eChaser: May 2012 / p3

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Good Social Media Happens Not by Chance

by Tim Tune

vice president – finance, IABC Fort Worth

Whether your organization’s social media activities are performed by a team or it’s a solo act, success demands a strategy, Cash America International’s social media specialist told a capacity crowd to Joe T. Garcia’s on April 24 for “Surviving Social Media,” an event presented by IABC Fort Worth.

Kalyn Baldwin, who has been in her role at Fort Worth-based Cash America since May 2011, explained ways to keep your head above water in dealing with customers, employees and other key audiences. She offered

tips on using four of the most popular social media tools:

• Facebook timeline. Make sure you have an attractive, relevant cover image. It’s OK to change the image occasionally, but keep the message, quality and feel consistent with your brand. Good examples: Magnolia Bakery, Dos Equis, White House | Black Market and TCU.

• Twitter. Your Twitter page must be branded, and the branding must be consistent with your other social media pages. This ensures brand cohesion across platforms. Baldwin pointed out that even Mishka the Talking Husky, initially a sensation on YouTube, also has branded Twitter and Facebook.

• YouTube. Mishka’s YouTube channel serves as a video content hub. Baldwin said companies and other organizations should copy this tactic. Cash America uses its YouTube videos as content on its other social media channels, including its blog.

• Blogging. Blogs provide a way to control the message, Baldwin said, adding that Cash America uses its blog to educate customers, introduce employees to its publics, and to support reputation management and community relations.

Concerning content creation and management, Baldwin said quality of content and followers is more important than quantity of content and followers. Also:

• Integrate the content and cross-promote among the platforms.

• Pay attention to details (titles, headlines. images).

• Provide relevant content, linked to your corporate and social media strategies. Keep it consistent with brand messaging.

• Be social and conversational. Interact with readers who make comments. Use content as a way to engage your audiences and to start conversations.

• Focus on readers’ needs.

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PEOPLE & PLACES

Dialogue wrangler and Great American Claude Crowley e-’s: “Despite appearances to the contrary, I have not died or turned into a hermit. I do, however, have backbone difficulties that keep me from driving or sitting for long, so my public appearances are severely curtailed. As a retired member of IABC I still read CW magazine and the eChaser, to sort of keep up with the profession. It is nostalgic, in a pleasant way, to read of my old friends who are still active. In recent years I’ve filled my time with the occasional magazine article, writing for nonprofits and book writing. My first novel, “The Day I Turned Green,” went on sale in the Amazon Kindle store in July 2011. The second, “In Two Weeks Easy,” went on the Kindle shelves in March of this year. For details, check out my blog at claudecrowley.com.”

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NEW AND RETURNING MEMBERS

SPJ ... Megan Gray, The Ellis County Press

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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Allyson Cross, Greater Fort Worth PRSA

May is all about leadership.

On May 31 we will host our first Worthy Awards Gala at The Marquis on Magnolia beginning at 7 p.m. We will honor the year’s best in public relations work and leadership. Bob Ray Sanders will serve as emcee and will also present our award to the Communicator of the Year, an individual who is not in day-to-day public relations but who exemplifies communication leadership.

I’m so pleased to announce that at 49 submissions we exceeded our entry goal. Feedback from across the country suggests that this is a fabulous response for an inaugural awards program. I hope you’re as excited as I am to see the judging results.

Our May luncheon will feature Sam Sims, PRSA’s Southwest District chairman for 2012. Mr. Sims will speak to us on communications and leadership — a great topic as we honor our own local communications leaders! And speaking of leadership, kudos to Dr. Amiso George, APR, Fellow PRSA, with the launch of her new book, “Case Studies in Crisis Communication: International Perspectives on Hits and Misses.”

For a final note on leadership, it’s a good time to honor those in our chapter who have been designated PRSA fellows. The PRSA College of Fellows is an honorary organization of more than 400 senior practitioners and educators, each of whom has left a footprint on our profession. Our local fellows are Carolyn Bobo, APR, Fellow PRSA; Mary Dulle, APR, Fellow PRSA; Dr. Amiso George, APR, Fellow PRSA; Bill Lawrence, APR, Fellow PRSA; and Dr. Doug Newsom, APR, Fellow PRSA. Special thanks to each of you for your tremendous impact on public relations.

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OVER & OUT

John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ

Established by the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, the Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award recognizes, with a $10,000 award, accomplishments on behalf of First Amendment freedoms by an individual, group of individuals or an organization. The Pulliam Editorial Fellowship awards $75,000 to an editorial writer to help broaden his or her journalistic horizons and knowledge of the world. Provided by the SDX Foundation, the annual award can be used to cover the cost of study, research and/or travel in any field. Entry postmark deadline for both the award and the fellowship is June 22. ...

SPJ and the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation offer several scholarships to help people attend the Excellence in Journalism 2012 conference. Deadline for all here is June 11. • Terry Harper Memorial Scholarships. Terry Harper, former SPJ executive director, died in 2009 after a two-year battle with brain cancer. The Sigma Delta Chi Foundation established a memorial fund following his death. This scholarship is available for up to five recipients. • Diversity Leadership Fellows Program. As part of the program, fellowship recipients attend EIJ12 to begin a yearlong immersion and education program. • Robert D.G. Lewis First Amendment Award. From the generosity of the Lewis family, the award is given each year to a student SPJ member who has demonstrated outstanding service to the First Amendment through journalism. The award assists a student with his/her attendance to EIJ12.

Caught my eye. Fort Worth-Dallas college students call on lawmakers to keep their interest rates from rising. ... Updated Cornell study shows fracking causes more global warming than coal. ... Gulf seafood deformities alarm scientists. ... Wind turbine harvests energy and water from desert air. ... An epidemic and national tragedy: veteran suicides. ... It’s official: That’s poop in your tasty chicken dinner. ... Reusable oil-absorbing nanosponges could soak up spills. ... Antarctica’s ice shelf shrinking, shrinking, shrinking. … Deforestation: Fast-tracking our own extinction. ... U.S. on path to stop funding clean tech altogether. ... 1,000-year-old farming secrets could save the Amazon rainforest. ... The economic benefits of tobacco control outweigh tobacco tax revenues. ... Virtually noise-free Eco Whisper turbine unveiled. ... Marine solar cells harvest energy from the sun and waves. … LifeStraw makes dirty water clean.

Closing words: “Everywhere I go I’m asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don’t stifle enough of them. There’s many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.” — Flannery O’Connor ... “Give me a laundry list and I’ll set it to music.” — composer Gioachino Rossini

Closing words II: “I really feel quite hypocritical about hairy-legged males who will never be pregnant and never have that life-altering decision to make being the ones writing the rules for the opposite gender as though we had nothing to do with their condition.” — Texas state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio