Get Started, Then Keep Going!

Joel F. W. Price | @jfwpFriends’ Central School

Webmaster & Information Management

Photo by Wayne K. Lin

Relevant and Creative

Source: http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/epic-fail-helmet-fail.jpg

Still Relevant, Still Creative

Source: http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/fail-owned-safety-glasses-fail.jpg

Also Relevant and Creative

Source: http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/fail-owned-ladder-on-truck-fail.jpg

But Entirely Irresponsible!

Source: http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/epic-fail-parenting-fail.jpg

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rgordon/992957779

A 1985 Instrument Mashup

Know Your Constituents!• Where do they live online?

• Where do you live online?

(Did you just answer the same thing twice?)

Two Things You Should Be Using

• Google Alerts– Easy-to-use, daily emails about any/every

topic regarding you or people at your school

• Facebook– Probably the place most of your constituents

are (even the older ones). Try entering your school name in the search box!

Network Commonalities• They all bring people together

• Social networks are designed for for-profit use, but powerful educational uses emerge

Open Your Mind• You probably do not want to just

copy what other schools do (you are unique)!

• Applying a new mindset to media (including social media) will benefit you and your constituents.

Try It Out• See what happens, but keep your

expectations reasonable • remember that paper/telephones haven’t solved all of our

problems!

• Create a new social media experiment– Track it (Google Analytics)– Assess whether it is worthwhile

Google Analyticsspikes/troughs based on “hotness” of topic

“stickiness” of visit to photo gallery

how did they find you – searches, other sites, email?

What About the Time?!• You wouldn’t use a chainsaw without

reading the directions…would you?

• Instead of jumping into the pool with no plan, flailing, and FAILing: Do your research! It is now part of our job.

Make A Small Change

http://www.d3stores.com/perfectface/img/productImages/bumper_jpg.jpg

Learn, Shape, Innovate• 1. Use the tools first – plork* (pronounced

“plurk” = play + learn + work)* a great way to learn privacy/security settings

• 2. Adapt tools to fit your school

• 3. What will you build for your constituents?

Fan Pages: 3 Ways for <$25• Use Facebook Apps to syndicate

content

• Apps I recommend: SocialRSS (well worth the $25), My Flickr (free), FBML (free)

HTML (FBML)

RSS Feed (SocialRSS)

flickr pix (MyFlickr)

http://bit.ly/fcsgmap

Your Expectations• You have expectations when using

Google, Amazon, or Netflix

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Google.png

Most School Websites• Have more than enough info about you

• Are not set up to change rapidly

• Are not where your parents/constituents willingly go because it is FUN

Constituent Expectations?Desire vs. Desire

• You want them to learn a new “way” – it takes people longer to get used to it

• They want to do something – their patience exponentially grows

(P)reactions• Social media can be used both

proactively and reactively.

• Do you know what gets reactions from your constituents?

Our First Official Foray

Social Media Time Allocation• Consider your current strategy, your

team size, and your skill set

• In which places could you experiment?

Your Website’s Value• Offers information parents cannot

find elsewhere

• Your site will contain more information (perhaps behind-the-password content)

Grasping for…• Who controls your web presence?

• Is it open for discussion?

• What privacy concerns should you have?• Remember plorking! Break it yourself

first!

Set Goals, Metrics• Ideally: you’ll set concrete goals and

measurements in order to accurately measure and report successes and failures

• Often: you’ll just put it out there and see what happens, then learn!

Be Flexible• Due to workflow, you may need to

temporarily change the way you communicate (it’s okay!):

– Facebook posts to twitter– flickr posts to a blog and to Facebook– News posts to homepage and Facebook

School Mashups• Some schools are putting together

single pages containing their social media content

• Key benefits: Use new tools, show content in one place under your own brand/skin.

School Mashup Examples• http://wamash.worcesteracademy.or

g/

• http://www.bcdsmashup.org/

• http://www.nmhschool.org/nmhbook

Recent Inspiration

A Clever Higher Ed Apphttp://www.cornellcompass.com/home.cfm

Valuable Resources• Inside Facebook• Mashable• Stanford University’s Fan Page• Alumni Futures• Adaptivate• Your Influences: Please share!

Aim High: Jump Off that Lily Pad!

Thanks to Carol Cheney and the Aim High 3.0 team!

This slide deck is available on slideshare.Joel F. W. Price | Webmaster & Information Managementjprice@friendscentral.org | jprice1@gmail.comhttp://friendscentral.orghttp://facebook.com/friendscentral | http://twitter.com/friendscentral

http://www.flickr.com/photos/articnomad/17122403/