THANKS to our Media Day 2007 sponsors!
Media Day
conference
Photos
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Media Day 2007 conference highlights
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An unsatisfied customer has a voice on
the Internet. The new business trend, rather than to ignore an
unhappy individual’s blog, is to try to improve products and
customer satisfaction, according to Josh Hallett, president of
hyku, a social media consulting firm based in Winterhaven.
Hallett was the keynote speaker at Stetson University Friday, Nov. 2, to
a conference of 61 media and public relations professionals,
hosted by the Volusia/Flagler Chapter of the Florida Public
Relations Association and sponsored by the
Daytona Beach News-Journal and
MyTopiaCafe.com.
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| Josh Hallett, president of hyku |
Other sponsors included
Write Result Marketing and Communication,
Stetson University,
Florida Hospital Fish Memorial and
Palmer College of
Chiropractic.
Web design is easy now, Hallet said. People can take a photo on their
iPhone, hit one button and it’s on the Internet. And 60 percent of teens
with Internet access are publishing content. What this means is
information that is hidden will eventually get out.
“It’s just as easy to publish content as it is to consume contents,”
Hallet said.
Hallet helps companies track customers’ comments on the Internet and
build relationships with individuals. His clients have included Sony and
major theme parks. Social media is the recognized (but not well-liked by
Hallett), term for everything blogged, uploaded and videotaped about an
organization over which it has no control.
Word-of-mouth trumps advertising all the time, in his eyes. People are
more likely to relate to organizations if they know someone from the
company.
“By being part of the conversation you can actually help drive the
conversation,” he advised. “People want to be treated as individuals,
not as a number on a spread sheet.”
A person with a popular Web site who videotapes and reviews theme park
rides -- giving the viewers a realistic experience -- now is invited
into the planning process for new rides. The blogger is an example of
how, if the public takes ownership, it also takes on a marketing role,
Hallett said.
Other popular sites include Flickr.com, an “amazing,” free stock photo
library; the Twitter.com blogcast (microblogging navigation and social
networking); and Facebook.com. To track what people are saying about a
topic, professionals could use an RSS web feed.
 After a media roundtable with 15 representatives from 12 media outlets,
Michelle Ferrier, Ph.D, (pictured, right) of the Daytona Beach News-Journal’s
MyTopiaCAFE.com, spoke about the new online community.
People drive home, open their garage doors, drive in and are gone from
view, Ferrier said. The point of the Web site, launched last month, is
to strengthen neighborhood ties and build the “social capital in our
communities.”
Ordinary citizens with picture cell phones can be journalists, she said.
MyTopiaCAFE.com is a hybrid of that, but goes beyond neighborhood news
to act almost as an “online brag book” for its users. One frequent
visitor shares a new photo of sunrise on the beach every morning. On the
Web site’s inside pages, moderators take a hands-off approach to user
content, although visitors can flag posts with inappropriate content.
Highlights of the site are Building Community lifestyle magazine, a
place to share photos and stories, “You Choose the News,” What’s
Happening, and an area split by town hubs. Future features will be a
restaurant guide and Helping Hands that pairs non-profit organizations
with people who want to donate.
More photos
Attending media
Tips from the media
Evaluation survey
feedback
Previous meeting
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Tips from Josh Hallett
Social media marketing is a two-way conversation.
Listen, then fix the problem.
You have to have passion, authority, humanization, approachability, and
tell an interesting story. "Please don't just post a press release
online."
Newspaper headlines are not written for online.
Your "community" goes beyond the square miles of your city; it can be
worldwide. Avoid generalizations about your target audience.
People are putting a tremendous amount of information about themselves
online. Becoming a part of their conversation lets you target promotions
to their needs.
When bad news happens, immediately publish your side of the
story and have it online for a permanent archive. |
Tips from Michelle Ferrier
To submit an event on
MyTopiaCAFE.com:
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Use a username people recognize as a professional
name if it comes from an organization. Do the same for e-mail
addresses.
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Enter a separate form for each date the event
appears.
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The form asks for an event city. For multiple
cities or countywide, submit the event instead to the e-mail,
info@mytopiacafe.com
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If you want to include contact information, put
it in the body of text. The form requests contact information but
does not include it.
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You can modify prior posts you made anytime.
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