Social Media for Government Conference in Ottawa

August 4, 2009 • Joseph Thornley • AdvancedLearningInstitute, ALI

Here’s a conference that I’m looking forward to: Social Media for Government, September 29 – October 2 in Ottawa.

I’ve participated in the Advanced Learning Institute’s (ALI) social media conferences for the past two years. And I’ve found that each one is better than the previous one.

The conference producer, Kelly Flynn, listens closely to the conference participants – what they want to learn, which sessions they find most useful, which speakers have the most to offer. And she uses what she gleans to ensure that each conference session reflects the state of the art and the interests of participants.

This autumn, the conference will be packed with expert speakers presenting best practices and experienced managers talking about the social media programs they have implemented and what they have learned from that experience.

Speakers and topics include:

Colin McKay from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner speaking about how organizations must tailor their voices and content to different social media;
Nicholas Charney from Indian Affairs and Northern Development talking about the importance of introducing employees to social media behind the firewall before setting them loose in the wild;
Ralph Mercer of the Canadian Forces Aerospace Warfare Centre describing the change process a hierarchical organization organization goes through in order to adopt social media to its needs;
Jean-Simon Marquis from the Canada School of Public Service on using social media to leverage communities of practice for knowledge sharing inside and organization;
Chantal Wolf and Jennifer Savage explain how the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is using a Wiki and Lotus Connections to build organizational knowledge and how they are measuring ROI;
Adrian Cloete and Tracie Noftle describing how Human Resources and Skills Development Canada developed a “corrective blogging” approach;
Theresa Woolridge and Amy Jarrette mapping out the social media planning process used by Public Safety Canada;
Mike Spear tells how Genome Alberta has build its social media strategy on Facebook and Twitter;
Mark Hudson and Marquis Cote share how the Public Health Agency of Canada used social media to respond to the H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak;
Chris Wightman and Mark Faul discuss how they are making a business case for social media in the City of Ottawa and measuring the ROI of their social media activities;
Michel Savoie and Tim Yull on how RBC, Canada’s largest financial institution, has used social media for drive information sharing and innovation.

It’s a real pleasure to be chairing this edition of the A.L.I. “Social Media for Government Conference” in Ottawa on September 29 – October 2, 2009. I hope you’ll join me at this outstanding opportunity to meet, mix with and learn from some of the leading practitioners of social media for government.

If you’d like more information, download the conference brochure. Or if you’ve already made up your mind to attend, you can register online. (Register this week to get the Early Bird registration rate, discounted $400 off the regular registration fee.)

UPDATE: GET 50% OFF THE REGISTRATION FEE. @kellyflynn just DMed me to let me know that you can get a 50% discount off the conference registration fee if you mention my name when you register. I guess being the Chair of the conference does have some benefits. 🙂 And no, I don’t get any money from this. Just the pleasure of participating in a successful conference full of passionate people who want to learn about social media.

Twitter on screen at conferences: Good or Bad?

July 3, 2009 • Joseph Thornley • ALI, conferencetwitter, Twitter

Do you think that having the Twitter stream on a screen at conferences adds to the experience or participants and speakers or detracts from it?

The Advanced Learning Institute have asked my advice about whether they should have a second screen at all sessions of their upcoming Social Media for Government Conference to display the twitter stream throughout the conference. (Disclosure: I’ll be chairing the conference and presenting a workshop.)

I’ve seen this work well at tech conferences. At some conferences, a large number of participants are heavily engaged in twittering their conference experience – sharing points they think are important and then engaging in active discussion with other conference attendees as well as people joining in from outside the conference. For these people, the conference experience is greatly enriched. They can ask questions, consider alternatives and dig deeper through discussion with others. All in real time while the ideas are being discussed by the speaker.

How about the speaker, you ask? In my experience, a growing number of speakers embrace conference Twittering. Some follow the Twitter stream for questions. Others actually participate in it (This works especially well for panels.) After the conference, the speaker can gain valuable feedback on their presentation by reviewing the conference hashtag in the Twitter stream. And they don’t need to stop there. Savvy speakers can continue the conversation with conference tweeters after the conference.

However, I don’t think that Twitter is right for most conferences – yet. I think that may be overkill if your mix of attendees is not technically savvy. And that seems to be most attendees at standard business conferences. Just as important, some speakers are likely to object to it.

But that doesn’t mean that I’d leave Twitter out of a conference. In fact, having the Twitter stream on screen for select sessions demonstrates its potential to everyone. Having it up all the time may irritate those who are not on Twitter.

So, for the time being, I think that conference organizers should introduce Twitter at key points in the conference, but not have it present all the time.

What do you think?

Do you think that having the Twitter stream on a screen at conferences adds to the experience or participants and speakers or detracts from it? Am I underestimating the average conference attendee?

Other views on Conferences and Twitter

Ira Basen doesn’t like it

I do it

Dr. Shock suggests ways to use Twitter to get more out of lectures

David Berkowitz thinks conference blogging policies need updating

The City of Ottawa gets into social media: Third Tuesday Ottawa

June 15, 2009 • Joseph Thornley • chriswightman, CityofOttawa, ThirdTuesday, ThirdTuesdayOttawa

cityofottawalogo-090615 Over the past year, Chris Wightman (@cwightman), the City of Ottawa‘s Manager of eMedia, and his team have explored how the city could use social media to improve information sharing among employees and to bring the city closer to citizens.

Chris will be talking at the next Third Tuesday Ottawa about his experience with social media at the city. Chris will describe the hightlights of the city’s exploration of social media, what has worked, what hasn’t worked yet and what comes next.

Third Tuesday Ottawa

I think you’ll find that this is a classic case with lessons that anyone in a public service environment can use. From making a business case for each tool being explored through to making the case for open source software, Chris and his team have been there. They’ve also tackled the challenge of educating their colleagues about social media and its potential to help them do their jobs. And they’ve faced the expected corporate concerns of IT system security, privacy, accessibility and, of course, resources.

If you’re in government or a large organization, and you’re looking for inspiration and examples you can use in introducing social media in your work environment, you’ll find Chris’ presentation to be chock full of useful information.

You can register online to attend Third Tuesday Ottawa with the City of Ottawa’s Chris Wightman.

And once again, thank you to our founding sponsor, CNW Group, who have been with us from the outset. Your support enables us to continue to organize better and better Third Tuesdays.

Vancouver Tweetup this Sunday

June 4, 2009 • Joseph Thornley • #CPRS09, tweetup

Vancouver Tweetup June 7

A Tweetup is being organized at Cardero’s in Vancouver at 4PM this Sunday.

I’m going to be speaking with @martinwaxman on a panel at the CPRS National Conference in Vancouver earlier that day. So, I’m definitely planning to attend the Tweetup.

If you’re in Vancouver on Sunday and you want to get together, why not join us at the Vancouver Tweetup. It’s not just for PR people. It’s for you and me.

Follow the PRSA Counselors Academy Spring Conference

May 30, 2009 • Joseph Thornley • CounselorsAcademy, PRSA

ca2009 Every year in the spring, the members of the PRSA’s Counselors Academy gather in a beastly hot southern resort for the organization’s spring conference. Counselors Academy membership is restricted to principals of PR firms or senior practitioners (at least 10 years consulting experience). So, the conversation is unlike any other gathering I have found.

I’m heading to this year’s conference in Palm Springs (37 degrees today – feels blazing hot to my Canadian skin).

I’ll be tweeting the sessions, as will many other people. We’ll be using the hashtag #CA2009. So, if you’re interested in any of the presenters, search on Twitter for #CA2009.

Among the speakers who I’m looking forward to seeing and tweeting:

Archlight Pacific Theatres Cinerama Dome Robert Stephens, founder of the Geek Squad, on how Geek Squad used reputation to build a strong brand;

Steve McKee, author of When Growth Stalls, talking about how to pull your business out of its recession-induced funk;

Suzanne Bates offering advice on how to motivate people within your organization (This has to be my top priority – how to motivate people when the recession is battering them.)

David Anderson and Jason Baer leading a discussion on launching digital marketing services to extend a PR practice;

Robert Merritt leading a roundtable on how to improve and measure your level of client satisfaction;

Tom Gable talking about how we can manage for results and profits in bad times as well as good times; suzannebates

Monty Hagler and Gary Towning providing their advice on shaping an integrated program in which PR does not get pushed to the side by advertising and marketing;

Janet Tyler leading a session on how to figure out what current clients value and think of your firm and the services you provide;

Michael Lasky talking about how to negotiate client-agency contracts that will work for both sides of the deal;

Brad Schwartzberg and Mark Eber offering their advice on how to grow through mergers and acquisitions.

So, if you’re interested in any of this, you can follow the coverage by searching for #CA2009 on Twitter.

Presentation Etiquette: It's about the participants, not the speaker

March 9, 2009 • Joseph Thornley • presentationzen

NewComm Forum I frequently speak about social media at conferences and workshops. As a presenter, I always want to give participants at my sessions full value for their time and attention. An incident at a workshop I presented a couple weeks ago has been gnawing at me.

In a nutshell: I was presenting a half day workshop on social media measurement. During the early part of the morning, I made a reference to Facebook as “a vast wasteland of empty content,” suggesting that Facebook is a great platform for connecting with people and signalling affinity for causes, but that I don’t see much serious content there. When we took our mid session break, one of the workshop participants approached me to tell me that she thought I’d sold Facebook short. She was quite annoyed. Clearly, my quick dismissal of Facebook as a platform for organizations to publish information ran counter to her view of Facebook.

I thought about the participant’s complaints during the break and decided to address them after the break. So, when we reconvened, without identifiying the person, I indicated that it had been suggested to me that I’d given short shrift to Facebook. And then I explained my position more fully.

Situation well addressed? Not quite. Not at all.

A few days after the workshop, the conference organizer sent me the participant evaluations of my session. All glowing. All rating me at 4.5 or higher out of a possible maximum rating of 5. All except for one evaluation. And that one person gave me the lowest possible score. A 1 out of 5. With comments like “talked too much about himself.”

Ouch. Time for some soul searching.

I realized that my handling of the situation only made matters worse for the person I’d upset. Instead of giving voice to her concerns and addressing them in a balanced way, I’d only succeeded in restating my point of view.

What should I have done?

I should have called on the person to present her own point of view to the group – and then encouraged the group to discuss it. My views were no more important than what other people perceived. I’d already stated my opinion. If people wanted me to explain or restate, they could have asked me to do so during such a conversation. But in allowing that conversation to occur, I too could have learned.

Instead, by my action, I imposed my view on the group and alienated someone who had a right to expect better.

Lesson learned. Next time I encounter this, I’ll ensure that I provide opportunity to those who disagree with me to fully and completely state their views. I may not agree with them, but I can definitely learn from them.

If you're in Calgary or Edmonton, let's talk social media

February 27, 2009 • Joseph Thornley • Calgary, Edmonton, MRIA

When I return to Canada from Australia next week, I’m heading to Alberta to make two presentations on social media at the University of Calgary on March 4 and then at the University of Alberta in Edmonton on March 5.

The sessions are being hosted by the Alberta Chapter of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association. It’s their first foray onto university campuses. So, I’m really keen to do a good job for them.

The MRIA Website describes the session this way:

Social media has become an important fact of life for a growing number of Canadians. As its use increases, it has far reaching impact on our choice of media and how we spend our time. People no longer serve as mute audiences, but now engage in the act of creation, sharing and curating content. In the process, new communities of interest are forming that transcend geographical boundaries.

Social media is different from the early Web. It’s about relationships. It’s about community. It’s about the things that happen offsite – the linkbacks, the retweets, the references to our content, and the online (and offline) communities that are formed. How can organizations know what they want to achieve in social media and what are the emerging tools they can use to measure success against those criteria.

Join us for our next Lunch and Learn event on what social media is, how its read/write nature fulfills the potential of the Web, and how different people use it in different ways (for example; lurkers, critics, joiners, creators, etc.)

If you’re in Alberta and you’re interested in social media, you can register online to attend either the Calgary or the Edmonton sessions. And if you read this blog and attend the session, please do say hello to me. I always welcome a smile and a human connection.

Where did I go wrong with this presentation proposal?

January 22, 2009 • Joseph Thornley • Conferences, CPRS

Give to get back

I try to give back to the communications industry by offering to speak at meetups, barcamps, schools, industry conferences and other gatherings that want me. Usually, I’ll speak about about social media, sharing what I’ve experienced and learned over the past five years.

I’ve never delivered the same presentation two times in a row. Social media changes so rapidly and there are so many new developments and issues that I’m constantly adding new material.

Don’t waste their time. Make it relevant

When I plan a presentation, I always try to approach the presentation from the perspective of the participants. What is their background? What interests them? What do they already know? What could I offer them that would make their hour with me a worthwhile use of their time?

Usually this approach works. I deliver what people are interested in. And they think their time with me was well spent. Occasionally, I miss the mark.

In the past few years, I’ve become active in the Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms (In fact, I was elected Chair of the CCPRF in December.) And one of the topics of ongoing discussion among the PR consulting firm CEOs has been the need to ensure that new employees arrive in our firms with the knowledge and skills necessary for success in the era of social media.

Oops. This one didn’t make the cut.

So, when the Canadian Public Relations Society put out a call for presentation proposals for the CPRS National Conference scheduled for June in Vancouver, I thought that it would make sense to propose a session with a panel of CEOs of some of Canada’s leading PR firms talking about the knowledge and skills they believe that people should be acquiring in order to succeed in our evolving industry. The CEOs of three other firms – Palette PR‘s Martin Waxman, Weber Shandwick‘s Kerry Harris and Argyle‘s Dan Tisch – volunteered to participate in this panel. So, I thought I’d have a rock solid session that would be of interest to the members of the CPRS.

Oops. I was wrong. I received an email telling me that our submission had been declined. Clearly, I’d missed the mark with this proposal.

Fair enough. The conference organizers want to put on the best conference and I’m sure that they had many great presentations to choose from.

Doing better the next time

But, of course, I’d like my presentation proposal to be among the better ones. So, if I missed the mark this time, I’d like to improve for the next time. And I’m hoping that you can help me with that.

I’ve reproduced the presentation proposal below. If you are a public relations practitioner, please take a look at it and tell me how I could tweak it to make it something you’d find useful.

I can’t offer you anything other than my thanks. And my pledge not to waste your time if you find yourself at one of my presentations.

Building your Career with Canada’s PR Consulting Companies
What do the leaders of public relations firms look for in recruiting new employees and deciding who to advance? It’s about more than billings. In this era of social media, what are the skills that PR pros must acquire or develop in order to build a successful PR consulting career? Four PR firm CEOs, Thornley Fallis’ Joseph Thornley, Palette PR’s Martin Waxman, Argyle’s Dan Tisch and Weber Shandwick’s Kerry Harris, will tell you what they look for and answer all your questions. This panel is co-sponsored by the Council of Public Relations Firms and the CPRS.

Anyone interested in a career in PR consulting, whether PR student, new job entrant, mid career or senior practitioner, will be interested in this session.

The objectives of this workshop are to alert CPRS members to how they can prepare themselves to succeed in today’s fast changing public relations discipline and to give them insight into how PR firms are trying to help them prepare for the future.

Participants will learn:

What PR consulting firms look for when recruiting new employees;

What skills and expertise PR practitioners should be developing to equip themselves to succeed today and tomorrow;

How PR agency heads are trying to help their employees acquire new skills and expertise that they will need to advance in their careers.

PR professionals will gain insight into what PR firm heads feel are the essential skills and expertise of tomorrow and how they can acquire this.

PR consulting companies will benefit by the exchange of best practices and corporate communicators will gain insight into the challenges facing their suppliers and what is being done to meet those challenges.

So, what do you think?

How could I improve this session proposal to make it more interesting and more useful to public relations practitioners and other conference attendees?

Government of Canada's Deputy Chief Technology Officer at the next Third Tuesday Ottawa

January 21, 2009 • Joseph Thornley • GCPedia, governmentsocialmedia, JeffBraybrook, socialmedia, ThirdTuesday, ThirdTuesdayOttawa

Third Tuesday Ottawa In the autumn, the Government of Canada announced a new initiative to integrate social media into its operations: GCPedia, a government-wide Wiki.

GCPedia has been up and running for several months. However, because it lives behind the Government of Canada’s firewall, you and I can’t see it or track how the experiment is proceeding.

The curtain will be drawn back briefly for attendees at the February 2 Third Tuesday Ottawa. Jeff Braybrook, the Government of Canada’s Deputy Chief Technology Officer, will talk about GCPedia and some of the more promising social media for government pilot projects.

I believe that social media holds tremendous potential to bring government closer to citizens. And I’m looking forward to the discussion with Jeff.

If you’re in Ottawa on February 2, you can register online to attend Third Tuesday.

And thanks to our national sponsors, CNW Group, Third Tuesday continues to be a free event.

I hope to see you there.