Archive for Twitter
Sawmill Partner on Social Media Panel with CNN Commentator and Washington Post Editor
Posted by: | CommentsI’m looking forward to being part of a panel on crisis communications and social media Nov.3 that will bring attendees the latest thinking on how news organizations are using tools such as Twitter and Facebook during crisis situations. Find out more about the session, “Crisis Communication in a Social Media World,” and register for PRSA’s Mid-Atlantic Chesapeake Conference here. My co-presenters are:
Maria Cardona is a Democratic strategist who recently joined CNN as a political commentator for the 2012 election and contributor to CNN en Español. During the 2008 Democratic primary election, Cardona was senior adviser and spokesperson to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and served on the campaign’s Hispanic outreach team. During the 2008 general election, she was a key surrogate for the Obama for America campaign, and during the Clinton administration, Cardona served as a spokesperson at the U.S. Departments of Justice and Commerce.
James Buck is the Washington Post‘s local innovations editor. He came to the Post in 2010, after working at FRONTLINE/World, The Oakland
Tribune, The Center for Investigative Reporting and University of California-Berkeley. While a graduate student at Berkeley in 2008, James traveled to Egypt to cover an anti-government protest and was arrested. He used Twitter on his cell phone to alert his friends, who immediately began campaigning for his release. The founders of Twitter frequently use James’ experience in explaining the power of the site as a communication tool.
Register today and join us! The Mid-Atlantic Chesapeake Conference has an impressive lineup of sessions this year, making it a must-attend event for the region’s public relations pros.
This week’s Baltimore Business Journal showcases @contactjeff as a Twitter account worth following.
The item in “Smart Strategies” notes that PR firms and advertising folks were among the first to use Twitter to promote clients and engage in dialogue with the media. “One of the early adopters in this field was Jeff Davis, a partner with Sawmill Marketing Public Relations.”
“His tweets offer a nice mix of the personal and the professional — and some are quite funny,” the BBJ says. At least that’s their opinion!
In fact, the BBJ was the first to cover Sawmill’s push into social media in 2007, and then in 2008 under the headline: “What Are You Doing? PR firms answer that question and more via social networking phenomenon Twitter”
My Favorite Twitter Tools
Posted by: | CommentsThere are hundreds of Twitter tools out there, but for the “must-haves,” check out this list I shared today with a group from the Baltimore-Washington chapter of Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI):
Hootsuite – An at-a-glance dashboard that allows me to monitor multiple accounts as well as pre-load tweets. An alternative is Tweetdeck.
Favorites and Lists – A sometimes overlooked tool, they are on everyone’s Twitter pages. If used, favorites offer a summary of what the account holder considers valuable tweets, and lists can be a good source for finding interesting accounts to follow.
search.twitter.com - A way to target your search by keywords, location and more. Try the search terms “looking for” or “can anyone recommend” along with the type of company you represent.
Sawmill Guide to Baltimore Media on Twitter – Our comprehensive list allows you to connect with the region’s media. Click on the link on our homepage.
Tweepz - A way to search keywords on bios. You can also limit results by location, number of followers and more. Looking for “foodies” in Baltimore for your restaurant account? This is a good place to start.
We Follow – A way to find people to follow. Search tags by location or focus (music, social media, PR, etc.).
Twilert - Delivers a daily email summary of tweets that have whatever account or keywords you are tracking.
There are so many more (check out www.oneforty.com), but if you start by adding these basics to your toolkit, your Twitter experience will be much more efficient and worthwhile. What are your can’t-live-without Twitter tools?
BALTIMORE, Md. (June 7, 2011 ) — Jeffrey A. Davis, a partner with Baltimore PR firm Sawmill Marketing Public Relations, will be a featured speaker during the June 14 Knowledge Session sponsored by the Baltimore-Washington chapter of Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI).
One of three expert panelists, Davis will share a range of tips and best practices showing how brands can best use Twitter to communicate and engage in conversations with customers, potential customers and the media. Co-presenter Jonathan Oleisky, of Media 924 LLC, will share Facebook tips, while Colleen McKenna, of Intero Advisory, will cover LinkedIn.
The SMEI event is scheduled for Tuesday, June 14 with a networking session beginning at 7:30 a.m., followed by the panel presentation beginning at 8 a.m. and concluding at 9:30 a.m. The event takes place at PSA Insurance and Financial Services, 11311 McCormick Road, Suite 500, Hunt Valley, MD 21031.
Additional details and registration information is available at the SMEI website.
About Sawmill Marketing Public Relations
Sawmill Marketing Public Relations is a Baltimore PR firm and social media marketing communications agency established in 1995 specializing in the development and execution of marketing public relations programs as business development strategies for business-to-business, business-to-consumer and professional services clients. The Maryland public relations company specializes in social media, traditional media relations, media training, and crisis communications. For additional information, visit www.sawmillmarketing.com
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Davis to Speak on Social Media and Commercial Real Estate
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BALTIMORE, Md. — Sawmill Marketing Public Relations partner Jeffrey A. Davis has been invited to address the topic of “Social Media Applications for Commercial Real Estate” at an upcoming meeting of Baltimore CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) from 8 to 10 a.m. on June 9.
To promote the talk, CREW issued the following statement:
A social media strategy and its relevance is more than just trying to fire off one or two “tweets” a day about your latest project. Like advertising, social media marketing is quickly becoming a necessity in today’s business climate. If you believe business-to-business relationships are all about people – not companies – connecting with each other, then social media is something you’ll want to consider as an efficient way to share your expertise, build new connections and continue conversations with others.
Come hear real-world examples of how social media can be a valuable B2B tool that should be integrated with other marketing communications activities as more purchase decision-makers look to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs for information. Learn how some commercial real estate executives and the media are using Twitter to connect with prospects and news sources, the importance of social media when it comes to online search results, the role social media plays in branding and recruitment, implications for crisis communications and more.
Joining Davis will be Pauline Harris, owner/principal, SPIN.
Location of the CREW event: Saul Ewing, LLP, 500 E Pratt St, Ste 900, Baltimore, MD 21202. For details and to register, visit this link.
Davis Invited to Speak about Social Media and Commercial Real Estate
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I’ve been invited to address the topic of “Social Media Applications for Commercial Real Estate” at an upcoming meeting of Baltimore CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) from 8 to 10 a.m. on Feb. 22. Here’s the blurb promoting the talk:
A social media strategy and its relevance is more than just trying to fire off one or two “tweets” a day about your latest project. Like advertising, social media marketing is quickly becoming a necessity in today’s business climate. If you believe business-to-business relationships are all about people – not companies – connecting with each other, then social media is something you’ll want to consider as an efficient way to share your expertise, build new connections and continue conversations with others.
Come hear real-world examples of how social media can be a valuable B2B tool that should be integrated with other marketing communications activities as more purchase decision-makers look to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs for information. Learn how some commercial real estate executives and the media are using Twitter to connect with prospects and news sources, the importance of social media when it comes to online search results, the role social media plays in branding and recruitment, implications for crisis communications and more.
Joining me will be Pauline Harris, owner/principal, SPIN. Location: Saul Ewing, LLP, 500 E Pratt St, Ste 900, Baltimore, MD 21202. For details and to register, visit this link.
Our New Year’s Day Gift to You: An Updated ‘Sawmill Guide to Baltimore Media on Twitter’
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We started to compile a list of Baltimore media on Twitter in 2008, published it on New Year’s Day in 2009 and updated it every time we came across a new account.
Today we present the 2011 edition of the “Sawmill Guide to Baltimore Media on Twitter,” now more than 250 names!
The list can be accessed here, and it resides on our home page all year long (see the link on the right). If you have any updates, please leave a comment and we’ll share.
Post Asks ‘Where Were You When Towers Fell?’
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If Twitter existed nine years ago today, we no doubt would have had different accounts of the first few minutes of that morning. Posts as well as pics.
Fast-forward to today, and it’s interesting to note how The Washington Post is using Twitter to facilitate the collective sharing of memories. The newspaper put out the call, “Where were you when the towers fell?” asking for tweets with the hashtag #wherewereyou. The result is a day-long scroll of peoples’ accounts of that day, all shared on BlogPost. Here is the link. Yet another way for a newspaper to bring us together.
[For the record, I was at an advertising agency in Annapolis, Md. when I heard the news. I recall people periodically popping in and out of the main conference room to view the news on TV, then heading back to their offices to "work." At first I was relieved to be in a relatively small town and not in New York or Washington, D.C. A second later I remembered I was just a short distance from where future U.S. Navy and Marine Corps officers are trained.]
A Few PR and Social Media Highlights from Asheville
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. — I just returned from the annual PRSA Counselors Academy conference, held this year at the Grove Park Inn (left), where President Obama and the First Lady spent a get-away weekend in April (in the Vanderbilt Wing, I might add, not too far from the “Cyd Charisse Room,” where I had the pleasure of staying).
But enough about me, what about social media, the topic of that kept everyone buzzing and tweeting?
Several esteemed counselors have offered their blog summaries, here and here (and search #CAPRSA on Twitter), so rather than duplicate their commentary, I’ll weigh in with a few thoughts and key quotes that, at least for me, summarized what I heard:
Amber Naslund of Radian6 had a great quote one morning, summarizing the unnecessary obsession with all the new social media tools: “Dudes, it’s only communications.” So why so much obsession with the “tubes,” or tools for communications, she asked. Were we like this when the fax machine was unveiled? Not long ago Yahoo and MySpace were “it,” so stay focused on the principles of PR and communications and not so much on the “tubes.”
Also from Amber, a good definition of social media: “Social media is the new phone, so listening is the new way of answering the phone.” It’s not a new communications channel, as some communicators are hoping for; it’s more of a customer service function.
Brian Solis, just in from Cannes and who was kind enough to sign my copy of his new book, Engage, talked about the inevitability of change that is sweeping the PR industry. Those in PR who live exclusively for the next press release are simply not going to last!
I also liked one of Brian’s quotes: “In brevity, there is clarity, and in clarity there is opportunity…better yet, offer it in 120 characters to leave room for a re-tweet.”
There were more than a few “you-had-to-be-there moments,” but I’ll still mention my favorites: Elise Mitchell’s riveting presentation on her Arkansas agency’s – and her personal – success story; Darryl Salerno’s fourth annual “English as a First Language” presentation/quiz; the presence of College of Charleston PR students with executive in residence Tom Martin (brilliant move to have the students there); and a memorable presentation on adding social media to the agency services mix by Jay Baer of Convince & Convert with client Indra Gardiner, founder and COO of Bailey Gardiner in San Diego. I guarantee Sawmill clients will benefit from what they said.
I missed last year’s conference in California, but attended the previous (2008) one in Naples, just a few months after I had discovered Twitter and recall demonstrating this new-fangled tool for anyone who asked. What a change when, in Asheville, it almost looked like a bloggers conference with laptops open and live-tweeting going on at every presentation! Thanks, PRSA, for another practical and useful conference, and I hope to see you next year in Las Vegas.
Sawmill Marketing Public Relations Sponsors ‘Stoop Stories’
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We fell head-over-heels in love with Stoop Stories minutes into one of their shows.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, each Stoop show features seven storytellers who get seven minutes each to tell a true, personal story about a specific theme. No notes, no scripts, no actors — just true stories, artfully told. The shows are charming, unique, always unexpected and almost always a sell-out.
Some months ago we became a sponsor by providing our Baltimore PR firm’s social media services to them pro bono — most notably posting regular Tweets at @thestoop — a key strategy for promoting their shows as well as their weekly radio show on WYPR, Stories from the Stoop.
Hope to see everyone at an upcoming Stoop Stories! Here’s info on the next one, June 3, 4 and 5 at Centerstage.
