Best Practices in Social Media Meeting

[Thanks to our sponsor, Jobing.com, which has donated a facility to us for over a year now -- and it's a beautiful facility.]
UPDATE:: I took and posted these notes last night, and didn’t add the right frame around them, so I’m adding it now. Social Media Club has decided that this year it will concentrate on four projects: media literacy, sharing lessons learned, establishing industry standards, and promoting ethical behavior. Last night at SMCPhoenix, we tried to contribute to these projects by sharing our own best practices. This led to a very lively discussion about authenticity and transparency, intertwined with a discussion about the use of Twitter for business and another about controlling your social network profile for jobs. Each of them could be a program in and of itself, but here are the best practices of some of the people who spoke at the meeting, which was led by Brian Shaler.
Sally Strebel: Give as much as you receive
Me: Maintain politeness
Brian Shaler: Use social media to meet new people
April Holle: Be as transparent as you personall feel comfortable
Chad Swain:Be real. Especially as we see people using social media as a business strategy, don’t pretend to be a consumer when you are a company employee. Zappo’s CEO uses it for a business tool, but doesn’t always talk about shoes.
Dave Murrow:Transparency being lost sometimes in the business case for Twitter. Was followed by a ticket seller who posted links to ticket sites.
TysonCrosbie: This is related to authenticity.
Alan Sabo: Don’t say or do anything that you don’t want a record of. The Internet is your permanent record
Dave Barnhart: Don’s say anything about anybody that you wouldn’t say to their face in their living room
Ms. Herr: Remember that people who are online and are human and make mistakes. If you mess up, ‘fess up.
Robert Scoble is the best at this.

Can a brand use foul language? yes, if it is consistent with the brand.
Authenticity might conflict with transparency. You must not degenerate into being an impersonal corporate entity. The brand should be an extension of who they are.

If the brand has a persona that you can build on, you can make a Twitter character out of it. Like
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SkyMall best practice: Support without influencing.

Patrick’s Zappo’s story. Tony sends out a Twitter on a Friday night “What’s your favorite Van Halen song” He got sixteen responses, he said he was going to the roulette table. Patrick won a Van Halen towel and also got a $100 gift certificate for Zappo’s shoes.

Ms Herr: Key to a good blogger: they take you somewhere else, and don’t try to keep you on their site. Don’t make it all about you.

Transparency and authenticity: as human beings, we have to manage the perception of ourselves. We always do unconscious branding.

Jason Calcanis: Tweeting controversial stuff that should be only on a personal site.

Roger Williams: Talk about something you can help people with. Be interesting.
Erin Atherton: Twitters as her business name, Durtbagz. But has a personal Facebook page.
Several people at MSFT are on Twitter, tweeting about their party tonight and how they might drunk tweet some new features.
Alan Sabo: Set up different accounts for centralized topics. Set up a separate account for off-topic rants like political rants. That way the people who follow you for a certain reason won’t be discouraged.

The CEO of a big company has a certain celebrity and cannot easily be separated from his company. Some CEOs like Calcanis, Mark Cuban, Bob Parsons are very outspoken.

Evo: For people who want to get jobs, etc. Make yourself reachable. There should always be a trail back to something that says who and where you are.

Value is number one, be nice, and be an extension of customer service. Something else that’s important is social capital. Give feedback and help.

Social media involves karma. We’re all wired to help people in return who help us, and that builds social capital.
Is there any such thing as truly benevolent giving? Reciprocity should always be kept in mind.
Social media is very indirect. It’s not direct conversions. It builds communities. Community relations managers are here to give. Community managers are not measured by direct revenue. They are like moving billboards.

Heather Herr’s question: Should you clean up your profile or your Google search if you are looking for a job?
This provokes a spirited discusion.
Yes: employers look at who you are on social media
No: “If the employer won’t hire me because of the number of Ron Paul videos I posted or how drunk I got at a party, I probably wouldn’t be a good fit in that organization. I use it as a reverse filtering system.”
Thor from Get Satisfaction: 8 or 10 Judo Moves for Defending Your Reputation Online

OH: “We all Google our friends” Google your boss. Find out who is trying to hire you.
Certain aspects of mass – you can adjust the content. Keep the things that come up fastest in search CLEAN:
LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and your blog.

Best practice: Leverage your content across multiple formats.

As both a hiring manager or a potential employee, do your homework and find out in advance if you are a good fit.

Adjournment to Padre’s Modern Mexican Restaurant!

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Photo Credits: @jamesarcher of Forty Media