8 Takeaways from the DFW Nonprofit Communicators Conference

Last month, I attended and presented at the DFW Nonprofit Communicators Conference here in Ft. Worth.

The sessions that interested me the most were on social media policies/guidelines and crisis communications. (I suppose being in school public relations, I'd gravitate to these two areas of concern since knowledge in these areas is often needed.)

Below are 8 key takeaways from these two sessions:

Legal Policies for Social Media Communicators
presented by Whitney Presley, Sr. Director of Digital Communications, American Heart Association

1. There's a difference between social media policies and guidelines: policies protect the organization and employee while guidelines should give the rules for how to behave.
2. Create commenting/posting disclaimer for networks and define difference between personal/professional use of social media and social networks for the organization's perspective.
3. Check the Social Media Governance website for examples of corporate and nonprofit social media policies or the online Policy Tool for Social Media to get started.
4. What makes a good social media guideline/policy for an organization? According to Presley, those that at their core tell employees to be honest, stay on message, and don't be stupid. (I'll add organizations should also look into implementing a social media gatekeeper system to keep the properties within their proper control.)

Crisis Communication:A crash course that leads to developing a crisis plan
presented by Jacqueline Lambiase, Ph.D., Texas Christian University

1. In a crisis, you must determine audience awareness: media relations, community relations, employee relations among the top concerns.
2. Develop realistic (and reassuring) messages based on audience concerns.
3. Establish credibility with fast honesty.
4. Get pre-approved for some “boilerplate” messaging, press releases, information bulletins, safety warnings, and apologies. (Example used of airlines with pre-written initial press releases for plane crashes that only require flight number and locations which is a little disturbing even if it is efficient.)
   
   [Check out Jacqueline's presentation slides over on Slideshare for some additional tips, tactics, and thoughts on crisis communication.]

Bonus takeaway for Dallas/Fort Worth nonprofits: Pay close attention to progress/plans from Stacy Caldwell and her team at Dallas Social Venture Partners. Great stuff. Stacy was the conference luncheon keynote speaker and has an infectious energy and passion for engaging philanthropists and investing in nonprofits for social innovation and the common good. My favorite quote from her keynote was, "Communicators for nonprofits need to be thought of as stewards of the mission."

#WordPower for Social Media - DFW Nonprofit Communicators Conference (#dfwnpcc)

Last week I had the pleasure of joining some area and regional professionals as a speaker for the DFW Nonprofit Communicators Conference held at TCU.

Below is the slide deck for those that may have missed something because of the seating fun in the crowded room. (Special thanks to those who came and sat on the floor.)

#WordPower for Social Media

View more presentations from Richie Escovedo

Nonprofit Marketers and Communicators Collaborative
I really dig the idea and purpose behind this conference: to provide convenient one-day training and support for nonprofit communication professionals through interactive workshops at an affordable cost. (Simple and smart.)

Some of the quality presentation topics this year included:

• Communicating your Mission
• Legal Policies for Social Media Communicators (review post coming soon)
• Crisis Communication & Putting the Public First
• Social Media and Advocacy
• Reaching out to Diverse Publics
• Campus Connections for Nonprofits
• Social Innovation and Nonprofits

The conference is put on by the Nonprofit Marketers and Communicators Collaborative. Established in 2010, this group hopes "to bring together nonprofit marketing and communication professionals to discuss industry specific trends, tips, and helpful advice."

I'd encourage Dallas/Ft. Worth and area nonprofits to pay attention to this collaborative effort and take advantage of future professional development and networking sessions.

If you attended this conference (and maybe even my session), I'd love to hear what you think.

5 Tips to keep your School PR job - Tim Caroll, APR

I had the pleasure of spending some time in sessions, catching up with school PR colleagues and friends in addition to presenting at the 2011 Texas School Public Relations Association conference last month. The current Texas public school financial realities seemed to be a common theme of discussions and among a few of the presentations. Folks were concerned just like educators across the state about whether or not personnel reductions will happen in the name of cost-cutting measures.

I caught up with Tim Carroll, APR from the Allen ISD to ask him what he thought are some ways school PR people can help themselves keep their jobs:

5 Tips to keep your school PR job

1. Contribute in areas that benefit the school district financially or that clearly address goals and objectives. Find the things that are important to the district leadership.
2. Get a seat on the superintendent's cabinet. You need to be/become a trusted advisor to management.
3. Become the go to person for strategic communication needs. Go beyond being the camera, press release, newsletter person.
4. Get out of the office. It's just a good idea to spend time at campuses to see what's going on so you can tell good stories and remind yourself why we do what we do. (It's for the kids.)
5. Seek additional responsibilities that fit into your skill set. Staff reductions will leave gaps that need to be filled.

In addition to being the Director of Public Information for the Allen ISD, Tim Carroll, APR is the 2011 President of the Texas School Public Relations Association and a 31 year PR veteran. He sums up two of the best reasons I concur for why school communications pros should be a part of professional organizations like TSPRA or the NSPRA; (one) networking with other PR pros and (two) access to shared resources.

What do you think of these tips? What would you add? As always, the comments are yours.

(Photo credit: zawtowers via Flickr Creative Commons)

Social Media 101 for Congregations

This is the presentation I gave at the Fifth Annual Faith Community Leadership Summit provided to the community by Texas Health Resources. I was thrilled to be included as a speaker at this educational outreach event.

Social Media 101 for Congregations

View more presentations from Richie Escovedo.

Remnants to revitalized PR; chatting with Brian Solis

Image via CrunchBaseEarlier this evening I had the opportunity to participate in a conference call conversation with Brian Solis along with a handful of other DFW bloggers. We were invited to ask some questions of Brian who will be the lunch keynote speaker at the Dallas PRSA Communications Summit this Friday, October 22. 

As a professional communicator, I was thrilled to have a chance to learn from such a respected thought leader of new media and prolific author.

Below are the topics our little cadre of questioners narrowed down along with summary responses from Brian Solis:

What are the key differences between PR 1.0 and 2.0, and how can someone educate themselves?
The depth of knowledge, experience, and passion for peer-to-peer need to be in the I-have-to-learn-category for professionals. It's beyond pitching and placing; it's about moving individuals. It means realizing that we need to connect with humans that shape markets. This dynamic understanding of digital influence is what he believes will bring PR back to life.

(I recently ran across a video Brian Solis did with Chris Beck and 26 Dot Two about branded content called  The great advertising disconnect. "The last mile") What are some things PR people need to focus on today to reach that "last mile" of engagement?
Brian smartly pointed us to his blog post, The Last Mile: The Socialization of Business along with his series The Hybrid Theory Manifesto: The Future of Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (Parts One, Two, and Three) to give us a framework on his vision. He has provided his call to action or at least attention the fact that there is a gap that isn't being filled by PR. Advertising firms are bringing PR into the fold because they recognize the necessity and wisdom reaching and activating the influential individuals. (As an aside, this portion of the call intrigued me the most and warrants further research.)

Can you tell us a little about the premise of your book, Engage? What is the importance in it for PR/social media folks?
Brian responded that basically where he is now in his professional life is entrenched in the realm of organizational restructuring. He said his new book, Engage, is written with the executive suite in mind. "There are so many champions, we need more leaders," said Solis. There's an important lesson for PR people here: we need to be leaders.

How do you measure the value of engagement and report that back to your brand?
In measurement and reporting, you must start with the end in mind. Every aspect of social media is not created equally, nor are friends, fans, communities, etc. When you know who you are talking to, you can segment the story. Ultimately, we measure engagement based on the predefined objectives we want to accomplish. (In other words it's the seeing, clicking, doing that tells us we're winning.)

Brian Solis left us with some additional thoughts as he noticed one of our bloggers was doing a bit of live-tweeting during the call. The real-time updates triggered some final words of wisdom from our call:

• Consumers have become empowered. 
• There are audiences within audiences. 
• The balance of power has shifted. 
• IF you can inspired others to follow and share, you are on the right track.

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If you are in the DFW area on Friday, October 22, consider joining the Dallas chapter of PRSA for their annual Communications Summit: "Engage. Educate. Elevate." In addition to Solis, they have another great line-up for PR pros.
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I look forward to reading what the other bloggers zeroed in on from the call. Be sure to check out posts from Alyssa Gardina, Elysa Rice, and Eddy Badrina. (Also, special thanks and hat tip to Kai Stansberry, Lauren Fernandez and Chad Sour for the invitation and getting this call organized.)

Social Media in Government - Schools at manor.govfresh #manorgf

Earlier this week, I ventured south to the small town of Manor, TX. The city, specifically the school district in Manor, was was the unlikely host of manor.govfresh conference. The conference brought together "government and industry innovators to share and learn about emerging, cost-effective technologies for state and local government."

I say unlikely host because at first glance this small city looks like any other. However, looks can be deceiving. Manor's innovative use of technology has been featured by government agencies and media, including the White House, Inc. Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Austin American Statesman, and others according to the conference press room. And the district is on par with technology innovation and student digital literacy instruction.

So what does this have to do with school communications or public relations?

I was asked to participate as a panelist for a session entitled Social Media in Government. Coordinating the panel was Andrew Krzmarzick, the GovLoop Community Manager. And rounding out the panel was Sandra Fernandez, Manager of Public Relations for the Houston Public Library, and Jacqueline Lambiase, Ph.D., public relations professor from TCU.

It was our job to convey strategic and tactical uses of social media in government in hopes of aspiring other local governments to look into ways to partner with each other, their school systems, libraries to better engage citizens and make educated decisions about social media tools.

Below are the slides from my portion of the session on school districts:Schools and Social Media -- Manor GovFresh

View more presentations from Richie Escovedo.

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This was a significant step in a positive direction for open government in Texas and around the country.

Seeing the continued interest and conversations around government 2.0 is something that school district communicators need to be paying attention to and learning as shifts in community expectations lead us to further government transparency.

This shift puts greater emphasis and access to what is happening inside local government. I think this is a good thing.

I also like how Andy put it in a recent tweet about the manor.govfresh conference.

Here's the article by Alex Howard (@digiphile) "Harnessing the Civic Surplus for Open Government."

This is an area worth exploring deeper for school PR. What do you think? What are seeing or hearing in communities in the way of open government? The comments are yours.

School PR and the News Media - Ken Haseley, NSPRA 2010

Image by asterix611 via Flickr

Note: This is cross-posted over on Shane Haggerty's blog, Social Learning Lab.
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Last week I attended the National School Public Relations Association 2010 Seminar. In addition to speaking during my brief stay I also took away some great insights from some respected communicators. One such speaker was Ken Haseley from The Ammerman Experience. Haseley gave a session entitled The News Media Today: Ally or Adversary?

In his session, Haseley touched on the shift from the news media being a public service to being more about profit and entertainment. He even pointed out that to a degree the news today is delivered as theater with reporters/anchors as the stars (think high graphics, dramatic music, and celebrity journalists on location, like Anderson Cooper from CNN.) He spoke about creating allies and how to handle the adversarial relationship school PR professionals tend to have with the media. I have attended Ken's sessions before on a variety of topics so I knew his would be one not to miss.

Important take-aways from The News Media Today: Ally or Adversary?

Today's news media:

• Expect to have more contact with junior-level journalists. 
• Expect more errors or inconsistencies
• Communication pros need to do more hand-holding and listen more closely. (Example: During a phone interview, listen to how the reporter sums up your quotes and especially if there's anything that seems to still be confusing at the end.)
• While the newsrooms may be shrinking, the news landscape is still expanding. Journalists have even greater levels of expectations today in reporting and content production.

Creating Allies:

• Recognize the PR and media symbiotic relationship.
• Think in terms of marketing and build relationships.
• Remember business etiquette. (Example: It's so important for call backs. It's highly frustrating for a journalist to have to wait on you to get back with them. Call back even if you don't have the answer at the time.)
• You will gain greater confidence (and competence) with media training.

Handling Adversaries:

• Don't pick a fight with the media. (The old adage is still true, Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel)
• Learn how to just say no. (Sometimes it's ok to decline an interview request. This works when the story is not about your organization or it's a round-up piece that doesn't rely on your involvement. Say, "thank you, we've decided to pass on this one. Don't forget about us in the future." You still need to call them back.)
• Have a straight-forward approach. Don't waste a reporter's time. They'll remember you for that too.
• To fix errors in reporting you can either ignore it or take action. If you take action, Haseley suggests
  1.) Call the reporter to point out the error.
  2.) Ask for a correction.
  3.) Call the editor or news director
  4.) Strategically use letters to the editor or even paid advertising if necessary.
• Mend fences. You never know when those adversarial reporters are going to wind up as communications and PR colleagues in the future.

In addition to his presentation, Haseley was gracious enough to spend a couple of minutes to share some thoughts for a brief video:

Media Shmedia: Be Your Own Newsroom - #NSPRA

The following is my presentation deck from the 57th Annual Seminar of the National School Public Relations Association:

Additionally, some attendees were asking about some guidelines they could use. Here's our school district's blogging policy for comments and Facbook Page Rules of Engagement for a School District.

Feel free to use and improve on anything where you can.

Now it's your turn: What is your school district using to engage your communities? What communication channels do you find most strategic for your efforts? The comments are yours.

Vacation ends as #NSPRA professional development begins

Hello from NSPRA 2010 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

I'm back after a much-needed break in the gorgeous state of Montana where I recharged the batteries for a week. I've been quietly off the blogging-grid for nearly three weeks. In my absence, my blog turned two (apparently July 11 is the Next Communication blogiversary).

This is not a result of being weary of blogging. On the contrary, I have plenty of public relations and communication professional post ideas swirling around just waiting to be put down on screen.

Let's just call it being distracted with scenery like this below. (From our campsite on Flathead Lake in Montana):

The above view has been replaced by a rather pleasant view from the 13th floor of my hotel at the National School Public Relations Association 2010 Seminar in downtown Charlotte:

Granted, it's no mountain view, but it lets me know it's time to get back to work. Let the the school public relations professional development and networking continue. This is already turning out to be a very solid conference. (Btw, next year's NSPRA seminar is in San Antonio so I hope to see more Texas school PR friends attending.)

I'll be back very soon with a post or two from the NSPRA conference. If you are one of my school PR colleagues at the conference, drop me a quick comment, come see me at my presentation on Tuesday afternoon, or just hit me up over on Twitter.

Until then, a couple of questions for you: How do you decompress from work realities and responsibilities? How do you know when you're batteries are charged and ready to go? As always, the comments are yours.

2010 #PRSA Southwest District Conference on Speed Dial

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of participating in and speaking at the 2010 PRSA Southwest District Conference in Oklahoma City. First off, great conference and huge kudos and thanks to the committee and Oklahoma City Chapter of PRSA for being such gracious hosts.

Image by 1980Andrew
Dale Chihuly's blown glass sculpture
at Oklahoma City's Museum of Art

Here are the PR take-aways and conference quick bites that struck me as being important:

• The Roaming Gnome is apparently very popular.
• So is OKC Mayor Mick Cornett and he's a much better speaker.
• To make an exit all you you need is an NBA mascot create a diversion.
• Your network is your net worth.
• The conference hashtag was #prsasw10.
• Blown glass is awesome!

 Your Network is Your Net Worth

• Ari B. Adler wants us to remember LSP (Listen, Share, and Participate).
• Careers are now landscapes, not paths.
• Create (join) a community before you need it.
• Be an information hub.
• Mentor, mentee, repeat.

 Message Management & Communicating During a Crisis

• John Deveney advises that during crisis having a proactive and rapid response communication plans are vital.
• Sometimes you can't get all of the facts before a story breaks.
• You need 3rd party advocates during a crisis.
• Crisis communications: Communicate frequently and make sure you are reliable.
• Secure your position as trusted source.
• You must be quick to establish who is involved and who is in charge.
• Don't discount or short-change local news, they know you.
• Most of the time some people know you; during a crisis, a lot of people are going to meet you.
• Spokespeople need to feel what they say.
• During interviews, pauses are the toughest, but best tip.

The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business 

• Tara Hunt @missrogue says your Social Media strategy won't save you.
• Be happy social media is complicated because it makes our jobs much more interesting.
• Think people-centric business that serves existing customers.
• Concentrating on customer happiness; "enthusiasts" are far greater than "influencers."
• Whuffie: reputation, trust, reach, positive sentiment, influence, # of people you know, # of people who know you, reciprocity, and known accomplishments.

Rebuilding, Recapturing and Retaining Stakeholder Trust

• Alan Hilburg, APR and Margaret Ritsch reminds us that communication is about listening.
• A brand is the trust consumers put into products or services.
• It's about what someone feels not about what they think.
• Ask yourself, what are you a protagonist for?
• Data --> Information --> Knowledge --> Wisdom
• Culture is the environment in which we make decisions.

Relationships Matter: How to Develop Relationships with The Media To Generate Ongoing Press Coverage

• Margo Mateas paints a picture of failed media pitches because PR people irritate reporters and our information is often (90% of the time) ineffective and irrelevent.
• Stop doing stupid things like failing to research the target media outlet.
• 97% of media relations is preparation. We need to work smarter.
• Understand a reporter's point of view.
• Story origami: twist, fold, turn, bend, and turn it into something that benefits their audience.
• Use an "Editor's Filter" - Summary statement, Why should I care? Are you credible? Call to action.
• PR people get lost in the unimportant details when we have about 10 seconds to connect.
• Give them what they need in the way they need it to develop the relationship.
• Remember to front-load your e-mail pitches with relevant keywords and phrases.
• Try this when working with a reporter: "Tell me what kind of stories you are looking for so I can help you."
• You have to be real with reporters, be yourself, be casual, and be direct. Don't waste their time.

These are just a sample of the nuggets of information that I took from the conference. It was great connecting with some new and old friends. The conference title lived up to it's tagline: Your Network is Your Net Worth.
If you were at the conference, I'd love to get your thoughts on these or other sessions. If you couldn't make it, I hope you find something relevant in the post. Either way, the comments are yours.

Social Networking For Texas School Districts Presentation Slides

In case any of you have been wondering why my postings have been sporadic lately, here's the story: I have had the pleasure lately of presenting thoughts, research, and tips on communication and public relations in an education setting to a few groups.

Last week was a presentation during the Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) 2010 conference. This week I was invited to speak on social media tools during the TCU Schieffer School of Journalism's Social Media Week. Additionally, I had the rather unique experience as the speaker for the Texas Association of  School Board's CommLINK webinar. (More on the webinar experience in a later post.)

As promised to yesterday's webinar attendees, here are the presentation slides:

Social Networking For Texas School Districts

View more presentations from Richie Escovedo.

As stated during the presentation, there are many other social networking opportunities through groups and specific communities through tools such as Ning and even wikis that are worth exploring by school districts. I primarily stuck with Facebook for the discussion yesterday.

If you took part in this webinar and have any questions, please feel free to leave them here via comments or contact me.

Related Bonus: Feel free to use any or all of the suggestions in the Facebook Fan Page Rules for a School District.

I will attempt to get back to some regular blogging soon. As always, the comments are yours.

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• TSPRA Conference 2010: Let the School PR Networking Begin (nextcommunications.blogspot.com)

TSPRA Conference 2010: Let the School PR Networking Begin

This is just a short post to say howdy to my fellow Texas School Public Relations Association's Conference attendees. This is a great conference for education communicators and I look forward each year to this time of learning and networking. It is great catching up with old friends and meeting new rookies to school PR. Sharing PR war-stories, wasabi peas, happy pirates, and monkey hands. (Sorry, inside joke for some colleagues.)

In all seriousness, I would encourage any school district administrators and boards who seeks to have their communications and public relations team armed with strategic and tactical ideas to implement and establish in their communities should provide a TSPRA membership and send them here. 

[I will have more to share including a session I am leading entitled Media Shmedia: Be your own Newsroom.]

Dallas Inbound Marketing Summit - From the Back Row

Image by LevelTen Interactive via Flickr

Last week I attended as many of the sessions from the Inbound Marketing Summit's Dallas stop as I could. (I'm still not quite sure what I was thinking in scheduling myself out of the school district for any period of time in second-to-last week of school, but that's a different story.)

What we have here are presentations I attended and some take-aways worth sharing:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 101
by Mike Volpe - VP of Inbound Marketing at HubSpot

Seo 101 - Inbound Marketing Summit - Dallas

View more OpenOffice presentations from Hubspot Marketing.

Take-aways

• Have a broad footprint of published content
• Publish content worth sharing - Would anyone actually want to share this beyond its intended audience?
• Shhhhhhh! Social Media is actually an important aspect of SEO.
• The type of marketing that works today is not the same as what worked before.
• It's less about the big-budget and more about creativity, hard work, and brain power.

Advocacy, Badvocacy & Upsetting Apple Carts
by Tim Marklein - EVP of Measurement & Strategy at Weber Shandwick

IMS Dallas tmarklein "Advocacy, Badvocacy & Upsetting Apple Carts"

View more Microsoft Word documents from Tim Marklein.

Take-aways

• We need to rethink the channels, reach, influence inside and outside the organization.
  
• Traditional marketing needs to adapt to Advocacy marketing.
• Tell many stores, one at a time, synchronized, through many voices, to "micro" markets.

Discovery & Ambient Awareness
Tools, Techniques & Processes
by Mike Walsh - CEO of Leverage Software

Be A Kid

View more OpenOffice presentations from Mike Walsh.

Take-aways

• We are all limited by what we are able to consume.
• Low "noise-level" helps keep you super-efficient.
  
• Be like a kid [again] through filtered discovery!
• Your community helps by letting you discover information you didn't know you needed.
  

Internet Marketing by the Numbers
by Mike Moran - Chief Strategist for Converseon

Related blog post: Internet Marketing, Texas Style

Take-aways

• Once we start measuring things then we become responsible for making them work.
• Your aquisition costs for new customers is much higher than for existing customers.
• Case for Public Relations: How far did your message travel?

Social Business from the Inside Out - case study
by Greg Matthews - Director of Consumer Innovation at Humana

Social Business from the Inside Out

View more OpenOffice presentations from chimoose.

Take-aways

• Be a vacuum - study, try, read, talk to trusted sources, and get good information
• Try stuff - have the license to experiment
• One of the benefits of doing wacky stuff is that it gets you noticed.
• One thing to remember about Social Media is to be careful of what you say and where you say it.

Nuts About Online Communication
by Paula Berg - Manager of Emerging Media at Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Emerging Media Presentation

View more OpenOffice presentations from Austin Ama .

Take-aways

• Engage with your advocates first.
• Negative feedback is secondary.
• Make the mundane fun.
• Establish channels before a crisis.
• Don't be afraid to join the conversation.
  
• [Internally] You already have all the talent you need.
• Take the organization's message and translate it into the language of the Social Media tools.

Greg's session and Paula's session were particularly interesting to me because each works in highly regulated industries (healthcare and airline) and both are being innovative and creative within their organizational structure. Many of their lessons learned could translate very well for other professionals who work within regulated structures like government agencies.

That's it. I was not able to make any of the other sessions. Thankfully others did and you might find their posts, decks, and videos useful as well.

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• Inbound Marketing Summit Dallas - Great event
• Some Thoughts from the Inbound Marketing Summit - Dallas
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• Build How-To Material to Grow Relationships
• Managing Social Media and Encouraging Employee Individuality with Southwest Airlines
• Postcards From Dallas - The Inbound Marketing Summit 2009

SPJ8 Panel: Blogging and Web Site Creation Demystified

I have the privilege to be part of a small panel at the Society of Professional Journalists - Region 8 Conference in a session called Express Yourself: Blogging and Web Site Creation Demystified.

I will join Mike Orren, founder and publisher of Pegasus News and Jake Batsell, lecturer for SMU's Division of Journalism and faculty adviser to The Daily Mustang.

We hope to provide attendees with some tips, tricks, tools, and techniques to leverage online writing skills. There is nothing magic about this stuff, but it does take commitment, willingness to learn and practice for those wanting to be remarkable.

Recommended Tools
Feel free to Download the Recommended Tools or access the Recommended Tools Links covering the following:

• Blogging platforms
• Website builders (when a blog isn’t enough)
• Master your domain
• Rights and privileges
• Measure
• Market
• Beat Blogging
• Images
• Video
• Audio
• Rockstar tools
• Local examples of good small / solo sites (some journos)

Also, please let us know if you have a suggested link to add in these categories via comments.
(Photo credit: Brother O'Mara)