The Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre hosted this amazing event on Wed. September 16th, 2009 at the Valhalla Inn.I used to watch Amber on TechTV with Leo Leporte, and listen to her podcasts regularly. She is a font of social media info...a ROCK STAR!!!
Amber's ABCs of social media:
- A: Authenticity...admit your mistakes (eg. PizzaPizza CEO's apology video)
- B: Bravery...try new things...invent and innovate
- C: Consistency...practice power friending...internally and externally...it's a long term plan and consistency yields results
- tell a story
- use multimedia (eg. YouTube videos)
- encourage comments (including your own!)...no one wants to be the first to comment
- power-friend
- free content in iTunes podcast store...eg. CommandN TV...share your passion
- ask your community to help you create content / local experts / keeners re photog/video
- idea TODO: for 2010 DBase of the Month promotion...do a short podcast intro (or even a video using SweetPea!!!) to a tutorial (play with new screencapture software)...get Ref staff / patrons to podcast/talk/video them re how a database helped them answer a question / solve a problem (eg HA!!!)
- photojojo.com
- technorati.com
- squarespace.com
- friendfeed.com
- box.net
- libsyn.com (about $20 a month, hosts podcastss and gets them on iTunes)
- hootsuite.com (professional twitter client)...can *schedule* tweets!!! would be fab for Xmas hours/notices/program promos etc!!! (and dbase of the month)
- readwriteweb.com
- techcrunch.com
- mashable.com
- namechk.com (reserve your handle on a bunch of sites -- eg. TBayPL / TBPL / ThunderBayPublicLibrary + personal) TODO: this!!!
- ambermac.com
- more popular than email!!!
- TODO: email Amber re FB url/page with tips for fan page admins...esp re tool to pull in flickr pics and more...use FriendFeed too (also page / utility to download and save (ie backup) FB info
- Best practices:
- grow from the inside out (ie get staff hooked / 23 things etc...)
- seed the community (be the first to comment and others will follow)
- integrate all your feeds
- promote your presence
- this is the FUTURE!
- Twitter growing at an amazing pace
- Zappos Shoes is hot on Twitter -- TODO: follow them! also look up Tony Zappos -- fab CEO who encourages staff to use social medial (google him re "case studies)
- use hash tags
- post pics on Twitter (can you link to flickr?) TODO: find out!
- recommends "Flip" video camera (one button!...TODO: consider)
- leverage LOCAL social media celebrities and use them!!!
- don't be AFRAID!!!!
- new accessibility guidelines = close captioning *** (or at least provide transcript...good best-practice for all tutorials) (TODO: find out what AODA says)
- Best Practices:
- keep it short (1 - 3 minutes)
- use easy technology
- share them everywhere
- brand your videos (ie with your logo)
- build your own (eg. ning...DIY soical network)
- mobile: friending on the go
- podcasting: mini web-i-sodes
- power friend bloggers
- video: shoot yourself!
General Tips / Ideas
- no one likes to be the first to leave a comment so start the conversation yourself
- moderate comments, but do so loosely
- add your FB/Twitter etc urls to your email signatures TODO: this!...+ "follow us" / "be a fan"...+ do a fab Your Library Does Not End Here and put it here (and/or a simple "follow us on..." "be a fan"...poster...)
- amber@mgimedia.ca
- TODO: consider flickr photo contest (or video)?...re share your memories of MJLB (ie old building)...or even a blog or twitter or use FB ...and #mjlb??? or #tbpl for broader use? (chat it up with consultant / TT wrt communication plan)
- get buy-in from the top (+ involvement)...this is VIP
- TODO
fave Amber quote: "I'm kind of an internet hippie"
