Category / Thinking & Musing

by Alexandra Roumbas Goldstein

Twitter: my two cents (again)

I’m not going to apologise for writing more about Twitter because I use it every day for work and pleasure. So why wouldn’t I write about it? Rest assured this is not another “slebs on Twitter” or “is Twitter full of twits?” tired and hackneyed ‘article’. It’s just one persons thoughts on things that would improve and, conversely, destroy Twitter.

Things That Would Improve Twitter:

  • A built in ability to group tweets, TweetDeck style.
  • A small html box under the profile on which to put a donation button, picture link etc. I stress small again.
  • If @replying to two people at once was delivered to both of them. And following on from that:
  • Having replies that don’t include your @name first delivered to you (including RTs, so you can thank them).

Things That Definitely Wouldn’t:

  • Any kind of ‘friending’: the virtue of following is that you don’t need permission.
  • Paid-for features you used to get for free (I’m open to new ones that are only useful to pro users).

Very small, non-earthshattering things, these, but they’d make my life easier (or more difficult, depending on which list you’re reading). I plan to come back and add to this as things occur to me.

by Alexandra Roumbas Goldstein

If you’re not interested in Twitter… it doesn’t matter!

Oh, Twitter. I love you, I really do. I enjoy the mixture of information deployment, news gathering, casual conversation, like-minded connection and, yes, ego-stroking you offer. I do not hold you up as the answer to all things social media, and I know that like everything else online you have a shelf life. I use you for work, and I use you personally. You’re great.

I do understand that when people everywhere are talking about you, that’s going to attract a few reluctant cynics. Some are converted, some aren’t. But it’s the arrogant attitude of some of the new people joining (many of them tech folk who obviously feel they’ve turned up embarrassingly late and underdressed to the party) that’s driving me mad. Yes, it’s annoying when people over-evangelise Twitter, but most of us – even those of us who demonstrate our use of it as advice to others – really aren’t that much of a scary Twitter Hive Mind.

So, and I’m switching ‘you’ from Twitter to the newcomers now, why join with the attitude that “you’re not sure you have time for this” (that person’s now gone in a cloud of hissy fit) or “what’s the point of this?”. The first tweet used to be “trying to work out Twitter”. Now it’s more commonly something knowingly marketing speak from those who haven’t understood that marketing on Twitter has to be honest and authentic – no worry, they’ll learn – or “so, everyone’s doing it and I think it’s all just egotistical nonsense”.

Well, coming from you it is. Because you’ve come on there to see how many people are interested in you not to see what you’re interested in coming from other people.

Look, it’s okay to think Twitter is rubbish – more than okay, it’s your right. And it’s your right to waste your time on something you think is pointless, and your right to say so. But it’s also my right to wonder why on Earth you’d want to bother, and to think you’re quite irksome and patronising.

So, we all have our rights.

(The difference is, I’m the one who’s right).

by Alexandra Roumbas Goldstein

Amnesty International: Brainstorming social media

Last night I was privileged to be invited to pay a visit to Amnesty International UK alongside a small crew of social media bods (from the strategy consultants to the community managers like me). The topic was Amnesty’s use of social media and, in particular, their network, ProtectTheHuman.com.

Clearly the details of the discussion will, for now, remain inside Amnesty’s walls. But for me it was hugely interesting to see how a different – and very much international – organisation operates online. Dogs Trust and Amnesty are, at heart, very different kinds of organisations. Dogs Trust is a collection of centres in the UK doing the front line work, all managed from and supported by an HQ hub, working in one country with one over-arching goal which is the good welfare and treatment of dogs. The International reach is there, but limited, and mostly advice-based.

Amnesty is an attempt to marshall the collective power of driven individuals to further a common goal – the good welfare and treatment of people – but on thousands of fronts: stopping violence against women, pressuring restrictive governments to allow greater civil liberty, condemning torture… the list is brutal and endless. The International reach is phenomenal.

But what’s interesting is how little of this matters to the basic principles of social marketing and speaking to people online. Because, although there are individual difference (what approach you take with Twitter, for example, when you’re trying to discuss a million topics at once), the overall approach is the same no matter which website you use, what language you speak and what subject you’re talking about. People all over the world use the Internet pretty much the same way, and although the individual approach can be tweaked for the organisation depending on the desired end result, the ideas that came up in discussion were all pretty much universal.

And almost all of them were basic, old-fashioned common sense.

I was heartened to meet a group of people who all think of the web in the most clear, logical, common-sense terms. They all work hard and have brilliant ideas. I can only hope they thought my contributions were as useful, and that I’ll be invited back to find out more in the future.

by Alexandra Roumbas Goldstein

NFPTweetup: Tweeting for social change

Last night I pottered along to the second NFPTweetup. This event, masterminded by The Charity Place‘s Rachel Beer and given a firm shove along by social media “Buzz Director” Steve Bridger among others, was the successor to a small meetngreet that took place in Soho late last year. That gathering saw many of the people I now think of as the “usual suspects” – a group of us in the UK working hard to make digital marketing through social media succeed – all of whom I respect and admire in droves: Jonathan Waddingham of JustGiving (who sponsored the event), Howard Lake of UK Fundraising, Paul Henderson and Amy Sample Ward among others.

If the last event had been a quiet chat with a collaborative presentation that sort of quietly tailed off, this event had definitely learned from its predecessor. NFPTweetup is shaping up to be a considerably useful resource for UK charities, and I was really glad to be there. Aside from coming away with a list of web tools to check out, I also got the chance to shake a few hands and exchange a few words with the people behind the feed I follow, like Jo of Diabetes UK and Citizensheep Michael. That personal connection is invaluable for a number of reasons:

1. It’s just nice to know there’s someone else out there doing what you do.

2. When it’s time to ask for advice or an idea, it’s great to have properly introduced yourself.

3. There’s no chance of any of that isolationist Bad Science crap happening!

This time, the collaborative presentation was done first, which got people thinking. I blushed as I realised just how many of the people in the room are watching what Jacqui and I are doing at Dogs Trust and think we’re good at it! A warm glow of job satisfaction is no bad thing to have once in a while, especially when the feedback is external to the organisation.

Thereafter we formed groups covering topics such as Fundraising, Integration, Reputation Management and things like that. I joined the Fundraising and Integration topics as they’re the most difficult for most of us: raising money in one big swoop like Twestival or Beth Kanter have done is possible, but how do you keep the goodwill going over the long time? And is it really okay to ask for money over a social medium (so far, I think no and I’m strict about that, although there are ways to kinda sorta break that rule which I’ll go into another time)? Ben Matthews, who was behind Twestival in the UK, was very helpful in suggesting some donation tools – if we integrate them I’ll talk about these some more.

It’s nice to see NFPTweetup grow from a chat to a masterclass, and I’m keen to see how it develops in the future. To see a blow-by-blow account of the discussion, check out tweets hashtagged #nfptweetup.

by Alexandra Roumbas Goldstein

When inspiration hits perspiration

I wish I could say it’s because I’ve spent my time busily squirrelling away on the project I was talking about in the last post. But actually, my ‘day job’ was just really busy this week. There was a heady mix of Scary Brilliant New Stuff and Really Dull Admin which is the way of most jobs. Sometimes the dull admin can be quite useful; it clears your head and allows the creativity room to ferment and produce cool bubbly stuff. It didn’t help with matters, however, that I was sick most of the week, culminating in a spectacular loss of voice over the last two days. Talk about frustrating.

Still, in the midst of all that frustration came some good. I have been having very early ideas for a social media based campaign. The metric – financial or awareness – will really depend on the ultimate message, which is something I can’t decide on my own. I’ve run some early ideas past my manager and she sees it differently from the way I do, but we all know how little the final product actually resembles the early brainstorming. I suspect in the end it’ll be a healthy marriage between my initial ideas and her 10-year knowledge of the charity. A winning combination, hopefully.

I had three main reasons for wanting to plan, carry out and evaluate a big, organised social media / interactive marketing push.

1. Because it’s time; I’ve built up with the smaller-scale, important everyday relationship building. People have now found us; it’s time to really find them, and the people who didn’t know they wanted to find us.

2. Because it’s healthy for internal buy-in into social media marketing. People are still a little confused by it, and a clear result based on a universally-acceptable metric is good for driving acceptance and understanding. Not to mention job satisfaction for us, of course.

3. To push myself; it’s easy to be good at our current level given my skills set and experience, but I always hold myself up to higher standards than I need to, because how else can you learn, grow and progress? Stagnation = bad, especially when you’re working in a world that will chew you up and spit you out as old news faster than ever. I love what I do because of the variety and freshness. I have to look for that in myself, too.

This is going to take time and careful planning because I know exactly what I would do if I were in a commercial enterprise with a big budget. I’m not, and that’s where the creative approach comes in. It makes it all the greater an achievement if you can get the results you want (or more than you dream of) with a shoestring and the joint innovation of a couple of minds with different but complementary skill sets.

I promise next time I’ll write about something I can give details of publicly…

by Alexandra Roumbas Goldstein

Institute of Fundraising North Internet & Social Media Conference

Yesterday, we were rather chuffed to be invited up to York to speak at the IOF North conference that focussed on Internet, Email and Social Media use. One of the reasons why we were so happy to speak at it (and the Royal We here is me and the Digital Marketing Manager, Jacqui) is that it was all resolutely anti-jargon.

This was – somewhat like the Social Media Exchange we ran a masterclass at – a very practical conference. Of course there was some theory-based stuff, but we were invited to present a case study precisely because the entire point was to show charities how these things work in reality rather than just waffle about digital space and all that malarkey. Not that all that isn’t important; it’s just that very often by the time people have got to the conference stage they’re past that and just want to use the tools. The theory is great when you have time to concentrate on it, but people actually working in charities with limited funds, resources and time haven’t always got the luxury of that. Yes, they need to know why they’re on Twitter, but it’s hugely more important to encourage them to be brave, get on there quickly, talk honestly and see the results in action.

IOF North’s conference, expertly organised by Graham Richards, looked at exactly that, and it was a real pleasure to be involved. Jacqui, despite her nerves, gave a great presentation, and we re-created our double-act for the Q&A. It was also great to finally meet John of Bullying UK, who is brilliantly passionate about what he does, and the crew at Haworth Cat Rescue who really want to embrace new technology and were clearly grateful for the straightforward, practical advice. Best of all – for me – was Chris Garrett, who was new to non-profits but was exactly what charities need: an approachable, knowledgeable and very funny spokesman for blogging who’s used to getting financial results for companies. Even Beth Kanter rose at the insanely early 6am to talk live, over Skype, from San Francisco about how she actually went about raising $215,000 or Cambodian orphans through social networks.

This is what we need. Fewer consultants and more people who are used to the everyday mechanics of using these sites. Demystification, honesty, results. Case studies, practical advice and the death of technophobia. Well done, Graham – you achieved this yesterday. Long may it last.

by Alexandra Roumbas Goldstein

Greetings: Take Two

So, after a hesitant start earlier today on this long-overdue project to build myself a teeny tiny corner of the Internet to call my own, I can finally greet you properly. Okay, the glue on the laminate flooring is still drying and it could do with a lick of paint, but I’ve made a start on most of the boxes and I’m ready to have a cuppa amid the tea chests. Have I spread the analogy too thin yet?

So, yes. I’m not going to tell you much about myself, because there’s a button somewhere to the right of this post that says “About Me” and you can learn it all there. Also, there’s a bit called “My Online Life” which is basically a list of places you can find things I’ve written. And I obviously plan to write a fair bit more here.

A word of caution; although I call myself a “Social Media Bod”, I don’t think of myself as a web 2.0 expert or digital strategist. That is, I’ll happily sit down and describe to you at length and in reasonably considered detail why I think social marketing is valuable and important and how I go about it. I’ll also tell you how I think you could go about it (it’ll be different depending on budget, sector and relevance). But I don’t dress it up in language like “digital space” and “e-communications strategy”. Online marketing is largely common sense, and involves being a real person talking to real people. If you want to hide behind fake names or have a lack of authentic communication, then I’m afraid I can’t really help you. I believe in demystifying the Internet, not creating more jargon. If, like me, you just want to have an effective, respectful conversation that happens to take place online then I think we’ll definitely get along.

Right. That’s the first awkward post over and done with. From tomorrow I’ll write for you like we’re old friends, stick my feet up on the virtual table and steal your Hob Nobs.

Nighty night.