Utilizing New Media & Social Media to Build Support For Your Organization & Your Agenda

Utilizing New Media & Social Media to Build Support for Your Organization & Your Agenda

American Tort Reform Association

Molly NichelsonAmerican College of Cardiology

2400 N Street, NWWashington, D.C. 20037

Email: mnichels@acc.orgPhone: (202) 375-6470

Audience Questions

By show of hands…

How many of your organizations / companies use at least use one

social networking platform?

By show of hands…

How many of you use at least use one social networking platform?

By show of hands…

How many of your companies / organizations have:

1.) Facebook fan page(s) 2.) Twitter account(s)3.) LinkedIn account4.) YouTube account

5.) SlideShare account

By show of hands…

How many of you have:

1.) Facebook fan page(s) 2.) Twitter account(s)3.) LinkedIn account4.) YouTube account

5.) SlideShare account

By show of hands…How would you describe your

social media skills?

Beginner

Intermediate

Advanced

Warren Miller*

*Ski nerds know who I’m talking about

Yeah, that’s me. Are you impressed? I’m kind of a big deal. Follow me on Twitter!

What would you like us to talk about?

Don’t be shy! Interactivity is key!

Now on to our regularly scheduled broadcast…

And thanks for engaging!

“Stop, look and listen, baby,

that’s my philosophy….”

And if you can name that song, you get a peanut butter and banana sandwich!

The King of Social Media says,

STOP: Questions to Ask

• The audience – who I want to engage & how?– What are my goals?

• What are the right sites to be on?– And how do they differ?

• What is my comfort level?– Technology– Time Commitment – Sharing & interacting

STOP: Questions to Ask

• What are the legal implications?– Are you or a member of your staff contacting

members of Congress directly? • Does it constitute lobbying?

• How can this help my career? Hinder?– How will you be viewed by peers?– How will this intel you share on social

networking sites be used by opposing groups?

LOOK: Questions to Ask

• What are other groups doing?– Look up like-minded groups and not so like-

minded groups– How are they leveraging the new medium?

• Look at your resources– Who will manage it? – Who will be committed to the daily care and

feeding your social media sites?

LISTEN: Questions to Ask• Listen to the pros and cons from peers and

colleagues– Learn from other group’s mistakes– Know there are valid concerns – and know how to

defend your use of social media

• Listen…with an open mind about the new technologies– These technologies are not for young people anymore– I mean, the King does this from his grave…

http://twitter.com/ElvisPresley

What are the top social networking sites?

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Social Networking Sites

• Facebook– Can be personal, professional or a blend of the two– I have two pages

• Professional• Personal

• Twitter– Can be personal, professional or a blend of the two– I manage accounts

• @Cardiology• @MollyNichelson

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• SlideShare– Share your PowerPoint presentations– Be seen as an expert– Search other people’s presentations

• Foursquare (or other geolocating sites)– Check in to places and earn badges – Connect with your friends and see where they are– Can be good for grassroots advocates for lobby days

• LinkedIn– Purely professional– Great way to engage your peers!

Social Networking Sites

Twitter

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Twitter Applications

• Sending Your Tweets:– Computer

• Tweetdeck: http://tweetdeck.com/beta/ • Seesmic: http://desktop.seesmic.com/ • Hootsuite: http://www.hootsuite.com

– Blackberry • UberTwitter: http://ubertwitter.com/

– iPhone• Tweetie: http://www.atebits.com/tweetie-iphone/

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Twitter Applications

• Feeding your RSS feeds to Your Twitter Account:

– Ping.fm – http://ping.fm – Tweetlater – http://tweetlater.com– Hootsuite -- http://hootsuite.com

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Twitter Terminology: Hashtag

• Use a hashtag (#) before a word in a post allows you to tag that post for that word

• This allows your word to be more readily searched

• Can help bring you new followers and help you find more followers & monitor conversations

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RSS Feed Twitter Accounts

• There is NO way you can keep up with all the tweets

• Put individual feeds of members of Congress / thought leaders in to Google Reader

• Use Tweet Congress and dump their feed in to your Google Readerhttp://tweetcongress.org/

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Grassroots and Twitter• Annual Meetings / Hearings

– Live Tweet programs– Use the Twitter ‘handle’ of the person talking– Use hashtags

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Grassroots and Twitter• Retweet Members of Congress

– Shows the members you’re watching– Gives credibility to your organization– Passes on the member’s message– Make sure to keep the Tweets relatively even

along party lines

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Grassroots and Twitter• Grassroots Campaigns

– Create a hashtag (and see if it’s being used!)– Advertise it Action Alerts, publications– Retweet those who use it & thank them!– Send tweets to members of Congress with

campaign…and have your advocates do the same

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Grassroots and Social Media• Grassroots Meet Ups

– Invite like-minded social media folks to your meeting• Amplifies your voice – but you won’t have control

of message!• Provide a bloggers lounge & allow access for

special interviews

– Live Stream your events• USTREAM• Qik• Livestream

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Best Practices & Advice

• Know that you WILL make mistakes• You will NOT have full control• Use your own voice

– Don’t turn your Twitter account in to an RSS feed

– Be a HUMAN behind your account• Give something of value to your audience

– Coupons, advice, articles, thanks

Best Practices & Advice

• Realize that Twitter is like a radio station in which there is a ‘drive time’

• Retweeting is totally fine to catch the different time zones

• Follow members of Congress via TweetCongress:http://tweetcongress.org/

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Best Practices & Advice

• And know when you send a tweet, it’s out there…and it’s searchable!

– http://search.twitter.com

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Best Practices & Advice

• Following & Followers– Be judicious, but don’t be a snob either

– Don’t get freaked out by who’s following you

– If someone is wacky, block them

– And did I mention there are reporters on Twitter…and they may follow you? • http://journalistsontwitter.wetpaint.com/

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Best Practices & Advice

• Monitor, Monitor, Monitor!– Don’t throw stuff out and then don’t react;

monitor your account and who’s following you

– Have an RSS feed on your #hashmarks & company’s name• http://search.twitter.com

– See what’s popular on Twitter• Trending topics

American College of Cardiology’s Advocacy Department & Twitter

Work Twitter Account

• Company Twitter Page: @Cardiology– Updates on news stories– RSS Feed of CEO’s Blog– ACC Advocacy issues– Engaging MOCs– Feeds to my work Facebook page for ACC members,

staff and MOCs

• I run it, but it’s the voice of the ACC Advocacy Department– Engage people personally via DM

How We Use Twitter

• Send news articles– Show that we’re on top of the healthcare

issues• Members• Media• Other healthcare groups

• RSS feed– CEO’s blog (Lewin Report)

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How We Use Twitter

• Highlight member and advocacy achievements & grassroots pushes

• Interact with members of Congress– http://tweetcongress.org– Gray area as there may be legal implications– I have ceased in doing this as I am not

registered – I urge caution!• Still teaching our members about Twitter

– Have included our link in alerts35

Facebook

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Making the Most of Facebook

• Who is your audience?– Members of Congress, businesses, peers,

journalists• What do you want to share?

– And what will be of interest to them?

• How do you want to engage this group?– Action alerts– Attend events– Spread the message

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Finding Facebook Friends

• Finding People– Take the time to find those members of

Congress on Facebook• Facebook.com/Congress – links to all MOCs • Find out about townhalls, look at their videos…get

intel!

– Find out if you have members / employees on Facebook• Run your email address book in Facebook. You’ll

be surprised who’s on

Facebook Advocacy

• Health Reform – Campaign for Patient Access Advocacy Week– Created an event on Facebook and invited

ACC members, staff, chapter executives AND members of Congress

– Obviously members of Congress wouldn’t attend, but made them aware of the week

– Created a secondary hit to our members about the week

Work Facebook Account

Facebook Events

ACC Facebook Page

Facebook – Are They Engaging?

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Best Practices & Advice

• Monitor, Monitor, Monitor!– Don’t throw stuff out and then don’t react;

monitor your account and who’s following you

– See what other people are posting and post it to your page

Best Practices & Advice

• Make it interesting!– Feed your Twitter account to Facebook

• Gets them interested in Twitter & hits them with stuff that they may not see via email

– Share events, links and semi-personal stuff about yourself• Helps your members / employees connect with you

& this helps your grassroots efforts!

Facebook Parting Thoughts

• Engage with others & make it interesting

• Know that you will make mistakes

LinkedIn

LinkedIn

• Show your professional side

• Engage your peers in groups– Really can expand your horizons and link with cool people

• Meet new people & broaden your horizons

• Link your professional Twitter feed to your LinkedIn account

• Link your PowerPoint presentations via SlideShare– Toot your horn!

Parting Thoughts

• As advocates have to walk a fine line• Personal and professional benefits of

engaging in social networking can be huge• I’m a big proponent, and greatly enjoy the

folks I interact with online• Overcoming fear and realizing you’re

human as is everyone else can be difficult• Think about the tools and how you can

use them

Your Homework

Time to read up on social media!

Reading Up on Social Media

• Social Media Websites

• http://mashable.com/• http://www.smartbrief.com/• http://www.twitip.com/• http://www.readwriteweb.com/• http://www.chrisbrogan.com/• http://social-media-university-global.org/• http://beth.typepad.com/ (for non-profits)• http://www.socialfish.org/ (for non-profits)

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Reading Up on Social Media

• ePolitics Websites

• http://techpresident.com/• http://personaldemocracy.com/• http://tweetcongress.org• http://twitterroom.thehill.com/• http://www.epolitics.com/• http://www.nextgov.com/

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Stay in Touch!

Molly NichelsonAmerican College of Cardiology

2400 N Street, NWWashington, D.C. 20037

Email: mnichels@acc.orgPhone: (202) 375-6470

Work Twitter: @CardiologyPersonal Twitter: @MollyNichelson

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