1. Chrysler’s F-Bomb

In March of this year, a tweet emerged from the Twitter account held by Chrysler, that read as follows:

“I find it ironic that Detroit is know as the #motorcity, and yet no one here knows how to (expletive) drive.” (Image taken from Forbes)

The Story: An employee of the marketing firm that managed the Chrysler account had posted content to the account earlier in the day from his phone. Later, having forgotten to log out, he unknowingly posted to the company’s account thinking it was his own.

The Repercussions: The backlash was intense. The marketing firm fired the employee responsible and Chrysler firing the marketing firm the next day.

Lesson Learned: The world is watching your every move when you market through social media. These new social media tools are out there to connect people, and to allow everyone to post things that are important to them. When you post something on Twitter it is ‘out there,’ so be mindful of what you are writing. Don’t post things that you wouldn’t want your boss or employers to see because those types of things have a way of coming back around. With a few clicks or retweets your content can be seen by millions of people.

2. Kenneth Cole Offends the World

The Story: In an effort to create a clever advertising campaign Kenneth Cole capitalized on globally trending topics (often around tragic situations) with tweets like this, sent out to his nearly 13,000 followers:

“Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available” (Image taken from Mashable)

The Repercussions: Facing an overwhelmingly negative response, Cole later apologized for making light of a bad situation.

Lesson Learned: It is never okay to base your advertising schemes off of unstable current events, they will blow up in your face and you will end up making a public apology like Mr. Cole. If something like this does happen the best way to handle it is to face the facts immediately. You were wrong and you must apologize as quickly as possible. Many times the press generated by a big mistake, coupled with a quick turn around, and truly remorseful apology will help build your company’s image back to what it was before the comment. History has shown that sometimes this technique even leads to a boost in public opinion of your brand. The worst thing that could happen is if you try to hide something from the public, or to act as though you were right. In these situations types of situations you can never be ‘too quick’ to apologize.

3. Honda’s Secret Agent

The Story: Honda took to advertising through social media in late 2009 with the release of their Crosstour CUV (crossover utility vehicle). They created a Facebook fan page for the vehicle and then released several photos in an attempt to introduce this new car into their fleet. What they received in return was a slew of negative feedback from less-than-impressed fans. In response to all of this feedback, Eddie Okubo decided to write a comment stating his positive view of the car – how he found it novel and useful. (See image to left – taken from CNN Money) The only problem was he did not disclose the fact that he was the manager of ‘Product Planning’ for Honda, and more importantly, participated in the development of this vehicle. Needless to say his opinion was skewed.

The Repercussions: Within two minutes of his posting, Okubo was being outed in comments on the page. People even linked to his LinkedIn profile and called him out on his purposeful lack of disclosing who he was. Honda ended up deleting his comment and releasing a press statement diverting attention from his comment stating there would be better pictures of the vehicle out soon.

Lesson Learned:

1. Never let the success of a product be overshadowed or influenced by your own personal ego. Okubo thought it was about him and forgot that he represented a brand. As marketers, it is not our job to try to boost our own self-image and ego through our jobs; we are supposed to boost the image of our product and brand, always. The moment this is forgotten is the moment a mistake of huge proportion can be made. Okubo could have simply disclosed his position at Honda and stated his positive comment and it would have been taken for what it was worth, but instead he tried to deceive to create positive feedback about something he was invested in and it didn’t work.
2. Do not delete comments. Face the music and accept criticism – it can be very helpful. When you make a mistake as a marketer don’t try to hide it – use the negative feedback and respond to it. Most of the time there is some good that you can take away from the feedback. The minute you start deleting comments or try to hide the negative is when your brand and/or product looses all credibility.

Social Media Lessons Learned: Summary

• Do not forget that the world is watching you as a marketer, with every ad or promotion you run be sure it represents the company in a positive way.
• If a mistake is made in a marketing promotion you can never be too quick to admit it and apologize. The faster you do this the faster you can go back to marketing the actual product instead of doing damage control.
• Never let the success of a product be about your own personal ego. When that happens you are unable to see clearly what is usable criticism, it becomes all about you and not your product.
• Finally do not delete, or try to hide from the public eye, mistakes that you make. Simply admit them and move on, deceitfulness will never take you far.

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“NewsiT believes people want their news portable, personalized and participatory. Our mission is to ‘reinvent’ news content creation by engaging citizens as mobile reporters all collaborating via social networks to produce multimedia coverage of relevance, quality and value.” 

Their first official assignment is on DC Metro’s fire safety and evacuation plans. To participate, just create a profile on the NewsiT.net site (use your real name and photo) or login via Facebook or Twitter. Then, accept a couple of text, photo or video tasks for the Metro assignment: Time yourself to see if you can get from platform to street in less than 4 minutes in rush hour; try to find and document stairways and emergency exits; map the broken escalators! (For all of us DC-ers, we are more than familiar with the headaches of metro and this is a great way to get involved.)

There are a number of other assignments to participate in, including bicycling, blood donation, internet scams, and nuclear power. You can even submit a story if you are at the right place at the right moment. If you have any problems at all with the site or with the assignment, they want to know. They are continuing to develop this summer – iPhone/Droid apps are coming soon – and so need your input. You can learn more on their website – check out their About NewsiT page for sure.

I think it sounds like a really cool way for citizen journalists to start formally sharing what so many of us are already documenting on Twitter, blogs, and other sites. It’ll be interesting to see how the journalism community embraces NewsiT (I know NPR utilizes similar crowd-sourced data). I’m off to sign up and check it out.

UPDATE 5/26/11

So I signed up with NewsiT and I have to say, it was the easiest thing ever – it was two clicks. Having been already logged in to my Facebook account, I just clicked the Facebook icon to register, clicked yes when presented with the authentication screen, and I was in! So easy. It pulled in my photo, location, name, birthday, and gender. Once logged-in I can link my Twitter account as well. …There are definitely a lot of ads popping up on the site (not pop ups). Navigation is pretty easy and there is a high level of integration with both Facebook and Twitter… Hmm… looks like they need some work on their buttons though. When I clicked “Tweet” to share the Subway Fire metro Assignment with my Twitter followers, the only thing autopopulated in the Tweet box was a shortened url…

The Facebook “Like” Button appears to be working normally though – attaching the link, description, and a photo and allowing me the option of prefacing it with something…

There are a lot of different contests you can run on Twitter – giveaways being the most popular – you can offer prizes for tweeting a particular update (like a product launch), for following a particular user (to build your company’s following), or for posting updates with a specific hashtag (to advertise an upcoming event). (See Twitter Promoted Trends and Keurig’s Coffee and a Cruise Campaign for an example of a Twitter Contest) But before you jump in and arbitrarily start tossing ideas and prizes out, you’ll want to take a look at some of my and Twitter’s recommendations:

Have your rules, deadlines, and information ready – You will get questions from your contest entrants and whoever is handling your account needs to be prepared to answer them. When is the deadline? How many times can I enter? How are winners chosen? If its a prize, will it be mailed or does the winner have to pick it up? Make sure you think through how the contest will be run, how the winner(s) will be chosen, and how prizes will be awarded.

Ask users to include an @reply to you in their update so you can see all the entries – Trust me, you don’t want to have to dig through search results and mentions of your company/brand name to determine entrants to your contest. Make sure that including your Twitter @username is part of the requirements so that you can track the entries. This will also be better for your advertising reach as every tweet will link back to you directly.

Consider establishing a hashtag specific for your contest – A hashtag will make sure contest entries stand out from normal @replies and @mentions to your account as well as raise awareness around your target goal. The hashtag should be relevant to your content, and you should encourage entrants to keep their messaging related as well.

Discourage the creation of multiple accounts – If you’re giving away something really awesome, users may be tempted to set up duplicate or dummy accounts in order to enter your contest multiple times. You’ll want to make sure you address this in your rules and contest announcement.

Discourage posting the same tweet Repeatedly – This is straight from Twitter: “Posting duplicate, or near duplicate, updates or links is a violation of the Twitter Rules and jeopardizes search quality. Please don’t set rules to encourage lots of duplicate updates (like saying, “whoever retweets this the most wins”). Your contest could cause users to be automatically filtered out of Twitter search. Plus, instead of their followers seeing your cool contest, their followers might start getting annoyed by your contest. You might want to set a clear contest rule stating that multiple entries in a single day will not be accepted.”

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If any of you are following the Tweetdeck-Twitter-Ubermedia battle then you may recognize this as a bid to get current Twitter.com users to go with an “official” mobile Twitter app when accessing the service on the go – rather than a Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, Cotweet or other third-party application. As the need to monetize grows, these other companies- like Twitter itself – are recognizing that advertising dollars will go to whoever controls user eyeballs. And with so many people accessing Twitter’s services through third-party applications – whether mobile or desktop – Twitter is realizing that unless it grabs the reigns, they may not be able to cash in on their own members.

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Jack Daniel’s on Twitter

By purchasing a Promoted Trending Topic for the day, Jack Daniel’s is guaranteed eyeballs on the new product launch and are generating enough responses to be trending worldwide. Promoted Tweets are an excellent way to get people aware of your product/brand/service and get people talking about it – if only to ask “what is _____??”  The #JackDanielsHoney hashtag from their promoted tweet is being used pretty aggressively and shows up in my local (Washington DC) trending topics as well as for the United States and Worldwide. (For another example of a company using Promoted Tweets recently, check out Keurig’s Coffee and a Cruise Campaign.) [UPDATE: Three Promoted Trends were actually purchased in a seven day span and appeared on April 16th, 21st and 22nd.]

Clicking the hashtag in the Trending Topics section takes you to a search results page with all of the tweets utilizing the hashtag appearing in chronological order (newest first) but witht he most ReTweeted and sponsored Tweet appearing at the top. Here you can see what people are saying about the topic, what they think, and how they are interacting with the brand and each other. Though the whiskey maker does not appear to have an official “Jack Daniel’s” twitter account, they did set up an official @JackHoney account to specifically advertise the product. (There is an unofficial @JackDanielsFans account though with over 16,400 fans. Do you think JD is a little late to the party here?)

If you visit the @JackHoney twitter account you will notice that where you normally link to your website in your profile, they are linking to the Jack Daniels Honey facebook page instead of the official Jack Daniel’s website. In fact, a visit to their website showed zero sign of the new honey liqueur. I even did a search for “honey” which if I hit the Enter/Return key on my keyboard after typing in my query, simply booted me back to the default page – showing no results whatsoever- not even a message saying “No Results Found”. If I click their “Search” button after entering my query, I am taken to a results page only showing a link to cocktail recipes (which after clicking I am taken to a list I have to scroll way down for to even find a recipe calling for honey – which hasn’t even been branded with the Jack Honey yet) and a link for grilling, where I again have to scroll all the way down to find a tiny mention on the last article about using honey teriyaki in a BBQ recipe (again – unbranded). If there is ANY official Honey presence on their website, I cannot find it nor do they link to it anywhere I can see. Branding Fail? I think so.

*A special last thought on Twitter. I think its very interesting how in EVERY tweet that @JackHoney sends out, they include “(Msg 4 21+ only. JD Distillery, Wsky Spec)”. I’m not sure if this was a requirement imposed by twitter, a mandate by JD’s legal team, or just part of their “Responsible Drinking” philosophy, but it’s a nice (albeit useless) thought. [UPDATE: ClickZ reports that "Alcohol brands had previously been restricted from buying ads on Twitter as its audience consisted of too many users below drinking age. Over 70 percent of the network's audience is now over 21 years of age, according to Nielsen and comScore, satisfying self regulatory requirements put in place by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS.) ...In line with DISCUS regulations, all promoted tweets for the product also had to include a disclaimer, which stated, "Msg 4 21+ only. JD Distillery, Wsky Spec.]

Jack Daniel’s on Facebook

If you want more information on the Honey liqueur, your only recourse is to follow the trail to their Facebook Page where you are greeted with what we are calling a “Like Wall”. A Like Wall is like a paywall, but instead of having to shell out your credit card to gain access to the content you have to “Like” the page. I’m not sure who in their design department thought it would be a good idea to make the graphic so ridiculously vertical that you have to scroll twice the length of the page just to see the branded product bottle, but its a good looking image regardless. (I had to blow up my browser window on my second monitor and then zoom way out to capture it all one screen!)

After “Liking” the page you have to click one of the tabs in the left hand navigation or you will be stuck staring at the oversized image forever. I clicked on the “Info” tab first which has some odd content itself… In the product section (among other items) they say: “If you would like to contact us directly, please email us at: jackdaniels_facebook@lynchburg.jackdaniels.com” but in the Email section they say: “@jackhoney on twitter: reply to our DM within one hour to continue receiving tweets.” First of all, I have no idea what THAT means, and second… why not put the email in the email section as well? Just some odd stuff going on with JD here…

As far as content, they have some photos and videos. Their Wall is pretty standard – they allow their fans to comment on their wall publicly which is great, but unlike on Twitter, they don’t seem to be replying to any questions or comments from some very enthusiastic fans which is a shame. They have a Recipe tab which has the branded honey-including recipes missing from their official site. (I may have to try some of these actually – they look good!)

Jack Daniel’s does have an official Facebook Page – boasting over 1 million fans – which is integrated with their website (if you are logged in to Facebook and visit their website it shows who of your friends already “Like” Jack Daniel’s). (With so many fans on Facebook it makes me again wonder why they don’t have an offical presence on twitter.)

Conclusion

Overall I think Jack Daniel’s has the right idea and will most likely get a great return on their Promoted Tweet investment. They seem to be struggling slightly in some areas, but as long as they continue to adapt and embrace these new marketing channels, I think they will see successful results. My advice to them on this campaign would be: Revisit your Facebook profile; Start engaging with your Facebook fans more; Create a presence for the product on your website to complete the circle; and, Its time to add Twitter to your website and marketing channels.

What do you think of the Jack Daniel’s approach? Do you have comments or advice for them? Does the Honey liqueur sound like a smart, forward thinking move? Or are they betraying their roots? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

5/3/11 UPDATE on Jack Daniel’s Campaign

ClickZ just published an article about last month’s Jack Honey Twitter campaign and had some new information that readers may find useful. They quote Marjorie Dufek, interactive marketing director at Brown-Forman (who owns Jack Daniel’s) as saying ”Twitter reported ‘significantly higher than average’ engagement rates for the campaign, as well as greater use of the brand name within tweets than its advertisers usually experience… The advantage for us is that people see Jack Daniel’s as a friend, it’s a very social brand by nature. We have an unprecedented opportunity to have real conversations with our consumers via social media.” Though Brown-Forman works with agencies for some of its marketing functions, Dufek said the majority of its social media activity is handled by in-house teams, which it views as an extension of its 50-year old consumer relationship program. (Thanks for the interview ClickZ!)

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When it comes to Twitter, there are two schools of thought. 1) Find out when your followers/audience are most active. More people online, more people actively retweeting and engaging, more likely to have conversion conversations. 2) Find out when the Twitter-verse is LEAST active. Less content clogging people’s news-streams means that your tweets are more likely to be seen.

If you’re at a loss, you can try a tool like Timely to help you schedule your tweets based on your track record with your own audience. Timely analyzes your last 199 tweets and then shortlists the ones that have been retweeted. The more retweets you get in a particular time slot, the more you may want to focus on that timeslot… or just post similar content. There is no “one right way”.

You also don’t want to forget about things like time zones if you are working with an international crowd or even cross-country. While you are reading the morning headlines in New York, Silicon Valley is still asleep!

When it comes to blogging, frequency will pay off more than anything else. Publishing multiple times per day greatly increases traffic (as well as provides fodder for social networks).

Ok, so lets get into Dan’s findings:

The best time of day to get Retweeted: Between 3pm-6pm

The best day of the week to get ReTweeted: Friday

The best time of day to get shared on Facebook: 9am

The best day of the week to get shared on Facebook: Saturday

The best time to get your blog read: Morning

The Best Time of day to Tweet by Dan Zarrella

The Best Day of the Week to Tweet by Dan Zarrella

The Best Time of the Day to Share on Facebook by Dan Zarrella

The Best Day of the Week to Share on Facebook by Dan Zarrella

Based on these findings, a good strategy may be to post new blog articles at the end of the week and in the morning. And then reshare them on social networks in the afternoon.

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Captico is happy to both set up your Facebook and Twitter accounts for you and manage them as well. Contact us if you would like more information on these services or would like to schedule one-on-one tutoring in developing your social media presence and strategy. Thanks for reading and please share any tips or advice you may have – or ask any questions – in the comments section below!

The micro-blogging service Twitter launched on July 15, 2006. Just five years later it is an international phenomenon connecting companies to customers and some might even say enabling revolutions. “It is one of the most popular online activities among tech enthusiasts and has become a widely used tool among analysts to study the conversations and interests of users, buzz about news, products or services, and announcements by commercial, non-profit, and government organizations.” – PewResearch Center

In November 2010 PewResearch asked online adults: “Do you use Twitter?” In this survey, 8% of online adults said they do use Twitter—with 2% doing so on a typical day. This survey also showed that 74% of American adults are internet users, meaning that the Twitter cohort amounts to 6% of the entire adult population.

• Young adults – Internet users ages 18-29 are significantly more likely to use Twitter than older adults.
• African-Americans and Latinos – Minority internet users are more than twice as likely to use Twitter as are white internet users.
• Urbanites – Urban residents are roughly twice as likely to use Twitter as rural dwellers.
• Women and the college-educated are also slightly more likely than average to use the service.
• One-quarter of Twitter users check in multiple times per day for tweets from others.
• One in five Twitter users never check for new material on the site itself

According to deeper Omnibus surveys on Twitter usage conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, “Twitter users are nearly equally divided between those who check the site on a daily basis (or multiple times per day) and those who check the site infrequently or never. Just over one-third of Twitter users (36%) check for material posted by others on a daily basis or multiple times per day—this is roughly comparable to the two in five (41%) who say they check the site less than every few weeks, or never do so at all. The remaining one-quarter of users say they check the site for updates a few days each week or every few weeks.”

In addition to frequency, users were also asked what they shared on Twitter. Personal and professional observations were the most popular types of updates, while location-based tweets and links to videos are the LEAST commonly mentioned.

• 72% of Twitter users say that they post updates related to their personal life, activities or interests. 1 in 5 (19%) say they post personal updates once a day or more.
• 62% say they post updates related to their work life, activities or interests, with 12% doing so on a daily basis.
• 55% share links to news stories. One in ten (12%) do this at least once a day.
• 54% of these Twitter users say they post humorous or philosophical observations about life in general, with 16% doing so on a daily basis.
• 53% use Twitter to retweet material posted by others, with 18% doing so on a daily basis.
• 52% send direct messages to other users, with 11% doing so on a daily basis.
• 40% use Twitter to share photos with others, with 12% going so at least once a day.
• 28% use Twitter to share videos with others. Fewer than one in ten Twitter users (8%) do this once a day or more.
• 24% use the service to tweet their location (through services like foursquare), with 7% of users doing so on a daily basis.

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Captico is happy to both set up your Facebook and Twitter accounts for you and manage them as well. Contact us if you would like more information on these services or would like to schedule one-on-one tutoring in developing your social media presence and strategy. Thanks for reading and please share any tips or advice you may have – or ask any questions – in the comments section below!

What Are Twitter Promoted Trends?

As we mentioned at their first launch (Twitter: Promoted Tweets and Trends… They’re Heeeerrreee), Twitter’s Promoted Trends gives advertisers a highly visible and coveted space on users’ Twitter home pages in the “Trending” category. Topics that appear here normally, do so because a lot of people in that city, country, or the world (depending on your settings) are talking about a particular topic. If a celebrity dies, for example, they are almost always a trending topic for a day or two as people tweet and share news and remembrances.

Hashtags and memes are also often dominant Trends as people jump on board participating in game-like posts or live-tweeting from a large event. In the image above actor Jackie Chan is listed as a rumor went around that he had died and then the correction that he was in fact very much alive followed. The AMC show “Mad Men” is trending as a lot of people are discussing the delay in the next season’s production due to contract negotiations. At the top of the list we see the “Love Keurig?” Trend next to a “PROMOTED” graphic – letting everyone know that this trend was started by and paid for by a company. The image above is from Captico’s homepage which has its Trending City set for Washington, DC (this is changeable). Here are other Trend Lists from other cities… you can see that some Trends are the same, some are different, but all of them have the Promoted Trend “Love Keurig?” at the top.

What is the “Love Keurig?” Campaign?

Clicking on the “Love Keurig? Trend will take you to a Search Results page (as if you had typed the phrase into the search box) listing everyone using the phrase “Love Keurig” in their tweets.

As you can see the top tweet is from icedkcups whose account is primarily being promoted with this campaign. Brew Over Ice K-Cups is the newest Keurig product and so to launch it, Keurig and Green Mountain turned to Twitter, trusting their rabid fans would be eager to spread the coffee love. And for non-keurig users, theres always the cruise. Yup. They are giving away an Alaskan cruise to one lucky winner. See the landing page they link to below:

So in what turns out to be a huge social media campaign, the promoted trend leads you to the product’s special twitter account, which takes you to the giveaway landing page. The first 2000 people who enter get a free “Brew Over Ice” tumbler. 1000 of those people win a 2nd place prize of a sampler pack of Brew-Over-Ice K-cups (only useful if you have a Keurig). 100 people win a 1st prize os a new Keurig brewer. 1 grand prize winner receives an Alaskan trip for two with roundtrip airfare. Sounds pretty awesome, but they make you follow all 7 of their Twitter or Facebook accounts to enter. I actually had a lot of trouble with the iframes on their site, so I didn’t enter, but its a straightforward enough approach. Sure you could go back and unfollow all of the accounts after the contest ends, but I imagine they are hoping most people are too lazy to go back and do so, meaning an immediate and big audience for all of their news and product releases in the future.

Conclusion

This is a great use of Twitter’s Promoted Trend feature. By choosing something simple and inviting to add onto like “Love Keurig?” it encourages people familiar with the brand to engage it, sharing the tweet and thus promoting the topic, as well as hooks in curious users who have no idea what Keurig is. They are immediately drawn into the conversation, reading reviews, and seeing people who love the product. On top of all of it they offer a lot of great giveaways that people will want to try to win. Would you follow (perhaps temporarily) 7 accounts with one click for the 1/2000 chance of winning a cruise? Keurig is betting you will.

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Captico is happy to both set up your Facebook and Twitter accounts for you and manage them as well. Contact us if you would like more information on these services or would like to schedule one-on-one tutoring in developing your social media presence and strategy. Thanks for reading and please share any tips or advice you may have – or ask any questions – in the comments section below!

“A headache or cephalgia is pain anywhere in the region of the head or neck. It can be a symptom of a number of different conditions of the head and neck.[1] The brain tissue itself is not sensitive to pain because it lacks pain receptors. Rather, the pain is caused by disturbance of the pain-sensitive structures around the brain. Several areas of the head and neck have these pain-sensitive structures, which are divided in two categories: within the cranium (blood vessels, meninges, and the cranial nerves) and outside the cranium (the periosteum of the skull, muscles, nerves, arteries and veins, subcutaneous tissues, eyes, ears, sinuses and mucous membranes).” – Wikipedia

As a video editor, a headache or migraine can be absolutely brutal to your productivity during a project (and I know its no picnic for web developers either). With several projects on my plate for the day, the last thing I wanted was to be dragged down by distracting pain. I tried taking traditional pain meds, eating, sugar, and I even tried a little caffeine (in the form of hot tea). Nothing worked. So I reached out to “the crowd” via Twitter.

I started getting some great suggestions that I hadn’t heard before and good feedback, so I promised to compile all the remedies people sent me into a post. Hopefully it will help you the next time you are fighting a headache!

“Primary headaches account for more than 90% of all headache complaints, and of these, episodic tension-type headache is the most common. Almost everyone has had a headache of this type. Although chronic tension-type headache occurs in only slightly more than 2% of the population, it accounts for a large number of visits to the physician’s office and missed work days…Migraine is three times more common in female patients.”

Headache Remedies

1. Running / Working Out – the thought here is that by getting the blood flowing, it should ease the headache. (But what about that pounding impact? I’d worry that it would rattly my brain all the more…) @MrTosh1980

2. Eat a banana – Bananas contains potassium which is a folk remedy for tension headaches. @nicalderton

3. Soak your feet – Supposedly soaking your feet in hot water draws the blood to your feet and eases the pressure in your head (either way it’ll feel nice!) @funkydeeeva – Hot showers are also recommended for those suffering headaches.

4. Acupuncture – This treatment is growing in popularity and is used for many types of pain. It is often used for chronic tension headaches and migraines.

5. Meditation – Spend 5 mins breathing slowly and deeply to relax upper body stress. (This is good for your body and health in general – try to do it every day!) @nicalderton

6. Eating – You could just be hungry and a headache is your body’s way of telling you it needs fuel! Following a regular eating schedule can decrease your migraine frequency. Some foods, food additives, fasting and/or skipping meals can also cause migraines.

7. Drinking – Similar to the need for food, you may be dehydrated. Throw back a bottle of water and see how you feel.

8. Pressure – Sometimes just applying some pressure to your temples or the spot of the pain can help alleviate it. Try a cool bean bag pouch over your eyes or on your forehead as you lay on your back.

9. Caffeine Cocktail – Sometimes headaches are caused by a lack of caffeine (if you are a soda or coffee addict especially). @reneealarid says two Excedrin and a Red Bull works like a charm and @ShannonRenee is an Aspirin/Excedrin/caffeine devotee as well.

10. Cold – An icepack is thought to bring down the swelling of veins and lighten the pressure of a headache. For a more sophisticated route, @FenceMike is a Biofreeze believer.

11. Sleep – If you can’t beat it, close yourself up in a dark, quiet place and try to sleep it off! Also, following a regular sleep pattern can decrease your migraine frequency.

These are the remedies suggested to me over the course of about an hour or two on Twitter. What do you like to do when you get a headache? Any cures or rituals that help you ward one off? Have you tried any of the things we listed? Let us know in the comments below!!

Our first workshop will be an intermediate (201) level session dedicated to three of the social networking platforms including: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It will be held on March 17, 23, and 30th at 8am-9:30am with the same material presented at each session.

This seminar, developed with small businesses in mind, will empower you with the knowledge and resources to manage a Facebook Page and Twitter account for your business and introduce you to LinkedIn as a professional networking tool.

Sample Social Media Training Workshop Agenda:

Facebook

• Difference between a Profile, a Page, and a Community Page
• Setting up a Page
• Admins (Creating them, managing the account, privacy concerns)
• Managing the Page (Tabs, Photos, Videos, Posts, Filters, Settings)
• Moderating Comments by Users
• Insights

Twitter

• Anatomy of Twitter (Language, Terms, Symbols)
• How to Send Public and Private Messages
• The differences between Tweets, Replies, Tags, and Direct Messages
• Twitter Etiquette
• Setting up an Account and Customizing Your Design

An Introduction to LinkedIn

• Your LinkedIn Profile
• Customizing Your Profile with Widgets
• Groups
• Company Pages

Q&A Review of Material Presented

• If time permits, those with access to computers may also receive individual instruction and guidance in setting up and managing their accounts.

Interested in Attending?

If you are interested in attending, you can register through the Severna Park Chamber of Commerce website or call 410-647-3900.

Cost is: $30 for members, $40 for non-members

We HIGHLY recommend you bring a laptop.

Class size will be limited to 8 participants in each session.

We have also set up Facebook Events for each session.

• Thursday, March 17th, 2011
• Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011
• Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

_____________________________

P.S. If you want to nerd out your home or office, those fun pillows in the featured image are available for sale on Etsy from Craftsquatch for $19.99.

1. Go to your Page. – In this case, I’ve gone to the Captico page.

2. Change User - On the far right side, Under “Edit Page” and “Admins” is a link called “Use Facebook as Captico” (or your company’s name). Clicking this brings up a dialog box (as shown on the right) which will allow me to navigate as use Facebook as my page (giving me the ability to comment on other pages as my page instead of as my personal profile). You can see that the link has now changed to “Use Facebook as Corrie” which I will click back to when I am done playing admin here. [If this is your first time with the new Layout, you may want to follow the Tour to see the new functions here].

3. Click the link.

Seriously. Facebook is now automatically prompting you on how to do this. It used to be a laborious and tricky process to link a Facebook PAGE to a Twitter account, but no more! make sure you are logged into the Twitter account you want your Page posts to go to, and click the “Click Here” text. You will be taken to http://www.facebook.com/twitter/ where you can select which of the Pages that you are an admin of that you wish to link to a twitter account.

4. Click “Link to Twitter” – Click the button to the right of your page and you will be taken to an authorization page like the one below. Click “Allow” and you will be redirected back to Facebook where you can customize what from your Facebook page will be automatically posted to your Twitter account.

5. Edit Settings – You can always go back and change these later, but here you can customize which of your posts to Facebook will automatically go out to your Twitter account.

If you need help with your social media accounts or campaign, contact us today. We will meet with you and co-create a custom strategy to best market you and your business.

Related Articles:

• Facebook’s New Pages Overhaul – More User Friendly
• Whats Quora? And Should I Care About Another Social Media Tool?
• How Does Twitter See Itself and What Are Its Plans and Priorities?
• Are our websites getting too crowded with social media apps?
• How Do I: Connect My Twitter and Facebook Accounts?
• Facebook’s New Spam Filter for Pages

ConvergeUS’ founding board members Rey Ramsey (TechNet) and Biz Stone (co-founder of Twitter) will provide their vision for a new age of tech sector collaboration. They will also preside over a town hall featuring questions from the live and virtual audiences, moderated by Andrew McLaughlin, former White House Deputy CTO.

“We are dedicated to bringing together the technology, nonprofit, governmental and academic sectors to facilitate and accelerate technology-based social innovation — new strategies, concepts, ideas and coalitions — to meet social needs ranging from early childhood education to assisting military families.” – ConvergeUS

“TechNet, the bipartisan, political network of CEOs and Senior Executives established ConvergeUS in the spring of 2010. TechNet’s current CEO, Rey Ramsey envisions a non-profit that not only reinforces TechNet’s role as the “Voice of the Innovation Economy”, but also leverages TechNet’s access to human, technology and financial resources of the technology sector.” – ConvergeUS

When: Wednesday, February 23rd, 6:00 – 8:00pm

Where: The Ronald Reagan Building, Rotunda Room (1300 Pennsylvania Ave,  Washington DC 20004)

Attend: RSVP now as there are only 200 free tickets available.

Questions: Email pgusman@technet.org

Can’t attend? Tune into the livestream here

ConvergeUS is interested in your ideas. Do you have an idea about how to harness or use technology to solve community problems? What are your priorities for the problems they should tackle first? Fill out the form on their website to submit.

Related Articles:

• Tech Cocktail DC Wrap-Up – Meet Your Local Startups
• What’s Next DC Conference 2011 – Wrap Up: Marketing Best Practices and Social Media Takeaways
• #DCWEEK 2011 Dates and Registration Announced

• Takeaways from the Government Video Expo 2010 in DC
• Recap of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s “Tour and Tweet”
• Nonprofit 2.0 Unconference Keynotes by Beth Kanter, Allison Fine, Wendy Harman
• Digital Capital Week 2010 – “A Slice of DCWEEK”
• Digital Capital Week 2010 – Quotes from DCWEEK Gov & Org 2.0 Day
• Digital Capital Week 2010 – Quotes from DCWEEK Media 2.0 Day
• GoPromoIt.com – Discounts for sharing with your social network.

“DCWEEK is a festival in the US capital focused on bringing together designers, developers, entrepreneurs, and social innovators of all kinds. It’s a series of 100s of distributed events powered by the community and complemented by core conferences, parties, and projects created by the festival organizers iStrategyLabs and Tech Cocktail. DCWEEK 2010 was assembled in 3.5 months and drew 6,000 attendees from around the world.”

Last year, I attended two days of DCWEEK and really enjoyed them. I met people I still talk to online! Check out our blog entries from DCWEEK 2010:

• Digital Capital Week 2010 – “A Slice of DCWEEK” – featuring video interviews
• Digital Capital Week 2010 – Quotes from DCWEEK Gov & Org 2.0 Day
• Digital Capital Week 2010 – Quotes from DCWEEK Media 2.0 Day
• Watch the 2010 DCWEEK Video

Registration is now open, and is free for the first 2000 attendees!

• For sponsorship inquires please email: goto@digitalcapitalweek.org
• Submit an idea for a topic or event
• Join the Facebook Group
• Follow DCWEEK on twitter (Use #dcweek)
• View the 2011 DCWEEK Overview and the Metrics from 2010

Related Articles

• Takeaways from the Government Video Expo 2010 in DC
• Recap of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s “Tour and Tweet”
• Nonprofit 2.0 Unconference Keynotes by Beth Kanter, Allison Fine, Wendy Harman
• Digital Capital Week 2010 – “A Slice of DCWEEK”
• Digital Capital Week 2010 – Quotes from DCWEEK Gov & Org 2.0 Day
• Digital Capital Week 2010 – Quotes from DCWEEK Media 2.0 Day
• GoPromoIt.com – Discounts for sharing with your social network.

Twitter and TV

“More and more, [viewers] have a device in their hand when they’re watching TV. Like on “Glee.” The characters tweet while the show is on. When “Glee” starts, tweets per second for “Glee” shoot up, and stay up 100 times that level until the show ends, and then they drop. That has interesting implications. Like, it takes the DVR out of the mix, because you have to watch in real time to make it worthwhile.”

“I was having a conversation with Conan O’Brien, as one does, and he was talking about the importance of Twitter to him, and how the 140 character limit is the right length for a joke. It’s definitely the case that network TV people like Twitter, because it gives them feedback, like they’re in the theater, watching how the shows play out.”

Celebrities on Twitter

“A third of all the players in the NFL playoffs are using Twitter actively. And many players have more followers than their teams.”

“The interesting thing about the top 200 to 300 tweeters–a lot of them are musicians, actors, etc. LeBron James, etc. I think Lady Gaga is number one. But! They’re not all celebrities. There’s CNN Breaking News. And the New York Times. And other brands like Gary Vaynerchuk, who aren’t really that known outside that world.”

Twitter on Mobile Devices

“Mobile is a more and more and more common use of Twitter–40 percent of all tweets created on mobile devices. That might seem low, but it was 25 percent a year ago. 50 percent of active users are also active on mobile.”

“The important thing for us is consistency across device to device to device.”

Twitter Fixes and Problems

“…We raised a bunch of money. We’re hiring “tons of engineers and operations engineers” in the last year. We hired 100 people in Q4, out of about 350 total. And we’re working very hard on erasing our ‘technical debt’. [read: mistakes and failures] We’ve got a guy assigned to this pretty much exclusively. And there used to be a tolerance for this, and now there isn’t. If someone fires a pistol next to your ear every hour, after a while you stop flinching when you hear it. It’s crucial that we do this, both for our users and our engineers, who shouldn’t have to get up at 3 am all the time.”

Twitter’s Future Plans

“We want to instantly connect people everywhere to what’s most important to them. See, that’s a good statement. We’re not just a social network that’s connecting people. It’s connecting for a purpose. So some people meet girlfriends on Twitter. And other people get tickets to shows they like on Twitter. Etc. And you don’t have to tweet to get a lot of value out of it…. we have to make that easier to do. We’re going to spend a lot of time making that consumption experience much better.”

Twitter’s Business Model

“We’re a technology company that’s in the media business. Our business model is an advertising model, so we’re selling ads, and we’re letting people promote their accounts, etc. And we really don’t have to do anything else. Our engagement rates on these ads are ridiculously high. When we saw our stats this last spring when we launched, the numbers were so big we thought we were measuring it incorrectly… We want to be a standalone company. It’s my sincere hope. We’ve accomplished 1 percent of what we want to do.”

Related Content:

• Twitter Statistics and Info on Usage
• The Twitter “Firehose” is up for grabs – if you have the cash!
• How Do I Send Public and Private Messages on Twitter?
• How Do I Post Updates to Twitter?
• Anatomy of a Tweet – A Closer Look at Twitter
• How to Customize and Set Up Your Twitter Page
• How to Sign Up for a Twitter Account
• Side by Side Comparison of Old and New Twitter Interfaces
• The New Twitter – More than a Facelift?
• 12 Tools for Tracking Twitter Sentiment
• Twitter Apps and You – New Authorization Process
• Lance Armstrong, Twitter, and Google – Why Link Building and SEO Works
• Twitter launches new official TWEET button
• Twitter: Who To Follow Suggestions

But how much is too much? At what point do we overwhelm our websites with links to, lets be honest, 3rd party sites? Are we driving users away from the very place we purport to use social media to drive them to?

In previous articles we have shown you how to add Facebook Like and Share buttons to your site and how to embed a Tweet button on your site – you can even see our Twitter feed on the right of this blog and retweet or share on Facebook this article from links below (we hope you do)! We are obviously big fans of engagement through social media, and while perhaps we need to take it a step further on our own site (stay tuned for our forthcoming redesign), I think some people might be taking it too far.

Today while browsing the Social Media News Group on LinkedIn which I recently joined, I saw a link shared by the groups leader Chris Voss to an article he had written entitled “Facebook Fan Page Marketing – You Need to Have a Welcome Page Design“. I clicked it and was taken to his website, and the inspiration for this article. Up until this very moment in writing this article, I had not read what I thought to be his blog entry (turns out its a video). I was so visually overwhelmed by calls to action on his site that I left – not to be bothered with digging through it all to find the content in question. Behold:

Now, looking at it here does not give the same effect as this image is static and I’ve drawn red arrows over everything. So just imagine that all of the things the arrows point at are popping up or sliding around.

1. As this link was shared on a LinkedIn Group, there is an iFrame header that pops up first, over top of whatever (and wherever) the link takes you.
2. A pop-up appears over the Drawer that slid up (double whammy) enabling me to “update my status on multiple social networks at once!” Yay.
3. Another window pops up asking me to subscribe immediately to the blog/website… which I haven’t even seen yet… No thanks.
4. Something popped up and then disappeared over here that I completely missed by the time I had the wherewithal to take a screen shot.

From what I understand, Chris Voss “is President of Strategix One Consulting, Sharing 20+ yrs Experience as a Serial Entrepreneur of Successful Companies in Business and Marketing”. He has a “show” (video blog) where he shares his advice and knowledge with everyone, and comes across as a nice guy. I watched his welcome video. So lets look at the content on his page.

iframes and Pop-Up Windows

Since I came here via LinkedIn, if I try to navigate through Chris’ website on my own, I am stuck with that iFrame at the top (Arrow #1) which will be a pain if I want to bookmark or link to anything directly. Its easy enough to close by clicking the “X” in the top right hand corner – which I always do on iFrames, as I find them annoying. While I’m at it, I close any pop-up window that hasn’t disappeared on its own, and I begin to feel more comfortable on the site already. I still have the Drawer at the bottom but I can handle that for now – though it is the busiest Drawer I have ever seen in my life.

Self-Promotion

I get it. You’re a marketer. But the first thing I see (once I actually get to the article) is you asking me to hire you to design my Facebook page? I have NO problem AT ALL with a call to action like this, but put it below the content. Show me why I would want to hire you first. Show you me you know what you are talking about before hitting me with a pitch. This is like the pop-up asking me to subscribe the first second, the first time I visit your page (Arrow #3). Don’t make me scroll down to see the content I came to your site to see.

The article is actually a video blog entry, which is fine, but the first 30 seconds are – you guessed it – a pitch to subscribe and watch more content. The next 7 minutes or so basically tell the viewer that you should have a Welcome page on your Facebook Fan Page by showing other brands that have them. Do I think you should have a Facebook Welcome page? Yes. You can do a lot with them. They are really great for promotions. Do I think you should watch this video? No. Not really informative – unless you have no idea what a Welcome Page is and then yes, give it a watch! Otherwise its basically a fluffy ad.

Besides the pop-ups, the most prominent thing you see on the site is the number “84″ in white, which is Chris’ Klout score. Klout is a firm that attempts to measure social influence, and while 84 is a good score (better than mine), does it really need to be so prominent on every page? Well, I guess if you’re selling yourself as a social media expert, its a good thing to share as it IS relevant. But still.

Also, the second link in navigation – after “Home” – is a list of tweets saying nice things about Chris Voss, labeled as “endorsements“. And while being messaged/mentioned over 1000 times is pretty awesome, I have to say… really? A copied and pasted list? At least embed a saved search from twitter with your name as the query – you’re Mister Engagement!

Advertisements

There are a number of ads on the page and while I understand the need for monetization, many seem to be ads for business practices that are shady in the social media world – like automated twitter “managers” and “get famous on youtube” banners. There is no unified size to ads and they seem to be slapped down the side of the page…

But Does It Work?

Despite my personal opinion on many of the elements to Chris Voss’s site (and please note, I am not commenting on his knowledge, products, services or abilities in ANY WAY – only my impression of the physical site), it seems to be working for him. I posted a comment for him on LinkedIn and hope he sends me some of his stats and analytics on how his site is performing so that I can share them here, but he currently has over 68,000 followers on Twitter, over 2,400 fans on his Facebook page, and over 900 subscribers to his YouTube Channel.

I would love to hear/read your thoughts and comments on this and similar sites. And for all of Chris’ many fans out there, my opinions are my own and not Captico, LLC’s. But I would love to know what drew you to Chris Voss, what you like about his site and methods, and what you would improve if you could.

As always, thanks for reading!

Related Articles:

• How Do I: Connect My Twitter and Facebook Accounts?
• Facebook’s New Spam Filter for Pages
• How Do I: Post Updates on New Twitter?
• Side by Side Comparison of Old and New Twitter Interfaces
• Modules, widgets, boxes oh my! What do you call a box?

In less than 4 years, micro-blogging/social networking site Twitter has grown to tens of millions of users. With that, we have seen its demographics change as people adopted the tool, brands embraced the medium, and celebrities popularized it. The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project recently released a new report on who is using Twitter. We will take a look at that data in this article.

“One-quarter of Twitter users check in multiple times per day for tweets from others, while one in five never check for new material on the site.” - Pew Research Center, December 2010

Twitter Use by Demographic Group

Highlights:

• Young adults, aged 18-29 are more likely to use Twitter than older adults.
• Minority internet users (African-Americans and Latinos) are more than twice as likely to use Twitter as are white internet users.
• Urban residents are roughly twice as likely to use Twitter as rural dwellers.
• Women are slightly more likely than men to use the service.
• College-educated users are also slightly more likely than average to engage on Twitter.

Source: The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, November 3-24, 2010 Post-Election Tracking Survey. n=2,257 adult internet users ages 18 and older, including 755 cell phone interviews. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish.

How often do users check Twitter for updates?

Source: The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, questions on omnibus surveys October 7-October 10 and October 28-November 1, 2010. N=1,561 adult internet users ages 18 and older, including 663 cell-phone interviews; n=102 for Twitter users.

What and How Often are People Tweeting?

When it comes to the kind of content people are sharing on Twitter, Pew’s survey found that observations related to users’ personal or professional lives are the most popular types of updates, while location-based tweets and links to videos are the least commonly mentioned.

• 72% post updates related to their personal life, activities or interests. One in five (19%) say they post personal updates once a day or more.
• 62% post updates related to their work life, activities or interests, with 12% doing so on a daily basis.
• 55% share links to news stories. One in ten (12%) do this at least once a day.
• 54% of these Twitter users say they post humorous or philosophical observations about life in general, with 16% doing so on a daily basis.
• 53% retweet material posted by others, with 18% doing so on a daily basis.
• 52% send direct messages to other users, with 11% doing so on a daily basis.
• 40% share photos with others, with 12% doing so at least once a day.
• 28% share videos with others, with 8% doing so once a day or more.
• 24% tweet their location, with 7% of users doing so on a daily basis.

Source: The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, questions on omnibus surveys October 7-October 10 and October 28-November 1, 2010. N=1,561 adult internet users ages 18 and older, including 663 cell-phone interviews; n=102 for Twitter users.

Related Content:

• How Does Twitter See Itself and What Are Its Plans and Priorities?
• The Twitter “Firehose” is up for grabs – if you have the cash!
• How Do I Send Public and Private Messages on Twitter?
• How Do I Post Updates to Twitter?
• Anatomy of a Tweet – A Closer Look at Twitter
• How to Customize and Set Up Your Twitter Page
• How to Sign Up for a Twitter Account
• Side by Side Comparison of Old and New Twitter Interfaces
• The New Twitter – More than a Facelift?
• 12 Tools for Tracking Twitter Sentiment
• Twitter Apps and You – New Authorization Process
• Lance Armstrong, Twitter, and Google – Why Link Building and SEO Works
• Twitter launches new official TWEET button
• Twitter: Who To Follow Suggestions

Social Media and Creating Meaningful Connections at a Tradeshow Event

Having attended conferences and seminars of this nature in the past, I have grown used to live tweeting and connecting with people online through the event’s hashtag and then meeting up in real life or continuing the connection post-event on Twitter. I was surprised by the lack of attendees participating in social media during the event – despite the Expo being populated with such technically savvy people. Granted, the wifi was bad and there was no free internet (the convention center charges $24.95 per day for access – OUCH), but even I with my simple cell phone was tracking hashtag use and tweeting. Based on my observations and experience, I would recommend the following for Government Video Expo (@gvexpo) and its vendors to better engage attendees next year:

• Have an official hashtag for your specific event. In this case, there was an official hashtag – #gve10. But not everyone got the memo. #gvexpo is the most used, and even #govvid10 made some appearances. The problem here is by not unifying the conversation, you lose a lot of notification and connecting opportunities. A more prominent (and pre-event) release of the official hashtag would have helped here.
• Encourage vendors to display their twitter handles prominently on their booths. I for one actually had some difficulty tracking down some Twitter users/companies as their booth signage did not match their usernames – and i wanted to win that iPad!
• Get someone to sponsor free internet! Surely one of the major brands and technology companies in attendance would have stepped up – I (and I know most of the other attendees) would have rather had internet access than any of the raffle prizes yesterday. Live tweeting means links, photos, and content blasted out to the world in real time! It creates buzz and free advertising for your event.
• Include attendees twitter handles on their badges – it makes it easier when looking for people you planned to meet up with and allows you to connect with people offline who you have seen around online.
• Vendors should have whoever is tweeting for them be at their booth! When you are talking to someone online, go to the booth as asked, and then no one their knows what you are talking about (or what Twitter is in some cases) then you feel stupid and leave with a bad taste in your mouth. (Also, always have someone at your booth – nothing worse than an unattended booth especially if you have questions! Looking at you Petrol!)
• Offer a Twitter Raffle prize. Next year, give prizes to a random tweeter each day (they have to see it and claim it on twitter!) or give one to the most prolific tweeter of the conference (who tweeted about the event). Its a good way to make sure everyone is using the right hashtag too.

(Several manufacturers, Panasonic shown here, had sample sets complete with actors so visitors could test out cameras and displays.)

Meet the Government Producer’s Panel

The Television, Internet, and Video Association (TIVA) hosted an interesting panel really focused on how freelancers could best work for government agencies. Responses from the panel members below include how they want to hear from you, what they want to see, and who they need. Tanya Spann Roche of Think Speak Act Media moderated the panel and lead off with some general advice. To work with most government agencies:

• Must have a TIN (Tax ID Number) (free to acquire)
• Must have a DUNS number (free to acquire, though they will try to sell you their services)
• Must Sign up in the CCR database (free, but must renew this annually – and they may not notify you!)
• Its good to have the ability to take credit cards/bank cards with a genuine Merchant Services Account as it is illegal for many agencies to use paypal.
• For larger contracts (in excess of $100k), you are required to use the E-Verify System to guarantee employees are legal citizens.
• For “micropurchases” (or those under $3k, no competition or posting by a government agency is necessary. Purchasing is completed by micropurchase cardholders.
• Purchases by a government agency over $3k require competition and small business set aside. Purchasing is completed by contracting officers.
• For purchases over $25k, government agencies are required to post the need on FedBizOpps.

Matthew Zappile, a Producer for the United States Postal Service was the first on the panel to speak. He began with a sizzle reel of the work they do at the USPS which is geared toward employee training needs, lobby digital signage, USPS-TV on demand (check out their youtube channel), event production, press materials, and information workers can access on Blackberries or on the mobile devices they carry with them. There is a lot of fear of the internet and social media at the USPS, Zappile said, but they are trying to move forward with it. For production, Zappile is on a 4 person in-house team with everyone wearing several talent hats, and if you want to work with them:

• For freelancers they often hire editors (must know Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, and more – they are an FCP studio) and other crew members – with multi-talented people being the requirement.
• They DON’T need writers, producers, or single-skilled people.
• Don’t send them DVDs – they want to see your work online – and their email can only handle 5MB or smaller sizes.

Bob Martindale, the Director of Post production at AARP-TV was careful to specify that he only works in the broadcast department for AARP – they have multiple media departments that produce their own video. While not a government agency, with 30-40 million members, AARP is the world’s largest lobbying organization. A lot of work is done by freelancers in Martindale’s department, if you want to work with them you should know:

• They are an AVID shop and are always looking for freelance editors who can utilize After Effects as well.
• They do take on other crew members as well – especially local contractors for remote work.
• He is NOT interested in resumes! He is interested in resume reels.
• Prima donnas need not apply. “We are selecting, not settling.”
• If you do a lot of work for them, you will eventually be asked to move to a payroll company.
• You can send him DVDs, but he’s impressed by a good website with videos online.

Ron Meininger, the Chief of AV Communications at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (under the US Department of Commerce) is responsible for producing all general marketing media and most technical and training videos. Speed is a major factor for Meininger and so most of their processes and hiring is based on decreasing the length of time it takes to produce a project. As a result, they create most of their projects with multiple vendors. If you are a writer, videographer, editor or anyone else and want to work for them, you should know:

• Captions (and 508 Compliance) are a federal government requirement.
• You can find their purchase needs (especially for larger projects) on FedBizOpps.
• Speed is crucial. they often use services like yousendit to shorten the review process.
• If you are a Voice Over Artist: “I don’t want to get post cards! Call or email me.”
• If you are a videographer or an editor: “I don’t want to see demo reels or a clip here and a clip there. I want to see a COMPLETED program.”
• “I want to hear from people first before they send me stuff.”
• Don’t send DVDs – send an email with a link to view your work online.

Panasonic: Your First Look at AG-AF100 4/3rd HD Camera

Jan Crittenden Livingston, Product Line Manager at Panasonic, gave attendees a first look at Panasonic’s new AG-AF100 4/3rd HD Cinema Camera (shown in photo on the left). While some claim this tiny wonder could be a DSLR killer, Livingston says with a $5ooo price point, its really the next step up from DSLRS. The AF100 is not meant to replace ENG cameras (does not have motorized servo zoom), but is geared toward indie filmmakers and production companies. Virtually any lens can be mounted to it, and it writes to SD media. The AF100 is Panasonic’s first camera to do both undercrank and overcrank in 1080. It offers uncompressed audio and utilizes AVCCAM recording.

DC Metro Final Cut Pro User Group

The full day was capped off by the monthly meeting of the DCFCPUG which boasted food (provided by sponsor AJA Events), a massive attendance, and the most informative talk of the day: Intro to Stereoscopic Aquisition by Gary Adcock. Adcock is a HUGE believer in 3D and has worked on many major projects in the industry. He’s done 52 3D projects in 2010 alone. He stated that 3D is not a fad and its not going away and then launched into an increasingly technical definition of terms and specifications involved in 3D equipment, media management, and production.

(DC Film Community Corner at Government Video Expo 2010)

VBRICK: The New Government Communications Strategy: Video as a Vital Resource

John Bowman, Director of Federal Sales at VBRICK, shared some data from an interesting Gartner User Survey Analysis: Video Content Management and Delivery: Streaming Goes Mainstream (August 2010). While his brief talk quickly skewed to the benefits of VBRICK as a video streaming solution, some points were:

• Training is currently the #1 use of IP Video
• Most companies are buying hardware or software to host/deliver video.
• Most companies use corporate WAN to deliver video – though over the internet is growing.

(Tedd Tramaloni, a Production Specialist at Snell Group, works on a multi-screen display.)

Other Recommended Articles

• GoPromoIt.com – Discounts for sharing with your social network.
• Recap of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s “Tour and Tweet”
• PODCAST: Nonprofit 2.0 Unconference Keynotes by Beth Kanter, Allison Fine, Wendy Harman
• Digital Capital Week 2010 – “A Slice of DCWEEK”
• Digital Capital Week 2010 – Quotes from DCWEEK Gov & Org 2.0 Day
• Digital Capital Week 2010 – Quotes from DCWEEK Media 2.0 Day
• Video: “Social Media for Business” Series with Emily Paterson

Full Disclosure Alert: Captico created GoPromoIt. Yup. Our brain trust came up with it, our coders coded it, our designers are designing it, and I am talking about it. That said, I do hope you read on, if for nothing else than my thorough explanations and witty commentary. ….Ok, so maybe just read the walk through and give the thing a try…

What is GoPromoIt?

For sellers: GoPromoIt is a magic button that sits wherever you paste it on your website and encourages visitors to post about your company, your service, or your product to their friends.

For buyers: GoPromoIt is an awesome coupon code generator that gives you discounts for sharing a link with either your Twitter network or your Facebook network.

How does GoPromoIt work?

For sellers: After you sign up (which is free right now, by the way), you will be guided through creating your first promotion. Don’t worry – you can make lots of them and delete them and edit them. You have ultimate control over what you offer, where the button goes, and how long its available. After you create your first promotion, the code for your button will be automatically generated. Just copy it and paste it wherever you want it on your website (the checkout process is a good place to start). Users will see the GoPromo button, click it, share the link, and then receive the coupon code to apply to their purchase.

For buyers: Click. Share. Save.

Why should I use GoPromoIt?

For sellers: Viral advertising. Like a ripple effect, your link and name will be spread through out people’s social networks as well as promoted on GoPromoIt.com – increasing sales, SEO, brand awareness, new customers, and a new way to connect with those customers on Twitter and Facebook directly.

For buyers: Discounts. Yeah, baby. Discounts. Its like foursquare… for your wallet.

How do I get a GoPromo Button?

For sellers:

• Create an account (quick an painless – just a username and email address).
• Create a promotion (very simple – we guide you through)
• Copy & Paste the html code onto your website (we will help you with this as well – just contact us if you need to)
• Let us know what you think! How can we improve it?

For buyers: Um… sorry… become a seller and see above!

Whats next for GoPromoIt.com?

We will continue to develop and tweak the site. Your feedback is crucial which is why it is free. This is a beta testing period which means everything works, but it may not have certain options or features that you may think up, the design may change, development packages may be added, etc. GoPromoIt might eventually move to having paid price plans (but it might not), but rest assured, if you are a company that participates in this beta testing period GoPromoIt (at least this version of it) will ALWAYS be free to you.

You can find GoPromoIt on Twitter and Facebook.

Watch a Video Walk-Through of Getting Started!

This guide will walk you through: Auto Posting your Twitter Updates to Facebook.

Why Do I Want To Automatically Post My Twitter Updates to Facebook?

In general, I am of the school of thought that this direction of linkage does not work as well as the reverse. The two social networks are used differently and people interact with them differently. If I follow a company or brand on Twitter and they post every day or a few times during the day – I enjoy that. If I follow a company or brand on Facebook and they are updating all the time (especially the limited content postable on Twitter) I get irritated very quickly and will either “hide” them or “unlike” them.

That said, if you don’t post often or have a different audience, and like the convenience and ease of posting just to Twitter (perhaps you’re on the go a lot), then this auto link may be a good way for you to keep your Facebook Profile or Page up to date without lots of log-ins. — Its also a good way for your Facebook friends to see (and then follow) that you have a Twitter account. –

How Do I Connect My Twitter Account to my Facebook Profile?

• Log into the Twitter account you want associated with your Facebook profile.
• Log into the Facebook account you want to link to.
• Go to the Applications page http://apps.facebook.com/twitter/ (shown below — you will notice confirmation of the Twitter account you want to link to, in this case @corrietweets)

• Click “Allow” — or click “Deny” if you’ve changed your mind (though you can always unlink later).
• Now you have some options: (show below)

• You can unlink or Disconnect your Twitter from your Facebook Profile.
• You can transfer your photo – meaning always use your Facebook photo on your Twitter account.
• You can select whether you will auto post updates to your Facebook Profile OR to a Page you manage.
• Share a link telling people that you’ve linked the accounts.

How Do I Connect My Twitter Account to a Facebook “Fan” Page?

Well, first you have to be an Admin of that page. Then follow the steps outlined above, but check the “Facebook Page” box and select the desired Page from the dropdown menu.

How Do I Make Changes or Edit this Application on My “Fan” Page?

• Go to your Fan Page.
• Click “Edit Page” under your picture.
• 
• Click “Applications” in the left hand navigation.

• Scroll down to the Twitter Application.
• Click “Go to Application”
• You will be taken to the main Permission Screen where you first chose your settings.

Thanks for reading and I hope this article helps! As always, if you have any questions or comments, we’d love to see them!

Related Twitter Content:

• Twitter Statistics and Info on Usage
• How Does Twitter See Itself and What Are Its Plans and Priorities?
• The Twitter “Firehose” is up for grabs – if you have the cash!
• How Do I Send Public and Private Messages on Twitter?
• How Do I Post Updates to Twitter?

• Anatomy of a Tweet – A Closer Look at Twitter
• How to Customize and Set Up Your Twitter Page
• How to Sign Up for a Twitter Account
• Side by Side Comparison of Old and New Twitter Interfaces
• The New Twitter – More than a Facelift?
• 12 Tools for Tracking Twitter Sentiment
• Twitter Apps and You – New Authorization Process
• Lance Armstrong, Twitter, and Google – Why Link Building and SEO Works
• Twitter launches new official TWEET button
• Twitter: Who To Follow Suggestions

ReadWriteWeb reports that, “Customers will only be allowed to analyze the messages, not display them, and resale of the content itself will remain prohibited. The two companies emphasized that this is the first time a structured, reliable arrangement has been available for the many customers interested in purchasing a large quantity of streaming Tweets. Sale of the 100% full firehose will remain in the hands of Twitter itself. The full firehose contains approximately 1,000 Tweets every second.”

Gnip will provide three new Twitter feeds that developers and companies (and anyone else with the cash) can buy access to:

• Twitter Halfhose. This volume-based feed is comprised of 50% of the full firehose and will cost $360,000 per year.
• Twitter Decahose. This volume-based product is comprised of 10% of the full firehose. Starting today, developers who want to access this sample rate will access it via Gnip instead of Twitter. Twitter will also begin to transition non-display developers with existing Twitter Gardenhose access over to Gnip. Estimates for cost are at $60,000 per year.
• Twitter Mentionhose. This coverage-based feed provides the realtime stream of all Tweets that mention a user, including @replies and retweets.

(Developers who have obtained access to Twitter’s Garden Hose in the past, may be interested in trying “Spritzer” -random selection of 2% of all Tweets- from Gnip which appears to still be free, but the larger Garden Hose will no longer be available.)

Related Content:

• Twitter Statistics and Info on Usage
• How Does Twitter See Itself and What Are Its Plans and Priorities?
• The Twitter “Firehose” is up for grabs – if you have the cash!
• How Do I Send Public and Private Messages on Twitter?
• How Do I Post Updates to Twitter?
• Anatomy of a Tweet – A Closer Look at Twitter
• How to Customize and Set Up Your Twitter Page
• How to Sign Up for a Twitter Account
• Side by Side Comparison of Old and New Twitter Interfaces
• The New Twitter – More than a Facelift?
• 12 Tools for Tracking Twitter Sentiment
• Twitter Apps and You – New Authorization Process
• Lance Armstrong, Twitter, and Google – Why Link Building and SEO Works
• Twitter launches new official TWEET button
• Twitter: Who To Follow Suggestions