Photo via labnol.org.

Here at Lava Row, we cross paths with college students on a pretty regular basis. We sit on panels at universities, speak in front of student groups and participate in local networking events with students. Nathan served as an adjunct instructor at Drake University, teaching an Internet marketing course to upperclassmen. Norah graduated from college a year ago, and remains involved in Drake’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication as a graduate. As we’ve met incredible, driven students from schools across Iowa, we’ve answered one question more than any other: “How do I get a job working with social media?”

On Friday, December 9 at 3pm, we’ll present our first local workshop specifically for students interested in working with social media after college. Join us for a (free!) candid discussion about how social media is playing in to marketing, communications and journalism careers — and how it’s affecting companies as a whole — and what that means for your future career. We’ll discuss the skills you’ll need to have to get hired, the platforms you’ll need to play with and the tools you’ll use to make it all easier. And we’ll talk about the ways in which social media for business is fundamentally different than how we use Facebook, Twitter, foursquare and other platforms in our personal lives.

Interested in joining us? Register at the bottom of this post — seats are limited to the first 20 registrants. Click here for directions to our office; metered parking is available along Market Street and SW 2nd Street (so don’t forget your quarters!).

Photo via birgerking

On Tuesday, December 6th, we’re hosting a day-long 2012 Social Media Readiness workshop, designed to give businesses small and large an in-depth, advanced outlook on the social media landscape over the next 12 months.

Tickets are $129 per person – this includes five hours of content, a catered lunch and beverages. We cap the session at 20 participants to make sure everyone has time to have their questions and concerns addressed. To reserve your seat via Eventbrite, you may use the order form below or click here.

The session is structured around six common “paint points” that organizations are currently facing when integrating social media into their business, and how to overcome these obstacles:

• Catching up to the speed of information. How to develop custom radars to stay tuned to relevant topics and issues and manage a crisis online.
• Organizational silos. How to build a cross-department, multi-discipline social media team.
• Lack of structure. How to develop policies and process for engaging on behalf of the company and stay efficient.
• No commitment to education. How to structure and implement internal certification programs to educate as many team members as possible.
• Not enough human beings. With limited manpower, how to determine who gets charged with social.
• Lots of platforms. How to select which networks are best for your needs and audience. We’ll also take a look at tools you’ll need to have in your quiver for 2012.

Please join me in congratulating Hillary Brown as she embarks on a new adventure with The Integer Group’s public relations department, starting on Monday, November 21st.

Hillary joined Lava Row in the summer of 2008 and she’s been a major factor in growing the business and keeping our clients happy. We’re really going to miss her expertise, attention to detail, extreme work ethic and upbeat presence in the office.

Hiring your first employee is a terrifying thing. You go from being responsible for killing just your own food to making sure another human being gets paid. Twice a month. With health insurance. And it certainly takes a unique, brave type of person to raise their hand and say “That sounds fun – I’m in!” Luckily, Hillary helped stabilize many layers of the business and I never had to worry.

Do me a favor and wish Hillary the best on Twitter, and make sure you stay connected to her on LinkedIn. Godspeed, @hillabean!

If you’re like most companies, it can often be a struggle to divide your time and resources between Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social platforms; to add blogging on top of that seems impossible. But maintaining a blog for your business can actually help connect the dots between your various social presences and provide you with meaningful content to share!

In our next Lava Lunch series workshop on Wednesday, November 30th, we’ll share examples of how various organizations of all sizes have used blogging to reach their audiences — from moms to liquor fanatics. We’ll also take a look at the most effective ways to structure your blog’s content, share tips for managing a multi-author team and discuss a few “must haves” that make any blog more social and more sharable.

Refreshments and catered lunches will be provided. We’ll get started at noon, but feel free to stop by between 11:30 and 12:00 for some good, old-fashioned networking.

Tickets can be purchased at the bottom of this post for $30.00 per person, plus a nominal Eventbrite fee. Full event details and directions can be found on the Lava Lunch page.

Social networks are great for amplifying your company’s voice and reach – but they’ve also given a powerful megaphone to your customers, your audience, and the general public. Are you prepared for the inevitable “social media age” crisis that will demand the full attention of your communications team and push them way outside their comfort zone?

In our next Lava Lunch series workshop on Thursday, September 29th, we’ll share examples of how various organizations of all sizes have handled (and mishandled) unexpected crises. We’ll explore different tactics to get your team prepared to tackle everything from disgruntled individuals to full-on doomsday scenarios.

Refreshments and catered lunches will be provided. We’ll get started at noon, but feel free to stop by between 11:30 and 12:00 for some good, old-fashioned networking.

Tickets can be purchased at the bottom of this post for $30.00 per person, plus a nominal Eventbrite fee. Or, skip the fee and pay with Dwolla. Full event details and directions can be found on the Lava Lunch page.

Photo: underbiteman via flickr.

Our Lava Lunch series continues on Thursday, August 25th with a discussion about the newest player in the social networking space: Google Plus.

Drop by for a full download on the basic functionality and how it differs from other major networks. We’ll also unpack some of the future business uses for Google Plus, and what you need to prepare your organization for. (This isn’t a social network you can afford to ignore.)

Refreshments and catered lunches will be provided. We’ll get started at noon, but feel free to stop by between 11:30 and 12:00 for some good, old-fashioned networking.

Tickets can be purchased at the bottom of this post for $30.00 per person, plus a nominal Eventbrite fee. Or, skip the fee and pay with Dwolla. Full event details and directions can be found on the Lava Lunch page.

Join us on July 28th for this month’s installment of our Lava Lunch series, a discussion about QR codes, scan tags and augmented reality — and how to make these emerging technologies work for your brand or business. As usual, we’ll share examples and case studies of how businesses are currently taking advantage of the these new tools, but we’ll also discuss what makes some campaigns more engaging than others (here’s a hint: it’s more than just sending a customer to an online version of your ad!).

Refreshments and catered lunches will be provided. We’ll get started at noon, but feel free to stop by between 11:30 and 12:00 for some good, old-fashioned networking.

Tickets can be purchased at the bottom of this post for $30.00 per person, plus a nominal Eventbrite fee. Or, skip the fee and pay us with Dwolla. Full event details and directions can be found on the Lava Lunch page.

We hope to see you on July 28th!

Yesterday Google launched their much-rumored push into the social networking space: The Google+ Project. I was interviewed by ABC5‘s Katie Eastman (video embed below) about the new network and how it stacks up to the main competition – Facebook.

Here are a couple of quick takeaways and initial reactions to Google+:

No friend requests. Unlike Facebook, Google+ doesn’t require mutual friendship acceptance. Users can subscribe to each other’s updates without defining one another as a friend (similar to Twitter), thereby removing some of the initial social navigation barriers, drama and decision-making. Note: Google+ users still have complete control over how their profiles appear, down to specific individuals.

Small groups. Google+ has baked a feature called Huddle into the network, which lets you create small groups of colleagues or friends to interact with. We’re seeing an explosion of group messaging apps right now, and Facebook’s recent acquisition of Beluga proves that the major players want to have a presence in that space. Beluga is something we find quite useful here at Lava Row (we have a Beluga “pod” for our work group and one with a client team). Facebook has not yet integrated Beluga into it’s standard messaging system, so it appears that Google has beat them to it with Huddle – at least in terms of layering it on top of existing products.

Where will the users come from? The biggest challenge is 750 million+ active Facebook users that “live” in that ecosystem every day. Google will need to focus on user overlap (similar to the symbiotic relationship between Twitter and Facebook) because there’s no way to shift that many people overnight. Integrating Google+ with popular, existing products such as Gmail will also be key.

So what are your thoughts on Google+? The company has been stumbled of late with their Buzz and Wave products, but they’ve been quietly succeeding outside of North America with Orkut. Please leave your comments below.

The Launch of Google+ from Katie Eastman on Vimeo.

ABOVE: Video of the ABC5 interview with Nathan T. Wright. Watch for the Shane Reiser man-hug at the end!

On June 8th, the latest installment of our Lava Lunch series will be a discussion about location-based networks such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places – and the big opportunities for businesses and brands. We’ll discuss platform features, usage, and demographics, as well as share examples and case studies of how businesses are currently taking advantage of the these new tools.

Refreshments and catered lunches will be provided. We’ll get started at noon, but feel free to stop by between 11:30 and 12:00 for some good, old-fashioned networking.

Tickets can be purchased at the bottom of this post for $30.00 per person, plus a nominal Eventbrite fee. Or, skip the fee and pay us with Dwolla. Full event details and directions can be found on the Lava Lunch page.

To get primed for the event, you may want to read Foursquare For Dummies in the Des Moines Register, featuring our own Norah Carroll. She answers questions such as “So, um, what is it?” and “Won’t burglars know when you’re not home?”

Hope to see you on June 8th!

Above image credit: nanpalmero via flickr