SOHO HOUSE – WEST HOLLYWOODAPRIL 24, 2013

Visual Culture: The Aesthetics and Art of Engagement

[PANEL SPEAKERS]

Macala Wright, Group Partners@Macala

Jessica De Jesus, Senior Art Director at GOOD

@NeonHoney

Sean Carasso, Founder, Falling Whistles@FallingWhistles

Shrone Hackman, Master Chef@SharoneHakman

Moderated By:

Staci Riordan Fox Rothschild Law@StaciRiordan

Twitter and Instagram #VizCult

Visual Culture: The Aesthetics and Art of Engagement

How have visual platforms been most useful for you in building awareness of your personal or company brands?

@Macala: All platforms are useful, as visualization and visual thinking are at the core of what we do. Tumblr, used with hashtags and connected to Twitter, has by far been the most useful platform for decimating ideas, sharing pithy content connected with highly impactful video or photos, or to simply point out noteworthy people, causes or programs.

Visual Culture: The Aesthetics and Art of Engagement

What platforms do you prefer and why?

Are there things you’ve discovered with your followings on that platform(s) that have been critical to engagement or marketing?

@NeonHoney: Visual platforms have allowed for a certain flexibility when it comes to shaping the GOOD brand. While the main feed of HQ-driven and community content lives on good.is, our Tumblr is curated to focus more on creativity, design, photography, gifs, and the occasional Bill Nye-is-the-man type posts. Instagram gives community members a more personal look at behind-the-scenes, at our HQ, and out in the world.

Visual Culture: The Aesthetics and Art of Engagement

How do you connect your messages across those platforms?

@NeonHoney: I'm a big fan of Tumblr. I think it's one of the most accessible and versatile platforms. It can be used in a variety of ways from traditional journalism, to photo blogs, to personal portfolios or mood boards. Reblogging is easy and posts that you like are automatically filtered.

There are so many amazing images waiting to be shared or reblogged, but it's essential to keep the visual content in check with your brand's point-of-view. In various categories across our own site—education, technology, cities, environment, etc.—we try to highlight the best and brightest of the current social good space.

So on our Tumblr, I tend to focus on those best and brightest posts that have great visual appeal. I also try to reblog designers and illustrators if his/her posts are relevant to the content going up that day, or I'll just post in support of really awesome work.

Visual Culture: The Aesthetics and Art of Engagement

Do you vary the strategy with the way you present copy or graphics? Why?

@SeanCarasso: Falling Whistles Matches Visual Elements to Key Messages/Calls To Action based on the visual dimensions of the social networks they’re on to maximize awareness.

Visual Culture: The Aesthetics and Art of Engagement

What have been your biggest challenges on Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr or Youtube?

@Macala: The biggest challenge for most platforms is developing the right audience. Platform statistics about users and user demographics are only so helpful to you. So I’ve gotten creative in the way I work on my audience development, continually testing new idea and theories.

For example, while I like to use Instagram for my personal life, there’s a fine line between personal and business. My Instagram audience looks to me for being a leader in more thought provoking content. So if I want to use personal, I have to put it in the right context and leverage the heck out of common hashtags that are widely used by the platform such as:

#MadeMyDay #CaughtGramming #InstaGood #Igers #InstagramLA

Visual Culture: The Aesthetics and Art of Engagement

The Cheat Sheet – Whom To Follow For Visual Inspiration and Intellectual Stimulation

Tumblr:  National Geographic Found | This Crazy Fashion | Trey Wright | Super Seventies | V Magazine | Daily Artspace |Frieke Verle | Photo JoJo |Future Journalism Project | Edjeux | PopTech | Chronical Books

Instagram: • @sonjarasula• @awalkerinla • @sophia_amoruso• @marahoffman • @pamelalovenyc• @JohnCaswell• @WestElm• @RoomForty

• @24HourProject• @NewYorkCity• @FallingWhistles• @TonyDetroit•

@HappyMundane• @31Bits• @Nowness• @PressedJuicery

Visual Culture: The Aesthetics and Art of Engagement

Tumblr Tactics – Jessica De Jesus

I'm relatively selective about what images I choose to post for the article I'm putting on Tumblr. I try to keep text at a minimum by providing a short excerpt that best reflects the article. I try to keep colors, sometimes themes, and sizes balanced with each other. I also think about which images may be the most rebloggable, and that's a constant work in progress. To this day, our most reblogged post was about how Tesla should get his own museum. People really love science. But really, who doesn't?

Communicating with Tumblr followers has proved to be the most challenging. Even if you install Disqus comments or a Facebook comment plug-in, most followers choose liking and/or reblogging instead of commenting. Sometimes there are amazing comments written through a reblog, but unlike other platforms, you can't respond as easily. I do; however, see the appeal in that type of limited interaction. It's good to have some boundaries in an often over-exposed social media culture.

GOOD has always had a video team that's produced in-house and also collaborated with some talented freelancers. We do a lot of custom partnership videos, which we've been having lot of fun with. The larger ones that include a video series allow us to get a little more creative in art directing intro cards. We've also been creating videos that coincide with big activations. Most recently, for our effort Neighborday (April 27th)—a celebration of the people with whom we share space on—we created an introduction mashup video of pop-culture neighbors like Mr. Rodgers, Winnie Cooper, Urkel, Mr. Feeny, and the Rubbles.

About The Panelists – And How To Follow Them

Jessica De Jesus – GOOD Magazine

Jessica De Jesus earned her BFA in Graphic Design from Massachusetts College of Art & Design. She is currently the Senior Art Director and Tumblr Curator at GOOD—a global community of people who give a damn. She also freelances under the creative alias neonhoneytigerlily. You may also follower her on Instagram and Twitter.

Staci Riordan – Partner, Fox Rothschild

Staci Jennifer Riordan is a Partner and Chair of the Fashion Law Practice Group at Fox Rothschild, LLP and an adjunct Professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. As a lawyer, Staci's practice focuses on both transactional and litigation issues faced by the fashion community: fashion licensing, copyright, trademark and business litigation as well as digital media, social commerce, business agreements, strategic planning and client counseling. Staci regularly speaks, writes and blogs on issues affecting fashion businesses. Visit her blog at http://fashionlaw.foxrothschild.com or follow her on Twitter: @staciriordan.

About The Panelists – And How To Follow Them

Sharone Hakman - Chef

Culinary showman Chef Sharone Hakman has an insatiable appetite for adventure and for creating delectable food. His dishes are as versatile and lively as his personality, filling you up in taste and in presentation.

Formerly a financial planner, Sharone left the corporate world to follow his true love for food by pursuing a career as a chef. His standout performance on Fox’s hit show Master Chef ignited a new vision for Sharone’s aspirations in the culinary world. His celebrity clientele and international television success has not steered Sharone away from who he is: a man who creates love and passion through his food. You can follow Sharone on his blog or Twitter.

Sean Carasso – Falling Whistles

Sean Carasso is the founder of Falling Whistles, a campaign for peace in Congo.  Over the last four years, he and his team have seen a Special Envoy appointed to end the war, the rebel group M23 implode, and Congo's worst warlord surrender.  They sell the whistle as a symbol of protest and today more than 70,000 people have joined them as whistleblowers for peace.  This coalition has invested in the fastest growing radio station in Congo, a sustainable business treating 330,000 for malaria, the first female-run salon in eastern Congo, as well as surgeries and rehabilitation for hundreds of women and children.  You can follow Falling Whistles or Sean on Twitter.

About The Panelists – And How To Follow Them

Macala Wright – Head of Innovation, Group Partners

Macala is a writer, strategist, and storyteller. She merges her passion for storytelling and narrative with her deep understanding of technology and strategy to help bring innovative ideas, content and change programs to life. Interested in the tools and platforms that society uses to communicate culture, her writing and studies explore how people can become better communicators in order to shape their futures, share their ideas and create a better world to live in. She loves Twitter and Instagram.

Group Partners

Blog: http://www.grouppartners.net/blog Website: http://www.grouppartners.netTwitter: @Group_PartnersTumblr: http://www.group-partners.tumblr.com