Presentation for Chicks Who Click

I’ll be presenting “Twitter: Tweeting, Following and Finding” at the Chicks Who Click Conference.  Here’s my slide deck, if you want to take a look.

I believe there are a few tickets left for the event, so you can still register if you want to attend.

Wish me luck!

Social Media Game for My Charity Connects

Last week, at the My Charity Connects conference, I conducted a game session based on Beth Kanter and David Wilcox’s Social Media Game (SMG).

Given that I only had about an hour and a half to describe the tools and play the game (and much less knowledge of the internal workings of nonprofits than the creators of SMG), I abbreviated the game significantly. In brief, I picked 8 tools to work with and requested each group respond to the following 3 questions:

1) How can this tool be used? (Within your organization or in general – can be as creative as you like)
2) What do you see as potential drawbacks to using this tool (within your organization or in general)?
3) Likewise, what are the benefits?

(You can find the cards, below, btw)

I took about 20-25 minutes to go through a speedy presentation about the 8 tools (Which included: Wikis, Social Bookmarking and Flickr) – including questions. Then the attendees got into groups of 3, 4 or 5 people to discuss.

Each group got 3 cards, of which they could pick 2 they wanted to focus on.

They had about 35 minutes to come up with answers.

For the last 25-30 minutes the attendees told us all what they had come up with.

It turned out well, I feel, in spite of the short timeframe – but given that circumstance, it also turned out very differently than I’d expected.

What ended up occurring was that, generally, a few people in the groups offered how they had been using a particular tool – which everyone else (myself included) found very inspiring.  For instance, one nonprofit used delicious to organize the archive section of their website.

The attendees were given handouts, at the end, which contained all the “cards” (printed on regular paper), for their reference

Changes I’d make:

• probably use 4 tools, in that time-frame
• forget the drawbacks/benefit part and focus just on whether the org could use the tool and how
• Session attendees: Do you have any other thoughts for improvement?

P.S. Beth, thanks so much for writing about my version on your blog!

Cards:

And My Twitter Presentation today:

And you thought I was done talking.  Never!

I’ll be presenting this at My Charity Connects today.

Once again, your positive thoughts help 

My Charity Connects – My Keynote Presentations & a Game of Sorts

Presenting these two talks at My Charity Connects today.

Think good thoughts!

Stamp Out Hunger, Peer Pressure and Twitter

Stamp Out Hunger was a Food Drive organized by the National Association of Letter Carriers (US)   They asked people to leave bags filled with non-perishable food items next to their mailbox on Saturday May 9th, 2009 that letter carriers would pick up and deliver to local food banks.

Now I knew nothing about this initiative – but on the day of the drive I noticed there were about a hundred tweets on the subject (see just a few examples below). People mentioning that they were contributing and reminding each other to donate.

The letter carriers collected 300,000 pounds of food and I’m certainly not proposing that this was the result of social media but it’s helpful to see at how social media can supplement and work with offline initiatives. The idea was not to donate online – but offline  – and the initiative helped “in the real world”.

And the kind of tweets we saw served several purposes (including):

1. They reminded people – some of whom might have been inclined to donate but lives are busy
2. They made it trendy – now this seems like a superficial concept but there’s an idea in behavioral economics which, put simply, addresses that people want to do what is the norm. (The book “Nudge” discusses this with regards to energy conservation (see this “Seed” article for a more thorough explanation.

“Our survey of nearly 2,500 Californians showed that those who thought their neighbors were conserving were more likely to conserve themselves,” [Robert] Cialdini said in written testimony – “Peer Pressure Best Motivator When it Comes to Energy Saving, Psychologists Tell House Panel” – APA release

Unlike the types of peer pressure demonstrated in videos my school was forced to watch (they involved singing ditties to ward off sex), here are people doing positive things as a result of their peer’s influence .

The tweets appeared to make donating to this cause the norm. Imagine seeing several of your peers talk about contributing to a cause – it makes you feel more motivated to do something… It seems like this is often what happens when you see several tweets on a particular topic/initiative.   It’s sort of a tidal wave of motivation.

Your thoughts?

Interview with Chicks Who Click

In addition to next week’s presentations at My Charity Connects in Toronto, I’ll also be speaking at Clicks who Click here in Vancouver on June 27th.

There’s a quick interview with me posted on their blog.

Mini-Presentation on LinkedIn Uses

This is part of a larger presentation I’ll be giving in a few days. More on that soon.

Contests for Artists?

Recently, YouTube and the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival ran a video contest asking participants to submit a commercial for a shot at going to Cannes.

These kinds of competitions are interesting animals… While exciting, I am of two minds about the concept, alternating between feeling that they are fun and can be useful, and thinking that there are somewhat exploitative – a great way for a company to get a polished product for way less than they would if they hired someone.

In my experience, it can sometimes be a creative jolt to have some sort of theme and deadline to work with (whether my video on Twitter was creative or jolting, remains to be decided, but it got me doing something actory that day).

Photo Credit: "It's a Gamble" by MarkyBon

Of course, quality submissions require effort – along with an idea that the odds often against you (depending on the number of submissions).  It is a gamble.  Whether it is worth it, in my opinion, depends on level of exposure and whether you can truly learn from it, have fun and/or make valuable for your portfolio even if you don’t “win”.

A great example of someone making a contest work for them was Jaemin (aka Chris) Yi who filmed three very cool commercials for a Doritos contest.  My favorite is below:

His excellent post about what he learned from the process is on his blog.

On the artists survey I ran, I asked the (admittedly unclear) question:

“What are your thoughts on spec work/contests for artists? (e.g. a design contest where you create a poster for a film, but may/may not have your submission selected in the end) Feel free to rant or praise:”

I received a variety of excellent responses – here are just a few:

“Like the idea, especially if the selectors come from the public or readership, rather than a closed secret panel of jurors” – Mitchell Teplitsky, Filmmaker

“I like it so long as the people running the contest are honest and the winner gets some real exposure and the collectors of the data share it with the participants” - Scilla Andreen, Filmmaker & CEO of Indieflix.com

“Spec is always out of bounds. Don’t do it! It’s the bane of all writers, no matter what kind of work they do. Contests, on the other hand, open doors. I signed with an agent after receiving a national award for my first book. Never would have gotten his attention without it.” – Laine Cunningham, Writer

“They’re good for exposure. They’re good for creating portfolio pieces. They’re good for expressive fun works– for those who do not get to be as creative as they’d like on client work.” – Ori Bengal, Photographer, Photoshop artist, full-time couchsurfer, web designer, marketer

“Oy -don’t get me started. Artists are too often exploited when they are trying to make a name for themselves. … I did enter and win the 2006 Applied Arts Magazine Awards Annual and it did lead to some new contacts and one job. There needs to be a prestige factor. There are enough competitions and awards handed out for even the very least talented people out there. I am the best photographer my living room -right now. I think the competition for the 2010 Olympic logo and the mascot design was unethical. Imagine if I could get thousands of people to do work for me for free and only pay one of them. It was cleverly packaged as a “feel good” inclusive kind of friendly competition but the Olympic Committee received a lot of highly skilled and valuable labour for free. They wouldn’t try that with any other profession but the creative arts.” – Dan Jackson, Photographer

“I both rant and praise. Philosophically, I think it really degrades the industry regardless of if it’s for graphic design or photography or whatever, and that at the end of the day you can get better work if you hire someone directly – most of the spec work type sites attract a mid-range level entrant. On the other side, I’ve used sites like this in the past because I love what they offer. It’s a catch 22.” – Miranda Lievers, Photographer

“Opportunities are always great. But preparing for contests, design work, writing pitches all take time and it is disappointing not to be selected. I’ve had the best luck with entering photo contests. Just won an honorable mention in American Photo – Images of the Year.” – Kim Campbell, Photographer

“This is one of the worst things to ever come about, and it disgusts me. No one would think of doing this to a plumber, but artists are constantly expected to give it away for free. No artist should participate. It weakens the entire profession, and more often than not the “contest” portion is just a scam, or is less money than a freelancer would charge for the work anyway. There are a lot of good rants out there about this subject!” – Lauri Lynnxe Murphy, Visual Artist

“I think the internet has created many opportunities for artists to give away their product in the hopes of being recognized. So we have created a nation of “amateurs” in the best sense of the word (the root of amateur is amare, past participle of “to love” in French). Unfortunately, all those people are no longer buying art; instead, they’re creating their own, which is wreaking havoc in the artistic marketplace. I don’t know if it’s good or bad; I just know that it’s what is.” – Marc Acito, Writer

37.They have value, depending on what the outcome is. Using the example, if it’s something that’s going to give an artist a great deal of exposure, it’s a valid time investment (as long as the selection remains in your control if it doesn’t win). At the same time, a documentary or independent film that has a great moral or societal aim would also merit the investment. I just don’t like situations where the outcome doesn’t match the value of the work and time, and/or implies a monetary devaluation by treating professional artists as hobbyists. – Dana Detrick, Musician, Voice Artist and Audio Producer

“I don’t mind spec work/contests but I absolutely detest any contests that require entry fees. They are asking us to pay them for the opportunity to create work for them? Give me a break.” – Bob Johnson, Photographer

—

Want more articles about artists? I have a whole series here.
http://monicahamburg.wordpress.com/category/artist-series/

Being Real 2.0

When I first started this blog (at the end of 2007), I posted the (creatively and originally titled) post: “My Views on Social Networking“.

I wrote:

Photo: "We are all connected" by Erica_Marshall

“On a large scale, social networking truly fulfills the role that our old (read: non-virtual) communities used to prove. This has sorely been lacking for most of us. Now we are only several connections away from others, only a few friends away from a new friend. Here we offer assistance to each other and ask for help. We are kept posted of occurrences within our social circle, to what are friends are doing or concerned about, today. Of what events they are attending. Here the town crier is Facebook, shouting out to us about the many parties we can attend, things we can do. As a “Wired” article summed-up the phenomenon that is Twitter: “That tactile sense of your community is simply too much fun, too useful” (Clive Thompson, “How Twitter Creates a Social Sixth Sense”).

That this evolution has also tremendously affected how we communicate with each other online, even in a business context, is clear by this point. And it has changed how much of ourselves we display to others, even if we have a possible business agenda to our online presence.

In February I moderated the very cool panel discussion about who you are online (photo here ).  All the women on the panel (Jenn Lowther, Rebecca Bollwitt, Linda Bustos and Nadia Nascimento) were web savvy (understatement), and, as such, had a strong awareness of the public nature of communicating online. They were very strategic about their line between public and private, establishing those boundaries and the nature of how they presented themselves.  That said, what we were comfortable posting about was quite varied.

This morning, I was talking to my boyfriend about Twitter and remarked that he’s been online for a few months, he has a clearer idea of how he wishes to communicate (or, to be artistic here, he understands his online “voice”).  It’s something that I have to remember to make clear in an upcoming presentation, that this understanding of “who you are online – be it on Twitter, Facebook, a Blog etc. – does not come immediately.  And it takes some playing around and trial and error for most to figure out what they are comfortable with and what works for them or their business or organization.

When I first started to blog, it was on my humor blog – and actually didn’t realize that that would be the theme of my blog.  In fact, the first few posts were random essays and rants. I only discovered what I would be motivated to post about (i.e. absurdities) after a month or two.

There were also other discoveries – such as after a week or two on Twitter, I realized that I wasn’t too keen on posting about what I was doing- and made the executive decision that no one would be the least bit interested.  Like most, I am not exciting 24hrs a day.  Sure, 5-7 times a day, I’m entertaining. And if that’s all I tweet, I’m golden.  Posting more often, or potentially a log of everything I was doing, would break that illusion (e.g. 6am: “Working on the computer, as you can ascertain”, 8am: “Time to eat” 10am: “Still working on the computer, now at a coffee shop”, 6pm “Time to eat 7pm: “Back to working on computer again”).

So my succinct advice about authenticity online would be: “be real, but like, better.”

Yours?

LinkedIn – Are You FeelIn’ It?

Confession: I don’t use LinkedIn well or often. Frankly, when I got on it just felt too “stuffy”, and I still get that sense.

While Twitter and Facebook feel lively and energetic (the interface, the way the tool works, the way people interact), LinkedIn feels like one of those sterile networking events where people are trying to make contacts but there’s no actual engagement or conversation

(If only Linkedin were as interesting as this "LinkedIn smurfs" photo by 99zeros

I like the “Introductions” concept.  If you’re looking to make contact with a particular person and you discover that he/she is only separated by a degree or two, it makes sense to try to connect .  Of course, in that case, I’d simply find out who to contact using Linkedin – and then Google to find the person’s email.  I could then shoot them an email, mentioning our mutual connection – without going through Linkedin’s own (unlovable) messaging system…

Other than that, I haven’t found much on Linkedin that you couldn’t do in a more personal and engaging way on another site (mainly Twitter or Facebook).

But, because I don’t like something, doesn’t necessarily make it irrelevant.  (I wish! Physical Sciences seem to have stuck around, regardless.  Go figure.)

Many find LinkedIn extremely useful.  I have a friend who swears by the site. It’s been invaluable for him in terms of  making connections.  And while I relish the ability to be casual and “myself” online, I recognize some don’t believe business and personal should mix as much as most social sites encourage/accept.  Especially if you find Facebook to be too personal (”Who cares what interpretive dance performance my acquaintance is going to…?” ), LinkedIn can be an especially appealing social networking tool.

So, in the interest of fairness, let’s look at what LinkedIn can actually do.

It gives you the ability to (among other things):

• see who your contacts and friends are connected to in a business sense (e.g. who do they know well and have worked with).
• research people/companies (”What’s that person like to work with? Should/could I work with them? Looks like some people I know have worked with her – I’ll ask them.”)
• request and receive public recommendations (that never hurts)
• mention what you are up to (using the “status”/”what are you working on?” update.)
• ask for advice from the Linkedin populace as a whole, or from your friends.
• request a contact make an introduction to someone in their connections with whom you’d like to establish contact.

Recently Linkedin has been making strides to make the platform more appetizing, adding SlideShare and blog post integration (and other applications) as well as “Groups“

And my problem with the site “not being fun”, is in a sense, missing the point.  It’s likely not supposed to be.

As Bernard Lunn writes on RedWriteWeb:

“We want to spend as little time as possible so that we can get the job done, get off our computers, and have a life. LinkedIn is the most efficient place to hunt for customers and employees. It is the first real change in productivity for those who work on the front lines of business.”

LinkedIn also has an “Events” feature – and you certainly can see (and be apprised of) the events your friends are attending – but there’s more.  It trumps the usual events features by offering:

“…recommendations based on the contents of your profile” in your newsfeed. (Marshall Kirkpatrick on Mashable.)

And in How to Get the Most Out of LinkedIn by Brian Wallace remarks that:

“The old adage that “it isn’t what you know, it’s who you know” still holds value. LinkedIn takes this thought one step further, making it “who you will know soon to be of utmost importance.” Using LinkedIn, I’ve trained small businesses to spread their wings and get connected with companies that they might otherwise have thought were beyond reach, and to the persons they were looking for in those companies.”

Indeed, it is often more efficient (and more exact) to search for contacts at a company using Linkedin then to use the “About the Team” page (assuming they even have one) on their website.

Further, LinkedIn lets you know where your connections are now – even if you’ve lost touch or are out-of-the-loop: once you upload your address book, it checks to see who’s on board and you could reconnect with people for whom you have outdated emails:

“I had old emails for people who had changed jobs; LinkedIn automatically showed me where they work now (I assume based on email forwarding).” (Bernard Lunn on RedWriteWeb)

So, clearly, some people are getting value out of LinkedIn.  Are you?
____

Stay tuned: in the next post, I’ll be looking at Linkedin for NonProfits. Update: Well, no, I won’t.  It’s just off the priority list right now – but I did find a great “A Visual Guide To LinkedIn For Job Hunters” and since I feel that networking is a bit like Job Hunting, it’s appropriate. Or maybe it isn’t and I just love the tips and visuals in it. Your call.