We didn’t plan a regular luncheon this month because we had an exciting professional development conference. Did you hear about Get Smart? Better yet, did you ATTEND? I’ll post a recap in the next few days and in a few weeks, I’ll post pictures of the event, taken by KWillis Design, on Facebook.

In November, we’re back to regularly scheduled luncheons. On November 17, Robin Gerrow and Rhonda Weldon from the Public Affairs and Communications departments at The University of Texas at Austin join us to discuss social media’s key role in communicating important information during the recent UT emergency involving a suicidal gunman on campus.  Rather than looking to traditional media outlets for information, employees and students in “lockdown” on campus and those worried for their safety turned to Facebook and to Twitter’s #utshooting hashtag.

I asked Rhonda and Robin what their favorite social media channel is and why. Here’s what they said:

Rhonda: From a personal perspective it feels like every day is a reunion of sorts.  I never write letters and rarely send email to family, but I will sit for 30 or 40 minutes and read about what my friends and family are doing [on Facebook]. I’m amazed at how this communication tool reconnects lives.  This week a friend (someone I’ve only seen in person twice since we graduated high school), told me about the passing of a mutual friend’s mother.  Four or five years ago, no one would have bothered to notify a long lost classmate like me who lives hundreds of miles away.  But because of this technology, not only was I notified but I had the opportunity to share my memories of this wonderful lady in a forum with everyone else who grew up with her.  There’s a kind of sweet synergy in that experience.
 
From a professional perspective, Facebook affords organizations the opportunity to more personally connect with their audiences.  Short of face-to-face communications, dialogues where constituents and consumers share, listen, respond, and problem solve so freely are rare.

Robin: Do we really have to pick just one? To me, the beauty of social media is you can really specialize your communications.

On the personal side, I really have to echo what Rhonda has said. Facebook has been a great way to reconnect with people and keep up with what is going on in their lives. But from a professional perspective, I have mixed feelings about it. The two-way communicator in me loves it—the conversations between an organization and the audience and the discussions that go on among them. But, to keep that two-way channel open and reasonable is a lot of work. Since you can’t moderate comments before they go live, you really have to monitor the site to keep spam from overwhelming the page and to at least attempt to keep the conversation civil; I’m amazed at how quickly it can deteriorate into name-calling and profanity.

When it comes to getting a message out quickly I have to go with Twitter. You can still have a two-way conversation, but it can be much more focused between the organization and an individual. And if you are looking for details, wikis are a great tool—I love the way a wiki allows you to share knowledge and build on it collaboratively.

You can’t miss this one. Register for the luncheon now!

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