A Day in the Life…

It has been nearly two months since the launch of the Stop The Fire campaign and results have been promising. The campaign - which includes the development of a website, blog, public service announcement, Facebook group, YouTube channel, Linkedin group, promotional materials and a petition - has been met with great support and interest.

The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness for fire safety. So what does success look like? Thus far there has been interest from home builders to offer fire sprinklers as an option in new homes - that’s extremely positive. Really, it’s about changing behaviour and getting people to think about fire safety. It’s worked for me. I recently purchased our first fire extinguisher, checked all our smoke alarms and I am investigating fire sprinkler options. This campaign has changed my behaviour.

Check out the public service announcement and visit the website. Fire safety affects everyone.

 www.stopthefire.org  

After a lengthy hiatus (preparing for a two-day sales meeting), I’m finally back. During the meetings I was tasked with providing information about communications, public relations, issues management and social media marketing. The latter being one of the topics that raised some eyebrows.

Working in a B2B company, the benefits and possibilities of social media marketing are sometimes overlooked or thought to be too new for “our business”. It’s great to get the opportunity to share information about how social media does work… and more importantly spread the enthusiasm. I started off my presentation with a video that I found on YouTube that I found hillarious, but also talks to the many social media tools available.

I think that sometimes individuals, and companies, become a bit overwhelmed when they see the glut of social media sites that are available. The message I tried to convey to the group was that you don’t have to use every single tool out there… just use the tools that work for you and your business. The key is participation; trial and error, in these early days of social media, is fine.

I think the audience understood and internalized the message. Better yet, now they’re looking for some information on how they can use social media… that’s a huge success. At least I think so.

Without further a-do… here is Rhett and Link’s Internet Overdose Song. If there are any other effective social media or communications videos available, I would love to learn more about them.

Enjoy!

I am amazed by how many people are getting hooked on Twitter. Although I really shouldn’t be; Twitter - like Facebook, MySpace and YouTube before it - has built momentum at break-neck speeds. For those of you who aren’t aware of this brilliant invention (and that number is dwindling quickly), Twitter is a social messaging service that lets you post short, interesting messages in real-time. Each Twitter post is called a “tweet” and unlike a lengthy blog posting (my apologies in advance), tweets must be short (under 140 characters) and sweet. It’s a whole new dynamic. Going to the bank? Tweet it. Watching a cool show on TV? Tweet it. You can tweet about anything… and most people do. Twitter gives you the capability to follow people you know, or are interested in hearing from. And people have the ability to follow your tweets. It’s like one big happy, chatterbug family.

Businesses have started to see the benefits of using Twitter. Organizations are posting links to their news release, tidbits on upcoming events and other interesting corporate information. I’ve found that the most successful organizations are the ones that keep their tweets interesting, even if the message is corporate.

I’ll admit that I’ve quickly become a Twitter junkie. If you have an addictive personality, be prepared to spend some time on Twitter. Once you tweet… you just can’t stop.

Let me know your thoughts on Twitter and how it’s working for you. And feel free to follow me at http://twitter.com/gmederos.

 Enjoy!

This is a great article from a good friend of mine on ultra-darwinism and how it relates to business.

Have a read and feel free to comment on your views:

http://marketingjunky.wordpress.com/2009/03/06/ultra-darwinism/

Enjoy!

I’ve worked in internal/employee communications for some time and the one thing that has always been a challenge is finding the right tools to reach employees. More specifically, finding tools that they would actually want to use and pay attention to - it’s been an ongoing challenge to say the least.

I’ve seen (and worked on) employee newsletters, e-mail blasts, intranet sites, bulletin board postings, events, meetings, speaking notes for managers, blah, blah, blah. Sure, some employees like and appreciate the information being provided to them… for the most part, they genuinely want to know what’s going on with their organization. But I’ve also asked many employees to give me their candid feedback on many of these tools - and for the vast majority of the employees I’ve asked, these tools simply don’t work. Basically, I’ve heard everything from “I don’t read any of that stuff,” to “we have an Intranet site?”

The common objection seems to be that with many of these traditional tools, employees really don’t have a mechanism that allows for actual dialogue with the company. And that’s were social networks come in. Chances are that some people you work with (in many cases, most people you work with) are on either Facebook, MySpace or Linkedin - if not all three. And that’s just the mainstream popular sites. Just think about the opportunities that exist on these social networks to gain valuable feedback and communicate with your employees.

For instance, if you’re like me (and I’m sure many of you are), you frequent these sites and look for groups, pages or comments that mention your organization. Social networks provide a great tool to find out what your employees, customers or other stakeholders are actually saying about your organization. You can also form a group page where you can provide key information on events, news and other information about your organization.  More importantly, these communities allow you to have candid conversations with your employees and gain valuable insight into what they want to know, as well as how they feel the organization can improve. Be prepared to hear some things that you may not want to hear, but if your goal is to create dialogue with your employees, why not give it a shot? Just remember that corporate speak is not welcome in this realm, so the best approach is to have conversations. Also, make sure that you are doing as much listening as you are talking - an active community is a fertile ground for feedback.

 It can be as simple as setting up a Facebook group and letting employees know how they can join this group. Chances are your employees are already talking about your organization - might as well join the conversation.

This past week sure was an eventful one. Working with the City of Vaughan Fire & Rescue, I was part of the launch of Stop The Fire, a campaign aimed at raising awareness for fire safety and preparation.

On February 12, we hosted the official launch news conference and while sweating it out hoping that everything would go off without a hitch (which thankfully it did), I realized the importance of this initiative. Has that ever happened to you? You work very, very hard on something and finally when you launch said project and you have a minute to reflect, you realize the significance of the work that was done. During an address by the Town of Oakville Fire Chief and President of the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs, Richard Boyes, I realized is just how important it is to be fire safe. Chief Boyes was recanting something that happened just before the holidays in Oakville. A five year old boy died in his home due to smoke because his family was not ”fire safe”. He also talked about how a Chaplain had to explain to his schoolmates what had happened and having to face their reaction.

I’ll be honest… my eyes welled up at hearing Chief Boyes’ story. I have a two year old daughter and the very thought of anything happening to her because of my negligence or lack of preparation is devastating. I know that most parents, pet owners or family members (so pretty much everyone) would agree with that sentiment. So I started thinking: “how fire safe is my home?” Luckily, I have had the opportunity to learn more about fire safety from Vaughan Fire & Rescue. I have also heard what other Fire Chiefs have to say about being prepared for a fire. But not everybody knows what it means to be fire safe.

I have included a couple of tools that you can download from www.stopthefire.org that will help you ensure that you are prepared should you experience a fire. And I’m hoping that the campaign and website will be a useful resource for anyone who has questions about making their home fire safe.

Home Fire Escape Plan

Fire Safety Checklist 

This cause is more than a “cool” campaign… it’s the right thing to do. Please stay fire safe and do whatever you can to help stop the fire. 

Unless you’ve been hibernating for the past few years, you know about the global recession that’s running our economy ragged. And with a recession comes job loss. Read any news service or flip on your TV and you’ll be sure to hear about the tremendous number of jobs that have been shed thus far during this economic downturn… and what’s worse is that most experts agree that more job losses are still to come. You’ve probably seen it (or worse yet, lived it) in your current position; which leads me to wonder: can we make ourselves recession proof?

I read an article in the Toronto Star a while back that gave some pointers on how to make yourself invaluable. It was an interesting read, but I’m not sure how much stock I would put into the piece. I mean, really… is anyone irreplaceable? I’m going to have to go with Beyonce on this one.

My thought is that developing skills beyond your traditional skill set will definitely make you a more valuable asset for your organization. As will the ability to play nicely with others. The bottomline is to recognize the most important factor in today’s economy… the bottomline. If you can demonstrate that your contributions positively affect this bottomline, then you’ll be just fine… hopefully.

We don’t want to end on a negative though, so let’s take solace in the fact that we’re not here… yet.

Do you have any tips on how to make your position recession proof? If so, I’d love to hear them.

So here is my mission: to become the social media expert for my company. That’s quite a tall order. I mean really, what does that mean? Does it mean that I need to be up-to-date with the latest and greates social media tools? Does it mean I have to be able to blog en par with heavyweights like Joseph Jaffe or Perez Hilton? Does it mean I need to have more than 3,000 Facebook and MySpace friends? I hope not… for my own sanity.

So what does it mean? Here’s my take… I think it means that I need to develop a comprehensive strategy that defines a clear business objective. Then I need to keep my “ear to the ground” and be willing to learn about what is available in social media world and how it can be used to create dialogue with our internal and external stakeholders. And I also need to be able to ensure that the dialogue that is being created and the company’s participation in the different communities is genuine and devoid of “corporate talk”.

More importantly, from a corporate standpoint, I think the job includes selling the traditional thinkers on the new world of social media. That includes: debunking the myths, outlining the benefits and cautioning on the pitfalls of non-participation. It means that we should enjoy any praise we receive in this new sphere, but we should value the criticism - the voice of the customer. Social media complements traditional tools… and in some cases, does a better job. It means that as a company, we need to embrace the risk and enjoy the journey.

What I realized is that I can’t do it alone. It really is a team effort. Sometimes changing people’s minds is akin to shaking the very foundations of their being (ahem… maybe a bit overdramatic). But we’re in the midst of a Brave New World (not so much like the one outlined by Aldous Huxley… although the book is great… if you haven’t read it, you should… sorry, lost my train of thought) and the quicker we realize that times are changing, the better off we’ll be.

What does being a social media expert mean to you?

P.S. I’m reading a fantastic book by Paul Gillin about social media marketing called Secrets of Social Media Marketing. Anyone who is looking to have their organization take the dive into the social media world should have a read.

I’ve been reading a lot lately about employer brands and how they impact employees positively (when done right). And it got me thinking about all the places I have worked in the past and how the employer brand affected my decision to apply, accept the positions and remain engaged. Before giving it much thought, I was skeptical. I mean really… how much influence did a brand have on my decision to apply for a position , go through the hiring process and accept the position? And how much impact did this internal brand have on my decision to want to stay or leave the company? I would have said very little. As it turns out, I was wrong.

I started reflecting on all of my past positions and while early in my career I was attracted to job titles, now I am more interested in the organization that I work for. I remember spending hours on Workopolis or the IABC job boards looking for not only companies that I recognized, but companies that I respected and recognized as being an employer of choice. Pretty normal stuff, right? But then I starting thinking… how did I know that these companies were top notch employers? I’ve never worked for them before. Most times, I didn’t know anybody who worked at these places. Was I making this up? Not this time. I remember reading glowing reviews from employees on how they are treated and how the company lived their corporate values. I’ve seen the awards they’ve received and read about the benefits of working at these places. Basically, I’ve bought into their employer brands. And there was my epiphany…. employer brands are valuable. And not only for retaining employees, but also for attracting potential employees.

I guess the caveat for any employer brand is that it must be legitimate, genuine. I have had the fortune of working for organizations that are phenomenal (like my current employer, Uponor - shameless plug time). And I have also been on the other side of the fence. In fact, at a previous employer (who shall remain nameless), I was part of a team that worked on “developing” an employer brand. I guess that’s when I became a bit cynical about employer brands for two main reasons:

1. I don’t think you can “develop” an employer brand for an organization that has been in existence for a long period of time… I think every organization already has one. I do believe that you can improve employer brands if there is a concerted effort made by key stakeholders, such as HR, Communications and Marketing. 

2. I think that trying to tell your employees what your employer brand is (which is what happened in the case I am describing) does not necessarily make it so unless you truly live the values you are promoting. It is great to say that you promote work-life balance, or teamwork, or innovation, but unless employees can see these values in action, it’s just lip service.

I guess the lesson for me is that employer brands - again, when done correctly - are very powerful, positive tools. And when an organization does not live the values it promotes internally, it does nothing more than lead to employee cynicism.

I welcome your thoughts on this… 

So we developed this music video for work to engage employees and to have them share what the company means to them. Since we have locations across North America, it also gave employees from many locations a chance to be seen and heard. I’m not going to lie, we are very pleased with how everything turned out.

But that was then… and now there’s a feeling of “what’s next?” That’s the beauty of YouTube or a Hulu; it doesn’t have to just end with a presentation to your employees. As part of our social media strategy (which itself is a part of our Cellular Integration Strategy… just drop me a line if you would like me to explain further), we posted the video on YouTube and created MySpace and facebook groups where we can share the video. But not only that, we will also be asking employees to make their own videos talking about their experiences with the company and to post them on the group pages. The best entries will win prizes and they will all be posted for everyone in the groups to vote on. The video lives on! 

I’ve always been a big fan of social media and it seems like we are moving into an era where organizations are seeing the value of leveraging some of these new and innovative tools to spread the word… but more importantly to start a dialogue with their audiences. It is a new day and age, and frankly… I’m loving it!

Oh, by the way, here is the music video we put together: Click here!

Enjoy!