I recently attended an IABC event at Text100 in San Francsico. The topic – Content Distribution – was especially relevant to me and to those who follow me on social media. I took this as an opportunity to share some ideas, thoughts using my Twitter handle: @prdreamer. At the end of the event, several people came up to me impressed that I was able to send out so many tweets. I thought I would share a few tips. [Read more…]
Is Story Hour on Your Calendar?
January 30, 2015 By 1 Comment
The first month of 2015 is just about finished. Let’s face it, time moves fast, and so does the pace of communications and marketing.
No matter what industry you work in, or what kind of company you work for, business moves faster than most of us want to admit. Why do you think we are all chained to our mobile phones, stressing out each time we hear the email notification, and diving for our phones to answer on the first ring?
What if we took a few minutes and stopped what we were doing to take a few minutes to seriously consider about the story we want to tell?
Social Media Changes Fast
May 1, 2014 By Leave a Comment
It’s been a long while since I’ve done a few things, but this post will be about social media and blogging. I took some time off from my most public of profiles, including Twitter, Pinterest, Foursquare and some others. In the last few weeks I have been playing more using my social media profiles.
So Much to Learn
So many interesting posts, so little time. I had forgotten how many amazingly smart people use social media to share their expertise. Just by reading a few articles a day over the past few weeks, I have learned about what I have missed in the social media game while I was taking a break, and have picked up many very useful pieces of information.
Decide Which Network to Use and When
A much improved tool I have been exploring is Klout. This tool now helps you to decide which pieces of content will be on target for your audiences on each network. Lately, I have been sharing short info and some images on Twitter, while using Facebook for more personal posts about my interests, and LinkedIn for items that pertain directly to business and best practices. I have noticed by Klout score jump a few points, just by paying attention.
My most successful post over the few weeks is a retweet of an Arbor Day tweet from Smokey Bear. The yoga component got me several retweets. Here it is:
What’s So Great About Infographics?
April 21, 2014 By 2 Comments
My favorite thing about a good infographic is that I can learn something new in just a few minutes. In addition, I can learn more about something I already know very quickly. And, lastly, they can summarize a complicated issue in a way that many people can understand.
Here are a few of my favorites from the last few weeks or so.
- One of my favorite things: Wine. “Malbec 101“
- Something interesting: Technology. “The Lighter Side of IT History“
- A good summary for work: Social Media. “The CMO’s Guide to the 2014 Social Landscape“
I have been doing a little bit of research about tools to create infographics. I’ve been playing around with Canva, Piktochart, Easel.ly and Infogr.am.
What are your favorite infographics? Please share them below.
Learn Something New While Networking
April 16, 2014 By Leave a Comment
I would classify myself as a lifelong learner.
This is evident in the years of membership with the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). I have been a part of IABC since graduating from California State University, Fullerton with a communications degree in public relations. I often share with people how I can attribute ALL of my jobs to connections I have made through networking.
Which brings to me to my favorite reason for networking. Aside from meeting amazingly smart people everywhere I go, networking functions are almost always disguised as professional development sessions as well. And the information presented at them is difficult to find in any other setting.
In the last two weeks I have attended two events:
- Last week IABC Silicon Valley presented an evening with Stacey MacNeil who shared her journey to create a new way of communicating internally with HP’s 330,000 employees across the globe. I learned that it’s important to be comfortable being UNcomfortable and that at some point you just have to get out what you have created.
- Earlier this week, SVForum’s Marketing and Social Media SIG lead a discussion about ownership of social media. They brought in an attorney who was surprisingly entertaining who gave us examples of landmark social media cases and their potential implications. The most interesting piece of information I learned is that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a group of five people, determines social media case outcomes based on 30-year old laws.
Did I have any crazy ah-ha moments to put into practice right away as a result of either event? No, probably not, but I gained valuable pieces of knowledge for some point down the road.
What is your favorite networking option?
Happy Networking!
Twitter: Speed Dating At a Convention Mixer
February 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Just read this fantastic article from Business2Community comparing social media networks to a bar scene.
My favorite: Twitter: Speed dating at a convention mixer.
What is your favorite comparison?
Cheers to Catching Up with Long Lost Friends/Colleagues
January 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Tonight I went to the monthly Mix event for AIGA/OC. It’s been several months (let’s say six) since I attended. I was reminded of the third Thursday monthly event by a Facebook post from a friend. Social media works, people. It got one extra person to the event tonight.
While there, I ran into people I haven’t seen in person on probably two years or more. It reminded me that it’s important to keep in touch with folks. Don’t forget to work your connections, you never know where the next piece of business will come from.
My list of people to contact for lunch or coffee dates has increased by at least four based on one evening. I’m committed to working through my contact list and networking. And, out of that there are infinite possibilities.
What possibilities did you create today?