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.

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!

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

Deb Brown and I are organizing the Des Moines 140 Character Conference (#140conf), which takes place Monday, May 9th at the Civic Center’s Stoner Theater. I may be a little biased, but here are five reasons why you should attend.

1.) A first for Iowa. Originally created by Jeff Pulver, 140 is a national conference with localized events in different cities, focused on real-time technology’s transformative power over business, government, culture and our personal lives. Each speaker has 10 minutes to present, and it’s a full day of speakers. This is the first #140conf in the state.

2.) The cast of characters. Deb has done a great job assembling a diverse speaker line-up, featuring familiar local faces and many new ones.

3.) The agriculture voices. We’re in Iowa – so this makes sense, right? I’m personally excited to hear from Jeff Caldwell (Successful Farming), Shannon Latham (Latham Hi-Tech Seeds) and Tara Litzenberger (the infamous @JohnDeereTara on Twitter) about how new media is changing their industry.

4.) A day of networking. You’ll get to meet and mingle with attendees representing all sorts of industries and backgrounds, from businesses small to large.

5.) A Monday off. Sort of. This type of event fits perfectly under “professional development.” Tell your boss that. Hell, bring your boss!

Tickets ($65 per person, $15 student rate) are available here. We hope to see you there!

Above is a presentation I gave last week at the American Library Association‘s youth privacy summit in Chicago. I addressed how teenagers are currently using social and mobile technology and their varying views of what privacy actually means to them.

You can’t dig deep into this topic without coming across the mountains of research done by none other than danah boyd – and I referenced her work often. This presentation was only meant to be a conversation starter, and I highly recommend danah’s publications and research to anyone wanting to explore the complex issues behind youth privacy and emerging media.

Some of the questions put forth in the session were:

• What digital footprints are we leaving behind online through our participation in social networks?
• How will this data be used in the future? (Potentially integrated with non-tech brands such as Kraft, OnStar and Safeway.)
• Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and Christopher Poole’s (4chan) opposite views on authenticity.
• How do teenagers define privacy? How does this differ from other generations?
• How do teenagers navigate social networks to protect their privacy?
• Where are they learning these skills? (Typically peers, not adults or the social networks themselves.)
• What new, more private forms of online media are they migrating to next, while still maintaining a Facebook presence?
• Do teens actually use email?

Below are few additional remarks I made after the session in an interview with Loida Garcia Febo from Queens Library New York, referencing how individual teenagers are tweaking their Facebook usage in interesting ways to maintain their own personal sense of privacy.

I would love to hear your opinions in the comments below (especially from parents). Are teenagers failing to understand long-term privacy implications of using social technology? Or are they smarter about privacy that any other generation before them?