Understanding the ROI of your social media investments

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The City of Ottawa has been introducing social media from the inside out – making people comfortable with it behind the firewall before using it to serve citizens. As they’ve developed their approach, they’ve realized they need to focus on measuring a Return on Investment in order to speak the same language as the decision makers.

Chris Wightman and Mark Faul shared their learnings with the participants at the ALI Social Media for Government conference. I’ve used CoverItLive to capture the highlights of the Twitter stream from the conference participants who tagged their posts #ALI. You can review these highights below.

Chris Wightman and Mark Faul at the ALI Social Media for Government conference

The Ottawa Social Media Book Club

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When I posted yesterday about the Third Tuesday Social Media Book Group that I’d created on Shelfari, I added a note at the end of the post indicating that we’d be having discussions of the best books on social media to the agenda at Third Tuesday social media meetups in Toronto and Ottawa.

ottawasocialmediabookclubOops. In doing this, I overlooked the fact that a Social Media Book Club already exists in Ottawa. The Ottawa Social Media Book Club is organized by Kelly Rusk and Scott Lake. Last month, the group met to discuss Clay Shirky‘s Here Comes Everybody. At their next meeting, on June 16, they’ll be discussing the book that started it all, Cluetrain Manifesto.

So, if you find yourself in or near Ottawa on June 16 and you’d like to participate in a discussion of a classic text, register to attend the Ottawa Social Media Book Club. I’m sure you’ll meet some nice folks who share your interest in social media.

Memo to Jim Flaherty: Please don't make it harder to manage through this recession

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At Thornley Fallis and 76design, our payroll costs routinely run at about 60% of our topline revenues. That means that 60 cents of every dollar we receive for our services goes directly to create jobs. Good jobs. Jobs that employ creative people. Jobs that employ knowledge workers. Workers who help companies – and government – use the new social media to create communities of interest, accelerate knowledge sharing and get closer to the people they serve.

So, I was dismayed to read the following section in Finance Minister James Flaherty’s November 27 Economic Statement:

“There will be no free ride for anyone else in government either.

“We are directing government ministers and deputy ministers from every single department and agency of the Government to rein in their spending on travel, hospitality, conferences, exchanges and professional services.

“This includes polling, consultants and external legal services.”

Consulting. That’s me and my industry. The government contracts with knowledge workers as consultants. So, are we about to be on the chopping block? Does Minister Flaherty think that we are some kind of bureaucratic boondoggle?

When I read Finance Minister Flaherty’s statement, I fear that he and the government are failing to see the value of the economic activity our industry generates.

Clearly, he doesn’t understand:

  • the economic efficiency of our industry in creating jobs,
  • how important government is to our industry as one of the largest communicators in the country,
  • how communicating with Canadians to restore confidence is essential to the economic recovery, and
  • how government spending on communications not only is part of the solution in getting past the recession panic, but will also enable our industry to maintain employment levels.

Does Minister Flaherty understand that if he takes a broadsword to consulting contracts, he will be killing jobs – lots of jobs – at a time when we should be trying to sustain employment?

The Department of Finance announced last Thursday that it is conducting online consultations in advance of the January 26 budget.

This is my submission.

Mr. Flaherty, please don’t pull the rug out from under knowledge workers with one hand while with the other you are seeking to build up infrastructure.

Yes, please do invest in extending broadband Internet access so that more people can have access to the benefits of the Net. (And while you’re at it, please encourage innovation by supporting net neutrality.)

But while you are pouring dollars into building roads, bridges, buildings and bandwidth, please don’t undercut the knowledge workers whom you are counting on to use that infrastructure to create jobs in the future.

People like me are trying to preserve jobs for knowledge workers.

We aren’t getting any free ride. We help government to connect with Canadians. And we also help you to listen to what Canadians are saying. We are also very efficient at creating jobs. Jobs right here in Canada.

We count on you and our government to be wise and to legislate in the public interest. So, please take a closer look at small business and industries like mine before you act. I think you’ll find that it makes sense to provide us with stability, not the back of your hand.

And if you provide us with a stable environment, I’m sure you’ll find that we do our part. And isn’t that really how we’ll get through the recession? If everyone does their part?

Ottawa technology sector uses social media platform for promotion

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Here’s another case study in the making: a business group attempting to use social media for promotion and marketing.

At the height of the dot com boom, the Ottawa technology sector styled itself as Silicon Valley North. In fact, the technology sector was powered by industry leaders like Nortel, JDS Uniphase, Entrust and Cognos and the startups that grew up around them.

All that changed in a short period of time. The Ottawa industry was hit hard by the drop in demand for telecom and Internet gear. Tech companies fell on hard times, laying off employees, pulling out of the region or simply closing their doors.

Well, the region’s technology sector has slowly clawed its way back up from the depths. And now the tech sector’s business 82000reasons.comassociation, the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) wants to spread the good news about the region’s resurgence.

OCRI has launched 82000 Reasons.com to proclaim to the world that the region’s tech sector has survived the telecom implosion, has reestablished itself on solid footing and is growing again. The site’s name alludes to the fact that there are now more than 82,000 people employed in Ottawa’s tech sector.

I found out about the site through a news release that arrived in my feedreader via an RSS feed from MarketWire. (Yes, news releases continue to be an effective way to reach people with an interest in your subject area.)

OCRI’s release says that 82000reasons:

“gives tech employees and companies an RSS, blog and viral video platform to share their successes with a global audience.”

“In the era of user generated content, every one of Ottawa’s technology success stories can be told, tagged and distributed online to a global audience,” says [Michael Darch, Executive Director of Ottawa Global Marketing]. “82000reasons.com leverages our greatest asset, our people, to tell the ‘Why Ottawa?’ story. They are better qualified than anyone to describe Ottawa’s lifestyle and technology strengths so we can attract the people and investment dollars we need to fuel our growth.”

OCRI is promoting participation through a contest offering Ottawa-Frankfurt air tickets to the best contributions and through by “banner ads on Facebook, plus local print, banner ad and radio advertising.”

Conspicuously absent in the list of promotional initiatives is any type of blogger outreach. That’s a real missed opportunity for an initiative that presents itself in social media terms.

The site has just launched. So, it’s too early to judge participation. I’ll follow its progress and try to arrange an interview with Mike Dartch in about a month to talk about the site’s objectives and how it is performing.

UPDATE: Media in Canada also has covered the launch of 82000Reasons