Category Archives: Presentations

How newspapers can foster community with social media

February 7, 2010 / posted by Nathan T. Wright

On Friday I gave a presentation called Fostering Community with Social Media at the Midwest Newspaper Summit (put on by the fine folks at the Iowa Newspaper Association). The audience was a mix of journalists and editors from regional newspapers as well as college students excited to break into the media industry.

The journalism world (specifically newspapers) is currently in a state of flux, and many are wondering if anything will be left standing five years from now. Yes, media platforms and reading habits have evolved, but the point of my session was that community equals opportunity – advantages go to those who embrace technology shifts and understand how to operationalize social networks for their gain.

While most of the audience was there to learn, I did my fair share of learning from them, as well. The session allowed me to connect with smart people who are working on innovative things, right here in Iowa. Thomas Ritchie (Online Editor at the Sioux City Journal) has put a focus on harnessing the real-time web and live-blogging stories for his newspaper, and he’s achieved quite a bit of success from it. Steve Buttry, who blogs about the future of journalism and media, sat in the front row and asked all sorts of good questions. I was also impressed by many of the college students I met, who are eager to break into the industry and tear it up using their knowledge of self-publishing tools and networks.

I have lots of opinions on where this is all going, but I certainly don’t have all the answers. What are your thoughts on the future of newspapers and news media? Please chime in below.

Let’s meet up in February

February 1, 2010 / posted by Nathan T. Wright

February is shaping up to be a busy month, speaking-wise. Starting tonight, we’ve got 11 gigs in 28 days – now that’s a lot of talking!

Recently some of you have been asking about what events we’re participating in and where to find us, so we’ve posted a detailed list (ones that allow public registration) below. We’ll go ahead and throw March’s trip to Texas into the mix, as well. If you decide to venture out to any of these, please say hello and ask lots of questions. We’d love to meet you.

Midwest Newspaper Summit
Friday, February 5
Downtown Marriott Hotel, Des Moines, Iowa
Topic: Social Media – Fostering an Online Community Around Your Newspaper

Social Media and Health Care (Iowa Hospital Association)
Tuesday, February 9
Thompson Auditorium, Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Des Moines, Iowa
Topic: An introduction to social media

A Journalist’s Guide to New Media (Drake University SJMC)
Saturday, February 13
Meredith Hall, Room 104, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa
Topic: Linking w/ potential employers, clients and professionals via social media tools

American Marketing Association, Iowa Chapter
Wednesday, February 17
Hilton Garden Inn, Johnston, Iowa
Topic: How LinkedIn are you?

EntreFest 2010
Friday, February 26
West Des Moines Marriott, West Des Moines, Iowa
Topic: Using Facebook to build your business

South by Southwest Interactive 2010
Tuesday, March 16
Austin Convention Center, Austin, Texas
Topic: The State of Music Blogs in 2010

Photo credit: visual_dichotomy via Flickr

Lava Row Camp social media seminar: What’s next?

October 28, 2009 / posted by Nathan T. Wright

Lava Row Camp social media seminars: What's next?Back in late September we announced Lava Row Camp (a recurring series of monthly educational social media seminars).

After our first event we decided to re-tool the format in order to make it more accessible to more people — we’re moving the event time from the noon hour to 5:00pm, shortening the overall content to allow for more Q&A and interaction, waiving ticket fees and (here’s the best news) incorporating cocktails!

For the next installment of Lava Row Camp, we’re ditching the 101 slides and focusing on what’s next for the future of social media marketing and business. Some of the topics we’ll cover are:

  • Augmented Reality (AR)
  • Location-based social networks like Foursquare and Gowalla, and the implications for marketing local businesses.
  • Facebook’s recent changes to the News Feed (and Live Feed) and what this means for your business pages.
  • Twitter Lists and how they will fundamentally change the Twittersphere (for the better).
  • How Facebook Connect and Google SideWiki will forever change the corporate website.

So please join us at the Des Moines Social Club at 5:00pm on Wednesday, November 4th. Cocktails and networking start promptly at 5:00 and then we begin the discussion at 5:30. Be sure to bring your opinions and questions, as we want your insights to be a big part of the conversation. We’ll have a handful of drink tickets on hand for the first people to arrive — but they won’t last long!

The Technology Association of Iowa has graciously stepped in to help support these events, and we can’t thank them enough. Please RSVP for the event below, or you can just click here. We’re still in the process of assembling the presentation, so if there’s a topic you’d like us to cover, just contact us or leave a comment below. See you next Wednesday!

Photo credit: moriza via flickr

Events

A quick tip on public speaking

October 3, 2009 / posted by Nathan T. Wright

I’m working on a lengthy blog post about how to get serious about becoming a professional speaker, but in the meantime, here’s a quick tip for those of you who frequently put on presentations:

Has this ever happened to you? Be sure to share your story below. :)

Library 2.0: Extending reach through blogging and Twitter

February 16, 2009 / posted by Nathan T. Wright

This morning we accepted the unique challenge of presenting to a room full of librarians at Drake University’s Cowles Library. (They referred to themselves as a “gaggle” of librarians). The audience was already well-versed on the inherent value of social media, but wanted a deeper understanding of how to get more engagement going on their blog. They were also very curious about Twitter — in fact, almost 30% of them already had accounts!

Embedded below is a copy of our presentation, which we think is applicable to any organization with a blog seeking more engagement. As always, you can’t just click a button to get more comments — it’s earned over time through active participation in other online communities besides your own.

One of the audience members referred to the “social mission” baked into the five laws of library science (put forth by Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan) and how this applies to the new tech they adopt. This afternoon I went back to the office and Googled the five laws. Number five certainly stuck out to me: The library is a growing organism.

While doing research for this presentation, Hillary discovered a ton of fantastic resources for libraries seeking to bridge the social technology gap. If you’re interested, go ahead and browse The Shifted Librarian, LibraryCrunch and The Ubiquitous Librarian — blogs that touch on the adaptation of new mediums within libraries.

Library 2.0 is a niche social network for librarians who want to connect, share knowledge and form a virtual brain trust. ASU’s Library Channel is an excellent example of an institution that has integrated social media into their web presence. Last but not least, you might want to check out the OCLC’s 2007 report: Sharing, Privacy and Trust in Our Networked World.

Special thanks to Scott Phillips for inviting us to present to his co-workers, and for being a champion of social media at Cowles Library. If any librarians happen to stumble across this post, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!