Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "social media club"

Sacramento Social Media Club to host 'Best Practices for Charities'

2011-11-04T15:29:28Z

Through their use of Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and other social media tools, many local charities have spread their message, raised funds and increased public awareness of their cause in order to promote social change. In the hopes of spreading their stories and inspiring other philanthropic organizations to do the same, four local charities will be conducting a panel discussion at the Sacramento Social Media Club’s “Social Media Best Practices for Charities” on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Urban Hive.

Moderated by Clay Nutting, director of Concepts 4 Charity and account executive for 3Fold Communications, the event will include panelists: Kate Towson, Americorps VISTA with Sacramento Steps Foward; Julie Bornhoeft, director of development and community relations for WEAVE, Inc.; Misty Avila, eAdvocacy coordinator for Aspiration Tech; and Chris Brune, director of creative services at Macer Media (Sacramento Press), for the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services.

The event will stream live on Ustream starting at 7 p.m., and can be followed on Twitter by using the hashtag #SMCSAC. The event is free, but donations will be accepted on behalf of the Sacramento Food Bank and the River City Food Bank. Donations up to $500 will be matched by CGI as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility Program.

In addition to panel, the Sacramento Social Media Club will be hosting a social media tune-up workshop on Tuesday, Nov. 15 from 6-to-8 p.m. at the Urban Hive. At the tune up, charities will be matched up with marketing practitioners and agencies for one-on-one reviews of their social media platforms, with specific recommendations on improvements after the consultation. In order to participate, charities must RSVP in advance.

The Urban Hive is located at 1931 H St., Sacramento, 95811. Space is limited for both events. Click here to RSVP for the Social Media Best Practices for Charities panel. To RSVP for the social media tune up, email smcsacto@gmail.com.

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About the Social Media Club: The Sacramento Social Media Club was founded in March 2009 by local social media activists. Its monthly events bring together journalists, publishers, students, communicators and other interested collaborators to facilitate discussions about the key issues facing our society as technologies transform the way we connect, communicate, collaborate and relate. The Social Media Club’s primary mission is to promote media literacy and standard technologies, encourage ethical behavior and share best practices. To find out more, join their groups on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

About the author: Brittany Wesely is the Associate Community Benefit Health Specialist for Kaiser Permanente, and a member of the all-volunteer leadership team for the Sacramento Social Media Club. Follow her on Twitter @brittanywesely.

Restaurants Are Hungry for Your Business; Social Media is Their Platter

2011-08-14T23:19:56Z

Let’s face it; those of us that use social networking sites are pretty much addicted. Whether you are connected through Facebook or Twitter—or both—you have a pretty good idea of what’s going on around town. Businesses that have been paying attention for the past two plus years are aware of this phenomenon and have leveraged social media to broaden their reach to potential customers. Restaurateurs are no different.

On Tuesday, the Social Media Club, Sacramento (@SMCSac) hosted the “Dining Social: Restaurants & Social Media” at The Urban Hive in midtown to discuss how local restaurants are using social media and the impact it has had on their business. Ashlee Gadd (@AshleeGadd), PR Manager for The Citizen Hotel and Grange, moderated the panel which included local restaurateurs, social media managers, and a representative from Yelp,

The discussion got off to a speedy start exploring which platforms each panelist mostly used, and the consensus was without surprise, Twitter and Facebook. The major differences panelists found in using these two social networks is that with Facebook, most fans have actually been to the restaurant and show more of a true consumer following, while many Twitter followers have never been to the restaurant but may be interested in upcoming events or specials. Karyn Wong, owner of Chick-fil-A in Arden Fair (@cfaArdenFair) mentioned that they have had a positive reaction by using deals on Foursquare. Although not every restaurant uses the deals, many of the panelists agreed that Foursquare has had a positive impact on their business.

When the topic of half off/daily deals arose, Andrea Lepore, co-owner of Hot Italian (@HotItalianPizza) was quick to point out that they have never used a daily deal, and don’t plan to. Some feel it devalues the image of the restaurant while others feel it gets the word out about the business. When addressing how social media played a role in each company’s overall marketing strategy, Gina Funk Nelson, Social Media Manager for Selland Group, which includes Selland’s Market-Cafe, Ella Dining & Bar and The Kitchen Restaurant (@SellandFamily), said they have pulled back on radio advertisements and other traditional marketing strategies due to the long term outreach and engagement strategy of social media. Other panelists have done the same. While balance is still needed between multiple channels, social media may seem to have the upper hand.

While not everyone may use Yelp to rate and review their dining experience, there are many Sacramentans that use it on a regular basis. Mike Costello, owner of the recently closed Brew It Up (@brewitup_sacto) noted that reviews appeared to only be written by those who had an extreme positive or negative experience, but not those in between. Alex Lane, Sacramento Community Manager for Yelp (@yelpsacramento), said that 83% of reviews are positive and the negative reviews are a reflection of overselling and bad experiences. A way to combat those negative reviews is for the restaurants to respond and examine the situation to see if it can be resolved and maybe even turn out a new positive review. While it’s difficult to imagine a restaurant could only have one type of review, most of the panelists agreed that every review should be used as potentially constructive criticism, and not be taken personally. Whether that’s actually done, is up to the restaurant.

Mona Romero, Social Media Director of The Sacramento Press (@SacramentoPress) said that Facebook ads have proved beneficial for the restaurants she works with. She recommends paying the minimum ad fee in the beginning and see where it gets you adjusting, if needed. She suggested using Google Alerts and the Twitter search bar to see what consumers are saying about your restaurant.

There is no doubt that operating a restaurant in a down economy can be difficult—and quite frustrating. What these local Sacramento restaurateurs have taught us is that connecting with the community through social media can not only increase sales, but it can build relationships as well. Social media is not an exact science and it does take time and finesse to really leverage it, but it can be extremely beneficial nonetheless.

In the traditional Social Media Club Sacramento fashion, panelists and attendees continued the conversation after the moderated discussion ended, enjoying food and wine from local businesses. David Cole from James David Cellars (@jamesdavidwine) poured wine and Chick-Fil-A and Hot Italian supplied the appetizers.

The next Social Media Club event will be on September 13th discussing LinkedIn for Business held at Drexel University.

If you would like to learn more about social media and its impact on various topics and industries, visit the Sacramento Social Media Club on Facebook or Twitter.

Disclosure: Kelsey Jacoby is on the Leadership Team for Social Media Club Sacramento

Brands are listening to Mommy Bloggers, are you?

2011-07-07T23:26:47Z

What or whom are you influenced by when you are looking for a new product? It might be commercials, television shows, or maybe if you are like millions of other people around the world, you are influenced by bloggers. Gone are the days when you only read ads in the Sunday newspaper, or watch commercials on the television. Today many of us are being swayed commercially by social media, the internet, and other digital mediums.

In fact, according to Marketing Charts.com, nearly 50% of blog readers say they purchase products mentioned in the blogs they read on a daily basis. That is quite powerful when you put it in perspective. So what about here locally? What kind of power and influence do bloggers, in particular mommy bloggers--tech savvy, create your own opportunity, kind of moms--have over the Capital City?

Nichole, a mommy blogger with inthesesmallmoments.com says she’s had readers share with her that they bought items she mentioned on her blog and goes on to say, "When I write about a product on my blog, it is a product that I believe in and use myself.” It is safe to say, that in general, readers of blogs trust the author’s insight and opinion and therefore those authors can and DO influence the purchasing habits of like-minded consumers.

Dr. Melissa Arca, author of Confessions of a Dr. Mom, uses her blog to provide helpful parenting tips and children’s health advice to her readers. Nikki Medoro, reporter for KFBK and mom extraordinaire, uses her blog, Mama On The Mic, to talk about the trials and triumphs of mommyhood, as well as the balancing act she faces as a working mom. Marketing professionals consider these moms to be key influencers of consumer purchases. Companies that typically turn to mom bloggers for advertising include toy makers, makers of children’s apparel and accessories, packaged food companies, and even car makers. This circle of women can help shape what kinds of products other mothers are buying and because of that influence, corporations are seeking the power of the mommy blogger to promote their products.

Business owners and marketers, don’t count these ladies out, as they are an integral segment of social media and when approached properly, can offer better results than many other marketing techniques out there.

If you are interested in learning more about this phenomenon, Social Media Club Sacramento (SMCSac) is hosting a mommy blogger panel discussion on July 12 from 6:30-9:00 pm at The Urban Hive in Sacramento. The panel, moderated by Meghan Phillips, principle and marketing director for The Honey Agency, features the bloggers from these popular blogs: Confessions of a Dr. Mom, From Dates to Diapers, Momma On The Mic, Raising CEO Kids, and Read Between the Limes. “While this discussion will certainly appeal to moms and parents,” explained Laura Good, executive director of SMCSac, “it will also be an informative session for businesses who have not yet tapped into the marketing potential of mommy blogger influence.” For more information on this free event, visit the event registration page, Social Media and Motherhood in Sacramento

Disclosure: Erin Haight is a freelance journalist and a volunteer for Social Media Club Sacramento

Local businesses 'Like' Advanced Facebook for Business workshop

2011-06-21T07:29:15Z

93% of all American ~~adults~~ adult internet users are now on Facebook. While this is not a surprising statistic for anyone that has fielded a friend request from their mom, aunt or even grandpa, it does make it harder for small businesses to ignore Facebook as a platform to engage their target demographic. The argument that a business targets an older or less tech savvy demo than Facebook users just doesn’t hold water any longer.

Businesses without a Facebook presence are not just passing up a valuable opportunity to engage their customers, provide customer service, and gain new consumers; they're falling behind. But just being on Facebook and setting up a business page isn’t enough. A Facebook presence must be maintained and used strategically to add real value to your brand.

Enter Josh Unfried speaker at The Social Media Club of Sacramento's recent workshop, “Advanced Facebook for Business”. Unfried, the CEO of WindFarm Online Marketing, spent almost two hours teaching SMCSac members, many of whom run or work for local businesses, how to take their Facebook presence to the next level. In addition to the obvious benefits of improving customer connections, staying top of mind, driving sales through promotions and increasing visibility, Unfried asserts that Facebook is now allowing businesses to "transform customer service into marketing".

"Everyone is now able to watch how you handle a complaint, or answer a question," points out Unfried. "For those that give great customer service this is a tremendous opportunity. For those that don't, the consequences can be equally negative."

Once Unfried covered the benefits and FAQs of using Facebook, the advanced tips started to fly. Even those in the room who had seemed relatively smug about their Facebook skills were soon scrawling notes and asking in depth questions. Unfried walked through the steps of setting up a business page, not because most hadn't already done it, but because, he wagered, not all of them had done it as well as they could have. A few lesser known gems:

Facebook Business Account: Facebook generally requires users to have a personal profile in order to create a Facebook Business page. However, if you have no desire to ever have a personal Facebook profile and would like to manage a Facebook Business page only, it IS possible to create a Facebook Business Account, which does not require a personal Facebook profile.
'Tell Your Fans' feature: If you've created a new Facebook business page and are ready to start accruing 'likes' you can make sure all your current and loyal customers know about your page. Simply use the Tell Your Fans feature to upload a .csv file of your email database. From there you can do an email blast to your current contacts making them aware of your Facebook page and asking them to 'Like' your business.
Launch your page with a variety of content: before you 'Tell your fans' or share the page with your friends, make sure they don't see a blank or boring page when they get there. Videos and photos are the most engaging pieces of content a page can have. Make sure before you market the page you've already posted a mix of text, links, videos, and photos to make your page interesting when new users arrive.

Once the page is set up and ready to go, its time for the most important tool your Facebook page offers: engagement with your fans. Unfried spent a fair amount of time reiterating that engagement is key to successful Facebook marketing efforts. Increased engagement with your fans not only endears your brand to those you're engaging with, it keeps your posts higher in their news feed. The 'Top News' feed posts are ranked by which posts users are interacting with most. An engaged discussion with many comments and likes will keep your brand at the top of your 'fans' news feeds for much longer than it might otherwise.

"Does this inform? Does it inspire? Does it entertain? Does it connect?" he asks. "Ask yourself this before you post from your page."

And don't discount the "magic of randomness". Unfried shared an example of a client that is family dentist in Roseville. The most popular post shared on their wall was simply, "What color is your toothbrush?" Something about the question proved to be irresistible to the dentist's fans. The dentist was able to stay top of mind for each of their Facebook fans as they read and debated toothbrush colors. That single post allowed the dentist to remain at the top of the Top News feed for several days.

Tidbits such as these just scratch the surface of the (over) 90 minute presentation. Workshop attendees were so engaged, that as
Unfried noticed his time running low with some great content still to cover, the audience urged him to continue past his allotted time in order to glean more Facebook wisdom. When one member asked how to convert a personal profile to a business page, Unfried directed those interested to his detailed blog post on the subject, as it was more than time allowed.

Other topics covered in the workshop included growing your Facebook presence, Facebook ads, engaging other businesses, connecting Facebook to your website and more. To see Josh Unfried's Advanced Facebook for Business presentation in its entirety watch the archived UStream.

This 80 person event, which included food provided by Ten 22, beverages by Chic-fil-a, and prizes from the Sacramento Business Journal, was open to members of the SMCS and the general public. SMCSac simply requested a $10 donation to help the club continue to organize events and workshops about various social media topics. For more information about upcoming Social Media Club, Sacramento events, follow @SMCSac on Twitter. To attend the July 12th SMCSac event, register for Social Media & Motherhood on Eventbrite.com.

Disclosure: Megan Emmerling is a member of Social Media Club of Sacramento

Social Media Club's Sacramento chapter hosts "Blogging for Business" workshop

2011-03-28T23:20:30Z

So, your business has a website. Then you heard that blogs are the thing that every website needs to helps your business connect with customers. So, now your website has a blog... and you have no idea what to do with it. Enter Jennifer Bourn, owner of Bourn Creative and the guest speaker at the Social Media Club, Sacramento (SMCS) workshop, "Blogging for Business". The workshop, held at Drexel University in Downtown Sacramento on March 24th, aimed to help small business owners and other business bloggers ensure the rewards reaped through their blog is worthy of the time spent.

There is no question that blogging, whether for business or pleasure, requires a significant investment of time to be done right. Time alone however, does not a successful blog make. How do you know which platform to use? What are plugins and why are there so many of them? How can you tell which tools are adding to your blog and which are detracting... or worse, distracting your customers from making purchases or connecting with your message? And once you get your blog all set up, what do you write about?

In an intensive 90 minute workshop Bourn spelled out the how-tos, recommendations, and best practices to make a business blog successful. She began by clarifying the goal of business blogs, because many business owners launch blogs without being clear on what they're using the blog to accomplish. The goals of any business blog should be to posisition your company and brand, communicate with your customers, educate your market and showcase your expertise in your field, and to make a personal connection with your readers.

"People don't want to connect with a cold brand," explained Bourn, "they want to connect with the people at the company."

Its the humanity shown through your posts that encourage readers to return or subscribe to your blog. Finding ways to make your posts personal, memorable, and emotional will allow customers and readers to not only connect with your brand, but with you as a blogger. When you connect to customers on a personal, human level trust and loyalty can be gained.

In addition to compelling, personalized content, Bourn stressed the importance of paying attention to the design elements of your blog. "Look at your sidebar [and think], 'How does this bring value to my users?'" Bourn points out that a date based archive system in the sidebar, while often used, is practically useless to your readers, "What does this tell them other than you posted content at some point that month? Delete it."

Other items to remove from your sidebar? Any links that may distract your potential customer from spending money on your site, or lead them away from your blog, including Twitter or Facebook scolls, avatars, and boxes. Bourn points out that we spend so much energy on our social media sites trying to get people to our blog for more content and the chance to convert to a sale. Why, once they get there, would we try to send them away from your focused content back to the world of social media?

These tips were just a tip of the iceberg of expertise shared during the interactive workshop. Attendees were encouraged to bring their laptops to follow along and live tweet the event. The 50 person event, which included food provided by Paesano's, was open to members of the SMCS and the general public. SMCS simply requested a $10 donation to help the club continue to organize events and workshops about various social meda topics.

For more tips on blogging and business, visit the Bourn Creative blog on their website. For more information about upcoming Social Media Club, Sacramento events, follow @SMCSac on Twitter.

Disclosure: Megan Emmerling is a member of the Social Media Club, Sacramento.

Social Media for the Social Good—Non-profits Explore New Methods of Outreach

2009-11-20T04:17:59Z

Three local non-profit organizations were featured in a Sacramento Social Media Club panel on Tuesday evening hosted by the Sacramento State College of Continuing Education. The panel included Celia Cortez, Projects and Event Manager for the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Jordan Blair, Board Member for River City Food Bank; and Jon Benorden, Program Coordinator for the Center for AIDS Research, Education and Service (CARES). Lesley Miller, Media Director for 3Fold Communication, also sat on the panel. Moderator Josh Morgan, principal at Morgan/Dorado and program director for the Sacramento Social Media Club, focused the discussion on how non-profits are using social media to educate, engage, and build lasting relationships with their communities.

Facebook was the unanimous point of entry into social media for all three organizations. Cortez said the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber selected Facebook because it was the most popular platform among their member organizations; Blair choose Facebook for River City Food Bank because it is the platform upon which he spends the most time. “Facebook provides an easy way for people to connect with causes and non-profits thanks to its one-click ‘become a fan’ feature, “commented Morgan. River City Food Bank, where many of their long-term contributors are past retirement age, is finding that Facebook helps them to engage with the next generation of donors. However some of their loyal supporters are stepping out into social media as well; an 85 year old volunteer joined Facebook just so he could “friend” the River city Food Bank. Benorden said that their “old school” supporters are beginning to mesh with the new people they’ve engaged through their group & page on Facebook but that CARES still has a long way to go.

Both the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and CARES are also using Twitter to promote their organizations and causes. Miller said 3Fold encourages their clients to cross post on multiple social media platforms to increase the traffic among all the sites. For example, use Twitter to remind people the organization is on Facebook or create an event on Yelp and ask people to write a review. I frequently use Twitter to drive traffic to SARTA.org’s website or LinkedIn group where more detailed membership and event information is available.

CARES created both a group page and a fan page for its campaign “Are You the Difference” which strives to eliminate new cases of HIV in the Sacramento region by 2015. Benorden plans to expand the campaign to include other platforms like Flickr and YouTube. On YouTube, CARES wants to personalize and promote their campaign by featuring user generated videos about how individuals can be or are the difference in eliminating new cases of HIV.

The biggest challenge for all of the organizations is finding the time to manage and maintain their social media accounts. Cortez shared that she uses cross posting tools to lessen the amount of time she spends managing each platform the Hispanic Chamber employs. Tweetdeck, Hootsuite and Seesmic were mentioned as free services for managing multiple accounts and platforms and Radian6 was recommended as a new professional service for this purpose. Benorden prefers to uniquely post to Facebook and Twitter to keep variety in the CARES messages, but he sticks to a common theme. Blair, who in addition to his responsibilities as a board member of the River City Food Bank works a full time job, schedules time on his weekly calendar to tend to his social media chores. When asked if a volunteer could handle the job, the general consensus among the panelists was that most volunteers and interns do not have enough depth or experience with the organization or its causes to determine social media platform content or to respond to questions and remarks received by followers and friends on the sites. For CARES, sensitivity to and experience with HIV/AIDS is a must for anyone representing the organization on its social media platforms.

The panel wrapped up with a discussion on event promotion using Facebook ads and other tools. All of the organizations are considering using Facebook ads and River City Food Bank has budgeted money for this purpose next year. Benorden pointed out that even if no one clicks through an “Are You the Difference” ad, if enough information is included about the campaign, there is value in people seeing the ad multiple times. Miller said 3Fold advises their clients to put nearly as much energy into post event promotion as they do pre event. Blair followed this advice after a recent River City Food Bank fundraiser, uploading event photos long into the night. The post event promotion is a valuable investment in the success of future events and helps those who attend feel more part of the organization—especially if they are featured in a photo!

After the panel ended, participants informally exchanged ideas on how they are using social media and also had a chance to meet the panelists and ask more questions. The event was live tweeted by volunteer Ira Cohen on behalf of @SMCSac using the hashtag #smcsac. The venue provided by Sacramento State College of Continuing Education is well equipped for meetings and seminars and the Senior Program Coordinator, Toni Ramirez shared that the college is considering offering courses on social media in the future.

Social Media Club, an international non-profit organization, brings together journalists, publishers, communications professionals, artists, amateur media creators, citizen journalists, teachers, students, tool makers, and other interested collaborators. The Sacramento chapter was founded in March of 2009 by local users of social media. Free events are normally held on the third Tuesday of each month, but in December, the group is planning a Holiday Party or “holitweetup” in partnership with SacTweetUp on December 10 at Hot Italian in midtown. In January, the normal schedule of monthly panels will resume. For information about the Sacramento Social Media Club and its events, join their groups on Facebook and LinkedIn and follow them on Twitter.

Photgraphs by Marie Young Photography. For more photos of this event visit her Facebook Page

Sacramento Social Media Club Leadership Team:

Julie Berge, Angela D'Arcy, Laura Good, Suzanne Hopkins, Ronnie Ledesma, Jeff Marmins, Josh Morgan

Finding God on Facebook

2009-11-16T19:42:28Z

Some say God is everywhere but last month, we discovered that social media is everywhere too—even in our churches! On October 20, 2009, the Sacramento Social Media Club held a panel discussion on the use of social media by local churches. The event, “Pray for Social Media”, was hosted by The Sacramento Press, and was moderated by Jeff Marmins of Social Media Path and partnership director for the Sacramento Social Media Club. Panelists included Josh Trevino from the Parish Council of St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church in Roseville; Robert Mees, Director of Evangelism at Sierra Baptist Church in Pioneer in Amador County and CJ Alvarado, Director of Communications and Technology at Bayside Church in Granite Bay.

I was posting live tweets during the event, and was joined by several other tweeting guests in reaching over 50,000 followers on Twitter (Sacramento Social Media club uses the hashtag #smcsac to live tweet all of our events).

In what could have been subtitled “Finding God on Facebook,” panelists agreed that the most active use of social media in their churches is individual members connecting with each other on Facebook which allows them to share more about lives than they could from the pew. Members, they said, are using Facebook to build a stronger internal community.

While none of the churches represented reported having an official social media strategy yet, Bayside Church developed and implemented a campaign to introduce their staff of about 75 people to Web 2.0. Alvarado, their communications and technology director, is charged with the church’s presence online, which primarily centers on their website and “listening” to online dialogue to “improve the church experience.” Mees, from Sierra Baptist Church, said that “internal relationships are growing organically on Facebook”, and Trevino said that at St. Anna, "the church blog is the most effective social media tool being used."

Where the speakers differed most was on the issue of how to use social media for outreach and evangelism. Both Alvarado and Trevino said that face-to-face dialogue is essential. “The single best way to evangelize is through the example of a life lived,” said Trevino. Alvarado commented that there is not a big difference in how he approaches evangelism in person versus online--“It’s always permission based.” Mees articulated a vision for using social media to be present in more lives. “In a world where church members either have no significant relationships outside the church, or segregate their Christian and non-Christian friends,” he said, “all of their friends, churched and unchurched, wind up as their friends on Facebook, followers on Twitter, and contacts on LinkedIn.” All three panelists agreed that spiritual dialogue was important, but Mees was a strong proponent of using of social media to initiate that discussion. Mees said "social media is an effective tool in building relationships that enable spiritual discussions to take place both online and off."

Following the moderated panel discussion, the audience was invited to ask questions. Several wondered if any of the congregations have people tweeting in church. Alvarado answered that Bayside has experimented with tweeting and texting during conferences but not during church service. A question about how the churches monitor their congregation’s online activity led to a discussion about how church youth have embraced Web 2.0. Mees shared that the teens in his church bring their computers and use Google to check facts during youth bible study. The teens are also using Facebook groups to communicate events and to “go deeper” using the discussion features.

After the official program ended, many of the attendees stayed to engage the panelists in additional questions and discussions. There was a tremendous amount of passion around the topic of using social media to share the message of the churches. At my small church, Grace Fellowship Church of San Andreas, we recently created a Facebook Page. We are hoping this outreach tool helps us to better connect with our community. How is your church using social media?

Social Media Club brings together journalists, publishers, communications professionals, artists, amateur media creators, citizen journalists, teachers, students, tool makers, and other interested collaborators. The Sacramento chapter was founded in March of 2009 by local users of social media. Free events are held on the third Tuesday of each month. "Social Media for the Social Good" is the topic of the November 17 event hosted by Sacramento State College of Continuing Education from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Local non profits River City Food Bank, CARES and the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will share how they are using social media to educate, engage, and build lasting relationships with their communities. For information about the Sacramento Social Media Club, join their groups on Facebook and LinkedIn and follow them on Twitter.

About the author: Laura Good is a member of the all volunteer leadership team for Sacramento Social Media Club. Follow her on Twitter at @goodlaura. She is also director of programs and operations for SARTA.

Sacramento Social Media Club Hosts Crime Fighters for Online Safety Forum

2009-08-20T07:00:23Z

Police converged on a ballroom in a downtown hotel Tuesday night, but there wasn’t a crime in progress. “Social Crime” was the topic of Tuesday evening’s Sacramento Social Media Club event hosted by The Citizen Hotel in Downtown Sacramento. Representatives from local law enforcement shared how their organizations are using social media tools to prevent crime, improve community outreach, and even take down predators.

Josh Morgan of Morgan/Dorado Public Relations and programming director for the Sacramento Social Media Club presented a “101” on Facebook Privacy. He explained how Friends Lists on Facebook can be used to limit information connections can see on your profile. Josh, for example, uses a list called “Not People” for businesses he “friends” and excludes that list from seeing family photos and other personal information. More information about Facebook Privacy settings is available at Facebook’s Help Center and Josh's presentation is available on SlideShare.

Detective James Carden of the Fairfield Police Department introduced the “#1 Friend“ program which recommends that children, tweens and teens “friend” the Fairfield Police Department on MySpace and set them as their #1 Friend. Adding the Fairfield Police Department as #1 Friend lets visitors to the child's page know that parents are involved and monitoring their child's online activity and that this family has a direct link to the police department and will report any inappropriate or unwanted contact. Read more about the #1 Friend program on the Cops 2.0 blog site. Detective Carden also shared a “true crime” story about luring a predator to a fake MySpace account which resulted in an arrest.

Mike Belcher, Director of the University of the Pacific’s Public Safety Department, explained how his department uses social media tools, including Facebook and Twitter, to improve student safety and to enhance community outreach. Pacific is only one of two private universities in California with sworn police officers. Social networking and communication sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are used to monitor student events, share information on crime prevention, and stop inaccurate rumors on campus by providing timely accurate information. Recently, the department began using Nixle, a free service that allows subscribers to receive trusted, up-to-the-minute neighborhood information from local police departments, city and municipal governments, and their local agencies through SMS, web, and email distribution.

Social Media Club brings together journalists, publishers, communications professionals, artists, amateur media creators, citizen journalists, teachers, students, tool makers, and other interested collaborators. The Sacramento chapter was founded in March of 2009 by local users of social media. Events are held on the Third Tuesday of each month. Social Media in the Classroom is the topic for the September 15 event hosted by The Urban Hive in Midtown Sacramento from 6:30-8:30 p.m.. The keynote speaker is Steve Hargadon, Elluminate's Social Learning Consultant, the director of the K12 Open Technologies Initiative at the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), and the founder of the Classroom 2.0 social network. For information about the Sacramento Social Media Club, join their groups on Facebook or LinkedIn and follow them on Twitter.

About the author: Laura Good is a member of the all volunteer leadership team for Sacramento Social Media Club. Follow her on Twitter at @goodlaura.

Government 2.0 Panel features Schwarzenegger New Media Director

2009-04-18T15:58:49Z

The Sacramento Chapter of the Social Media Club is hosting a Government 2.0 panel discussion.

The panel will answer questions on how local government leaders and community activists are effectively incorporating Web 2.0 and social media technologies into their organizations. We'll consider the benefits of developing a social media strategy and share ideas and solutions to help participants deal with the unique challenges and potential obstacles that arise when trying to integrate these new technologies within government agencies.

The free event, sponsored by Morgan/Dorado Public Relations, LLC, is Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 6:30pm - 8:30pm at 2804 Gateway Oaks Drive, Sacramento, CA. There is no cost to participate, but we request that attendees register online at http://smcsac.eventbrite.com/. Space is limited, so please secure your attendance by submitting your RSVP today.

For those not able to join the discussion in person, the event will be streamed live online at http://www.ustream.tv/smc-sac. Online viewers will be able to pose questions to the panelists just like the on-site participants.

Scheduled Panel Participants Include:

Rob Quigley is a Sacramento website developer who specializes in creation & management of political, government, and non-profit websites. He currently serves as the New Media Director for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and has worked on several recent political campaigns as a consultant for Bill Simon and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Rob is on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Bryan Merica founded ID Media; co-founded Fox and Hounds Daily, a blog covering business and politics in California; and will serve as a “founding professor” for the soon-to-be-launched National Institute of Politics, an online educational resource for communications and political consultants. Before starting ID Media, he worked as a senior strategist for enterprise software, management consulting and startup technology companies. You can follow him on Twitter or find him on Linkedin.

Marilyn Clark is the Manager of Online Communications and Services at the California Public Employees' Retirement System where she oversees web communications strategy and user experience design for all CalPERS web products and services. She is also a member of the Federal Web Managers Council's Social Media Subcouncil. The Social Media Subcouncil is a group of government web managers at the federal, state, and local levels bringing together social media best practices and other resources for the benefit of government agencies. You can follow her on Twitter or find her on LinkedIn.