Seeking Suggestions :: Social Media for Promotion of Nonprofits

Social media will be incorporated into a summer project I’m working on for Easter Seals Camp ASCCA. I know you’ve seen me write about Camp ASCCA often, but this summer - get ready - you’ll see it a lot here and at the Camp ASCCA Web site.

I honestly believe that this will be the largest nonprofit use of social media (blogs, podcasts, video, forums and more) that has ever been attempted (aside from political sites and some national / international NPO sites). But, I can’t say that for certain until I do some more research. You can help, if you like. Do you know of any site for a nonprofit organization that has posted this much, this often and using online communication?

Below you will see an outline of what our plans are and how we seek to accomplish these tasks. I have abbreviated the plan as it is actually written out and is 12 pages - single-spaced - in a Word document. I’m still working on it, too.

Here, in a nutshell, is what we’re going to try. I’d love to receive your feedback, suggestions and criticisms.

ASCCA is a nonprofit organization and resources are limited. They have devoted two internships (paid) to the process. The students will receive free housing, meals and $1,000 per month (the same salary camp program staff receive). That, I believe, is a remarkable commitment.

Beyond that, ASCCA has invested in two multimedia computers, digital audio recorders, video recorders (straight to MPEG) and software. I am donating the use of a digital video camera, digital photo camera and a digital audio recorder, too. This should enable the interns to easily capture, and quickly edit, the content they capture. More on that below.

• Two interns will run the operation. Their work hours are quite different from other jobs. They will follow, essentially, the same day that all of the campers and staff do - 7:00 AM until 10:00 PM each day. The camps traditionally run from Sunday at Noon until Friday at Noon.
• In an attempt to be realistic, I am seting an initial “minimum” number of blog postings at four per day. Actually, I believe it could be 8 or more per day.
• Posts will be a combination of audio, video, photos and text.
1. VIDEO: Our initial goal is to do short video pieces and they will be loaded up to our Google Video site and YouTube. These will highlight the program areas from lakefront and the pool to horseback riding and high adventure. We have over a dozen activity areas, so content will be widely avaialable.
2. AUDIO: These will be short interviews with campers, parents, counselors and visitors. The length will not, I pray, go beyond 10 minutes each. These will be hosted on our servers and delivered through the Wordpress Podpress plugin and iTunes.
3. PHOTOS: Digital cameras will be used to capture dozens of photos each day. They will highlight four main areas: programs, camper/counselor relationships, barrier-free architecture incorporated into activities and cabin life. These will be hosted on our servers and in our Flickr Pro account.
4. WRITING: These will be observations by the interns about Camp ASCCA and the experiences of the campers and staff. Visitors (fund raising) will also be highlighted. We want honest observations. ASCCA has always been about the reality of abilities - not focusing on the disabilities. We want to offer answers/solutions which allow people with disabilities to participate. We don’t want any “poor pitiful crippled children” stories. Those always irk me.

I realize that is a lot of uploading. Now the sad news. One of the limitations we have at a camp is our location. We have satellite web access. That means that uploading is essentially dial-up. Camp is 10 miles from the nearest highway. A squirrel on the phone line can cause havoc. We may actually drive into town for the uploading of the video, audio and photo files. The only alternative is to keep the phone lines running all night.

With few exceptions, opensource software will be used for all of these projects. We have a wiki (PmWiki), CRM (SugarCRM), calendars (30boxes and Google Calendar), forums and/or alumni database (phpBB), eLearning (Moodle), photo albums (Flickr and Gallery 2), video (Google Video and YouTube) along with Wordpress blogs and plugins.

The students have already used much of the software and they have seen the rest of it in action.

New releases will be delivered via a blog newsroom setup to the state and southeastern publications serving our campers hometowns. Most of these are mid-sized to small publications and usually appreciate the content. High resolution photos will accompany the stories created by the interns. Where possible, audio actualities will be included and sent to their local radio stations. Small town radio still does radio news, you know.

I am not sure what, if any, value online press release delivery services could offer us, but we may try them. We’ll likely only use the free services, unless someone wants to spot us for free access to a paid service. That would be a blessing.

Contacts will be made to these local news organizations and offer them email notification of stories or RSS feeds. They’ll likely prefer the emails, as most of the releases will be specifically targeted by locality.

Side projects include populating the Moodle eLearning site to help expand ASCCA’s appeal to school teachers in the areas of environmental education.

Among our many goals are: considerable search engine placement and optimization, increased visibility in online social media communities, a rebirth of ASCCA’s regional media releases, active involvement with our primary audiences (people with disabilities, parents, caregivers, teachers, therapists/medical, other nonprofits and our alumni - campers, staff and volunteers).

Yes, we will be pitching - news outlets and bloggers. We will be commenting in other blogs and developing relationships with sites/blogs addressing disability issues.

We are also interested in online fundraising, but that will come down the road. We want to develop a strong respectable presence online, first.

OK, that is a brief (believe it or not) synopsis of what we’ll be doing this summer. What do you think? I’m reserving some comments I have until I hear from you.

Life Lessons :: Spirit, Character and Accomplishments :: Allison Wetherbee

Along the way, we all meet people that truly change our lives. Allison Wetherbee is someone that has done that for me. So, I’m sharing this podcast from the Camp ASCCA site with you here, too.

The photo is of Allison in 1986 and clicking on it will take you to a larger photo of her with Paige and Katie, the two interns that worked with her that summer.

Allison began coming to ASCCA in the late 1970’s and later worked with me at camp doing public relations. She was only a teenager then, but so incredibly intelligent and her personality so engaging. This is one person that I believe everyone should meet.

Allison never let having a disability stand in the way of her dreams. Trite, you may say, but never more true than in her life’s story. She went on from camp to attend university and gain two degrees. Today, Allison is a mental health counselor in Russellville, Alabama. She has her own home, lives independently - with attendant/roommate assistance, and is still changing people’s lives for the better.

Admittedly, the podcast is more like two friends chatting than an interview. But, that’s because I love Allison and she can make me chuckle.

The podcast runs 21:46 and is a 19mb download. I hope you’ll listen and enjoy Allison as much as I do.

Australians, Americans, Mexicans and Spaniards :: Education in Blogs and Podcasts

Coincidences. I love them. Of late, the podcasting coincidences are overflowing, and this is a good thing.

Over the past few days, I’ve been communicating with some of the good people at Deakin University in Australia. Ross Monaghan has his students blogging with us at PRblogs.org. He has begun a podcasting site with his colleague Colleen Murrell entitled themediapod.net.

At the same time, Ashley Imsand is writing about podcasting at the Forward blog. She references Octavio Rojas and Eric Schwartzman. Schwartzman shares some selling points about podcasting “for a client proposal” he created recently.

• Allows listeners to time-shift and place-shift media consumption
• 100% efficiency, since episodes are only downloaded by listeners on an opt-in basis
• Easily accessible to a global audience that is not defined by geographic boundaries
• Access to an educated, influential audience with a high disposable income
• Ability to leverage electronic programming without an outside news media filter
• Most cost effective electronic media distribution channel available

Ashley’s colleagues, Erin Caldwell and Luke Armour, are being featured in the Edelman earshot podcast, hosted by Phil Gomes. The podcast has, by the way, a rather funny (yet morbid) postscript to it. You’ll have to listen. (To Phil: Mine was forest ranger.)

That’s a whole lotta podcasting and discussion of podcasting, folks.

I’m loving this. Why, you ask?

Above you see several examples of wonderful information being shared. No pot shots were taken. Everyone signed their names. All of the discussion is relatively transparent. Comments are allowed and add to the learning experiences. No one is hiding. All are taking chances by sharing their thoughts. And what, I ask you, is wrong with that? Nothing.

I offer these great examples in advance of my next post about social media. Hey, there is a dead Greek and more. It’ll be fun.

HigherEd BlogCon :: New Media in Communications; Resources for Further Learning

HEBCWednesday, April 19, 2006: New Media in Communications; Resources for Further Learning

Podcasting Agriculture News

Blair Fannin
Texas A&M University System
AgNews - Texas A&M

Using Wikis to Facilitate Communication, Collaboration, and Knowledge Sharing Among Admissions and Administrative Personnel

Brendon Connelly
George Fox University
Brendon’s Blog - Slackermanager

Sean McKay
George Fox University
Sean’s Website

How Can I Learn More About New Media?

Dan Karleen
Thomson Peterson’s

Brendon Connelly and Sean McKay :: George Fox University Does Wikis Right :: Podcast

HEBC George Fox University is doing great things with wikis. Meet Brendon Connelly and Sean McKay. They can help you get started with wikis, too.

“A wiki is a collaborative web-based content management system in which all users can edit the web pages that are part of the site. Wikis provide a flexible and adaptive web-based environment for admissions (and other higher-ed) departments to develop knowledge bases and repositories of group experiences … Because of its nature, a wiki web site evolves over time and adapts to work with the content that its users contribute.”

Get the PDF presentation.

Brendon Connelly

George Fox University

http://www.slackermanager.com/

Sean McKay

George Fox University

http://academic.georgefox.edu/~smckay/

There is a screencast in “.mov” format available to compliment the PDF.

And, we have a podcast that I recorded with Sean and Brendon awhile ago. Sorry for the delay in sharing it, but - as with Nancy Prater’s podcast - I’ve experienced a computer crash and had to retreive and restore a great deal of information - plus, buy new software.

Now, this is not your usual podcast. The files were corrupted, but I could recover their voices. So, what you hear are their responses to my questions. I have tried to make it comprehensible. If you download their PDF file and read that, then listen to the podcast, I believe it can work for you. Think of these as audio notes on how they got into the wiki business at George Fox University.

The podcast link is below (23 minutes). Please visit Sean and Brendon’s presentation, too. Using Wikis to Facilitate Communication, Collaboration, and Knowledge Sharing Among Admissions and Administrative Personnel.

Nancy Prater :: Podcast :: Ball State University’s Social Media in Student Recruiting

HEBC Ball State University is doing some remarkably innovative things with social media. Meet Nancy Prater, John Dailey and Heather Shupp. They are the brains behind this truly interesting “Brady Bunch” homage that is making Ball State University a place to think about for college.

This fall, Ball State University took blogging to a new level by offering a multi-media version that includes podcasting and video. In addition, the blogs are unedited and the comment feature has been left on, allowing for more interaction with prospective students. Learn about how they did it and how they plan to research the blogs’ effectiveness.

View the video presentation; requires Windows Media Player.

View the PowerPoint for this presentation.

And, we have a podcast that I recorded with Nancy a few weeks ago. Sorry for the delay in sharing it, but I’ve experienced a computer crash and had to retreive and restore a great deal of information. Time for a new computer, I fear.

The podcast link is below (18 minutes). Please visit Nancy’s presentation, too. Case Study: Blogging and Podcasting for Student Recruitment.

HigherEd BlogCon Starts Today!

Today marks the launch of HigherEd BlogCon, “an online event focused on how new online communications technologies and social tools are changing Higher Education. The month-long event begins with a week of presentations about the impact of new tools on teaching and the learner.”

Please visit HigherEd BlogCon and see some truly wonderful examples of social media and online strategies being used around the web.

This is “a fully web-based event focused on how new online communications technologies and social tools are changing Higher Education. Except as noted, presentations are offered free of charge.”

Inside PR Podcast :: Welcome A New Pair of Voices

PR From Toronto, and Ottawa, welcome a new PR podcast to your iPod or computer. Inside PR is a “weekly Canadian public relations podcast hosted by Terry Fallis and David Jones (PRWorks).” Terry and David are from the Thornley Fallis group of companies, “Terry and David are President and Vice-President respectively” of Thornley Fallis Communications.

In the podcast, Terry and David state that this is not their company’s podcast, although they may discuss clients from time to time. Rather, it is two people with an interest, or a passion, for PR. They are stepping out to speak up and “take a look under the hood of the PR world, and ultimately to help redeem our profession.” The conversation goes on to discuss PR’s reputation problems.

Joseph Thornley, their boss, saluted the launch at his blog, ProPR. Both practitioners, Terry and David, bring a combined 33 years of PR experience to the microphone.

The first podcast includes a discussion of PR’s reputation, media training, and how several firms have teamed up to form the Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms (CCPRF). From an initial group of four agencies, the CCPRF now has thirteen or fourteen participating firms. And, the part I loved the most, the group is working with universities in their area to see how they may address PR issues and concerns - the future of PR - together. Bravo!

Terry and David also discussed the upcoming event - Mesh, billed as Canada’s Web 2.0 conference. Overall, their first effort is a good introduction of the hosts and gives you a good idea of their interests and personalities.

I wish Terry and David the best in their new endeavor. I’ll be listening each week. You should check out the podcast, too. Students, crank up your iPods. I think these guys have a bright future in podcasting. The first podcast was enjoyable and quite well produced, too. It lasted about 36 minutes. Since I was multi-tasking, I even listened twice.

Congratulations on a good launch, gentlemen.

Thornley Fallis has three company blogs, by the way:

ProPR (www.propr.ca)
Dedicated to best PR practices, practitioners and building the ideal PR firm. Authored by Joseph Thornley, CEO of the Thornley Fallis Group.
PR Works (www.prworks.ca)
David Jones explores working in and on the PR industry from a Canadian perspective.
shift+control (76design.com/shiftcontrol)
shift+control is the blogspace of 76design, a creative services firm with offices in Ottawa and Toronto. The name comes from our content management system, shift+control, which happens to power the site.

Check those blogs out, too.

Language Matters :: Podcast on Language and Disability :: Dr. Dave Martin, Auburn University

I enjoyed creating a podcast for Camp ASCCA recently with Dr. Dave Martin from Auburn Uninversity’s Department of Rehabilitation and Special Education. So, I am reposting it here in my blog because I believe it has specific implications for public relations practitioners.

Our discussion revolved around language and how its use may perpetuate stereotypes of people - who happen to have a disability - as “unable.” And, those who know better realize that people with disabilities are actually quite able. This issue of language use has tremendous implications for public relations.

For instance, some research has shown that someone that has a disability is likely to be a more loyal employee and will actually present their employer with fewer sick days than average employees. This depends upon what you define as a disability, of course, but it is those definitions - used casually by all of us in everyday conversation - that set the tone for how we perceive disabilities.

One aspect of Camp ASCCA that I have always enjoyed and appreciated is how people without disabilities react when they are exposed to the recreational activities the campers engage in from high adventure to something as casual as swimming. It changes your perceptions of what is a disability. It actually removes the stereotypes.

When you see how an appliance - like a wheelchair or an adaptive harness - can enable a tennis game or climb up a treehouse or tower, you realize that these are not confining devices (as Dr. Martin points out) but really devices of liberation. Another aspect of this is the barrier-free architecture of camp. When people see that the cost per square foot is minimal to create such an environment they may think twice when building their own facilities. A little thought and consideration can be liberating for millions of citizens.

Of course, above I used the term “appliance” and that also is an unfortunate word. But, what do we call these things and these conditions? That is one area I hope the Camp ASCCA online community will address in the months and years to come.

Length of the podcast is 18:39 and the file size is 17.0mb.  Listen below.

HigherEd BlogCon Podcast - Holly Peterson and Tristan Roberts

Our first HigherEd BlogCon podcast. Meet Holly Peterson and Tristan Roberts from World Learning in Brattleboro, Vermont. They deal with over 100,000 alumni coming from their programs which take place in over 100 countries. Their constituents come from about 200 universities and perhaps even more high schools around the US.

World Learning’s Alumni Community Our World is one example of their work in using online social media to engage their stakeholders.

Holly Peterson photo to the left. Tristan Roberts photo is below, to the right.

This podcast is 15:39 in length (14.2MB). We discuss how they got to where they are today online. Also, their audiences - constituent groups - and hopes for possibilities in their future online plans are addressed. Holly and Tristan are participating in HigherEd BlogCon in order to share what they are doing, and to make connections. We hope you will participate, too.

You may see all of the presentations coming up in the Admissions, Alumni Relations, and Communications and Marketing section here.

Hope you enjoy the podcast. Holly and Tristan are nice people. One podcast down, eight more to go.

Simple Plug-n-Play Podcasts - PodPress and HigherEd BlogCon

Well, the new PodPress plugin from Dan Kuykendall is so easy to install and use, I couldn’t resist putting it on this blog, too.

Dan may well have spawned a new wave of podcasters with the simplicity of this tool. It is one thing to get the tools to record your podcast. One of the big hurdles has been a simple process of creating the RSS enclosures and tie it all into the largest podcast directory (at least I think it is the largest) - iTunes. WordPress handles the enclosures easily - out of the box - but, the additions Dan has provided will likely make it an enormously popular plugin.

So, why am I using it here? Well, I had an idea. You know how dangerous that is.

HigherEd BlogCon is Sponsored by:

Other Supporters: collegewebeditor.com - Drexel CoAS E-Learning - Future of PR - Information Wants To Be Free - ProfNet - Sinking Ships - Syndication for Higher Ed

I want to interview the 15 wonderful people - in nine presentations - that have agreed to submit papers / articles, podcasts, videos, screencasts and more to the HigherEd BlogCon coming in April. Hey, if nothing else, the podcasts will be good promotion for the online conference.

Many thanks go out to the people of Thomson-Peterson’s, PRNewswire/ProfNet and CASE. In particular, kudos go to Richard Salatiello of CASE, Dan Karleen of Thomson-Peterson and Dan Forbush of ProfNet/PRNewswire. Check the logos to the right and be thankful for these generous and thoughtful organizations and corporations. Visit their sites, too.

The HigherEd BlogCon Wiki offers a look at the preparation for the event. This is the HigherEd BlogCon main site where the articles, podcasts, videos, screencasts, powerpoint and more will be published.

The conference takes place April 3-28, 2006. Here is the breakdown of what will be published and when. The proposals for presentation may be found here. The nine presenations for Admissions, Alumni Relations, and Communications & Marketing articles are of specific interest to us, of course. Check that link out to see the innovation occuring at educational institutions around the country.

Other sections in the BlogCon? Teaching - April 3-7, 2006; Library & Information Resources - April 10-14, 2006; Admissions, Alumni Relations, and Communications & Marketing - April 17-21, 2006; Websites & Web Development - April 24-28, 2006.

And, since I have the easy to use podcast ability now, I thought the best way to initiate this new section of the site is … to podcast about it. Don’t worry. It is short. 3:50 / 3.61 MB

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