online audience's needs and my own goals before I publish any status update anywhere.

In my world, LinkedIn relationships are the most formal; this place is strictly for business. Facebook is more social; many of my “friends” are actually family members and old schoolmates. Recently on Facebook I wrote about my aunt’s 95th birthday party and commented on someone’s new baby pictures.

Twitter is my online water cooler, research department and referral engine, all in one. Most of my Twitter updates are business-oriented (such as an invitation to my upcoming Podcasting 101 Webinar), but some are more personal, showing my authentic self, as they say. (I heard a great quote last year, and I wish I knew the author: Facebook represents the people you used to know; Twitter represents the people you’d like to get to know.)

If I posted the typical Twitter update on Facebook, most people would be flummoxed. The RTs and @ signs don’t contbribute much to readability when you’re not used to them.

Each of us uses these social networks slightly differently, but I doubt that many of us are speaking to the same audience in each arena. At least for the foreseeable future, I’ll continue to update each site manually, with rare exception.

April Dunford discusses social media and product marketing

Donna Papacosta — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:53:05 PST

I was fortunate to meet the well-known product marketer April Dunford at ProductCamp Toronto last month. In the latest Trafcom News Podcast, April shares her thoughts on social media for product marketers.

We also get into an animated discussion about who should be blogging about products – the PR department or the product people.

Hop on over to the Trafcom News Podcast to listen to this 15-minute podcast and read the show notes.

Photo of April Dunford by Calum Tsang. For more of Calum’s photos from the event go to Flickr.

How authentic should the CEO be on Facebook?

Donna Papacosta — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:28:48 PST

Here’s an interesting story for a Friday afternoon.

After Chip Conley, CEO of Joie de Vivre, a chain of boutique hotels in California, attended the Burning Man festival, some photos of him shirtless (and in one, wearing a tutu) appeared on Facebook. His blog post about the contretemps that followed is a great study in authenticity.

To me, the photos show the real Chip, and he is proud to be that guy. Most CEOs would not be too comfortable with such candid photos on Facebook, but he is. What do you think?

Why should your event be social-media friendly?

Donna Papacosta — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:41:28 PST

In a recent post, I wrote about HOW to make your meeting or conference social-media friendly. A commenter then asked for more information about WHY you would want to do so.

I have covered the “why” elsewhere in my PodcastYourConference site and in various presentations and Webinars, but here is a quick list of the reasons why you should consider incorporating social media into your event planning.

Running an event blog, or blogging about the event on your regular blog, will help to publicize the event among potential registrants.
Tweeting about the event can do the same. In fact, Twitter, which encourages re-tweeting, may help your message spread even more quickly than will your blog. Of course your content has to be interesting. You can’t keep rebroadcasting the same “Hey we’re having an event” message.
Ditto with building your presence on Facebook or any other venue where your audience gathers online.
Pre-event podcast interviews with key speakers offer potential attendees, exhibitors and sponsors a glimpse of what they might be experiencing in your event's keynote presentation, workshops, breakouts or other sessions. You’d be amazed at how much interest you can generate with a 10-minute audio podcast.
Suppose you’re running an annual event, and your members, employees or customers are traveling from all over the world to be there. Do you think this is an opportune time to capture audio and video conversations, presentations, event feedback and so on? In my humble opinion, YES! The cost of recording, editing and publishing this content is likely to pale in comparison to your total event budget. USE this content now and in the future. Repurpose it. Repackage it. Make the most of it!
If you take a few minutes to create an event hashtag (such as #iabc09), you make life easier for those who are blogging and tweeting about you. You also simplify your own tracking of the conversations about your event. Do you care what people are saying before, during and after your event? You should. This feedback is real and unvarnished, and can help you to organize even better meetings in the future.

Social media can help you to create buzz, boost registration numbers, foster a sense of community among attendees, entice exhibitors, and create relevant content for your Web site and marketing efforts.

Remember: Conversations about your organization and your event are happening, whether you’re listening to them or not. Be a part of them. Doing nothing is not a viable tactic.

RELATED POST: Please see Conference Podcasting: Why and how

Is your event social-media friendly?

Donna Papacosta — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:44:12 PDT

Over the course of a typical year, I will attend several conferences, speak at a couple, and participate in others on behalf of clients – producing content, particularly podcasts. Since I’ve been in this arena for a few years, I’ve come to observe organizations that “get it” when it comes to employing social media and new media tools before, during and after an event. This "social-media friendly" list is by no means exhaustive, but it can serve as food for thought when you’re planning your next conference.

Is there an event blog and podcast? Have you produced audio and video content before the event, to build excitement? Do these include interviews with key speakers?
Are you as the organizer posting updates on Twitter before, during and after the event? Are you encouraging registrants to do so as well?
Are you creating audio podcasts and shooting video at your event? This can enhance the experience of those who are at the event, and help you to create marketing materials for next time.
Have you considered using a tool like CoverItLive to encourage live blogging?
Did you create a unique hashtag so that bloggers and Twitterers can use a uniform tag to refer to your event?
Does the venue have strong, freely available wifi?
Are there electrical outlets where attendees can recharge their laptops and other devices?

Please contribute your own comments!
You can find more content like this at PodcastYourConference.com.