New Media Not Old For Everyone
Last Thursday, a few of us spent the morning at the San Francisco JCC as part of a workshop dedicated to educating local non-profit organizations on how to incorporate new media into their outreach and development. Knowing that the not-for-profit sector is oftentimes working with the scantest resources, The Council of PR Firms – our industry’s trade association – coordinated a number of these events around the country as part of its own ten-year anniversary celebration. LaunchSquad was one of the firms that helped to put the San Francisco event together, along with Eastwick Communications, The Hoffman Agency, Peppercom and Weber Shandwick. Additionally, new media strategists included Stacy Bond of KQED/AudioLuxe; Charlene Li (Altimeter Group); and Susan Tenby (TechSoup Global).
The workshop’s goal was dual in nature. On one hand you’ve got a smart, committed group of people working to change our world, and on the other you’ve got some very exciting new tools and technologies that can have a tremendous impact on spreading the word. Putting them together can – and should – yield powerful results. Sure, we media-types all know about social media strategy, but it’s easier said than done when you’re focused on applying for grants, appealing to donors, running your programs and dealing with policy and bureaucracy. Indeed, it’s easy to imagine how Tweeting can fall low on the list of priorities.
About 80 attendees came to the event, and when they were asked whether or not their organizations keep a blog, only about half responded “yes.” When asked about having Facebook or LinkedIn groups, the number dropped even lower. And forget Twitter altogether. This isn’t to say the attendees hadn’t heard about these things – come on, we’re talking about the Bay Area here, people! But many of the organizations simply hadn’t put these things in place (and weren’t sure how to). Our goal, though, was to add the word “yet” on to the end of that sentence.
As the morning progressed, panel topics were discussed, presentations and case studies were made, and you could actually feel the motivation rise in the room. Blogs had gone from press release couches at best, to interactive newsletters and beyond; Facebook from a teenage plaything to a gathering place for millions of potential donors; and Twitter from a frivolous fad to a legitimate industry and cause news feed. By the end of the event, folks were churning with ideas and brimming with excitement to get back to the office and Make. It. Happen.
The main panel called “Digital Etiquette: Best Practices and Tools for Non-Profits Online” hit on everything from effective and efficient blogging to how and why Twitter is an imperative way to be part of the conversation. LaunchSquad partner Jason Mandell focused his remarks on the ways that organizations should initially evaluate their current content and outreach programs and then transfer them into emerging online areas. “Converting your existing relationship with your audiences to the online world is a key part of effectively harnessing the great array of social media tools available to you,” Mandell said.
This was the goal of the event – to help explain and demystify a type of communication that some of us might take for granted. I’ll be the first to admit that while client work is certainly demanding, I don’t necessarily have the same constraints on my time and resources as my non-profit counterpart does. I’ve worked in that sector, too, and I understand that the set of priorities is completely different.
Thankfully, the tools and technologies available to us are all the same, and they are easier than ever to experiment with and put to work for our message. Any organization, no matter how large or small, can have significant reach and voice. The challenge for everyone is to make it a good one. Coming out of the workshop I realized that, while dozens of organizations left that day feeling empowered with what new media can offer, so did I.
Update: Brian Fuller writes about the event on the Greeley’s Ghost blog.