Ex-spec-tations...

One of our members posted an interesting question to our LinkedIn group recently. His company was asked to provide spec work on an RFP for some web design work. He wanted feedback from others in the industry as to whether this was "standard operating procedure" or not.

My resounding answer: NO!

Truth is, I'm wary anytime someone asks for spec work. You want to know what I can do? I'm happy to share examples of media coverage or past PR campaigns I've run. If I was a web designer, I'd be happy to provide examples of sites we've designed or re-designed. But I'm not going to give away my ideas for free. If I do, you can take them and pay someone else to execute. My value isn't just in my execution, but also in the ideas I generate. Why would I give away that sort of intellectual property for free?

Am I wrong in finding this to be a ludicrous request? And do many solo practitioners find themselves being asked for this?

January CCG Lunch: How the Department of Defense is Using Social Media

WHAT: Deploying with "New" Gear: How the Department of Defense is Using Social Media
Learn more about how the Department of Defense is using social media to connect with both internal and external audiences.

SPEAKER: Price Floyd, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, Department of Defense

WHEN: Wednesday, January 20, 2010, from noon - 1:30 p.m.

WHERE: District Chophouse, 509 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC
Metro Stop: Gallery Place/Chinatown on the Red Line

COST: $28
Cash only. Exact Change Preferred.

RSVP required.

RECAP: December CCG Lunch, "It's All in the Spirit of Giving"

First off, let me just give a HUGE "thanks" to all my members who attended yesterday's lunch. We managed to collect 43 toys for Toys for Tots (plus one monetary donation) from our 37 attendees. Great job, everyone!!

Second note: Did you know that one of Toys for Tots biggest challenges is getting enough gifts for the 10-14 age range? If you haven't yet donated this year, think about choosing something for these older kids. (Even better, Tweet and Facebook this fact to your networks and help us start our own mini campaign to address this challenge.)

Okay. Now, on to the lunch recap...

December's lunch was about handling PR and communications for a charity or a charitable giving campaign. Our distinguished speakers were:

• Sergeant Matthew R. Johnson, who is in his fourth year as a Toys for Tots Events Coordinator... and was looking quite dapper in his Marine uniform
  
• Wendy Beach, Director of Communications, Global Impact. (In addition to raising funds to support international relief and development programs, Global Impact manages the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area and Overseas.)

Key messages from our speakers:

• Evaluation is key: Before starting this year's campaign, Global Impact evaluated past CFC campaigns. Staff used that feedback when creating key messages, revamping collateral materials, crafting a new "theme," and creating goals for this year (such as generating more participation from the the younger government employees and new government employees). This is great advice. I think a lot of us focus so hard on a particular project, and when that project is complete we move right on to the next one. As a result, we often don't take the time afterward to evaluate the project, collect feedback, etc. And there's so much to learn from evaluating what you've done... both good and bad.
  
• You Can't Ignore Social Media: I know. It sounds like a no brainer, right? But what do you do when you're in an environment that doesn't embrace social media, which is the case with many federal agencies that block access to Twitter, Facebook, etc.? Global Impact solved this dilemma by using the (social media) tools they knew government employees could access, such as GovLoop, which is a social media tool specifically for the government.
  
• Know Your Audience: Global Impact realized it was important that any collateral materials created for the campaign be customizable by the volunteers so that materials would speak to particular communities.
• Social Media Isn't Everything: For the Marine Corps, having Marines in blues on the street talking to people directly is the best advertising. So one of the top goals is to get as many Marines out there as possible. It beats any other advertising channel they could use. (Of course, my CCG members already understand the importance of direct person-to-person contact. After all, we're a group that thrives during our in-person monthly meetings.)
• Coordination, Coordination, Coordination: Toys for Tots is a HUGE campaign that always gets national and local media attention. When that's the case, communication is key. You need to make sure everyone has all the information available... after all, you never know when someone might end up being an "unofficial" spokesperson for your cause.

So those were my biggest lessons learned from yesterday. Sure, some of them weren't exactly "lessons learned" -- because they were strategies I already knew -- but I love when our speakers reinforce conventional wisdom and remind me that sometimes I need to go "back to basics."

For my fellow CCG'ers who attended yesterday's lunch... what did you learn from our speakers?

The Twitter-LinkedIn Connection

I've seen a lot of tweets today about how you can now feed your Twitter updates into your LinkedIn profile. (Here's the Reuters piece on it.) And a lot of people sound excited about this new development.

I'm not.

I also don't like that you can link your Twitter and your Facebook account. (Is it blasphemy to say that?)

Here's the thing... Yes, I often post very similar updates to one, two, or even all three sites. But I also often post Twitter updates that, to me, aren't "Facebook worthy." And I post Facebook updates that never make it onto Twitter. Ditto, LinkedIn.

For me, the three outlets -- and their uses -- are distinct, though sometimes overlapping. That said, in many cases, I'm friends with someone on Facebook, connected to that same person on LinkedIn and follow his/her tweets on Twitter. And especially in the Facebook-Twitter connection, having the same updates to both locations can be overwhelming.

I think one reason I feel this way is because Twitter seems like a much more "now" phenomenon. I may tweet updates from an event I'm attending. Or post random updates about what I'm doing or something I just read. In contrast, I look to Facebook status updates to promote events, post random thoughts, etc. I think of Facebook status updates as being a little less frequent because it's not as easy to stay up-to-date on new posts. (New tweets pop up in the bottom right corner of my screen. I can read them, click on them, ignore them, etc., while continuing with what I'm doing.) So when people link their Twitter and Facebook status updates, I often find that my "status updates" on Facebook become overrun with one person's updates at the expense of everyone else. And it's frustrating.

What say you? (Oh, and by the way, if you want to follow me on Twitter, it's @rferrier. As to Facebook and LinkedIn, I have to have some noticeable connection to you to connect on LinkedIn. And Facebook, well, that's for people I really know.)

-- Robin

February Lunch Recap: Social Media Policies

First off, thanks to Bar Louie for a great location... and to the team there -- Steve, Melissa, and Elliott -- for providing such great service. We'll definitely be returning for future lunches.

Second, thanks to our speaker, Denise Graveline of don't get caught, for a great conversation on social media and social media policies. Normally, I take notes during these lunches so I can post an overview to our blog and send highlights to our members. Denise made sure I didn't need to do so this month!

Instead, she sent me the following message:

"Thanks again for your enthusiasm and attention at yesterday's Capital Communicators Group session on social media policy.

"I've uploaded videos from most of the questions and added links and additional information -- more than we had time to cover live and in person. You can see all the posts related to my talk yesterday here. Keep scrolling down past the questions and you'll find two posts that comprise the handouts for the session as well. I appreciate all your video contributions to my blog -- and Debbie Friez for serving as a great camera operator.

"Many of you asked about the camera Debbie used. It's a Flip HD camera, and you can see all my posts on it here along with links to where you can buy your own.

"I look forward to hearing from you and appreciate your participation yesterday!"

NOTE FROM YOUR PRESIDENT: Some of you asked me about Denise's training sessions for the social media skeptics in your organizations. I've had her on campus for one, and it was great. She created a custom presentation focused on our sector and showed us what others are doing successfully. You can find out more about her sessions here.

What do CCG members want?

The question came up lately, what happened to the name tags at CCG lunches? I was reminded that at most (if not all) networking events, I've been asked (forced?) to wear a name tag. While I like being able to see other people's, I never liked wearing one myself. So one of the reasons we don't wear name tags at CCG lunches any more - in addition to not having any - is that I didn't really want to bother with them.

But I turn the question to the group: Should we bring them back?

There are a few dollars in the CCG coffers now. I could buy some tags and a few markers. But do you, CCG members, really want to wear them?

Chime in, share your thoughts. And while you're at it, let us all know what topics we should cover next, where you want to eat next, and anything else you want from your free CCG membership.

-- Joe