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Connect2Canada: a community for Canadian ExPats in the United States

Posted by Joseph Thornley on May 20th, 2009

connect2canada

Here’s an example of how to use social media effectively. The Canadian Embassy in Washington is using social media to reach out to and bring together the community of Canadians in the United States.

Under the banner of Connect2Canada, the Embassy has established a Website hub, a Twitter stream, a Facebook page, podcasts, a presence on YouTube, and, of course, a traditional mailing list. They also publish stories submitted by Canadians living in the United States. And they offer a comprehensive list of Canadian Expat groups and Canada-US groups along with a calendar of upcoming events relating to Canada in the United States.

c2cConnect2Canada has drawn in more than 43,000 people who have registered, subscribed, followed or friended Connect2Canada in it’s various social media manifestations. The Website alone receives more than 7,000 unique visitors and in excess of 16,000 page views per month. That’s pretty good for an initiative that has never been advertised or promoted in mainstream media. Connect2Canada has been promoted primarily online and at face to face events.

And Connect2Canada doesn’t just broadcast information. The Embassy staff responds to comments and questions on Twitter and Facebook. In fact, the stats on unique visitors and page views were drawn from DM responses to questions I put to Connect2Canada on Twitter.

Connect2Canada. A good case study of the effective use of social media by government.

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7 Responses to “Connect2Canada: a community for Canadian ExPats in the United States”

  1. UKTV2C

    LIVE UK TV ONLINE ” ยป Connect2Canada: a community for Canadian ExPats in the United …: .. http://bit.ly/178Nu2

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  2. jltoronto

    RT @kevinmccann: Thanks to @thornley for nice write-up on Connect2Canada: http://is.gd/BH6I. (Disclosure: C2Cis a client) #reachout #ops

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  3. connect2canada

    Have a look at @thornley’s blog post about Connect2Canada http://bit.ly/6oAUf

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  4. Eric Portelance

    Great post, Joe. Thanks for the mention.

  5. VoiceOnTheWeb

    RT @connect2canada: Have a look at @thornley’s blog post about Connect2Canada http://bit.ly/6oAUf

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  6. jimcanuck

    RT @connect2canada: Have a look at @thornley’s blog post about Connect2Canada http://bit.ly/6oAUf

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  7. psema4

    RT @connect2canada: Have a look at @thornley’s blog post about Connect2Canada http://bit.ly/6oAUf

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

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