A Blog Not Limited

Short URL: http://ablognotlimited.com/s/73

This past Wednesday night, Webuquerque presented "Social Media Means Business," a panel-type discussion on using social media for business and communication.

We had another great turnout, with over 30 attendees! If you were unable to join us, here's what you missed.

Discussion Recap

Scott Westerman, Vice President for Comcast's operations in the Southwest, kicked off the discussion with his experiences using Twitter to improve Comcast's customer service.

Scott explained that "social media" is simply another form of communication — like phone and email. Using social media, he added, isn't about giving people canned responses. It is about people, so if you are going to get involved, be prepared to have a conversation.

Scott also talked about the importance of being proactive and paying attention to what is said about your company in today's social media. This gives you the chance to listen and then help people resolve their problems. He also said it is important for companies to be proactive regarding their employees' use of social media, explaining that most employees are going to use it regardless of policy so it is best to train them to do so effectively.

Matthew Reichbach, a NM politics blogger, talked about how he uses Twitter and Facebook to promote his blog and work with the New Mexico Independent.

Matt mentioned using Twitter Feed to promote his blog on Twitter. But, like Scott, Matt stressed the importance of the personal relationships and engaging in conversation on Twitter. He also talked about how he used ChipIn in conjunction with his blog and Facebook to help raise funds to and attend last year's Netroots Nation conference, as well as the Democratic National Convention.

Jason Nakai, Webuquerque co-manager and Multimedia Developer for the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, concluded the presentation talking about how Webuquerque is using social media.

Jason, too, emphasized that technology simply enables the social relationships; that it's the people, relationships and conversation that are the key to a successful social media effort. Jason provided suggestions for how to choose social media for a business campaign and discussed tools like Vimeo, Upcoming, Flickr and our local Duke City Fix.

Deck, Video & Photos

Want more? Well, we've got more.

Jason's slide deck is available on Slideshare:

Also, we were lucky to have the presentation recorded by Parry Silcox, who is PhD student in UNM's Teacher Education program. In addition to supporting Webuquerque, he is using this video for a Multimedia Literacy class that helps current and future teachers gain a more thorough understanding of the current state of technology.

Once the video is ready, we'll be posting it online, and I'll make the link available here.The video is now ready and available on Viddler:

Finally, pictures from the presentation are in our Webuquerque Flickr group:

Coming in March

Jason Nakai and I will survey CSS, covering everything from basic syntax, to tools and resources, to what's new in CSS3:

• Standards and best practices
• Browser support, testing, hacks and troubleshooting
• Mobile and print CSS
• CSS editors, including a focus on Dreamweaver's features
• Processes for working with inherited CSS
• CSS frameworks
• CSS3 features

Also for our future presentations, Jason and I are looking into a microphone setup to help with the noise issues. We both completely agree that the noise from the bar area was very distracting. However, we hope to keep Uptown as our venue, as it encourages the social aspect of Webuquerque, which we feel is vital.

Thanks for being patient with us as we work out the "kinks."

2009 Presentation Schedule

Be sure to mark your calendars with our entire 2009 schedule:

April 1

Topic: Agile and UX Design

Presenter: Kevin Silver

May 6

Topic: Web Standards & Accessibility With Dreamweaver

Presenters: Virginia DeBolt & Emily Lewis

June 3

Topic: Web Workflows in Adobe CS4

Presenter: Jason Nakai

July 1

Topic: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Presenter: Chris Kenworthy

August 5

Topic: Development Frameworks & Libraries

Presenter: Mark Casias

September 2

Topic: Podcasting & Vodcasting

Presenter: Vincent Ascoli

October 7

Topic: Microformats

Presenter: Emily Lewis

November 4

Topic: Web marketing

Presenter: Reid Givens

December 8

NMAUG holiday party (time & location TBA)

Add 2009 Webuquerque schedule to Google Calendar

Please note, these topics and presenters are subject to change.

Keep Up–to–Date

Stay informed about Webuquerque by joining us:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Upcoming
• Duke City Fix
• Flickr
• SlideShare

Thank You!

Thanks to all of last night's attendees and speakers. We look forward to seeing you in March!

In the meantime, if you have feedback (good or bad) for us, please let us know.