TCM: Panel #4

Panel #4: How to Add New Media to Your Existing Media and Communications Department

Speakers:
-- Shashi Bellamkonda, Social Media Swami, Network Solutions
-- Marc Hausman, President & CEO, Strategic Communications Group
-- Alice Marshall, Founder & President, Presto Vivace

First up: Marc Hausman
-- Most companies have really good content sitting on shelves. Repurpose content. (Gee, we've heard this message before when Joe Balintfy spoke about his podcasts and vodcasts for NIH.)
-- Social media all about creating searchable web content.
-- Aligning sales and marketing. When someone tells a salesperson why they buy, that's excellent content for social media.
-- Don't join social media groups and use it to spam marketing messages. Participate in conversation, but not with marketing messages. If you make good contributions, people will naturally visit your site to see what your company has to offer.

Second: Alice Marshall
-- Popularity of Google News Alerts means you don't have to get in newspapers to get your news out there.
-- Empower your employees to blog. Remember you hired people with brains.
-- Big nightmares going on aren't going on because someone was idiot on Facebook. Think rationally about what's going to really affect the business.
-- Communication department shouldn't be blogging. The employees (doing interesting things) should be blogging.

Third: Shashi Bellamkonda
-- First off, this guy has the coolest title. I mean, come on? How many of us wouldn't want the title of "Social Media Swami"?
-- More important to listen to what others say about you than what you say about you.
-- Listen first. Find out who is talking about you. Where talking about you. What saying.
-- When people realize you're listening, goes from frustration for customer to willingness to provide feedback.