Orange Slices

By Caroline Nobles

Social media professionals and sports fans alike are eagerly awaiting Super Bowl XLVI this Sunday night. Debates have already blossomed around the showdown between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. Will the event be a rematch of Super Bowl XLII or a sequel to the game in 2007?

Whether you’re hosting a Super Bowl bash or curling up on the couch to watch the Patriots, Giants or the highly publicized Volkswagen commercial, social media will certainly be abuzz with Super Bowl fever. As many of us are professional and personal users of social media, we can learn from athletes and teams using the same channels. What are they doing to get results, and how can we do the same?

Photo courtesy of emma.kate's Flickr photostream.

Be engaged and active.

Athletes and teams who use social media successfully are constantly adding and updating content. They talk about upcoming games, chat with other athletes, promote special events or banter with rivals. Their goals may differ, but successful users are continuously linking, updating, following and talking.

Think outside the box.

When NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal announced his retirement from basketball, he didn’t follow the norm and hold a press conference. Instead, he posted a 15-second video to Tout, thanking his fans and informing them he was stepping down from the game. Last fall, to engage people via Twitter in the Battle for the Golden Egg between Mississippi State and the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State painted #HAILSTATE in one end zone. “Hashtagging” the end zone was an innovative way to marry sports enthusiasm with social media. Generating ideas and tactics that might be slightly outside your comfort zone just may provide the inspiration needed to start conversation.

Follow athletes in and out of your sport.

Athletes follow other athletes via Twitter in their own sport and outside of their sport. There are always opportunities to learn from others in and out of your field. Eli Manning, quarterback for the Giants, doesn’t only follow his teammates on Twitter;  he also follows NBA star LeBron James, quarterbacks Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, and ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols.  Use social media to keep up with colleagues, competitors and industry news. Untapped ideas, pitching opportunities, marketing tools, story ideas and other useful content is always available.

Promote yourself.

Sports teams and athletes use social media to talk about themselves, their products and their brands. With the Super Bowl quickly approaching, players on the Patriots and Giants aren’t talking about The World Series. Sports bloggers aren’t blogging about the U.S. Open. No, athletes, writers, reporters and sponsors are tweeting, posting, liking and blogging about the Big Game. So, use social media to your advantage and promote yourself. Promote a new product or brand through Facebook or YouTube. Blog about awards or recognitions your company, client or product earns. Launch a Twitter campaign to increase website awareness. The possibilities are endless.

Avoid the penalty flag.

While many sports figures maintain a professional image when using social media, there are athletes who abuse the privilege.  Once you start using social media, you place yourself in the public eye. A seemingly innocent status update or tweet may be misinterpreted and result in the loss of a client or sponsorship. Champion dropped its endorsement deal with Rashard Mendenhall, running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, after an ill-timed and controversial tweet. Proofread and edit your content, and don’t post in frustration or anger. Maintain a professional image – one that demonstrates your expertise and mirrors your values.

Set goals and break records.

Whether you’re trying to break into the social media scene or become more engaged, set reachable goals. We can’t all be like Tim Tebow and set a record of 9,420 tweets per second. We can, however, set objectives such as tweeting at least three times per day, posting links and updates to Facebook once a day, blogging two to three times per month, and building our LinkedIn connections. Consistency is the first step to a winning effort.

No matter how you spend your Super Bowl Sunday, social media will play a key role in event coverage. Make a conscious effort to observe how other athletes and professionals use these online tools to generate coverage and awareness, and decide what strategies and tactics you can employ to get the most out of your social media.

How do you plan on using social media on Super Bowl Sunday?

Caroline Nobles is an assistant account executive who can be reached at @carolinenobles during the game.

By Emily Browder

Before day one of your first internship, did you envision yourself as Anne Hathaway in “The Devil Wears Prada?” I.e. fetching coffee, endlessly making copies, filing papers and reporting to a demanding, outrageous boss?  Well, in reality I hope that none of you will ever have an experience like that!

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, behind communication skills, internships are ranked as the second most important quality employers look for in potential candidates. In a communications field, that means internship experience is an important component in securing a job.

As the internship coordinator at RLF, what’s my advice to you based on this fact? Make yourself more marketable in a tough economy by landing several internships prior to graduation. This proves that you have initiative, builds and boosts your portfolio, provides valuable references for the future and gives you much needed interviewing experience. Not to mention, by having several internships you will have a better feel for your job interests/abilities and be better prepared to make an informed decision about your future career path.

Below are some tips for current interns and students seeking internships.

Tips for current interns:

1.  Proactivity. Think of ways to make your supervisor’s life easier. Whether it is raising your hand to volunteer for a task or thinking one step ahead, a proactive intern will be appreciated (and remembered).

2.  Engagement. If the goal of your internship is to learn and gain real world experience, be engaged and ask questions. Asking questions is a great way to learn about the industry. 

3.  Resourcefulness. While asking questions is important, try to find the answer yourself first. Look at previous, similar work to gauge a template or trend.

4.  Proof everything. Proof everything, again. Think about the assignments in your internship as an assignment for school. Turn in only A+ work because you never know if your internship could turn into a job offer (or at least serve as a reference).

Tips for finding an internship:

1.  Network. Network. Network. People often say, “It is all about who you know” and, well, they are usually right. Personal or professional connections can help put you in touch with the right person within a company and lead to a job offer.

2.  Career center. I am a huge advocate of working with the career counselors/career service center at your college or university and sharing your career goals with your professors. They have inside experience that can be extremely valuable when it comes to getting you connected with the right people in your desired industry.

3.  Google. Research the career pages of company websites in the area you hope to work. Most companies will have an email address where you can inquire about employment opportunities or submit a resume online.

4.  Social media. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are good resources for finding potential employment options or information about companies of interest. For example:  RLF posts on Facebook and Twitter every semester when we start interviewing interns.

Over the past few years, college graduates have been faced with a dismal job market after graduation. The ever-so-competitive work environment leaves many college graduates accepting internships, instead of full-time positions, after walking across the stage. The reality is that internships are extremely beneficial on a variety of levels. Besides a new standard in job market demands, internships can help solidify the direction for your career. In my opinion, it is never too early to start gaining internship experience and I promise you can never have too many, either.

At RLF, we are proud to offer a fulfilling and versatile internship program with outstanding compensation. We offer spring, summer and fall internships with 10 to 12 interns per year.

Please feel free to send your resume and writing samples to me if you are interested in applying for a summer position – ebrowder@rlfcommunications.com.

By AK Brinson

A few years ago, I fell in love with aluminum Christmas trees. I must admit, at first I was surprised by my love for these gaudy items of holiday cheer.  As a PR practitioner with expertise in furnishings and home décor, I’ve always prided myself on my good taste. A “find your style” quiz from HomeGoods.com proclaimed me an Elegant Classic – someone with a refined sensibility and an appreciation for beauty, things that are well crafted and family heirlooms.

But as soon as I purchased my first opulently blingy aluminum tree, my refined sensibility was discarded faster than Aunt Edna’s fruitcake.  I bought an eye-catching, bright white tree for my house and decked it with ornaments in bold hues of red, green, pink and blue.

And much to the chagrin of my co-workers, I brought a shocking pink tree into the office and filled its branches with ornaments in silver, white and Tiffany blue. This year, I agreed to appease the grinches and set up a smaller aluminum tree (this time in classic green) in the front lobby.

I eventually made peace with my obsession for tacky tannenbaums. They were to be my guilty pleasure, something that would surface once a year to remind me that all that glitters need not be gold. So imagine my surprise when perusing MarthaStewart.com to see a post written by Martha herself about her love for fake, sparkly, colorful aluminum Christmas trees! Oh, the relief! The validation! If the domestic doyenne herself lauded faux fir, I must be doing something right!

The moral of the story is this: To thine own self be true. Build your brand on your strongest assets and proceed steadily in a consistent direction despite the grinches and naysayers. Try to be all things to all people and you’ll likely end up being nothing to anyone. But if you can firmly establish your identity and stick by it, your brand has a much better chance of meaning something to the people who matter.

By Emily Thomas

It’s December. We’re officially less than 20 days from Christmas, and our free time is consumed with festive activities – and from attending parties to baking treats, social media is playing a key role in the season.

Facebook and Holiday Parties

Attending a holiday party? You likely received your invitation via Facebook. “Join” the event, as in RSVP “yes,” and your projected presence will be shared on your news feed, which may influence another invitee’s decision to attend. If you become friends with another attendee after the event, your news feed will announce that the two of you became friends after attending the same holiday event.

In an effort to synergize your social agenda, you can also link your Facebook calendar to your smartphone calendar. How on Earth did you manage your holiday social calendar before Facebook?

The Modern Day Wish List

Remember the days of circling your most coveted items in the Sears catalog, then sending your hand-written wish list to Santa?  Maybe as you got older, you emailed your loved ones a wish list in the form of an Excel document, complete with URLs of where the gifts could be purchased. Those days are long gone—with the development of online wish lists, like Amazon’s Wishlist—you can add your most desired items from around the internet to one central location. Like a wedding registry, your friends and family can then shop the list by entering your email address. Final step? You can share your wish list via Facebook and/or Twitter.

It’s also a popular practice to share individual items on your own page or, for those who aren’t fond of hinting around, on the pages of your friends and family.

Liking/Following = Holiday Discounts?

These days, seemingly every legitimate company has a Facebook fan page and/or Twitter account, and many will offer special holiday promotions to their fans and followers. Keep that in mind when you’re completing your holiday shopping!

Pinning: The New Kid on the Block

The new kid on the social media block, but quickly gaining popularity, is Pinterest. Pinterest is a network of online pin boards where each user can pin interesting items from around the web. Users can browse categories to view other users’ pins. Of course, with the holiday season upon us, a hot pinboard topic is anything and everything relating to the holidays. From recipes, decorations and party ideas, to coveted gifts, Pinterest users find inspiration everywhere.

Just like our various and sundry forms of communication, the way we celebrate the season has evolved. We turn to social media instead of the catalog, pen and paper. In exchange for dusting off your grandmother’s old cookbook to scour for new recipes, we hit up online pinboards. Maybe this year you’ll choose to send out e-cards instead of splurging on hard copies and postage. Whatever your M.O. for celebrating the season this year, remember to slow down, take the time to enjoy your loved ones and keep in mind that some traditions are worth keeping.

By Aleasha Vuncannon

RLF Communications recently spent two days with 400+ destination marketers at the VA-1 Tourism Summit in Richmond, Va. VA-1 is an annual event for Virginia’s tourism industry to network, share destination marketing trends and discover new strategies.

RLF attended the conference as part of our ongoing work with the Chesapeake Convention & Visitors Bureau. We captured many valuable takeaways from the event, including opportunities to leverage current travel trends. The Virginia Tourism Corporation’s research team led one of the conference’s breakout sessions and shared five ways destination marketers can win travelers’ love and money in 2012.

1.  Create and reinforce local, authentic messaging

Consumers crave to reach out, experience something distinct and slow down when traveling. Destination marketers can fulfill these desires by focusing on value and reinforcing a local message. From shopping to dining, consumers want to experience a destination’s culture and personality. There’s a unique opportunity for marketers to help travelers on this discovery. For example, when developing itineraries and creating tips for things to do, offer this advice as a guide with only three or four must-dos. Leave the rest for visitors to discover on their own.

 2.  That promotes experiences, not products

Trip Advisor’s 2012 travel forecast indicates a renewed interest in cultural trips with consumers looking to fuse precious downtime with enriching experiences. And, they want to share these experiences through social networks. As marketers, it’s critical that we speak the same language by effectively communicating what consumers want to feel and experience, and deliver on that promise.

 3.  Communicate your message at the right time

Weekend trips are becoming more popular over traditional, seven-day vacations with consumers taking several small trips each year. In fact, according to Trip Advisor’s 2012 travel forecast, 90 percent of its survey respondents plan to take two or more leisure getaways next year. Vacation planning time averages one or two months with 25 percent of trips planned in less than a week!

The success of travel flash sale sites such as LivingSocial Escapes and Gilt Groupe Jetsetter echo this trend and offer excellent examples of how companies appeal to recession-fatigued consumers looking for last-minute getaways. Destination marketing organizations should follow suit and look for ways to bundle packages or offer exclusive discounts to key audiences.

4.  And with the right media

Consumers today are social and mobile, and they consume media simultaneously. It’s more critical than ever to maintain an integrated presence across print, broadcast and online media to maintain brand awareness among target audiences. Social media is a must, but it’s not enough to merely maintain a presence. Marketers need to engage consumers with ongoing dialogue and compelling content.

5.  Don’t meet, but exceed expectations

Travelers continue to see destination marketing organizations as a partner before, during and after their adventures. There’s a unique opportunity for marketers to embrace this supporting role and exceed travelers’ expectations. Consumers are vocal about sharing experiences, and this includes the good, the bad and the average. It’s our job as marketers to help them spread what’s awesome about a destination.

By Monty Hagler

WORLDCOM Public Relations Group – America’s Region Annual Mtg from RLF Communications on Vimeo.

The above video shares remarks from Jeff Cole, director of University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center for the Digital Future. Jeff spoke at the recent WORLDCOM Public Relations Group conference in Hawaii that I attended, and I thought it was an informative, insightful talk (and follow up conversation) about how digital media is reshaping communications. I was particularly interested in his view that tablet computers are going to replace virtually all personal computers, and what that means for how we create, view, share and process information.

By David French

As one who communicates primarily through the written word, I’ve made being a better writer a career-long goal. I’ll be the first to confess: it’s a journey and not a destination. There’s still much to learn.

One thing I have learned is that good writers are made, not born. It takes lots of practice, good teachers and probably most important, good editors.

One of my dad’s favorite expressions was “The devil’s in the details.” I learned that little things matter—both in life and in writing—which is probably why I was attracted to the appropriately titled book “Little Things Matter” by Todd Smith, a business consultant.

Todd also writes a blog: LittleThingsMatter.com. One recent post was titled “Improving Your Written Communication Skills.” With a nod to this fellow communicator, here are a few pointers and insights from both of us:

1.  Write short sentences as often as you can. Short sentences are easier to read.

2.  When the topic allows, write conversationally. Just as if you were talking with another person. Incomplete sentences are not proper English, but that’s how we speak.

3.  Write short paragraphs. Short paragraphs, like short sentences, are easier to read. This is especially true if you’re covering a complex subject. The topic is daunting enough without drowning the reader in a sea of black ink.

4.  Be clear. Another favorite expression learned at the knee of Ned Dandridge, composition professor extraordinaire: “Eschew obfuscation.” I confess I had to look up those words.

5.  Be concise. Congratulations! You are not required to write four-page single-spaced term papers any longer. Try to communicate your message with the fewest number of words.

6.  Look for misunderstandings or misinterpretations. Do your words convey exactly what you intend?

7.  Edit, edit, edit yourself. Trust me, you probably did not get it exactly right the first time. Don’t fall in love with the first draft.

8.  Proof yourself and ask a good writer to proof after you. Here are a few tricks I’ve learned. One: read your writing out loud. First, one word at a time and second, as you normally read. This helps to spot errors in agreement between nouns and verbs, and common misusages like there for their. Two: read backwards. Misspelled words will stand out. Three: never, never trust spell check on your computer.

9.  Read. Read a lot. Read a lot of different kinds of writing. You’ll be surprised at what sticks with you and how reading will make you a better writer.

10.  Work crossword puzzles. Second-best vocabulary builder, ever. First best: learning a foreign language – particularly a Romance language like French, Spanish or Italian – as the root of many English words are foreign words.

I’m not talking about mastery to the level of a literary lion, but if you achieve that, kudos! I’ll certainly be reading your next bestseller. But I do believe that the ability to write well is the most fundamental skill required of a professional communicator. Serves everyone else well, too.

By Michelle Rash

There is a growing body of evidence that reporters are not only turning to social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for recreation, but also for sourcing and research. For example, one survey found that nearly 45 percent of reporters read a corporate blog when conducting research on a specific company and that a quarter of all journalists visit a company’s Facebook page to gather information.

This ultimately raises the question – are companies doing enough on social media to generate the positive press coverage they want? While many companies are still shy about tapping into the power of social media to engage with reporters, one of our clients has recognized the value it can hold.

A Case Study

More than a year ago, RLF began managing a Twitter account for one of our clients targeted specifically at the media covering that industry.

Since taking over the account, it has grown from roughly 500 followers to more than 1,300 followers, including reporters at some of the nation’s largest newspapers, industry bloggers and government regulators. Through this account, RLF has been able to reach out to followers to promote research and press releases issued by our client, share the company’s point of view on important industry issues, and have conversations and engage with key reporters.

This interaction has led to some positive media coverage. In the most notable example, after seeing a tweet by the Associated Press promoting upcoming coverage on a variety of topics related to this client’s industry, RLF responded via tweet asking if sources were still needed for the stories. Less than 48 hours later, a spokesperson for our client was being interviewed by an AP writer for a story that earned national coverage.

Powerful Tools

While not every company needs to create a unique Twitter account for the media, companies should remember that Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites can be powerful tools for media outreach. Many news organizations and journalists have their own Facebook and Twitter accounts (this study found that four out of five business journalists use Twitter daily). Find which ones matter to your business and your industry, and connect with them through these channels. Praise a story, provide feedback on a topic they are covering, or find other ways to engage to help boost their awareness and increase your credibility.

On the flip side, as a growing number of reporters are using social media for work purposes, it’s important for companies and their spokespeople to understand that news is now more instantaneous than ever. I have seen reporters live tweet from events and press conferences, and tease out the details of interviews as soon as the discussion is complete. Things that were once considered too minor or irrelevant for a print or broadcast story may now get mentioned in a blog or on a Twitter feed. This makes it even more important for those being interviewed to be aware that once something has been said or done, it cannot be taken back. This should not dissuade you from interviews, but just as social media creates more opportunity for positive exposure, there is more opportunity for error.

Our experience with Twitter has found the benefits of social media, whether for customer engagement or media outreach, far outweigh any risks. As media keeps evolving, successful businesses must partner with companies such as ours to make sure both the message, and the medium in which it is delivered, are correct.

By Mark Tosczak

In early September, Charlotte hosted a business conference called SocialFresh. It drew hundreds of professional marketers, had big-name technology and social media figures, and featured sessions with titles “BRAND LESSONS: Modern Digital Loyalty, How Brands Like Coca-Cola Reeses Leverage Mobile to Facebook.”

In a few weeks, Internet Summit 2011, will take place in Raleigh. This conference will cost you about $250 just to get in, and will feature sessions covering social media and related topics.

In most big cities these days, you’ll find some kind of social media and technology conference. Typically they cost hundreds of dollars to attend. These conferences are largely for-profit events, put on by for-profit companies seeking to capitalize on the booming demand from professional marketers for more know-how in using online tools, such as Facebook and Google, to better promote their businesses.

We’re not seeing these conferences yet in Greensboro or the Triad. We’ve got something better: ConvergeSouth.

This year we’ll host the sixth ConvergeSouth at N.C. A&T, on Oct. 6-7. It won’t cost hundreds of dollars and won’t require, if you live in the Triad, travel. We’ll welcome professional marketers and small businesses, as well as nonprofit organizations, artists, university students and faculty, and perhaps even a few government officials.

ConvergeSouth is organized and run entirely by unpaid volunteers. And while there’s a modest admission fee, to ensure the conference is financially sustainable, we work to ensure that anyone who wants to go can. We want local businesses — especially small businesses — to attend, as well as those from education, nonprofits, government and the arts.

A large part of this year’s conference is focused on providing practical, how-to information for people who want to promote their business, organization or cause with social media sites such as Facebook, or learn how to easily build a website without a lot of technical knowledge. There are also sessions for those who already know the basics and want more advanced material.

We have some accomplished speakers, including a senior executive from Microsoft’s upstart search engine Bing, one of the best-known bloggers from the advertising world and a successful technology entrepreneur who now teaches at Duke University. We’ll also have local presenters, people putting these technologies into practice here in the Triad.

ConvergeSouth is a uniquely local event that covers more than just online business. This year, for example, we’ll have an entire day of programming devoted to the needs of not-for-profit organizations, from using email for fundraising to “Saving the World with Social Media.” Attendees who are interested only in the Nonprofit Day program (on Thursday, Oct. 6) can attend that day’s events for half the usual registration fee.

For the first time, we’ll hold an event called CultureXChange where locals who have used online technology to promote arts, cultural and creative events (this year, that means film, comic books and charity roller-derby games) will explain how they’ve used podcasting, online videos and other cheap technologies to gain a wide audience and promote their activities.

You won’t find an entire day of programming devoted to nonprofits at either of those Charlotte or Raleigh conferences, nor would you get to hear about how a local comic book shop is using technology to adapt to an increasingly digital world.

Besides all the value ConvergeSouth provides to attendees in the form of useful content, there is one other thing it does. It highlights the technology talent that Greensboro and the Triad already have, from entrepreneurs to digital marketing experts.

If you’re interested in any of these subjects for your own business or organization, or interested in learning more about what’s going on in the Triad in this field, it’s worth checking out. I hope to see you there.

By Monty Hagler

I recently had the opportunity to hear Norman Stowe, CEO of Pace Group Communications in Vancouver and WORLDCOM partner, present near Milwaukee, WI at the Upper Midwest Travel & Tourism Conference to more than 100 travel and tourism professionals.  The speech focused on lessons learned from a number of catastrophic events that have taken place in recent years:  the tsunami in Japan, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the collapse of a coliseum roof in Vancouver, the outbreak of SARS in Canada and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

During each of these disasters, WORLDCOM partners played (and continue to play) a critical role in helping communities get back on track, with a particular focus on communicating with external audiences what is happening and the steps being taken on the road to recovery. Disasters – whether man-made or natural – take a tremendous toll on a community’s revenue from a travel and tourism perspective. Events get cancelled, hotel rooms go unbooked and attractions are left bare.

Norman shared many good points, but highlighted below are five intriguing tips that he and I discussed at dinner the night before.

Who Tells the Story Best

In deciding who is going to be the spokesperson in a time of crisis, pick the person who can tell the story best. A person’s title matters far less than having someone who is comfortable talking to the media, who is adept at explaining what is taking place and can elaborate on what is yet to come. Storytelling is not a negative word here. You need someone who can capture what is happening and articulate that to the outside world.

As a corollary, Norman and I both agree that trustworthiness is more important than technical expertise for crisis communications. Norman had a particularly sad but funny story about an engineer being named spokesperson during a crisis, despite the fact he disliked talking with the media and refused to answer any questions that he did not think were relevant.

Don’t Forget the Binder

When a crisis happens, take five minutes to pull out the “Crisis Communications Plan” that has been developed, review the core steps that need to be handled – regardless of what the specific nature of the crisis is – and then get to work. Companies and organizations spend a tremendous amount of time preparing crisis plans, but rarely take the time to put them to work when a crisis hits. The steps are laid out, and while they will undoubtedly need to be tweaked, following that big binder will ensure fewer things are missed or forgotten.

Make Decisions

In a crisis situation, the ability to make decisions quickly is a critical skill. A failure to act compounds the entire chain of response. Yes, information needs to be gathered and assessed, and there must be collaboration among various agencies and groups. But someone must be the decision-maker, and his or her most important task is to MAKE DECISIONS.

Norman put it this way: “In a crisis, you have to make 100 decisions a day. You should aim to be right on 85 percent of them. Be decisive and let people move forward. If you only make 50 decisions a day – even if you get them all correct – you have made things even worse and the recovery more difficult.”

News Media Competition Trumps Accuracy

For anyone who has been involved in dealing with the news media during a crisis, this is a sad, harsh reality. Media coverage is driven by who gets the first details of a story – the sadder and more outrageous the better. Accuracy is lower on the list of what matters to media outlets competing for story angles and breaking news. Organizations must be equally aggressive in telling their story to the media.

The Travel & Tourism Practice Group of WORLDCOM has established a speaker’s bureau of top agency leaders who have handled a wide range of crisis communications projects. If you would like to book a speaker for an upcoming event, or learn more about how to help your organization prepare for potential crises, please email me at mhagler@rlfcommunications.com.