Archive for the ‘Julielyn Gibbons’ tag
Social Media Nerds
Sometimes I go days without talking to someone (in person) about the cool things that are happening in the social media and digital space.
My roommate, Cameron, is probably one of the main people I talk to about technology in general, but he is also the one that makes fun of my Twitter obsession.
For example an email this morning:
It never gets old sending this crap to you.
Or last week:
Subject line: “I F****** hate Twitter”
http://gawker.com/5274705/jogger-hits-tree-while-tweeting-hurtles-toward-global-infamy
Ah well, some people just have personal issues with awesome things like Twitter. (Even though he HAS a Twitter account)
Back to my point though. The reason I bring this up, is that today, during my Public Relations Strategy class, I had the privilege of hearing two individuals speak about social media and it’s practical uses.
John Hill was the first speaker. Hill is the Director of Alumni Career Service for the MSU Alumni Association. He spoke mostly on the wonderful professional networking site that is LinkedIn.
What I thought was great about his presentation was the fact that he not only showed what you could do on the site, but also how we (as PR and Marketing professionals) can use LinkedIn to connect with other businesses. I feel like a lot of presentations miss out on that connection.
From searching specifically for individuals in certain industries, at a specific company, and who has a specific title, to being involved in multiple groups.
He also talked about the “Questions and Answers” section (my new favorite spot on LinkedIn) and how you can answer questions and become an industry expert in a certain field. This could possibly lead to people contacting you directly for help. Wouldn’t that be nice?
The second speaker was Julielyn Gibbons the President (and I believe founder) of i3Strategies, a social media and internet strategy company in East Lansing.
Julielyn showed the class the wonderful “Social Networking in Plain English” and “Twitter in Plain English” videos. (Check them out if you haven’t seen them already). She went through some great stats on who is on sites like Twitter and Facebook, and mentioned how the sites’ users are beginning to skew older.
She also mentioned her personal uses of Facebook, which included documenting a vacation she had planned with pictures and notes.
The best thing about these two individuals was their excitement for the industry in general. You could see it in the way they spoke and in the way they explained the networks they talked about.
It was exciting, and their passion was contagious.
We need more people like John and Julielyn talking to companies and organizations about social media and its uses. They have a lot to share, not because they have been in the space forever, but because they have the passion and drive to take advantage of this growing and ever-changing space.
Photo by carrotcreative on Flickr