Ideas and Angles is proud to announce that we have teamed up with Traci Via of Trace Marketing in Blue Springs to teach social media marketing through the Blue Springs School District’s Community Education program! We are really excited to have this opportunity. We have been working hard to gather all the information and tools on the internet in order to present them in a logical way with a hands on approach. As many of you know, social media is a hot topic and using the tools can be a bit confusing. Our class will not only talk about the tools, but it will be held in a computer lab so the students will be participants and actually using the tools right there with us. Below is the course description as it reads in the Class Schedule Brochure:
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Social marketing through the internet has quickly become the fastest-growing component to small business marketing. This class will train you to utilize the new media marketing tools of bulletin boards, blogs, videos, photos, social networks, and other social media related web sites in your online marketing efforts. Build your online presence by learning how to use online tools to make your company’s communications more efficient. You will learn how to use sites such as, but not limited to, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogging, and Google. This class will be a hands-on experience where you will be working on a computer right along with the instructors.
Instructor: Zach Cobb, Chris Culbertson & Traci Via
Class # 305
Wed, Sept 30 – Nov 18 8 sessions 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Hall-McCarter, Media Center Fee: $89
To view more classes offered through Blue Springs Community Eduction visit their website.
We hope to sell the class out quickly and would appreciate your help in doing so. We encourage you to share this post with anyone you think may be interested by email or using your social media outlets!
Kansas City is consistently showing itself to be a part of the conversation in understanding the current state of the social media space and shaping its future.
Execution and Results
The Embarq team including SMCKC regulars Zena and Kevin offer a fantastic roadmap for integrating social media into a Fortune 500 company which you can see presented below.
Radian 6 also featured them in an extensive case study showing the impact their tools and the work being done with those tools have. Check out the full PDF.
Thought Leadership
When BtoB magazine needed a perspective on the Interactive Advertising Bureau setting social media guide lines they went to NK. (Via BtoB)
“There is a lot of confusion in the marketplace right now because people aren’t speaking the same language,” said Chris Kovac, social media supervisor at Nicholson Kovac, a b-to-b marketing communications agency based in Kansas City, Mo. “Establishing a common language has to be the first step,” he said.
“Once we’re on the same page, then we can define subgroups of advertising. Is it an interactive banner ad, is it an engagement ad, etc.”
Traditional Media Exposure
KCTV5 tapped the CEO of LightThread for a segment about the potential social media has for businesses.
I+A is really excited for fellow the Highlight Midwest alums and all around good guys that make up team Swindlr. They are launching their first product “Zappn” with a party in the crossroads.
Be sure to come out and support the launch of this social media\events service born in Kansas City. You can RSVP here.
Zappn is a utilitarian web and mobile destination that allows the planner of a public or private social gathering to manage an event at all stages of its life.
Swindlr created zappn on the certainty that the technology exists to create, manage, and share events in a way that has never been done before. Zappn.com is a complete, multi-faceted management tool based on multiple, individual perspectives of a social gathering and the desire to share those perspectives with others. No longer will all images of one event have to reside in so many different places, unavailable to those who want them most. With zappn.com everything is easily accessible in one spot.
Swindlr invites you to the exclusive launch of their first product zappn.com. After 2 years in the making, swindlr LLC. is ready to release zappn.com to the public.
Hosted by Chase Hawkins & Brock Masterson
Friday, May 29th 2009
Arts Incubator
115 W. 18th St. KCMO 64108
Hors d’oeuvres and Cocktails @ 7
Special Performance from Kansas City’s own – NOMATHMATICS @ 9
*** Please RSVP @ www.zappn.com/launch by May 27th. ***
When you RSVP, This will guarantee you instant entry to the event.
Entertainment in Kansas City is jumping on Twitter to connect with their customers and get the word out on their events and happenings. Here is a quick guide to some entertainment options in our city and their Twitter profiles. Did we miss one? Drop us a line on Twitter or leave a comment!
Update: 12:40 - Big thanks to local Twitter user @TheDLC for some great additions to our list. Don’t know how Record Bar missed the first cut we are both big fans.
Before we get to the wrap up be sure to check out an Ideas and Angles exclusive interview mentioned on Entrepeneur.com. Nice to see another example of local companies being a part of the national discussion.
Friday morning showed us a Kansas City Social Media Club breakfast with a lot of new and interesting faces. We had a great turnout and discussion. The main topic of the morning was similar to our most recent blog post about the pressures and obstacle’s social media faces as it gets more mainstream in its reach.
Tara had a great response to the article. Pushing against some of my doomsday like predictions she said (paraphrasing) that if you build up a good reputation for customer service online a blunder might not be such a death blow but if dealt with the right way it can be excused by the community for what it is…a simple mistake. As long as it is an honest one.
There is a lot of good things being put out by SMCKC’ers right now…
The Life In The Tubes crew has a great new video featuring Sam. Geekvolution’s robot front man. Showing off their high end graphic intensive social networking platform. I have been lucky enough to see Geekvolution grow since Bar Camp KC and look forward to more news of Ryan Flannagan’s hard work.
Lisa continues her 40 day blogging series talking about the people that helped instill something very important to her. Making business personal. She thanks and talks about different people and their impacts on her life and the way she goes about it. Really inspirational set of posts from a very inspirational person.
Jenn told us about all the good work the Social Lites are doing and explained that there is a lot changing behind the scenes to be released. Our sister company continues to impress.
Whitney Matthews represented Spiral 16 and talked about their collaborative project with PBS at SxSW coming up. Looking forward to seeing what comes of this.
Those are just a few of the things people brought to the table that morning. We are so lucky to be associated with a group of people so passionate about what we do. Keep making things happen. We believe in the opportunities in Kansas City and the abilities for ideas that are made here to change the world.
A lot of people involved in social media happenings around Kansas City will recognize the name Justin Goldsborough. Justin is the social media communications manager at Sprint. We took some time to talk to Justin about his work in the social media space.
How did you come about getting interested in social media?
I’ve always been interested in technology and the role it plays in communications. My first communications jobs were working on corporate portals, Web 1.0-style. In my previous role at Applebee’s, I got to experiment with employee blogging and other two-way communications tools. We were opening the first ever Applebee’s in Shanghai and the project manager brought a handheld camera over to film the restaurant as it was being built. Then he brought the handheld back and we uploaded the video internally and gave employees a chance to comment. Employees submitted a ton of comments and e-mails about the video and a light bulb sort of went off in my head — this is how people want to communicate.
That was only about 18 months ago. A few months later I interviewed at Sprint and they brought me in to see Shel Holtz (@Shel), a social media SME who helps show companies how Web 2.0 can revolutionize their communications. I won’t go into the whole presentation, but everything he said just made sense to me. More specifically, I remember his story about a bad experience he had with an airport parking company – Park ‘N Fly. He was so annoyed he went straight home and posted a blog entry bashing the lack of service he’d received. A day later, one of the company’s employees posted to his blog apologizing and asking is she could give him some free parking. Shel explained how that totally changed the story he told about Park ‘N Fly. I remember the stat he gave…customers are 10 times more likely to stay with a brand that messes up but then engages them and apologizes.
The other point I remember Shel making was that customers don’t trust “traditional institutions” like corporations, government, etc. anymore. Instead, they trust “someone like me.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used that example when explaining to people the power of word of mouth.
Have you been asked by Sprint expressly to do this extended customer outreach?
I haven’t been asked to do the customer outreach I’m doing on Twitter, but my efforts have been supported. Social media and its benefits are on our PR team’s radar screen and my boss encourages any internal or external efforts that promote open communications.
It’s no secret that Sprint has had our share of customer service problems. One of the services our Customer Experience team came up with to help employees impact on service issues is a program called “Employees Helping Customers (EHC).” Basically, if you and I meet, you find out I work for Sprint and you have a complaint – this happens to our employees all the time, as you can probably imagine – now I can do something about it. Any of our employees can get the details of a customer’s issue and open an EHC ticket. The EHC team is amazing to work with and they often respond to issues within 24 hours. Whether it was intended or not, in EHC, Sprint has created a safe outlet for employees to engage customers online and “join the conversation.” If I don’t know how to solve your problem, at least I can refer you to EHC.
In addition to EHC, we have several PR folks who are on Twitter talking to customers. I signed on just a few months ago to post alerts about our devices and services. But a few weeks later, I read about Frank Eliason at Comcast (or Twitter folks may know him as @comcastcares). Not sure if your readers have heard the story, but basically Frank and a team of Comcast reps started engaging customers on Twitter a few months back. Comcast is another company that has struggled with customer service issues in the past.
The story I heard – from Shel Holtz, no less — was a guy’s cable went out during the Super Bowl and he tweeted complaining about how he was going to miss the rest of the game. Within minutes, Frank responded to him and asked how he could help. As someone who, like most of our 56,000 employees, is wondering how I can make an impact on our brand reputation, this story really struck a chord. And since I found Summize.com, I’ve been searching “sprint” and responding to anyone who complains about our customer service. Btw, if you ever have an issue with Sprint, don’t hesitate to contact me on Twitter — @JGoldsborough.
Have you gotten any feedback from your efforts? If so what was it?
The feedback I’ve received so far has been 99 percent positive. People are almost always thankful for the inquiry, even if they don’t want or need my help. One customer I ran across about a month ago – Darryl Ohrt, @darrylohrt — had used Sprint broadband cards for his business on a brief trip to Canada. When he got his bill, the international roaming charges showed he owed more than $1,000. He tweeted about the incident, I asked if I could help and in a day or so, his bill was resolved to his satisfaction. I remember this example because when Darryl e-mailed me his issue he explained that he was preparing a blistering blog post ripping Sprint, but that if I could help he would change the tune of the post. Talk about a marketing opportunity. You can’t flip on your DVR and fast forward through a blog post. Darryl posted a blog entry praising Sprint for listening on Twitter and it was picked up by another blog. That’s how these things travel…word of mouth. I can’t say it enough times. Now if only I could quantify how much money turning Darryl’s story from a negative one to a positive one meant for Sprint.
Another notable type of feedback I’ve seen is community endorsement. Think about the last time you needed work done on your house. Didn’t you ask your friends and family members for recommendations on whom to use? On Twitter, it’s the exact same idea. I’m starting to see people post about a Sprint service problem and one of their followers who I or a colleague has helped in the past will recommend the person contact us for help solving the issue. That type of credibility in an online community is huge; it’s a whole bunch of “someone like me’s” basically endorsing your subject matter expertise. Pretty hard to put a price tag on that type of reputation building.
What can companies gain by using emerging technologies?
This is the third post in our “Companies that get it” series that works to highlight businesses that are on forefront of social media using creative and effective uses of emerging technologies to run and improve their business.
Description – The Wizards are Kansas City’s professional MLS soccer team and started in 1995 as one of the league’s 10 charter teams. They have been winners of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, Supporters Shield, and most importantly in 2000 were crowned MLS Cup Champions.
Social Media Usage - Blogging, Twitter, You Tube, MySpace, and message board community engagement.
How They Stand Out – The Wizards excel at the most important aspect of any social media strategy. Content creation. Their official blog Hillcrest Road does a great job connecting with, and informing fans. News items and blog posts that are KCW related are pulled from all over and relayed to the Hillcrest Road readers. Every aspect of the organization is covered in the original content they create. Interviews with the players, behind the scenes access on road games, updates on players’ involvement in the community, as well as more game related information. The blog also does a great job of getting the fans involved. Last season they got input from HR readers to give a name to a common goal celebration that takes place (think of a soccer version of the Lambeau Leap) at the games. Twitter and MySpace is used as an outpost and You Tube is used as an outpost and a content source.
One of the interesting things that came from putting KCW under the social media microscope was seeing the CEO of OnGoal Robb Heineman jumping into fan message boards. Message boards are interesting places, they are filled with informed passionate people however the relative anonynimity can give communities a “Lord of the Flies” type feel where people with good intentions can have really bad experiences. Robb has gained a lot of integrity with fans by giving them info directly and showing he has a passion and excitement for the team that you don’t see often from a person in his position. We stress treading lightly in message board communities.
It is great to see Kansas City based companies understand the value of social media and connecting with customers in new ways. Best of luck to the Wizards in 2009.
Chris and I have been working behind the scenes to put Ideas and Angles in a position to hit the ground running in 2009. Juggling site updates, e-mails, phone calls, and meetings isn’t always easy and sometimes the growth feels like a huge blur but we took some time to reflect on the past 7 months. We still believe we can make Kansas City a place where technology and social media thrives.
There are so many people who have given us support on this journey…
Chris and I have known each other for more than 15 years. We have both been blessed with encouragement and love from our friends and family. I often say that I have no idea what I did to deserve some of the people that are in my life. Your interest and helpfulness in this project are not taken for granted by either of us.
Thanks goes out to the local social media community backed by the Kansas City Social Media Club. The relationships built through our shared loved of creativity, technology, and entrepreneurship have helped foster friendships that we hold very dear.
All eyes are on 2009. We look forward to announcing partnerships that will expand our abilities to help clients. There are some projects in the planning phase that will flex the power of social media to build brands from scratch. We also are finalizing plans to take on new clients that are involved in different and challenging fields.
Happy Holidays to everyone and best of luck in all that you tackle in this coming year. Remember, if you say nothing nobody will repeat it!
Looks like people are starting to notice the good things coming from Kansas City. We are excited about all the projects being developed aside from our main goal. Making Kansas City a place where technology innovation and social media thrives.
Never considered Kansas City as a vacation destination before? Over the past few years, the city has been working hard to make itself a destination worth the trip. And the effort is paying off big time during 2009 when more than $9 billion in major improvements will be reinvigorating its downtown area and lending major credibility to its arts and dining scenes.
Recent developments include the new nine-block Power & Light District, downtown’s newest mixed-use neighborhood packed with restaurants, shops, and entertainment and performance venues. There’s also an outdoor stage featuring live entertainment more than 150 days a year. The Crossroads Arts District hosts one of the largest art walks in the nation from 7 to 9 p.m. on the first Friday of every month. Downtown, there’s also the new Sprint Center, which hosts large concerts and special events, and the College Basketball Experience, a giant entertainment facility with interactive exhibits and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
Beyond downtown, revitalized and expanded attractions draw crowds as well. The well-known Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art just finished an expansion last year. Already ranked among the top art museums in the country, the new expansion increases the museum’s exhibition space by one third, and makes more room for the museum’s collections of modern and contemporary art, African art, and photography. And just in time for its 100th anniversary, the Kansas City Zoo has also undergone a major renovation.
As if that isn’t enough, Kansas City is expanding its culinary reputation. Long known as a mecca for barbecue, a number of Kansas City chefs and their fine dining establishments—including Bluestem, American Restaurant, and Michael Smith—have recently received national recognition as well.
Even better (especially this year), Kansas City is one of the country’s most affordable major cities to visit. It’s well-served by airlines including American, Continental, Delta, Frontier, Southwest, and United. So much service means prices tend to stay competitive. Hotels, dining, and attraction costs tend to be less expensive than in many other cities around the country as well. In fact, Hotwire.com recently ranked Kansas City as one of the top value-priced destinations in the U.S. based on airfare, accommodations, and entertainment prices in 50 U.S. cities. Plus, there are dozens of free museums and attractions to visit.
The reasons to come will just keep expanding. 2010 will bring the opening of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, and the unveiling of a newly renovated Truman Sports Complex (home of the Kansas City Chiefs).
