School Communications 2.0

Presenting to Non-Profits

Evelyn McCormack — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 18:28:27 +0000

I recently attended a breakfast meeting called the Executive Roundtable for Non-Profits in Westchester County, a small group of professionals representing such non-profits here as the American Red Cross, the Greyston Foundation, several hospitals, and several independent public relations/marketing professionals. They were a friendly group fascinated at how non-profits nationwide are using social media with great success. There were lots of good questions, and I was especially impressed with how the local chapter of the Red Cross is reaching out via social media.

As I’ve mentioned here before, there’s a huge learning curve when it comes to using social media, and that continues. But I’ve seen the interest and experience literally explode in the last two years. And this group was no exception. While most in the room had personal Facebook pages, at least one person did not. Had I met with the same group three years ago, it would have been a completely different picture. At any rate, here’s my presentation from the breakfast meeting.

Non Profits and Social Media

Non Profits and Social Media http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=nonprofitssocialmedia-110213064640-phpapp01&stripped_title=non-profits-and-social-media&userName=evelynmccormack

View more presentations from Evelyn McCormack.

http://www.thebestdealyet.com/?emccormack

Top Dog — For a Day, At Least

Evelyn McCormack — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 13:26:22 +0000

Just imagine my shock this morning, when I received a few emails congratulating me for being a Featured Blogger on bloggers.com today. Hooray! A little attention is good for the ego. Bloggers is a website that lists hundreds, perhaps thousands, of blogs. It’s a community of bloggers who keep in touch with one another, vote for each other’s websites, and learn tips and tricks of the blogging trade from one another. I’m far from being one of the site’s most popular bloggers, and I certainly don’t blog for money, so it’s encouraging to be recognized for my efforts — even if it only lasts 24 hours. Thanks to Bloggers for making my day!

Top tips for blogger outreach (publicrelationssydney.com.au)
Promote Your Own Blog Day (frankviola.wordpress.com)
Top 10 Attributes of a Successful Blogger (dailyblogtips.com)
Got Success in Blogging, Now Stay Successful Forever (shoutmeloud.com)

2010 in review

Evelyn McCormack — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 12:38:16 +0000

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

The Leaning Tower of Pisa has 296 steps to reach the top. This blog was viewed about 1,000 times in 2010. If those were steps, it would have climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa 3 times

In 2010, there were 24 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 155 posts. There were 19 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 6mb. That’s about 2 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was September 20th with 48 views. The most popular post that day was Social Media Policies by Government and Non-Profits.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were mariaozawa2u.blogspot.com, healthfitnesstherapy.com, facebook.com, nylady.edublogs.org, and twitter.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for social media policies webinar, “using facebook” +”independent schools”, “school district” “blog platform” “social media” engagement, race to nowhere documentary, and school communication google.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Social Media Policies by Government and Non-Profits August 2010

Invisible Girls October 2008

Webinar on Social Media Policies for School Districts October 2010

How Private Independent Schools Use Social Media August 2010

About Evelyn McCormack April 2008

How to Use RSS Feeds: Be Entitled

Evelyn McCormack — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 19:48:28 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

Here’s a very old article I wrote for eHow on using RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feeds to monitor the news, your favorite websites and blogs, and to just be entitled enough to expect to be “fed” your daily dose of information and news. Like me.

I still get asked the question (what’s RSS) often enough that I think it’s worth repeating the explanation.

How to Use RSS Feeds | eHow.com.

499 Subscribers to the Site RSS… (sebastianmarshall.com)
Good RSS feeds (edugeek.net)
Make Instapaper even more useful with RSS subscriptions (thenextweb.com)

How to Enhance a Twitter Account | eHow.com

Evelyn McCormack — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 03:12:16 +0000

How to Enhance a Twitter Account | eHow.com.

Get Back on That Bus!

Evelyn McCormack — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 13:07:31 +0000

I generally hate news like this, because some public school district officials have to be pushed — kicking and screaming — into using public relations tools like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Nevertheless, this story just goes to show you how determined people can be in using social media to deceive, lie and generally screw with other people’s lives.
According to the National School Public Relations Association, a fake Twitter account posing as the Rogers, Ark., Public Schools announced on Monday that the schools were closed because of bad weather. Although many schools in the region were closed because of a storm, Rogers Public Schools were open.
The fake tweet was discovered early enough for Rogers Public Schools, which has 813 Twitter followers, to respond through regular communication channels. Ashley Siwiec, the district communications coordinator, reminded families that they should verify all social media posts by also checking the district’s website, rogersschools.net, which also features a warning about imposters.
Ms. Siwiec also issued this announcement: “Please note that @RogersSchools is the real Twitter account for the Rogers School District and @Rogers_Schools is an impersonator.”
In addition, the district filed a complaint with Twitter in an attempt to disable the account, and Twitter responded quickly, suspending the rogue tweeter. According to a local TV station, the fake account already displayed many tweets similar to those posted on the official account, dating back to Feb 10, 2010.
While this is a good lesson for anyone who believes that these giant social media companies won’t respond, it’s also not yet another reason to avoid diving into social media. Just remember that nothing is fail-safe in the World of the Web. Here are a few tips for anyone administering school district social media tools:
1. Always contact Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to report fake accounts, spam, and inappropriate comments.
2. Develop a social media policy, if you don’t have one.
3. Write disclaimers and guidelines for use and post them on your Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages.
4. Link to your disclaimers and guidelines from your website home page.
5. Conduct a public presentation about how your district is using social media. Preferably, conduct the presentation at a public event, like a school board meeting, and televise it district-wide.
6. Turn off comments on both your YouTube channel and on each video you post on the channel.

List of All Google Related Twitter accounts and Facebook pages (madrasgeek.com)
The Giffords Tragedy and Social Media (zdnet.com)
Case Study: My Strategy and 7-Part Online Toolkit for Tribarter (carriewriterblog.com)

Why Not Ask the Students?

Evelyn McCormack — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 02:07:54 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

In what I think will be an interesting experiment, and perhaps a model for the rest of us, the Corning-Painted Post Area School District in New York has given its high school students the responsibility of crafting a social media policy for the District. Colleague Bill Cameron, Public Information Coordinator at Corning, contacted me about this initiative, which is already getting extensive press attention for obvious reasons. It’s important to note that the students researched the topic of social media first, submitted a research paper and conducted a Powerpoint presentation for the Board of Education.The Board recently voted to permit the students to develop the policy. Good for them. I like seeing this kind of open-mindedness and collaboration with our young people, who, after all, know the topic. It’s also a lesson. How can adults develop social media policies if they’re not using those tools? Perhaps it’s time to learn. Here’s a look at a local news station’s piece on the Corning experiment:

Social Media Policies (bengrey.com)
Seattle School District Says it has a Plan to Tackle Overcrowding (slog.thestranger.com)
School Tech: 6 Important Lessons From Maine’s Student Laptop Program (mashable.com)
A Little Common Sense (bengrey.com)
Why you can’t use social media (socialmediatoday.com)
Integrate Social Media … In Real Life (socialmediaexplorer.com)

Hooray! A Social Media Guide for K-12 Schools

Evelyn McCormack — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 23:11:16 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

The Wisconsin School Public Relations Association has just published a “Social Media Guide” for K-12 schools. The organization, made up of school public relations professionals from one of the prettiest states I’ve ever visited, is offering the publication for $25 (non-members), plus the $5 cost of shipping.

Because there are so few such publications around, I plan to order myself a copy, just to be as up-to-date as possible. I’m also curious to see if the guide offers any wisdom about social media policies. You can order the guide here.

bryantBROWN Offers Free Social Media Guide to Medical Marketers (prweb.com)
Learn More About Social Media (blogs.constantcontact.com)
Social Media Outsourcing Guide – How to Choose the Right Social Media Consultant for Your Business (customerthink.com)
Twitter for Education and Connecting with Students (marketingconversation.com)

2010 in review

Evelyn McCormack — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 14:30:10 +0000

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

The Leaning Tower of Pisa has 296 steps to reach the top. This blog was viewed about 1,000 times in 2010. If those were steps, it would have climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa 3 times

In 2010, there were 24 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 155 posts. There were 19 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 6mb. That’s about 2 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was September 20th with 48 views. The most popular post that day was Social Media Policies by Government and Non-Profits.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were mariaozawa2u.blogspot.com, healthfitnesstherapy.com, facebook.com, nylady.edublogs.org, and twitter.com.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Social Media Policies by Government and Non-Profits August 2010

Invisible Girls October 2008

Webinar on Social Media Policies for School Districts October 2010

How Private Independent Schools Use Social Media August 2010

About Evelyn McCormack April 2008

2010 in review (meandmycrochet.wordpress.com)
Join Us for a Series of Social Media Marketing Webinars and Twitter Chats (blogs.constantcontact.com)

We Can Do This, People…

Evelyn McCormack — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 01:48:42 +0000

: Image by VinothChandar via Flickr

I just presented at Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES, an organization just like my employer, but located in the northern suburbs. It was a presentation for the PNWBOCES administrative team, an extremely receptive audience of administrators and educators. I loved the dynamics, and what a lively bunch of people.

I know this is hard, people. But it seriously is the future. And as I say often, if the White House can do it, we can certainly begin to use social media. Even just a little bit?

Here’s where you can find the presentation.

Close to Home: Sales bounce back in Westchester, N.Y. (usatoday.com)
White House Interactive Tour Goes Online (informationweek.com)

School Communications 2.0

Presenting to Non-Profits

Top Dog — For a Day, At Least

Related Articles

2010 in review

Crunchy numbers

Where did they come from?

Attractions in 2010

How to Use RSS Feeds: Be Entitled

Related articles

How to Enhance a Twitter Account | eHow.com

Get Back on That Bus!

Related Articles

Why Not Ask the Students?

Related articles

Hooray! A Social Media Guide for K-12 Schools

Related articles

2010 in review

Crunchy numbers

Where did they come from?

Attractions in 2010

Related articles

We Can Do This, People…

Related articles