Media Relations Goes Social

Presenter: Capt. Nathan Broshear, US Air Force

The US Air Force has recognized the power or social media and has been actively opening up its network allowing every airman to post their experiences (in photo, video, etc.) to their personal Twitter, Facebook, etc.  Their goal is to humanize military members, and they feel that this helps enable that mission.  Of course there are concerns about what they may post, and geolocation as part of social media is creating concerns, but as Broshear put it, “you’ve got a 26 year-old kid in charge of a $50 million airplane, and you’re not going to trust him with a Facebook page?”

Obviously, during times of crisis, war, etc. the military is sought out by the media for information.  “I don’t have to find them,” says Broshear.  “They find me.”  Social media has made it easier than ever for media to connect with their public affairs officers.  The Air Force has stopped sending out press releases and manages their relationships with various media through social networking  outlets.  “Only 16 percent of people trust PR people,” says Broshear, ” but 70 percent trust people like themselves or their peers.  It only makes sense to connect via social networks and build relationships with people.”

The theme is that social media enables relationships – which is essential for PR people.  People are coming to the Air Force for bite sized pieces of information when they need them, and that’s a benefit that social media offers.  They are always connected to each other through social media and the flow of communication goes both ways.

Crush It! with Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk, Author of Crush it! – Cashing in on your passion

Filled with energy, gratitude, and passion Gary Vynerchuk demands attention (and it doesn’t have to do with him dropping the regular f-bomb).  He’s passionate about what he does and is an evangelist for using your passion to promote your love on the web.  He’s all about using social media to connect with individuals, whether its for your personal brand or your business.

He’s passionate about his belief that everyone is, or should be, in the customer service business and technology is only making that more necessary.  He relayed a story about his brother showing up at a restaurant after calling for a reservation.  They told him he’d have to wait, so he pulled out his phone to call to let people know, and as soon as he pulled out his phone, the hostess told him she’d find him a table immediately.  In the age of social media, and review sites like Yelp, companies are starting to realize they have to change the way they do business and start paying attention to customers needs.  “Word of mouth connects us to good shit, or tells us what to avoid, and that’s the new way of the world,” says Vaynerchuk

Vaynerchuk believes in investing in customer relationships, showing you care for them, and eventually it will pay off.  He says, “everyone is trying to be a 19 year-old dude – they’re trying to close too fast.”  Every business needs to be providing their customers/communities with the attention and content they’re looking for.  Content has never been more valuable, and everyone is in the content business.  People told him his book wouldn’t sell (it made the NYT best sellers list) because he “gave too much content away,” but he believes we live in a “thank you economy” where people are appreciative of his knowledge and buy because of the trust and relationship that has been built.  “You have to care and do good first,” he says, “it’s the only way to convert.

Twitter’s ‘@anywhere’ Third-Party-Integration App Announcement

Just a quick follow-up to the video clips Koz posted yesterday from Twitter co-founder and CEO Evan Williams’ SXSW Keynote interview:

• There’s been a flood of analysis, opinion, and information on the heels of Williams’ (@ev) announcement of the new Twitter third-party-integration application, “@anywhere.”

• If you’re not currently a Twitter user, the ability @anywhere will provide to seamlessly mesh Twitter with other sites, such as The New York Times, Amazon, and eBay, and let users share links and add “follows” without leaving the sites, may certainly bring more users to Twitter.

• Here’s a good write-up from TechCrunch about the features and third-party partners (so far).

I can easily see how @anywhere will change the way I use Twitter. It may sound silly, but I also get how it aligns with Twitter’s No. 1 company principle: Be a force for good.

As @ev said yesterday, “Access to information … is about reducing the walls between influencers and the influenced. Democratization of information changes the world.”

ROWE: No schedules, no meetings, no joke.

Imagine a work environment where you work when you want, how you want, and where you choose. A work environment where strict accountability for results is the norm. It’s simple: If you don’t deliver results, you don’t have a job.

That’s the premise of the Results-Oriented Work Environment (ROWE), a concept pioneered and implemented by Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson when they were co-workers at Best Buy. It’s also the topic of their book, “Why Work Sucks and How to Fix it.”

I met them at a South by Southwest panel today, where they were by joined by workplace author and Wall Street Journal columnist, Alexandria Levit, and two CEOs of organizations that have implemented ROWE.

It was an honest discussion of the challenges and benefits, and the cultural shift required for ROWE to work. There’s a summary of the discussion here and more at GO ROWE.

Panelists: @jessicalawrence, @jeffgunther, @caliandjody, @alevit. Meet them on YouTube.

Evan Williams SXSW Keynote

Here’s a few quick clips from the Evan Williams Keynote conversation…

Gary Vaynerchuk Now

Here’s a quick video from the Gary Vaynerchuk presentation going on right now.

Privacy, publicity, and micro-blogging in the dark.

One of the world’s foremost authorities on social networks, Boyd works at Microsoft Research New England and also serves as a Fellow at the Harvard University Berkman Center for the Internet and Society.

In a very large, very dark ballroom at the Austin Convention Center, I micro-blogged keynote highlights on Twitter. Here’s a link to posts from the event:

South by Southwest Interactive Keynote: Privacy and Publicity with Danah Boyd.

Saturday at SXSW in Photos

Here’s the Saturday photo gallery…

Scenes from Day 1 @ SXSW

See pictures here…

SXSW Scene: Who’s the dude playing four square?

Koz and I were leaving the Austin Convention Center tonight and saw these guys playing four square right outside the doors. We stopped to watch and take a few pictures.

While other up-and-coming brands are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to get their buzz on at South by Southwest Interactive, this simple game (which cost about $5.99 in sidewalk chalk) had people lined up to play.

Go Girlacher!

My sister has been playing women’s tackle football for 7 or so years for the St. Louis Slam.  She’s been the league’s player of the year, and won numerous awards and recognition – mostly for having more tackles than anyone else in the league.  She proudly wears 54, and boasts about being called “Girlacher” after the Bears’ Ulracher.  While her team has done well in the past, this is the first time they’ve gone to the Championship.  I’ve posted the link to the stream below so you can watch the game – 7 pm tonight!

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