social media

When it comes to covering sporting events traditional media policies simply don't work in a digital media world.

Recent SEC and NFL social media policies have banned or attempted to ban professional athletes and fans from sharing information about sporting events they attend. How they will be able to enforce these rules is anyone's guess.

Related Link: NFL's New Policy: Social Media Is Now A Banned Substance

Related Link: SEC reverses ban on social media sites

Even the scientific world is getting a shake-down when it comes to the use of social media.

In conferences where scientists openly share their work-in-progress their is a growing fear that a diligent Twitter user might reveal too much about a potential 'next great find.' This is forcing conference organizers to decide whether meetings should be 'off the record' for all attendees.

Related Link: How to stop blogging

The USATF 2009 Elite Athlete Handbook has an entire chapter devoted to communicating with the media.

It does not address the use of social media.

Related Link: Communications/Public Outreach

So I emailed Jill Geer, Chief Public Affairs Officer for the USATF, to get some answers on the USATF's stance on social media:

Q: What is the official USATF policy on elite athletes using social media?

Q: In light of recent NFL and SEC restrictions on the use of social media, for both professional athletes and fans, do you foresee the USATF enacting a similar policy in the future?

Q: Does the USATF view using Twitter as an appropriate way for athletes to 'create their own buzz'?

Her response:

Hi Hilary,

 

We do not have a social media policy for athletes. (However you should note that we have a different relationship with our athletes than the NFL; track athletes basically are independent contractors whereas NFL players have contracts with their team and the NFL). If we wanted to exert any kind of control or guidelines, it likely only would be applicable when athletes are actively representing Team USA in a Team USA jersey, such as at the World Championships. But we do NOT restrict social media use at this time.

 

We do believe Twitter is an appropriate way for athletes to create buzz.

 

Best,

Jill

So although the USATF handbook does not speak to the issue of social media, when it comes to creating buzz, the USATF itself is employing social media and allowing its athletes, coaches and fans to spread the word on the sport of running.

For example:

• USATF on Facebook
• Jill Geer's blog
• Doug Logan's blog
• USATF on Twitter
• Doug Logan on Twitter

With all the social media currently being used internally by the USATF organization and many of its elite runners, it would appear that when the social media policy meets the road, as Jill Geer wrote, the USATF does "NOT restrict social media use at this time."

 

Miles ran - 8

I’d like to begin my lecture this morning by sharing with you a zen koan. A koan, for those of you who don’t know, is a story that holds great meaning and comes from the Zen Buddhist teachings.

The koan I am going to share with you is called A Cup of Tea.

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.

The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"

"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?" [101 Zen Stories, A Cup of Tea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101_Zen_Stories]

I like this story because it translates for me what is happening in newsrooms across North America. We have digital media masters who are butting up against a corporate culture and a mindset of ‘that’s not my job’ ‘I don’t have enough time’ ‘We don’t have the resources’.

It’s our job. Here is this room. To break down that wall, empty the cups, and get our newsrooms flowing in the digital age.

Too many of our staff say they don’t have the technology to keep up with the competition, they don’t have the right manager, they don’t have the training, they don’t have the money, they don’t have the time.

Maybe they think all of the multimedia is your job. It’s in your title, right? It’s time to empty the cups.

What they are really saying is that they don’t the resourcefulness. They don’t have the drive. The people that showed up here today – have that. The people in this room did what too many people don’t. You showed up. You are participating in what you love - in a community you respect. And over the course of the next few days, as you attend these SPJ professional development trainings, this experience, your commitment of personal time - will make you even MORE resourceful.

Welcome to the Cheer Squad.

What you are going to learn in the next hour and fifteen minutes is how to have:

1) Realistic expectations about making web enthusiasts
     a. A few tips and tricks on converting the unconvertible
2) Managing up – using strategies and techniques to get your newsrooms functioning at a higher level of digital output.

To give you a little background about myself, I currently work at Barrington Broadcasting Group. Our company owns 21 television stations – our footprint is scattered throughout the US – from Myrtle Beach, SC to Harlingen, Texas and many places in between.

I’m in charge of our online presence, specifically the news content, social and digital media strategies, site management and a great number of other things.

Prior to working at BI I worked at a television station in Wisconsin. I can remember being called into my general manager’s office for one of what would be many great managerial conversations. I was the station’s new Internet Director and the GM heartily welcomed me to the company and was looking forward to seeing how I performed in a managerial role. He followed that statement up by saying, and I quote, “You are in a unique position. You are the manager of one.”

I left that meeting knowing that the newsroom staff was the News Director’s staff, not mine. And that any hope I had of working with them, was going to be through building a relationship with my News Director. My position was a new one for the company as a whole. Internet Director. I would learn later at the annual News Director summit that all of the News Director across the company were scared and intimidated by these new ‘IDs’ that were coming on board, particularly because they would be equals in the eyes of the company.

I present to you the picture that expresses our exact view of things at the start.

[SLIDE OF HIERARCHY IN THE TELEVISION STATION]

What I soon learned, was that although I was the manager of one. I was the teacher of many.

[SLIDE OF ID in the MIDDLE of ALL POSITIONS]

It was expected that I wear more than one hat – be a journalist, be a marketer, learn how to speak with clients about their ad interface, know a little HTML and coding, shoot and edit film, write copy…the list goes on and on…

…however, a picture says a thousand words, or sometime a job posting…

[SLIDE – job position at Chicago Fox News]

…which brings me to why I have called this lecture ‘Saving the Cheerleader’.

There is a lot going on in the world of new media managers. A LOT. Today we’re going to walk through how to get station staff personnel to assist new media managers – and by doing so make the new media manager’s life better, the reporters more capable and raise the credibility of the news station as a whole.

What is my definition of a cheerleader? You are most likely one if you are sitting in this room toady. It means you are a leader. The words are right there in this compound word – cheer – leader.

What characteristics does a cheerleader possess? Everyone wants to date the cheerleader. She/he is the center of attention in any arena. On the field, they shout for attention - much like you do in the newsroom when a reporter gets back – hey – what did you get?! And then you update the web or tweet the update - during the after party the players are coming up to you and verbally replaying the game to get your input on how they looked to you and how the fans reacted. Much like you track the performance of your reporter’s stories and tally and monitor the comments. And a cheerleader has friends, lots of friends. Some really strong friends, some catty friends, but their list of friends is enviable – think managers, reporters, sources, colleagues, associates, etc.. Does this define you in your newsroom? It should.

When was the last time you went out socially with the manager of your sales department? Bought a photographer lunch and reminded them that s/he should be including their names in captions ‘cause you’re tired of doing it for them? That’s what a cheerleader does.

When was the last conference you attended that wasn’t a national SPJ? Are you an active local chapter member? Do you have a small group of aspiring-to-be geek friends, as Rachel Maddow on MSNBC says, where you can bounce ideas and test things out online?

Which brings me to my 1st cheerpoint.

CHEER POINTS

Cheerleaders: Attend practice.

They know that fans or users don’t want to see all the same cheers but also like to see the favorites and stand-bys. You need to test out new digital tools – some work better than others. And with practice, you get better at using the tools.

Cheerleader: Have an active social life.

They go on vacation. And they don’t worry about how the squad is surviving without them.

Cheerleaders: Want a piece of the action.

Are not content to let all the action take place in front on them – they want a piece of the action – they realize that their role is to get their team or organization to the finish line as the winners.

Cheerleaders: Know they are not coaches.

Cheerleaders do not teach players how to do their jobs. Cheerleaders encourage, push, and instruct from the sidelines. And they also know when a player no longer deserves there attention. A good cheerleader knows when to focus their attention on the players that are making a difference.

Cheerleaders: Are often mistakenly stereotyped.

People forget that Cheerleaders work hard to make what they do look easy, flawless and to do it with a good attitude.

Cheerleaders: Are misunderstood.

Cheerleaders accept that they can’t change everyone’s opinion of cheerleaders, but that doesn’t make them do their job any less passionately than all the players on the field.

Cheerleaders: No one likes a grumpy cheerleader.

They are the antithesis of what a cheerleder is. If you are repelling people away from you because of your attitude, you are neither being cheery, nor a leader.

Cheerleaders: Leaders who organize those around them to rally for a cause. They rarely act alone. You hear them better when there are others behind them.

That says it all.

Cheerleaders: Call out cheers to our strongest players.

Know who is worth focusing our attention and energy on. Which players in our news room make the boldest statement online, graphics person ‘wows’ us time and time again.

Cheerleaders: Cheer from the sidelines.

Proximity is key. You need to work physically close to your staff. Be available. Be visible.

Cheerleaders: Know all the names of the players on the field.

Know their fellow manager, reporters, master control, the name of our competitor’s chief editor, their ranking…

Cheerleaders: Look after their reputations fiercely.

Your own, your staff, and your company’s brand name requires constant ORM – online reputation management.

***

Those are my defining qualities of a newsroom cheerleader are. And we’ll go through a number of these points in greater detail now.

Can you imagine what would happen if you said your boss, “That’s not my job.” Or “What do you mean it’s pixilated?” But I’m guessing you’ve all heard these statements from your reporters, anchors, at one time or another. If it happens once, I get it, we are all busy, we’re a deadline driven industry. But when it’s the norm, you’ve just encountered the plateau. Many people reach this plateau after years and years of hard work. They have busted their butts to get where they are and so they think they deserve the success and accolades having putting in their chops.

The next time you meet one of these folks – please think of the following quote:

[SLIDES - QUOTES on Attitude
 

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. ~Winston Churchill]

Back to a cheerpoint,

Cheerleaders: No one likes a grumpy cheerleader. They are the antithesis of what a cheerleder is. If you are repelling people away from you because of your attitude, you are neither being cheery, nor a leader.

If you grudgingly go along with their thinking “Yes, you do have a really long day and the company should hire more digital-only people” you are only giving them more ammunition to use against you, they won’t improve as employees and you will not be gaining their respect or winning friends, but simply reaffirming their grievances and now giving them more reason not to do the work that is expected of them.

Richard St. John, who runs a marketing group called the St. John Group, has a great 4 minute video on TED about what it takes be good at what you do – what he calls the continuous journey – Listen, Be Curious, Ask Questions, Observe, Problem Solve, Make Connections. These are the very things that make the best journalists. [http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_st_john_success_is_a_continuous_journey.html]

[SLIDE – picture our cheerleader with these items surrounding us]

When you are not focused on the money, not a big problem for most journalists, you go after the big game, the big story. Your goal is to be the best beat reporter in your niche. We like recognition, but the minute we reach that point where we feel like we’ve won enough awards, hit the right salary, have the right number of comments for our blog, are getting PAID to blog?! We sit back and feel like we are the authority. And we forget to Listen, Be Curious, Ask Questions, Observe, Problem Solve, Make Connections.

And then this new thing called the Internet comes along, and wow is it amazing. It allows us to research information, interview and communicate with people half a world away in seconds over IM and Skype, get real-time information using Twitter, take the material off the cutting room floor from our stories and give it a new home in our blogs.

Trouble is, it take time to learn all this. It takes a person who Listens, Be Curious, Ask Questions, Observe, Problem Solve, Make Connections. And some people do – many of you in this room. And you’ve met people who don’t possess these things. Now how do we get the people that don’t want to listen, don’t ask questions, and don’t pay attention to what’s on the horizon to pay attention?

Let me say from the beginning that there are some things that can be taught. You can teach someone a skill. They may not do it well, but they will understand the tool it is and what it does and can work to improve on it. And there are some that cannot be taught.

In greater detail here is Richard St. John’s list describing the 8 steps on the continuous journey as it applies to journalists:

1) Passion
    a. For what you do, you’d do it even if you weren’t getting paid, and sometimes it feels like we aren’t
2) Work
    a. There are challenges, but you work to overcome them and become stronger and better because of your efforts.
    b. And through your failures you meet others who are attempting to do the same thing and you build connections, so it’s not futile after all, it’s growth
    i. Whether it’s learning HTML, mastering Photoshop during off-hours, testing out Qik and wondering what the next ‘Qik’ application you’ll be learning 6 months down the road.
    ii. B/c we are living in an exciting time, and we don’t know what are the tried and true products that will last and which will be a flash in the pan. Who knew five years ago Blackberry would have a Fan Page?
3) Focus
    a. You know what you want. A better newspaper product. To be the best reporter in your city, for your niche, the blogger who breaks coverage on their topic.
    b. You have a goal. So that when you reach it. You will know it. And then you get to make another one. That’s part of the fun. Of what Richard St. John calls ‘the continuous journey.’
4) Push
    a. You don’t make excuses. You don’t say “I don’t have the time.” “I don’t have the resources” “I don’t have the staff”. You just do it. And it irritates you when you hear others say it.
    b. In this life we all make compromises. We have values that we live by and when you decide to sacrifice your leisure time to better yourself to reach your goal – that is push.
    i. You don’t have more time than anyone else. We all live in the same 24/7/365 universe – and like the Wine Library Guy says, it’s a choice between watching LOST or being the best at what you do. You’ve all met someone like that. Chances are pretty good they might even be sitting right next to you. [Gary Vaynerchuk, Building Personal Brand Within the Social Media Landscape http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhqZ0RU95d4]
5) Ideas
    a. You are filled with ideas. And you are always looking for someone with a better idea that can help improve your own.
    b. This is what gets us excited about our projects and lead us to future projects.
6) Improve
    a. Life is a journey – and you realize that this requires constant improvement.
7) Serve
    a. You have a bigger picture in mind – changing the world. You want your information to effect people – in a positive and transformative way. You want people to consume your news and take action to better themselves.
8) Persist
    a. Long hours. Low pay. Little recognition. Difficult co-workers. Why do we continue? Because of the mini-victories we gain along the way – the sense of fulfillment we get in the chase, in the exploring, in the process – LISTEN<OBSERVE<ASK QUESTIONS. It’s in our blood. It defines us.
9) SUCCESS
    a. A job well done – feels incredible.

You can’t teach these 8 things. You have to want it. And there will be many in our industry, and I’ve witnessed it myself, that recognize that they don’t want it. And they get out. They suddenly realize, the long hours and low pay isn’t fulfilling. And when they don’t want to put the time and resources into being better, they fizzle out. Just make sure they don’t take you down with them.

And for those who have been following these principles for 5 – 10 – 20 + years – that have given them the success they dreamed for – many of them simply stopped. I prefer to think they simply plateau-ed. And now that they are being asked to learn more things – add more tools to their toolbox – you get pushback. “That’s not my job.” That’s when you have Internet Directors posting stories and videos for nightly news anchors.

HOW TO MAKE CHANGE

It would be great to think that innovations like Twitter and Cover it Live and Live streaming would win over the folks in our newsrooms without explanation. But the pushback comes from a mentality born out of years of ‘what has worked for the past x-number of years will continue to work’…These are the staff members who need to read the book ‘Who Moved My Cheese’ by Spencer Johnson, MD – a classic, best-selling business book on dealing with significant changes in industries and companies.

These people who are pushing back are not going to suddenly wake up one morning and decide to use these technological tools. You need to work with your fellow managers and the hierarchy to implement change.

How do you convert the unconvertible?

A University of Illinois researcher named Leann Lipps Birch experimented on ways to get children to eat their vegetables. The belief is that early experiences and preferences formed early on in life will carry on through adulthood. So Birch targeted the eating habits of children, specifically for vegetables they didn’t like, and discovered an amazing way to get them to change their behavior.

As any parent will tell you – a child refusing to eat their broccoli will not relent with a simple enticement of an extra scoop of ice cream after dinner, or a trip to the zoo on the weekend. You can be a phenomenal role model – eating all your vegetables – and not stopping to make vegetables just because you occasionally have to have this fight with your child.

Similarly, we have this fight with digital media and our staff in our newsrooms.

So Birch sat a child down at a lunchroom table before a plateful of ‘bad’ vegetables with several other children who liked the so-called ‘bad’ vegetables.

Within 4 meals the child was eating all the vegetables.

Peer pressure.

A social norm – children and people conform to the behavior of the people around us. It’s no different in our newsrooms. [Leann Lipps Birch, Effects of Peer Models’ Food Choices and Eating Behaviors on Preschoolers’ Food Preferences http://www.jstor.org/pss/1129283]

The best part and quickest solution is to mix in some of the people who already are on the ‘digital innovations’ bandwagon.

However, if you’re looking to grow your own, as it were, here is one way to go about converting the unconvertible.

I call it the ‘Metric Mojo’ – after this lecture you can take it, customize it and call it whatever you like.

You are giving your newsroom the opportunity to learn, make a difference, and experiment - with your direction and guidance - all at the same time – with no fear of failure.

What’s exciting about this era in our industry is that there are very few rules. And those that exist aren’t set in stone. And often the most successful projects come out of the ones that ignore all the rules.

[SLIDE Metric Mojo]

• IN A PARAGRAPH OR LESS EXPLAIN YOUR PROJECT.

• EXPLAIN IN A PARAGRAPH OR LESS HOW YOUR PROJECT WILL BENEFIT THE WEBSITE, USER EXPERIENCE, AND/OR YOUR STATION?

• WHAT IS YOUR DESIRED OUTCOME?

• HOW WILL YOU MEASURE THE SUCCESS OF YOUR PROJECT?

• WHO WILL BE INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT? WHAT WILL THEIR ROLES BE?

• HOW MUCH WILL YOUR PROJECT COST? WHAT RESOURCES DO YOU NEED?

• HOW LONG WILL YOUR PROJECT TAKE TO IMPLEMENT AND SEE RESULTS?

What does this form do? It forces your reporters to work together as a team. It means that they can do more than go to meetings, answer emails, interview sources – they can implement action on a project they’ve been brewing about in secret for some-time but haven’t shared. It will give them the courage to try to do something they’ve seen a competitor do, or while they were on vacation in another market and was reading the local newspaper – and wondered if they could replicate it or improve on it.

This doesn’t give them carte blanch to go out and buy thousands of dollars worth of equipment – what it does mean is that they will get a new appreciation for the tools they already have at their station and experience success on the web.

Journalists need to feel that they can contribute to the digital revolution that is taking place in their company and NOT feel that it’s being inflicted upon. They need to be empowered – you can give them the opportunity to think like a multimedia journalist.

As JD Lasica reminds us, “Almost anyone who lives within Silicon Valley has become familiar with the mantra of “fail often, but fail fast.” It means that if you’re not constantly innovating and trying new approaches — most of which won’t ultimately pan out — then you’re not opening yourself up to big successes. Creative failure is an inevitable, even welcome, part of the process.” [JD Lasica http://www.socialmedia.biz/2009/07/23/newspapers-and-blue-sky-thinking/]

Help with the brainstorming – be a leader – get excited about their ideas. Don’t pre-judge, just experiment – and track the data. Show the successes and SHARE the successes.

Walk over to your sales department and show them your success – show them the page-views, the time on site - that will really make them your best friend and increase your clout as a manager with a performance record, who has a rapport with news staff and is respected as a change-maker.

Have the confidence to test these out and come back and report success, failure, start to define the foundations that make things work online. We are pioneers. We are the innovators.

And remember, just because it’s a new and shiny thing doesn’t mean it’s going to work. Doesn’t mean it’s going to help your viewer or reader get your information any better.

But if you’re not looking for that next great thing than you’re just reacting and that means your not even in the game.

Cheerleader: Attend practice. As a team and individually.

We are in an industry that feeds on competition. How do you beat your competitors? Stay in the game. Play hard. Want the victory. Dominate. Be known for something - 1st to report from the field. Best communicator with your readers – message boards. Social media wizards. Remember to ask the question: why am I doing this? Who benefits? What is the end result? If you can’t answer that, you’re wasting your time. And that is a valuable resource.

TEACHING A MINDSET, TOOLS ASIDE

You cannot master one tool and succeed in this industry. To survive and flourish in our industry today journalists must adapt, be curious and continuously learn new tools. That being said, tools are great if you can wield them, but what makes you want to pick them up in the first place?

Let’s set all the techonological tools and gadgetry aside for a moment. Put down the Twitter texting, shut off the Vimeo-live-stream from the laptop…

[QUOTE – SLIDE If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it. ~Mary Engelbreit]

When you are teaching a mindset – first, put the tools aside.

It’s not the training that makes a journalist into a multimedia, web-savvy journalist for the 21st century newsroom. Speak to Poynter instructors and they will tell you that journalists who attend technical training sessions do not walk away masters of the tools –

what journalists do gain is a fresh perspective on why they would use the tool.

This empowers the journalist to pick and choose which digital gadgetry suits them and their style best, or will produce their most desired results, and then they can decide whether they want to continue learning and improving upon the basic fundamentals they were provided during training.

Just as much as your writers are now your producers and your web cast anchors – we all are being required to be multimedia journalists. Having training sessions or bootcamps with your staff is a great idea, but technical skills are only part of the solution.

And you need to know how your news room perceives you before you can know how to approach them.

Cheerleaders: Are misunderstood.

Realize that the majority of journalists do not see you as an equal. They, like the professor in our koan, approach you as

a) an outsider
b) a techy
c) non-journalist
d) manager
e) knowing all the hard stuff already

A reason your staff WON’T learn a tool is because you’re telling them it’s part of their regular work day. Guess what? You’ll also be blogging three times a week on top of your regular reporting. Yes, you’ll have to fit that into your regular work day, there will be no overtime. Do they learn how to blog the most effectively? Have they started commenting and connecting with their readers and fellow bloggers? Have they embraced their blogging community and created a brand for themselves?

Just as you can tell when a person writing a blog has no passion or interest in their topic – so too is it with enforcing staff to use a new tech tool. What is a shiny, bright object to play with for us – something we firmly believe that mastering this gadget will improve your overall goal of being the best reporter in a multimedia world –is a time-sucking, porcupine prickling thing, they have to tackle day in and day out.

Twitter is another great example. There are some who took to it like fish in water, and those who now still hang on to the hope that it’s merely a flash in the pan trend.

Knight Digital Media Center held a ‘Standing Up for Journalism’ workshop for laid off journalists. What they learned is exactly what I’m telling you – having the skills to take a digital photo and reformat it for the web, write for the web, learn video editing, picking up a few social media accounts along the way isn’t the best way to churn out prize winning multimedia journalists. Go beyond simply teach a journalist how to use CoveritLive or Qik.

It’s about the journalist knowing WHY they are using the tool in the first place – which will fuel their passion, motivation, direction for DOING IT RIGHT and meeting their personal goals, their organization’s goals, etc. Skills training is not enough. [Deborah Potter, Skills training is not enough, advancingthestory.wordpress.com/2009/02/19/skills-training-is-not-enough/]

Using the ‘metric mojo’ is also one way to start teaching the why.

MANAGING THE JOURNALIST/AUDIENCE RELATIONSHIP

As your reporters become more comfortable with digital tools and create a larger social and digital footprint, another great way to increase your clout as a manager is to tend to

ORM – online reputation management.

Back in the day when a reporter put their copy out – it went into a newspaper. You could take your scissors and cut out the article and mail it to mom and dad or video tape your report, or used micro-fiche and mail them a copy, DJs would record shows and send them to alumni and future employers. Today – content is distributed in multiple platforms.

This involves managing reputations – being aware of what is being written about your company, your staff, your brand - both personal and corporate. On a positive note social media and alternative media provide an opportunity to extend the shelf-life of a story – more comments, or possibly a new lead. It also means the news is a dialogue – not a one-way communication, and that may require moderating. You cannot react or respond to things you are unaware of.

You can do this easily by setting up Google Alerts and TweetBeeps to track and monitor your reporters and you brand’s online reputation.

As your reporter’s copy ends up on Digg, Facebook, and YouTube – be the person who knows how the public is reacting to your content. You can also find out who is reading your content and from where by tracking your referrals – something we’ll be discussing when we get to the importance of number crunching.

Cheerleaders: Look after their reputations fiercely.

And your company brand name is just as much your reputation as your own personal branding.

MANAGING YOUR FELLOW MANAGERS

As I said at the beginning, you may work in the newsroom, but your influence extends far beyond the confines of that space.

More importantly, without communication and support from those other departments Sales, Promotions/Marketing, News, Graphics that I showed in one of my earlier slides - your projects can get steamrolled over. It’s happened.

Have a sit down with each member of these departments. Give yourself 15 minutes to get re-acquainted. Have lunch. Do so regularly. You can’t work together if you don’t know where the other person is coming from.

Remember that your success as a manager is going to be via communication.

Become the manager of one, and the center of all.

Managing is a wonderful dance of loving your job and interacting with the people that are on your team – we all have the same goal – we want to be winners online.

I don’t have time today to go into detail about all these departments, so I’ve picked one, and I think in many respects it’s the most important. Sales.

SALES

How can you get sales people on board? You’re experimenting with innovative tools and creating new landing pages – how do you prove that you’re onto something? Give them pageviews, show them reports with double and triple % increase in pageviews, commenting, poll numbers. Give them NUMBERS.

Productivity is one of the key measurements for managers. It’s also a smart strategy for making your ideas become a reality.

Sales people live and breathe the numbers. Advertising and sales is a part of our jobs that many of us didn’t anticipate. And sales initiative, rather than content initiatives, are starting to control our websites. Why? Because sales people have a strong motivator – revenue. Money. And that’s an easy bandwagon to hop onto. Another reason why sales projects are consuming too much of our time is because we are letting them.

I am asking you today to get your bodies and your minds and your communication skills in their faces. Sit down in their meetings. Invite yourself to the weekly sales rep meetings.

Start making friends with the people who go out and sell your website. If you know Jim, who sold the banner ad from Matt’s RV Trailers that doesn’t have a call to action – it’s going to be an easier conversation when you say. “Hey, remember that time I came to the weekly meeting and gave that presentation about how the call-to-action banner ads had significantly more click-throughs than those that didn’t? Let’s take this back and try again.”

Cheerleader: Want a piece of the action.

Build a relationship with your sales team. Have constant communication with you sales managers – build sales projects together with the tools you HAVE instead of sending out the reps with zero shop-talk and only the vaguest ideas of what they can sell. And give the sales guys a break. We all know that the Internet has been around for well over a decade – your ad reps have been selling tv ads or print ads for thirty some odd years. They don’t know how to smack talk a client into buying an Internet ad. And the more numbers you can provide them, research and stats on what a good click through rate is, the more confidence they will have when they go out and educate their clients while also educating themselves. And that builds their confidence in you. Because you gave them the resources. You are the keystone.

For those of you who have the talent and the interest in expanding your expertise on creating graphics – you will win fans if you suggest an alternative ad mock to your ad rep. One less thing for your graphics person to do and more immediate impression for the client.

BOTTOM LINE: You don’t have to love advertising and sales to do your job well.

You have to love the consequences of doing your job well.

This is my final point on sales, and then we’ll go on to the importance of tracking your stats.

For those of you who have direct contact with members in sales – you need to set standards. You need to have a simple, concrete way to get things from their clients to your web on time. News is no longer the only part of your life that has deadlines. My boss, the head of our interactive department, in my first operations meeting we had he said, and I will never forget this, “when there is revenue on the table, everything else is off the table.” You will, and you have, bent to the needs of an ad client. You should not be bending to the ineptitudes of your sales reps. That is a managerial issue.

Deadlines. Make a schedule that says how long creative projects will take. If you are not the person who does creative – work with your creative person to construct a guideline.

I would have created one for you – but in my experience – every news organization has a widely different number of staff and skilled personnel able create in-house ads. So I do not have a slide or a handout on that point. But I would strongly recommend that you create one for your place of business or speak with me after the lecture.

That way when a rep approaches you and says that they need something up immediately, “Yesterday.” Those are the words that translate to mean- I screwed up. Can you help me out?

Time and again you can do them the favor. But otherwise, it’s there slip up. And know that it is not a matter of respect when they don’t follow through. It’s a failure to comply because they have failed to be organized. Find a workflow that works. And You can remind them that there is a process. And stick to your guns. Get your new friends – sales manager – to back you up. Heck, have them help you build out a new workflow so even more people can be held accountable when it works and doesn’t work. Communication. It’s key.

NUMBER CRUNCHING

At the back of the room are some Excel spreadsheets for you to take back with you. There is also an electronic version on the SPJ Web site.

And what it is – is a simple breakdown of items that you should be tracking. It says what you’ll be tracking and why it’s important to track it. That way, when you’re in a meeting, you can quote the stats behind your content initiatives and determine whether it was received well or not in comparison to other content running in the same time frame. This spreadsheet is a great way to communicate with your other managers. It is a snapshot of the health of your company’s web site – it’s like getting a grade on how you’re doing every month.

For those of you who already do this. Great. Next time you hand your customized data sheet to your fellow managers – you might want to attach a customized glossary so they get a fuller appreciation for the numbers they have been looking at for the past 6months or a year. You can imagine, it’s a lot harder for someone to admit that they really don’t understand the numbers they are accustomed to getting them month after month.

[SLIDE WITH ITEMS TO TRACK]

I’ll walk you briefly through some of the items on the sheets – most of this is stuff you already know, or should know, or a friendly refresher.

EXPLAIN THE SHEET & THE IMPORTANCE

What I would suggest is that you personalize this excel spreadsheet.

The NOTES section is there for you to create bullet points; I’d suggest a minimum of three. Pick different things to focus on each month. Give your analysis of the data – why something took off, why it tanked, etc.

No one wants to look at the numbers that you do. Endless statistics in pull down menus. Across multiple systems. Each application coming with its own set of stats.

You’re already looking at the numbers. If you are doing your job and doing it well. You are. Now I’m saying, take the extra step, do your co-workers a favor, and make it a pleasant experience to read. You think it’s easy to pull, however tedious, the numbers because you do it everyday or every week. Trust me, they don’t.

Start documenting which reporters are producing the most popular content, what type of content it is, and in what format (story only, story w/images + video). Let the news director know – make it be part of their yearly performance talk – make it tied to their job. Give the web meaning in dollars and cents. You may not have a job if you don’t hit x-number of clicks for y number of stories.

In business terms, Peter Bregman, writer for the web site HarvardBusiness.org and CEO of his own management consulting firm that advises CEOs and their leadership teams, believes,

“Performance reviews and training programs define the firm's expectations. Financial reward systems reinforce them. Memos and communications highlight what's important. And senior leadership actions — promotions for people who toe the line and a dead end career for those who don't — emphasize the firm's priorities.” [http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/bregman/2009/06/the-best-way-to-change-a-corpo.html]

Decide at your place of work – is the web a priority?

In case you need another motivator to document the stats of your site - ‘the Hawthorne effect’.

THE HAWTHORNE EFFECT

So what is the Hawthorne Effect and why is it important to document the performance of reporter’s content online?

Between 1927 and 1932 Harvard Business School professor Elton Mayo led a series of research on individual behavior. Their research took place at the Hawthorne Plant of the Western Electric Company in Cicero, Illinois. Researchers examined the influence of many factors, including brighter or dimmer lights in the work environment and the length and frequency of workbreaks. The general conclusion was that individuals alter their behavior when they know they are being watched. They become more productive. They called it – The Hawthorne Effect. [Franke, R.H. & Kaul, J.D. "The Hawthorne experiments: First statistical interpretation." American Sociological Review, 1978, 43, 623-643.]

So first we had peer pressure – kids eat vegetables when those around them eat vegetables. And now we have the Hawthorne Effect, when your performance is being evaluated and tracked – you are more productive.

I’m about to wrap up…I’d like to leave you with…

HOW TO BE HEARD IN THE NEWSROOM

A lot of reporters and producers and new directors are filled with inner conflicts. They see that technology and digital media is here – it’s not coming, it’s here. You won’t be able to convert everyone. Try as you might. You can take away some of the challenges by learning how to speak and communicate with them.

Start by asking them directly – what do you need from me to make your job easier, better, more fulfilling?

And please don’t ask them from your office on the other side of the building.

Where is your office? Do you have an office? A cubicle? How far are you from the bull pen? How often are you communicating with your news staff? I hope it’s everyday. I hope that you have an open door policy or second cubicle right in the middle of the bullpen. If you don’t - grab your laptop and create a make-shift office somewhere where you are in shouting range of your news staff.

Cheerleaders: Cheer from the sideline.

It’s all about proximity. No one would give a hoot if the cheerleaders cheered from 100 yards away from the action. Remember, no one gets closer to the players than cheerleaders, other than coaches and physical trainers.

Effective leaders find what drives the people in our newsroom and drive them to be more – to make more connections – to move others to act because – to give them the tools to achieve their goal so that your entire newsroom can improve.

THINGS YOU CAN DO EVERY DAY [Bullet points on a slide]

**Recognize good work when it happens. We are in an industry where talent loves to be applauded. Whether you shower them with praise in person or over the phone, send out a corporate email blast or buy food for the entire sales staff for a project that sold like hotcakes. Be a part of the celebration. Bring these positive points up in meetings. Share them with colleagues.

**Be a cheerleader wherever you are – embrace it. We are often the center of frustration. We are the constant reminder that something we thought was fundamental is collapsing and the future is unknown our path is shaky and we are frightened.

Come armed with answers and confidence.

**Training should be a constant. Work with management to get at least one hour of your staff’s time every month to introduce them to a new tool, or how to use one they are using now better – great example – blogging. Lots of people do it, few people do it well.

**Get to know your news staff. Ask them how their shoot went. Call them when they are out on a story – be their assignment editor – post Tweets on their behalf.

**Talk to your news staff about your site – if they aren’t on their own website they can’t promote it when they are interviewing someone, they can’t direct users to visit them online if it’s not in the copy.

YOU ARE A CHEERLEADER

You can usually spot a cheerleader from the moment you get introduced to them. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about – I’m sure it’s happened to you. It’s the way you carry yourself. It’s the way you approach a web ‘situation’ – with confidence.
You need to reach out to your like-minded web folks in your company or in other industries and have a pow-wow. I guarantee that once you find your cheer mates, you will be a better cheerleader.

Cheerleaders: Have an active social life and are heard better when there are others behind them.

You will start to think in fresher, more energetic ways, you will by the power of numbers and the passion of ideas and interests be better at what you do. And it will make all the difference in the board room.

Get focused – get clear. Where are you now – where do you want to be? When you have drive – you will have the energy to ACT and you will pull others into that circle.

I’d like to end my lecture with a list of famous cheerleaders…

FAMOUS CHEERLEADERS
[SLIDE –

*Ruth Bader Ginsburg

*Dwight D. Eisenhower

*Samuel L. Jackson

*Meryl Streep

*Katie Couric

[http://cheerleading.about.com/od/famouscheerleaders/Famous_Cheerleaders.htm]

 

There are hand outs in the back or online of some of the images that were shown in my presentation and I’d be happy to take your questions.

END
 

Most likely by now you have a Twitter account. Maybe even two. One for YOU the aspiring professional athlete and one that is personal.

Here are ten tips to help you get the most out of your Twitter account and your tweets.

1. Make sure that your professional Twitter account is branded – both in the URL you choose and the ‘Name’ field. This will make it easier for your friends, family, fans, and future sponsors to locate you.

2. Use Monitter to track several different keywords on Twitter in real-time. Start off by tracking brand: YOU, running related topics, and your favorite marathoner, etc. Part of this is for ORM - online reputation management and partly so you can get a sense of how others are using Twitter to express themselves - for better or worse. When you locate people you respect in the industry or would like to get a better sense of their personality or whatever your reasoning, simply click 'follow.' You can always click 'Remove' at a later date if their tweeting doesn't meet your expectations or what-have-you.

Part of joining the Twitter community is enjoying the nuggets of wisdom and insight that people share about a topic they care deeply about.

3. Be authentic. Don't treat your Twitter stream like an RSS feed. Post more than just links to your blog posts. Check out TwitVid and TwitPic.

4. Once you build followers start building relationships with them. A great way to turn a follower into a friend is to send them a ‘direct message’ about a topic they recently tweeted.

5. Encourage followers to send you photos of them on their race day. Be supportive of your follower’s activities. Remember, it’s not all about YOU in the Twitter-sphere.

6. Encourage friends, family and fans to snap photos of you at race day and post them on their Twitter accounts.

7. Use search.twitter.com to search for brand: YOU and find out what people are saying about you. You can’t monitor the bad press or relish in the joys of praise if you aren’t aware of the conversations that are taking place.

8. You can also reach out to strangers in the Twitter-sphere if they mention something that struck you as interesting or helpful. Don’t be afraid to be the first to start a conversation.

9. Promote your blog or Web site on Twitter. Invite your Twitter followers to learn more about you…more than you can adequately express in 140 characters. While you are at it, did you post a business card or a flyer with your blog and/or Twitter account on the bulletin board at your local café? Have you included your social media links on your gmail signature using Wisestamp?

10. When you need to get the creative juices flowing for a blog post check out TweetMeme and TwitScoop to find which links, words and ideas are dominating the Twitter-sphere.
 

Miles ran - 15

I am a language nut.

When I was a kid my dad would take me to book fairs and I would spend hours (yes, hours, my dad was a book lover and 1st edition mystery book collector) selecting which language textbook to take home. By the age of 14 I knew a smattering of Russian, Spanish, French, Italian, and Chinese.

Today if you dropped me in either a Spanish-speaking or Chinese-speaking country I could easily get by...any other country and I will resort to the kindness of strangers and the vocabulary glossary in the back of my guidebook.

So when I found out that Yahoo launched a Spanish language micro-blogging product - Meme de Yahoo - I was immediately intrigued. If I was a confident Spanish speaker this would be a no-brainer. What a fantastic way to reach an audience whose native tongue is Spanish - did I mention that Spanish is the world's second most popular language?

Of course, there isn't much stopping Spanish speakers from posting tweets on Twitter in their native tongue already. A quick search on Twitter pulls up lots of Twitter accounts that are written in Spanish complete with Spanish accented letters and punctuation marks.

Not crazy about getting another micro-blogging account but still want to post a few Tweets in Spanish?

Check out these two online guides for typing in Spanish on your computer:

• Typing Spanish Written Accents
• Typing Spanish Language Characters on an English keyboard

An easy way to add a Spanish character to a Tweet without learning all the shortcut keys is by going using Microsoft Word and going to the top menu bar and selecting Insert --> selecting Symbol --> and picking the symbol you want to insert into your document/Tweet.

I was successfully able to copy and paste a Word document that contained words with Spanish accents into a Twitter stream. However, I haven't mastered the way to use shortkeys inside the Twitter stream. I'm guessing I would have to switch my entire keyboard in order to do that.

Another option is using BabelFish - the instant computer generated translator...but unless you're confident that the program accurately translated your words and meaning into another language I'd recommend you use the site with caution. I know many a language professors who shutter at the mere mention of BabelFish and Google Translate.

Like Twitter Meme de Yahoo allows users to post updates that include photos and videos.

Happy Tweeting! Feliz Tweeting! 快乐的 Tweeting!

 

Miles ran - 6