Mike Keliher’s one of those guys I wish I could spend more time with. But, I own a small business. He works for a very busy agency. We both have young families. He lives in Stillwater. I live in Minneapolis (for those not in MN, we’re about 45 minutes apart). You get the idea–we’re both very busy, and just don’t have a lot of wiggle room in our schedules (in fact, we’ve had to reschedule coffee now two weeks in a row–I’m mostly to blame here). But, I need to find more time to spend with Mike. Why? Because he’s one of the sharper digital minds in our community. After cutting his teeth with Albert Maruggi in St. Paul, Mike made the leap to Fast Horse a number of years ago where he’s excelled and completely embraced the agency’s unique culture. I’ve been following Mike’s work for a while now–I check in with him every so often. And, every time we chat, his work–and attitude–speaks volumes about the counselor he’s become. I’m going to let him tell you the rest of the story…

You’re currently a client relationship director (i.e., account director) at Fast Horse, a boutique agency in Minneapolis. Can you talk a bit about the clients you work with and the kind of work you’re focused on in your role?

Outside of our creative staff – designers, video and the like – Fast Horse doesn’t have formal departments, but we all have our relative areas of expertise. In my case, I tend to be one of the folks who work on a lot of online or digital projects, everything from social media strategies to website development to email marketing. But I also really enjoy working on branding and positioning projects and other work that doesn’t fall into that broad “digital” realm.

As for my clients, I’m part of a team that does loads of work with Marvin Windows and Doors. I’ve contributed to several projects for The Coca-Cola Company, and I led our work on the big Expedition 206 program, which was a blast. I lead our work with OptiMine Software, a start-up for which we’ve done everything from branding and positioning to media relations to a building new website. I’m also leading our work on a great new project for UnitedHealth Group, but it’s not really live yet, so we’ll save that for another blog post.

Fast Horse isn’t your typical PR agency. In fact, you guys shirk that label completely. And, you have a pretty unique culture and office environment (open—very little office space). Can you talk a little about how you adjusted to the unique FH culture initially and now, after almost 3 years, how that culture has changed the way you think, learn and serve your clients?

This open and flexible workplace was built specifically for me. I think Jorg had me in mind 10 years ago when he founded Fast Horse. It took no adjusting. Working in a more traditional place would require some adjusting.

We don’t have assigned desks or offices. Nobody has a land-line phone. I work from home one day a week on average. Our schedules are flexible. It’s wonderful. We essentially work wherever, whenever we want to or need to, and we’re good about communicating with each other to avoid any problems that might arise from not always being in the same building.

As for how that arrangement changes how we serve our clients, I’m pretty sure it’s all up-side. At the least, we all seem to be happier and to work more effectively, so that’s great. But this sort of work space also encourages more spontaneous and more frequent collaboration and brainstorming – even if it’s just quick, informal stuff. Again, all up-side.

You also spent time early in your career working for and with Albert Maruggi—a guy many in town know in terms of new media. How did your time working with Albert shape who you are today at Fast Horse?

Albert is smart as hell and one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever met. Constantly busting ass to take care of his wife and 47 children (he actually only has five kids, but once you get beyond three, what’s the difference?) while also giving his clients everything they need and more. He taught me a lot about that thing people call “work-life balance.”

I started working with Albert the summer before my senior year of college, and I spent the next five years working with him. Provident Partners is a small shop, and I had more opportunities to learn and do more cool stuff in a month than most of my peers had in a year. Perhaps the best part was that, when we wanted to try something new or something crazy – like podcasting almost a decade ago – there was no “approval process.” It was a “that sounds awesome – how the hell can we pull it off? process.”

Albert is like an extra father to me. He’s one hell of a guy, and I’m grateful to him for helping me get to where I am today.

I’ve known you known you for a number of years and it’s been great to watch you really grow into one of the smarter, young digital marketers in town (in my view). And, you’ve done that in pretty short amount of time. What tips would you have for younger folks right now trying to break into the digital communications/marketing field?

Thanks for the kind words. If I were to give one piece of advice to the up-and-comers, it’d be to find a way to stand out. To make yourself different. Make yourself something special.

In terms of writing a cover letter to accompany your résumé, that means ditch the awkwardly formal non-sense and have a little fun. Show some personality.

In terms of professional development, get out of your chair and go meet people. Go to Social Media Breakfast events and MIMA monthly meetings and the like. Meet people like Jorg Pierach and Albert Maruggi and Arik Hanson. Learn stuff. Have fun.

In terms of your skill set, that means finding something you’re interested in, can be passionate about, and can get good at. Find something that can help you stand out from the dozens of other job applicants who also studied what you studied and who also want the job you want.

In terms of your job interviews, give the person you’re speaking with a reason to believe you want to work there. People who are hiring want to know they’re hiring someone who knows what they want beyond just “I want a job!”

Make yourself stand out.

You’re also a guy with a young family at home. With a stressful, and often demanding agency job, how do you balance the wife and kids and your client workload?

See above about the flexible workplace. That’s really all there is to it. My paying clients are important clients. Fast Horse and its agency marketing and business development needs are important clients. And my wife and kids are, in a way, important “clients.” That sounds atrociously cold, doesn’t it? But you know what I mean. They’re important to me, so I make it work. I get up early, I work hard and I head home to spend time with my wife and kid. Sometimes it’s difficult, but my wife Ania works at least as hard as I do – probably more – and she’s understanding and flexible.

One of the many things I find fascinating about Fast Horse is that you use your company blog as your de facto Web site. And, you’re contributing content to it regularly. It might be the best agency blog in town, in fact. I know you’ve played a big role in that—talk about how the Fast Horse blog/site has evolved the last few years and how you personally manage your blog duties with all the “billable” (read: client work) demands you have on your time?

Again, thanks for the kind words. As I mentioned before, Fast Horse is treated like one of our clients, so agency marketing efforts – the Idea Peepshow blog included – are a priority, not an afterthought. It’s made easier by the fact that we spread the work around – everybody contributes. The blog is constantly evolving, but there hasn’t been any specific direction like “Our approach for this year is X.” It’s just a constant process of trying to find and write about things that are interesting to us and to other people and balancing that with trying to give people a glimpse of what it’s like to work at or with Fast Horse.

Fact is, you’ve been blogging longer than many folks in the Twin Cities. You’ve been a regular contributor to the Same Rowdy Crowd for years, and you started with your Unjournalism blog way back when. Why did you start blogging in the first place? And why do you continue to invest time in blogging?

I started blogging back in the day because it seemed like fun. I love writing, I love technology, and I love doing something my own way. Building and maintaining a blog is a great marriage of those three things. Plus, when you have a chance to share a masthead with the big shots who write for the Same Rowdy Crowd, you just don’t pass that up. I guess it’s part of what I was referring to above about finding things you enjoy and finding ways to stand out. And in fact, one of my Rowdy colleagues, Bruce Benidt, introduced me to Jorg, which led to my gig at Fast Horse. So there’s that.

You’re also a HUGE Twins rube and fan. What’s your favorite Twins memory? And, how do we solve our pitching problems in 2012?

I just barely remember nodding in and out of sleep as the boys were winning the ’91 World Series, so that sort of counts. I also fondly recall being in the Dome for the wildly dramatic game 163 tie-breaker against Detroit with my wife, 8-week-old son and a group of friends. The kid slept through most of the game, and we were rubbing his fuzzy little head for good luck between pitches for the last two innings. (I’m not superstitious, but when it comes to baseball, the word “not” is quickly introduced to my backspace key, if you know what I mean.)

As for our 2012 pitching problems, we should start by not resigning Matt Capps (oops, too late!) and giving Glen Perkins permission to pitch every inning of every gam

PR Rock Stars: Mike Keliher is a post from: Communications Conversations

Is there a difference between influence and popularity? is a post from: Communications Conversations

A friend of mine who’s teaching a social media course at a local university emailed me (and a few others) a while back. His question: What would you include in a social media class? Actually, he sent us his idea for a syllabus and asked us to weigh in, but that doesn’t work as well for a post like this

The more I thought about it, the more interested I became in the topic. Partly because I work in the field. But, partly because I have a big interest in teaching at the college level some day myself.

So, if I was building a social media-type class for a college-level course, what would a syllabus look like? What would be the core areas of focus? Who would I bring in as guest speakers? Here’s my first shot at a start to such a class:

Textbooks

First, we’d need a few textbooks to get things going. Keep in mind, I’d probably tend to go a bit non-traditional here and select textbooks that aren’t written by the social media elite. Here are a few that I’d put on a syllabus (to be clear, I’m not getting paid for any of the links to the books below–for informational purposes only):

* Content Strategy for the Web, Kristina Halvorson (heavy focus on content in my class)

* The Facebook Effect, David Kirkpatrick (definitely not a how-to book–or a traditional textbook, but I think students would learn a lot about the psychology of social networks by reading this one)

* The NOW Revolution, Jay Baer and Amber Naslund (this one’s the exception to my rule–I really liked this book, especially for the big brand corporate marketer/communicator)

* Groundswell – Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff

* Here Comes Everybody, Clay Shirky

* Cluetrain Manifesto – Rick Levine, Chris Locke, Doc Searles, Dave Weinberger

Key sections/lessons

The more I thought about how I’d break down the class, the more I kept coming back to the four-step PR planning process. Here’s how I’d break it out:

* Research. I’d devote at least one class entirely to research. We’d talk about social media audits–how to conduct them. What tools to use (including mostly free tools). What insights to pull out (and HOW to pull those insights out). We’d also talk about how to use some of the bigger-scale social media monitoring tools (Radian6, etc). I would probably put a decent amount of focus on this area, since it still gets skipped so often by folks in the field today.

* Planning. Again, probably at least a full class for planning. We’d talk about the essential elements of a PR/social media plan. The thinking that goes into developing a social media/PR plan. The key principles behind planning.

* Implementation. I’d probably keep this section fairly light, as I’d save most of it for “tools” and “content” sections yet to come.

* Measurement. We’d probably spend a good chunk of time talking about all the ways to measure social media campaigns and programs. We’d talk about paid tools (again, Radian6, Sysomos, etc.). And, we’d talk about plenty of free tools (Google Analytics, Tweetreach, etc.). But, in the end, the focus wouldn’t be on the tools–it’d be on how to use paid or free tools to measure results (and, the right results) for the business you’re working for/with.

A few other sections/key areas I’d include in the syllabus:

* Psychology of social media. Might be a little much for a 101-level class, but I think this is fascinating. And it’s an area most people don’t think about enough. What inspires people to read on a blog post? What motivates people to RT? Why do people use certain social media tools–and not others? What motivates certain consumer behaviors? We’d cover it all.

* The tools. Obviously, we’d spend some time here talking about Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. We’d also go over the multitude of blogging platforms and the pros/cons of each. And, we’d dive into some of the emerging niche networks (Pinterest, Instagram, Path right now, for example) and explore the possibilities for brands with such networks.

* Content development. Even though this could be a whole separate class, I’d probably spend a good chunk of time around social content creation. What makes a good blog post? What makes a good headline? Tweet? Facebook update? How do you write effective Facebook ads? It’s a long list, but one worth covering in depth since this is where students will most likely spend a great deal of time upon graduation.

* Community management. Another area of focus since students will most likely fall into these roles upon graduation or soon after. What are the basic principles of effective community management? What are the traits of a good community manager? We’d also examine some real-world situations. Might even do some real-time work.

Assignments

This is where it would get fun. Assignments in my class would be heavy on writing, of course, since that’s such a big piece of success in the online world. I’d ask students to write blog posts tackling current events–this would force students to form cohesive and rational opinions, a skill that’s still very much lacking in our industry. I’d also ask students to edit an existing post–something I’m sure they’d be asked to do in their first “real world” job.” And, I’d ask them to write social headlines and content–everything from Facebook updates to Twitter posts to Instagram descriptions. We might even get into video and photo basics.

Since I also LOVE case studies (especially in the classroom), I’d most likely feature relevant and timely case studies from the online world. This would be really fun as I would probably bring in real-time events and happenings–just a few days after they occur. After all, isn’t that the beauty of teaching a class about digital marketing? I know it’d mean more work for me, but it would also be a heckuva lot of fun. For example, this last semester, I could have talked about: SOPA, McDonalds and the recent Walgreens campaign (more on that next week).

Speakers

Since any class I taught would most likely be here in the Twin Cities, I’d have to limit my list to local folks. Given that, and if I were to teach a class in the next year or so, here’s a short list of potential local people I’d probably bring in based on their real-world experience:

* Greg Swan, Weber Shandwick. I’d bring Greg in to talk case studies–in his case, his work on the U.S. Army account, which continues to be a piece of work that interests me. As one of those guy’s who’s been “doing the work” the last few years, Greg has a great deal of credibility here. I might also ask him to talk blogger outreach since he sits on both sides of that desk (he blogs at Perfect Porridge and obviously consults with clients during the day)

* Julio Ojeda-Zapata, Pioneer Press. I’d bring Julio in to talk about blogging and/or how media use social media tools to source and build stories.

* Kevin Hunt, General Mills. I’d bring Kevin in to talk about corporate blogging (including the Taste of General Mills blog) and how large organizations are using social tools to monitor what their customers are talking about on a day-in, day-out basis.

* Gabby Nelson/SarahPanus, Sleep Number. I’d bring Gabby and Sarah in (clients) to talk measurement and how companies are looking at online data and how it connects with company-wide goals and objectives (and sales).

* Jillian Froehlich, Target. Jillian plays a lead role in social media for Target Canada these days. Whip smart and someone who could give students a first-hand look into what it’s like to work in social for a Fortune 100 brand.

* Kelly Groehler, Best Buy. Doesn’t technically work on Best Buy’s social team, but as one of the lead PR folks at BBY, I think the lines get pretty blurry pretty quickly. Anyway, I’d bring Kelly in more for her holistic approach, and for the fact that she doesn’t have “social media” in her job description. She would give students a great glimpse at what it’s like to manage issues and crisis for a company the size of Best Buy on the online side.

* Kasey Skala, Great Clips. Another big brand–but this one has franchises. I think it would be interesting for the kids to hear how that’s managed. Great Clips also has a number of sponsorships (specifically via NASCAR)–how do those play out in the social realm? Kasey could cover a lot of ground here.

* Jennifer Kane/Kary Delaria. Sharp focus on measurement–I know the class would benefit by hearing from these two. Plus, Jen is one of the better public speakers in PR/marketing in the Twin Cities. Every time I hear her speak, I always come away impressed–so kids could learn from her on that front, too.

So, that’s my syllabus–just waiting for an opportunity to teach it now What would you add to your social media 101 class syllabus?

Note: Photo courtesy of James Sarmiento via FlickR Creative Commons. 

What would your Social Media 101 syllabus look like? is a post from: Communications Conversations

Last December, Twitter unveiled a new look–and some additional functionality–for brand pages on Twitter. At the time, it was labeled as a clear attempt to compete with Facebook’s enhanced brand pages (which will get another “upgrade” in late February when Timeline is introduced it seems).

Twitter obviously made a big deal of the upgrade–but, how big of a deal is this move really for brands? Is it a game-changer–or a mild attempt at appeasing brands and their requests for more content control and branding on the platform?

Let’s take a closer look at the changes–and their potential impact for brands.

Expanded header area

One noticeable change in the new Twitter brand pages is the one-inch area (roughly) Twitter has given brands right beneath the bio for branded imagery. Take a peek at what Intel, Staples and Nike Basketball have done below (just a few of the brands Twitter has given access to for these new pages to date) . Intel uses the new section merely as a branding opportunity, whereas Nike takes it a step further and includes a key hash tag they’re putting additional oomph behind recently (smart).

Impact: Simple opportunity to add more branding elements to Twitter pages–which should make most marketers happy. However, this new area also presents brands with a chance to get a little creative. You see a hint of that with the Nike area–raising awareness for the #kobesystem hash tag. I also like what Staples is doing with its branded space. Could brands use this key area (very visible) to drive people to certain hash tags? Other branded accounts? Other URLs? I think we’ll see a lot more of this as the new upgrade is rolled out to more brands in the coming months.

The Featured Tweet

Maybe the best new feature is the ability to add a “featured tweet” to the top of your stream on your page. This allows brands to control the content right at the top of the stream–which is key because the first 3-4 tweets is often all you see when visiting a Twitter brand page (little like page one of Google in that way). Also key is that if brands choose to use a photo or video in their “featured tweet”, that photo/video is automatically expanded for all to see–no clicking/expanding necessary for followers. Check out how Best Buy (promoting its weekly circular–smart), Heineken (driving folks to vote for a new bottle design) and Chevy (driving people to its Super Bowl ad–possibly) are using their “featured tweets” below.

Impact: This is, without question, the biggest “upgrade” to the brand pages. Given the authority to control what tweet sits at the top of Twitter brand pages might not seem like a big deal on the surface, but what about during a “crisis”-type situation? Wouldn’t the ability to control that top tweet be fairly critical? Or, what about during a key promotional period for your brand? There are numerous opportunities here for brands. Big impact.

Separating mentions from replies

Haven’t seen this one personally, obviously, but I’m guessing it involves some sort of setting where you can view all replies or all mentions in a specific stream.

Impact:  Another key add–and I’ll tell you why. If you’re a brand that uses Twitter as a customer service tool, separating out mentions from replies would be key. Why? Because those replies are often people asking questions. Registering complaints. Or, in some cases, applauding the brand. And brands want to respond to all three scearnios fairly quickly. So, having the ability to look JUST at your replies would be helpful, right?

Enough from me. What do you think? Is this a big upgrade for brands, or over-hyped additions designed to help Twitter keep up with the “competition?”

Are new Twitter brand pages really a game-changer? is a post from: Communications Conversations

I realize I don’t have a normal work schedule. My “typical” day consists of working out of a combination of my car, coffee shops, co-working spaces (I’m a member at CoCo in Minneapolis), my home and client offices. But, since I spend a decent amount of time (by choice–more on that in a different post) in coffee shops, I’ve noticed that more and more corporate and agency people are spending time there lately, too–working, not socializing.

As the workplace continues to “shift” (follow the #workshifting hash tag for more), we’ll most likely see more of this–not less–in the years ahead. In fact, some agencies (look at the Fast Horse model locally here in Minneapolis) are already there.

So, since more people are using coffee shops as workplaces, and I spend a bit of time there, I thought I’d share a few tips for what’s worked for me in the last few years and how you can make sure you’re as productive as possible when you’re “out of the office.”

Tip #1: Find the outlets

You know the guy who walks into the coffee shop and is immediately looking at spots along the floor boards, quietly roaming the room? Yeah, that’s me. Don’t be that guy. But, you need to be sure the coffee house you’re working in has ample outlets. So, make sure to note which coffee shops have more than one outlet. After all, no outlet means, no power cord. And no power cord means a dead laptop. Don’t get caught with a dead laptop. Quick productivity killer.

Tip #2: Make friends with the baristas

If you plan to spend a decent amount of time at one particular coffee house, start talking with the baristas. You can only benefit by befriending these folks. They can and will: 1) Offer you special deals from time to time, 2) Give you free coffee, if you’re remotely nice, 3) Help you with other ad-hoc questions and issues as they pop up. For advanced coffee shop workers: Reach out to and make friends with the manager. Make sure he/she knows you on a first-name basis.

Tip #3: Invest in some killer headphones

I used to think this was a age-specific tip. But recently, I’ve noticed more 40-plus-year-olds wearing phones in coffee shops. Which is good, because I turn 40 in August and I don’t want to be the only 40-year-old wearing Klipsch phones in my coffee shop. Good phones tune out all ambient noise around you. And believe me, there’s a lot of ambient noise in a coffee shop. You need good phones. Once you have those, make Pandora your new BFF.

Tip #4: Never leave your stuff unattended

Seems like an obvious tip, but believe me, I’ve seen a number of people leave Mac laptops unattended for 5-10 minutes at a time. Sure, you’d probably be fine. But, why risk it with employee/client data likely just a few keystrokes away? My rule: Take your bag with you EVERYWHERE. To the bathroom. To the car. To the other side of the store, in some cases. I take zero risks here. And I’m sure my clients like it that way.

Tip #5: Know where the bathrooms are located

If you’re going to spend an hour or two in a coffee house, chances are you may have to use the restroom. Make sure you know where they’re located. And, in some cases (Caribou Coffees in Lunds/Bylerly’s) they can be tough to find, so this isn’t as obvious as it might sound.

Tip #6: Don’t rely on the free wi-fi

Even though many coffee shops offer free wi-fi, I’ve learned (the hard way) not to count on it. For many reasons. They forget to “turn it on.” It goes in and out. Or, in some cases, some shops just don’t offer it (for free, at least). Not to mention, it’s not always safe. So, always go in having a “plan B.” My-Fi devices are a good idea–but, they’re spendy, and unnecessary for most folks who only work remotely a day or two a week. I’d recommend using your phone as a hot spot (that is, if you have an iPhone 4). I just upgraded my iPhone package to add a personal hotspot last year–problem solved! It’s an extra $20 a month, but SO worth the extra dough. It’s come in handy on MANY occasions to date.

Tip #7: Don’t take con calls at the coffee shop

Believe me, I’ve tried. But taking conference calls in the coffee shop just isn’t a good idea. Number one, it’s fairly rude to those around you (just my opinion). It’s also rude to those on the phone, as coffee shops are very loud and I know that comes through on the other end of the line. You can try bluetooth devices. Headphones. Whatever. It’s still loud. And you’ll always have a tough time hearing the folks on the line. And, worse yet, they’ll have a tough time hearing you. Don’t do it. Save your calls for the office (or, the car).

What about you? Do you work out of coffee shops from time to time? Any good insider tips to share?

Note: Image courtesy of Moyan Brenn via Flickr Creative Commons.

7 tips for working out of coffee shops is a post from: Communications Conversations

A few weeks ago, local PR colleague Tara Cegla turned me on to a new social media app/network named Path. Some of you may have heard of Path–it launched in Nov. 2010 and now has more than 300,000 members. In fact, Path has been on fire recently, picking 270,000 new users from Nov. 2011 to Dec. 2011.

Path is combination of Instagram, Facebook and Twitter (in a way). Founder David Morin claims it’s a “high quality social network.” High quality because it limits you to 150 friends–an interesting ripple. It’s also been called a “digital journal.” And, the Los Angeles Times called it a “modern day take on the Moleskin diary.”

Here’s a sampling of what a number of folks had to say about Path on Twitter last week when I mentioned the network.

Interesting–but will Path be enough to lure folks away from Facebook, Instagram and other networks. Does it *need* to lure folks away from these other networks?

That’s been the challenge for Google Plus, it seems. Despite Google’s claims that the user base has grown tremendously the last quarter of 2011, the platform has yet to gain mainstream acceptance (and more *active* users). The main mantra we heard early on: Why do I need another social network? Or, better yet, what am I going to drop to spend more time on G+?

The answer–not many did (or have).

Or, consider the ideas of many of the people who commented on a post I wrote about Pinterest in December. The refrain I heard more times than one: I love Pinterest because it’s a site I can visit where I don’t have to think, or participate (like you would on Twitter, Facebook or G+).

My take: Most people don’t want more social networks. Even if they are “high quality.” They want simplicity. They want less–not more. Not to mention, it’s going to take a whole heckuva a lot of momentum to get people off Facebook and Twitter.

And that’s kinda why I think Path will achieve niche social network status, at best. It’s just not *that* different from any other social network. Sure, it’s clean. Yeah, it has a fantastic user experience (only applicable to folks in our industry). But, at the end of the day, there’s no compelling reason for me to use Path over Twitter or Facebook on a daily basis.

This is just one blogger’s opinion, mind you. Let’s ask a few other smart folks who I’ve connected with on Path about their thoughts on why they use the tool, the user experience and Path’s future:

Amanda Oleson, community manager, Magnet Street

For me, Path isn’t particularly time consuming, so it hasn’t been hard to find time to use it. The app itself works really well as far as loading, finding my location and updating quickly goes – unlike most of the other social apps I use. (I get really frustrated with Twitter, Foursquare and Facebook on my phone when they don’t load, find my location or let me update quickly.) I have kept my friends really limited on Path, so I’m not spending even five minutes searching through the stream to see what my friends are up to – which makes it really easy to fit into the time I have.

I find myself coming back to Path and using it for those same reasons. Obviously the ease of use is a huge plus. But I also really like the intimacy of the small circle of friends. It cuts out the noise that drives me crazy on Facebook and Twitter. Because Path auto-updates locations on the neighborhood level, my friends are the folks who I’m comfortable with knowing where I am all the time, which means that my stream tends to be more relevant to me than the massive ones full of people I barely know on Twitter and Facebook. On that same note, I feel more comfortable sharing things on Path because the people who can see it are my real friends.

Aaron Landry, chief operating officer, Kuokoa

Path’s UI is clean, friendly, uses white space well, and to the point. They stripped away the stuff you don’t need. For example, you don’t see people’s names next to their avatars: you identify people from avatar only. Most of the places you’d think there should be a timestamp there isn’t; that’s taken care of the scrolling clock (on iOS, not Android). It’s smooth, fluid, and natural. Only the timeline, though. The process to do other activities such as adding friends, and going through settings and menus is not that different than any other application.

And finally, that little “+” at the bottom that gives you choices: essentially, every single one of those choices is a form of a check-in. It should just skip that choice and go straight to a check-in screen where you can choose from all the check-in parameters: what you’re thinking, where you are, what it looks like, what you’re listening to, who you’re with, and, well, if you just woke up or not. Why separate those out to a bunch of different screens where you can only do a certain parameters? I make the joke: when I do a “wake up” check-in, I should be able to indicate who I’m with.

Path as it’s own network I’m fairly leery about because it doesn’t provide anything unique other than limitations. Here’s an example from a recent trip to New York: https://twitter.com/#!/s4xton/status/148996343086587904

“Difference between Path & Foursquare: Foursquare got me free wine, a room upgrade, told me best bars. Path told me when my friends woke up.”

Imagine if someone created an application that aggregated your social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Instagram, Last.fm, and maybe integrated with your FitBit or something. You could get all the music, wake-up, location, photo, and status-update stuff directly from your existing networks, then figure out a way to consolidate the duplicate content across networks (that’s the hard part), able to filter out stuff you should see towards the top – as well as view like a fire hose (something Facebook does well and Twitter does not), then throw an awesomely formatted timeline on that data. Think if Flipboard’s social feeds were in one string and read like a timeline? Why would anyone use Path? Wouldn’t that be awesome?

Greg Swan, vice president-digital, Weber Shandwick

Path has a beautiful user-experience and enables fluid sharing across the suite of popular social sites (Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, FourSquare), but unlike emerging niche networks (e.g., Pinterest, Instagram and Quora), Path has yet to position itself with a differentiator strong enough to stand out against its all-purpose social network competition. I’m using Path to follow only close friends and colleagues with whom I have a real-world, tangible relationship. For now. I enjoy using it as a filter for this purpose, but frankly, I forget to check it day-to-day — thus further reinforcing the necessity for Path to better position its differentiation and strengths in such a cluttered space.

Tim Hayden, chief marketing officer, 44 Doors

I’m a big fan of Path for a few reasons:

* By limiting a user to 150 “Pathmates”, users are [most often] selective in both: with whom they share their Path; and, what type of content is shared.  Naturally, the post/notification stream flowing past a user is cleaner, free from brand messaging and errant posts that pollute your Facebook and Twitter streams…AND, I love the intimate and discreet content and conversations that are being hosted in Path. Much of the discourse I’ve seen already is very personal, sometime private (sharing kids’ stories/photos, talking about a work issue, or better). All of this alone makes Path “the true Friend network” if it plays out for the masses as I’ve described above.

* The content emphasis in Path is on a user’s thoughts (“narrative”) and feelings (“discreet”). Location and beyond-Path social sharing are subtle and secondary options for users to narrate and share their posts.

* From a functionality standpoint, I see Path’s long-term success being fueled by what seems to me as borrowed “best of” attributes from Facebook, Instagram and Foursquare that work like a champ on BOTH Android and IOS devices (Amen). <– cross-platform: one of the top reasons why Path will be the biggest thorn in Instagram’s side in 2012.

From a UI standpoint:

* Path’s interface is cleaner, and softer than most other social-mobile apps. It reminds me of Gowalla’s early days, where I couldn’t help but smile at how the design was warm and intriguing, like art.

* Path seems to emulate the retro feel of Instagram, yet the narrative tools (emoticons: the way they look, the way you apply them to posts…) are added with two thumb strokes and abandon the need to force-imply a “like” or “favorite”

* Users learn intuitive visuals quicker with less text: 1) no names for users, just their profile pics are in the path-line (you don’t need names, as these are select close and “real” friends); 2) there is no link or address text issued with location-noted posts/check-ins.

* The “awake” and “sleep” settings are something many of us wish we had with other social networks, or just a simply on/off switch. This “operating hours” part of the user experience/control further makes Path a more personal network than Facebook, Twitter or Foursquare.

Shonali Burke, principal, Shonali Burke Consulting

What I like about Path is that, because my network on it is fairly small, it feels more intimate. As opposed to Twitter and Facebook, even LinkedIn, where I have fairly large networks, I’m more selective about who I add as a friend on Path. As a result, I feel more connected to the people I *am* friends with on Path, and I learn all sorts of th gas about that that I haven’t so far n the other networks.

Path is fairly quick and easy to plug into. You can post random thoughts, or photos, or whatever you like, but it doesn’t take a lot of time. And since it syncs with Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Tumblr (though I have only the first two set up), it’s easy to cross-post when I want.

Doug Hamlin, digital account executive, Weber Shandwick

The UX is definitely a driving factor in Path’s success, but that means more than just the interface you look at, beautiful as it may be; the whole experience is great from top to bottom. Three examples. The first is what is probably the defining feature of Path, the fact that it limits you to sharing only with your monkeysphere (the 150 people you actually know), which is refreshing to those of us who have felt pressured to blur the line of a what a friend is over the years.

Related is the fact that there are no brands on Path. A lot of us in digital marketing talk a lot about how people want to find their favorite brands on the social web. But if we presuppose that that’s not the case, then it looks like Path has a huge advantage. The services Path is aiming at — Foursquare, Instagram, Facebook — are all teeming with brands, while Path seems designed to keep them out. Now I don’t think we need to start worrying about the utility of social media as a marketing tool just yet, after all Facebook is still a behemoth compared to Path, and I do believe people will continue to want to see their favorite brands online as long as those brands are bringing some sort of value to their users. I do wonder, however, if we’ll start to see a split, where you just go to Path if you only want to know what your friends are up to and not what the soup of the day is at your neighborhood pub.

Finally, you can’t ignore the clean, simple interface, which is of course a function of the closed network. Simply put, Path can make a streamlined, beautiful experience because it doesn’t have a whole ecosystem of third-party apps that it needs to support (though this might be changing with their Nike+ integration), nor are there any kind of privacy controls. Facebook couldn’t copy Path if they wanted to without taking out a lot of the functionality users expect from it. I think Path is still in its minimum viable product stage. They will keep adding functionality to the app, but if they want to keep their experience advantage, they will have to balance each new function with how it affects the interface.

Steve Ladin, co-founder, Rock Your Block

I joined Path when they first launched over a year ago because I’m an emerging technology fiend. It was a bit clunky and lost my interest quickly. I’d say my top networks of choice are Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook and Foursquare. I’ve dabbled with Google+ and play around with GetGlue and Instagram when I can.

However, when Path 2.0 was launched, I immediately was drawn to the stunning design and dove back in for another lap.  Path’s concept of playing off of Dunbar’s Number was very intriguing to me as it scratched my ongoing fascination with social graphs.  The UX (User Experience) is like no other in mobile.  Dave Morin and his team’s attention to detail to build upon the inadequacies of other platforms in the mobile space is sheer brilliance. I like the ability to share with my already existing larger networks (FB, Twitter, FS) as well make private when I want to. I’ve been using like a journal.  I see future integration with the Sleep/Awake feature to a hardware device like Jawbone’s UP (when they get the bugs worked out on that) and just read they just closed a deal with Nike’s FuelBand for fitness buffs.

I believe Path is an innovator and one to take the lead in the “build for a remarkable user experience” model. You’re going to see big things to come from this company in the coming year.  I can assure you of one thing, Path’s extraordinary essence has wafted its way towards me for inspiration.

Kurt Stafki, account executive, OLSON

I guess the third time is the charm for them, and the quality of the app is evidence they now know what they’re doing. The UI is second to none. It is clean, smooth and very visually appealing. The clutter-free feel is symbolic of Path’s principle, which is limiting your social network to only your close friends, not anyone and everyone like Twitter. The content delivery is Facebook’s timeline done right. Because your posts are generally auction-based — where you are, what song you are listening to, when you go to sleep, ect. — as you scroll back through your page, you are taken back through your digital life, essentially experiencing your path. I especially like watching the arms on the little clock turn back as you follow your path back in time.

Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Marketing

As for Path, it has a unique interface and a niche feel to it where people share more personal info to a limited group. It’s for those reasons that I like it personally, but those characteristics are not exactly attractive for brand participation in my opinion. Path is in my “maybe” category for social / mobile apps. There’s simply too many features on Path that are available elsewhere, but more importantly, no built-in model for users to scale their participation or networks.

Will Path be the breakout social app of 2012? is a post from: Communications Conversations

Every month, as I plan out my schedule and calendar, I block out 10 or so hours for professional development. That usually takes many different forms:

* Live, monthly PRSA, MIMA or other sessions around the Twin Cities (been sorely lacking here lately)

* Coffee meet-ups with students or other folks looking for advice/job leads (seem to do one of these at least once a week)

* Reading specific blogs/sites online and staying on top of the latest and greatest in our industry.

* HAPPO

That last bullet’s usually the biggest for me. Partly because I lump those coffee meet-ups in with my HAPPO work (that’s the spirit of the movement, after all) and partly because I spend a few hours each week collating The HAPPO Report, a weekly e-newsletter that’s sent to more than 250 PRs/communicators (so far) across the Twin Cities. It includes relevant jobs, upcoming events, posts from the last week and a featured job seeker each week. I love putting it together (and truth be told, I’ve had some help along the way–thanks to Bridget Monroe and Tara Cegla), but it’s definitely a time commitment.

Now, as I look at 2012, I think it’s time to take HAPPO to the next level–with your help. So, I’d like to talk for a moment about the future of HAPPO and what I, along with the 30-plus bloggers that are our champions across the country, see ahead in 2012–and what you can do to help us help other PR pros out.

Quarterly HAPPO chats

We’re scheduling these out now. Looking at February, April, September and December as dates. More to come on the February chat soon. We’ll cover all sorts of topics from resume writing to interviews to tips for “managing up.” And keep in mind, these HAPPO chats aren’t just for students or recent grads–they’re meant to be inclusive and relevant, no matter your age or rank.

The HAPPO Report

I’m excited to announce that Nikki Little, our HAPPO champ in Michigan, will be lauching a HAPPO Report there next month. We’re also hopeful a few more will pop up across the country in 2012, but we’re dependent on our champs and volunteer hours to make these happen. If you’re interested in helping in your local market, please send me a note directly at arik.hanson@gmail.com.

HAPPO Hour

We’re also planning our second annual “HAPPO Hour” event for May. Just like last year,we’ll be hosting LIVE HAPPO events at agencies and organizations across the country. Your chance to meet face-to-face with real-life PR counselors in your market. Network. Meet potential mentors. Ask questions of agency owners and hiring managers. It was a huge success last year and we’re looking forward to round two in May. Again, if you’re interested in helping (or starting one) in your local market, please let me know.

HAPPO Sponsorships

We’re exploring opportunities in this area–not to make money, but instead, in the spirit of HAPPO, to give back. So, we’re thinking about sponsorship opportunities for the quarterly Twitter chats, the HAPPO Hour event in May and the HAPPO Report (in MSP and MI). If you’re interested, please contact me directly at arik.hanson@gmail.com. What will we do with the money? I thought you’d never ask…

The HAPPO Grant

Valerie Simon’s brilliant idea–and I love it. We’ll use every dime of sponsorship money to support job seekers as they continue (or start) their hunt. It’s money that can go toward wardrobe upgrades. Copying resumes. Travel expenses. Conferences/webinars. You name it. We know searching for a job is tough–and we aim to make it a little bit easier. We haven’t fleshed out all the details yet, but we’re definitely looking into it.

So, that’s what’s on tap for 2012. How can you get involved? Four easy ways:

* Participate in one of the quarterly HAPPO chats (and use the #happo hash tag every day to share jobs/tips/news)

* Participate (or help organize) a HAPPO Hour event in your local market in May

* Start or contribute to a HAPPO Report in your local market

* Sponsor HAPPO and support job seekers everywhere (contact me directly)

As Valerie, me and 30-plus bloggers did two years ago, take a stand and DO SOMETHING to help our colleagues today. Trust me–you won’t regret it.

The future of HAPPO–and what you can do to help is a post from: Communications Conversations

Confession: If you’ve followed this series for any length of time, you probably realize I tend to highlight a lot of people I either work with, or have worked with in the past (or, worked for, in some cases). That’s not an accident. You see, throughout my career my approach has always been this: Work with and for people who are MUCH smarter than me. I always figured, if I was the smartest person in the room, I was in a whole lot of trouble And, that most certainly holds true with today’s rock star, Melissa Berggren. I’ve been working with Melissa for two years now on the Minnesota Blogger Conference, which we co-founded back in early 2010. What I’ve enjoyed most about working with Melissa is that she’s a lot like me (in some ways). We both grew up working in corporate settings. We both have health care backgrounds (hers is more extensive). And, of course, we’re both bloggers. But, in many other ways, we’re very different. She’s MUCH more organized than I am, for example. A trait that comes in handy during our conference planning each year There’s so much more I want to share about Melissa, but I’ll let her tell you the story…

You took on a new leadership role within the marketing department earlier this year at Allina—can you talk more about that new role and some of your primary roles and responsibilities?

After leading the marketing and communications at one of our hospitals for three years, I was asked to move to the corporate office in Minneapolis and focus on brand for the organization. Much of the work is future-focused on brand strategy and planning. I’m leading a team and a number of vendors to accomplish this work. I spend the balance of my time directing advertising campaigns for many of our key services, such as cardiology, oncology and clinics. This summer I was quite busy producing a handful of TV spots and a series of print and outdoor ads.

You have an awful lot on your plate—full-time job at Allina, two young kids at home, a blog, the MN Blogger Conference, and a host of other events I know you participate in. How the heck do you find the time? What tips would you give to others in terms of balancing job, social media demands and a regular life?

I always laugh when people ask me this question. Of course there are no easy answers or we wouldn’t be so stressed out all the time trying to live the dream! With age comes experience, of course, and we learn our limits. For example, I try to crank out a lot of work after my children go to bed – but I also know I can only function on 5-6 hours of sleep for no more than 3 days in a row before I start to lose my sharpness (or patience).

I’ve also learned how to say YES to the really important things and NO to the ones that won’t have much of a payoff (personally or professionally). I gave up all hopes of meeting everyone’s expectations years ago. And there are always many more projects and events I’d like to do than I can actually manage, so I try to keep my eyes on what’s the most important to me personally and professionally.

You’ve been recognized all over the place locally as a blogger in the last year-plus—and for good reason. Your Marketing Mama blog is well read and respected throughout the local community. But, how has that played out at work? Are they supportive of your blogging ventures?

Possibly the most tangible demonstration of their support is the fact my CEO agreed to host the 2nd Minnesota Blogger Conference at Allina’s corporate headquarters (we typically don’t do this for external groups). That was a bold statement of support – not only for me as an employee and a blogger, but for the PR/marketing & social media communities in the Twin Cities.

I check in with my leaders from time to time on my social media work, especially if I’m involved in a high visibility situation that involves controversy or media coverage.  And, of course, I take their support and trust very seriously and remember my social media presence impacts them as well.

You’ve been blogging now for several years—we’ve talked privately about the life-cycle of blogging and whether or not there’s an end in sight to the blogosphere. Where do you see your blog going in the next 2-3 years? And, what do you see as the future of personal blogging for all these young mothers such as yourself that have used blogging as a creative expression as they watch their kids grow up.

This is a tough one to answer and might require a cup of coffee to sort through! A few thoughts – first, I began blogging long before I used other social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). It served a definite purpose – to share what was on my heart and mind and to help others through my experiences. The thing about blogging, though, is it takes time and effort – and I don’t always have that time, especially this past year as I’ve devoted more time to my day job. As a point of reference, a solid blog post can easily take three hours to research, write and edit.

On the flip side, more swift social platforms such as Posterous, Facebook, Twitter and even Instagram, give me a mostly similar sense of satisfaction but with much less time investment. For example, in the past I might have written a blog post to share a great article I found, add a few thoughts or opinions, then solicit reader comments. Now I quickly shoot it out on Twitter with an introductory comment. My network still reads the article if they are compelled, and many respond to me 1:1.

So if the investment is low and the payoff is high with these platforms, why even blog at all? Which topics require a full blog post and how do I decide when to make the investment of time? I have no shortage of topics stirring around at any given time. Here’s what I’ve found…  if a topic sticks with me for more than a day or two, I know it’s worth sitting down and taking the time to develop a full essay (as opposed to a brief tweet, Facebook post, etc.). So, back to your original question – where do I see my blog going in the next 2-3 years? It will probably fade to more infrequent posts. I also question if “Marketing Mama” is a moniker I’ll still feel comfortable with 5 or 10 years from now. That’s part of the reason I bought a URL for my full name (melissaberggren.com) and blog professionally there as well, part of an overall exit strategy for the parenting/lifestyle blog.

We co-founded the MN Blogger Conference together two years ago—just had another great event in September. We’ve been lucky enough to have a great team of folks help out, and an outstanding blogging community that participates each fall. What do you see as the future for #mnblogcon?

People who typically connect online want to meet and create communities offline. I sensed this when I started pulling together blogger events a couple of years ago and it has only increased since then. The Minnesota Blogger Conference has been a fabulous event to help people collaborate and make meaningful connections. A trend you and I have discussed quite a bit this year is the forming of niche blogging communities, such as food, fashion and sports. These groups have begun hosting their own focused events and gatherings – which is fabulous! While we worked hard to embrace and showcase these niches at #MNBLOGCON this year, I wonder if the conference will continue to serve the needs of the greater community or if there will be a natural break-off into smaller educational events focused on specific niches. We’ll have to see what the appetite is for future events!

We’ve talked about this before privately—about the issue of “paid posts” or those in which a brand trades free product or a giveaway in exchange for a post. I’ve had many discussions about this (a few recently with Greg Swan, in fact), and I tend to believe that these “paid posts” don’t impact reader trust as much as we might think (completely my opinion, and based on little fact). Where do you fall on this discussion? Do you think readers care when bloggers accept free products/giveaways from brands in exchange for posts?

There are three groups to consider here – the bloggers, the brands and the readers. I could talk at length about each of them, the dynamics of the relationships and the trust continuum for each. Readers are smarter than we (or the FTC) give them credit for – it’s usually pretty obvious when a blogger is giving something away or being compensated in some way. This wasn’t always true just two years ago.

At the end of the day, each group is asking “What’s in it for me?” If the answer is something satisfactory for all parties involved, you have success. But it takes a lot of work to have a happy brand, blogger and reader equation. This is why I skip over about 95% of the pitches that hit my inbox.

Finally, I just have to ask. What’s the deal with all these smart Drake alumni in town? You. Bridget Monroe. Greg Swan. Kasey Skala. I mean, are you planning a city-wide PR takeover at some point?

Definitely! I didn’t know any of these individuals when I was at Drake, so it’s been fun to get to know each of them as fellow alums (I’m afraid I’m the oldest of the bunch). Drake has a solid PR/Comm program that prepared me well for my career. Students graduating from Drake have a great foundation, and that’s why I scout their Minneapolis networking events for interns and future employees. It’s been great fun connecting with the group you mentioned, plus a host of others. I think the bigger question here, Arik, is what attracts you to be friends with all these Drake folks?

PR Rock Stars: Melissa Berggren is a post from: Communications Conversations

Over the last few months, I’ve written a number of posts about Instagram. A guest blogger and friend, Jessica Malnik, has also written a couple posts on my blog about the tool. In fact, the entire Web is crazy about Instagram. Apple named it “App of the Year” in 2011. As Dickie V (Dick Vitale, for you non-college basketball fans) would say, it’s got “big mo baby!”

And along with that momentum has come a plethora of apps and add-ons to enhance your IG experience. Posts and tips lauding these apps and add-ons have been as prevalent as the IG posts themselves.

So, I thought, instead of bookmarking these posts each time I came across them, I’d curate them in one giant Instagram post complete with screen grabs, links and prices. So, selfishly, I’m doing this as much for my benefit, as I am for yours. Sorry–but I’m all about creating efficiencies in 2012

Below you’ll find a list of 17 IG apps and add-ons I’ve found helpful (or interesting) in the last 3-6 months (OK, so they’re not ALL “must have” apps–so shoot me). Please add any in the comment you believe I’ve missed–this can be a resource for all.

Searching/Screensavers

Instagallery

Only $1.99 and one of the better apps to browse and search for new users to follow on IG.

Instamap

Great way to view IG pics by geography. You can even subscribe to geographic locations (Boston) and venues (TD Bank Center). Cost: $1.99.

Instarium

Maybe one of my favorite apps. Why? Because it’s one of the better IG screensaver apps. Use it almost every day.

Printing

Postal Pix

Nice app for printing 4″x4″ pics. Cheap, too. $.30 a pop.

Postagram

Pretty cool idea. Send postcards of your pics to friends, family, even clients/colleagues. Just $.99 each.

Instagoodies

My favorite printing app. Make books of stickers of your fave pics for just $14 (90 stickers per book).

Stickygram

Refrigerator magnet. Say no more. $14.99 per pack of 9.

Casetagram

Make your iPhone case from your IG pics? What? That’s right. Just $34.95.

Browsing

Webstagram

The de facto Web IG browser.

Inkstagram

Another IG browser–I like this one a bit better than Webstagram.

Instagreat

The final IG browser I’ll share. I like this one for the ease of browsing using the arrow keys on your laptop.

Carousel

One of the IG app “clients” for your Mac desktop (and only for Mac desktops). The big feature–the app allows you to drag and drop photos from the app right to your desktop and iPhone albums. Boom.

Slidelight

One of the better iPad apps to browse Instagram. You can certainly use Flipboard (and I have) but I like this one a little bit better for it’s simplicity.

Other

Calendagram

Sure, you can print your IG pics on postcards and posters. But why stop there? Calendarize your IG experience. Also, it’s free.

Instake

As a blogger, one constant challenge is artwork for posts. Screen-grabs become your best friend. With IG, now you can use this tool to download pics instead of grabbing them (just be diligent–many on IG are photogs and aren’t fans of people taking their work and using it for commercial purposes without their approval)

Instaport

One of the bigger issues for heavy IG users is how to archive all the pics you accumulate on your iPhone. With this handy tool, you can download them to a zip file for downloading to your hard drive or other storage device. Problem solved (another great app that can help solve this need: Instadrop).

Instafb

So you’re a IG geek, but you also want to group your pics on Facebook for easy sharing. Try Instafb. Instead of posting IG pics one-by-one to your wall, Instafb allows you to post them to separate albums–easier for organizing your pics on the world’s largest photo-sharing site.

17 must-have apps for the Instagram power user is a post from: Communications Conversations

During some research for a client project a while back, friend and HAPPO champ, Justin Goldsborough referred me to Sara Folkerts at Sprint. I was researching employee communications programs that had social components to help staff share coupons/deals on behalf of the company/brand. In case you haven’t worked in this area before, there’s not a lot of case study-type information in this area (employee communications)–mostly because most organizations try to keep what’s said behind the firewall tight to the vest. In this case, Sara was open to talking with me at length (thanks, Sara!). And, it’s a pretty interesting program, so I thought I’d share some of the insights I learned about this program through a short interview with Sara. Enjoy.

Logo we use on all of our communications and Ninjas can use similar images as avatars in social networks

You’ve created a pretty unique employee advocacy program that primarily uses social media platforms in “Sprint Ninjas.” Can you tell me a little more about the program and how and why it came about?

Creating a social media program that empowered our employees made sense for Sprint for many reasons. First, just at the time where Sprint as a company was turning around (financially and in customer satisfaction), social media platforms were taking off.  Second, although we had a formal outreach strategy in place, there were many more customers asking for help than we could get to. And third, our employees were the ONE group who saw this turnaround first-hand and were the best to speak to it. Plus, our employees are very knowledgeable and capable of helping customers, they just didn’t feel like the company had said to them, “Yes, please go out there and do this.” So, that’s what we did with Sprint Social Media Ninjas.

To date, you have more than 1,800 Sprint employees who participate in this program. How do you incent and motivate those employees to participate and keep participating?

What’s great about employee advocates is their knowledge and passion for the company. Sprint obviously hired the right people, because they were just waiting for someone to say “go!”

To ensure they feel supported, we share suggested tweets and status updates regularly through our internal blog site. We will also share “news you should know” through the blog and even through email. And lastly, we have created a community where Ninjas can talk among each other and share knowledge and tips. In our community, they automatically get points for participating and doing helpful things, like sharing the correct answer. All of these tactics ensure the Ninjas are on top of the latest news, know what Sprint is saying about it, and have a network of thousands they can draw upon for help.

But we also have a program just for our best Ninjas. It’s called Product Ambassadors. We’ve partnered with our friends in Product Marketing at Sprint to provide our “black-belt” Ninjas with our latest devices. The phones are theirs to use, all we ask is that they get to know it and then tell others about it. Because they are such a passionate and capable group, they educate thousands of Sprint employees about the phones (it’s important to note that not all employees such in-depth training and support on our phones like our Product Ambassadors) and then they help customers in online forums all around the Internet. The big incentive is that the phone is theirs to keep. You can imagine we get a lot of applications for this program, and we only take the best.

As part of this program, you put these “ninjas” through a two-hour workshop to provide them education and context around the initiative. Can you talk a little about what’s involved with these workshops and how it’s worked out so far?

Our Product Ambassador group demos phones to educate Sprint employees at live events several times a year and via their Sprint Space blog almost daily

Sure. At the end of our two-hour workshop, we hope all of our Ninjas come away with three things: 1) They know what Sprint is doing in social media. 2) They know what is expected of them as a Sprint employee when they participate in social media. 3) They know where they can find help if they experience issues in social media.

We like the workshop approach because it’s dynamic and can be topical or tailored to a specific group, but we are working on developing “off the shelf” social media training for all employees in the coming months. Today, the only other training that includes social media education is compliance certification courses; things like “don’t share a customer’s account number online.” While necessary, those courses only deal with a very few and specific social media interactions. We want our training to focus on how to do social media well in general and focus much more on the “do’s” versus the “don’ts.”

What’s the larger business case for Ninjas? How does the Sprint Ninjas program support your overall business and communications goals?

My recommendation for anyone who is thinking of creating a program like this is to find whatever it is that’s keeping your SVP (CEO, etc.) up at night, and find a way to solve that problem through your program.

We use the Ninjas program to reach the thousands of customers we don’t hear from in formal channels or can’t respond to through social media outreach. We also use Ninjas as a bell-weather for hot issues in social; and they let us know when our messages aren’t playing well in the forums. Ninjas are also great help when we need a local spokespeople who knows a device in and out, or knowledgeable guest blogger for partner websites.

How are you measuring success for the Sprint Ninjas program? Have you met or exceeded expectations so far?

We set out to accomplish a few things in 2011 with our program. First, we wanted to reach 2,000 Ninjas. We felt just short of that goal, but 1,800 isn’t too bad. Second, we wanted this program to be a differentiator for Sprint; we wanted this program to make it into advertising. We reached that goal with our Sprint customer newsletter, Sprint Connection, included an ad for our Ninjas program. It let our customers know that they may just run into a Sprint Ninja in “social media land,” and we were prepared to help them.

What’s next for the Ninja program? Where do you see it a year from now? 3 years from now?

We haven’t started our 2012 planning yet, but we know we are out to accomplish a few things. We definitely want to grow our Ninjas numbers. Ideally, we need 8,000 Ninjas. We are also excited about the opportunity to provide better social media training more broadly through our program. This will help us reach all employees, particularly those who are customer-facing; and those employees are the ones who can make the biggest impact for us in social media because of their phone knowledge and customer aptitude.

We also have big goals for making Sprint as a business more social, and integrating social insights into everything we do. My guess is that in three years, Sprint is going to grow its social media presence and become a shining example of a “social business.” And we’ll be able to look back and see that Ninjas played a key part in this change.

Social Media Case Study: The Sprint Ninjas Employee Advocacy Program is a post from: Communications Conversations