A Social One Night Stand

No, it's not what you're thinking...

People who are not "into social media" often ask me how I got involved with it all and how I make a living with it. I got started as many fellow millennials did, by browsing the web and joining networks out of curiosity.

This playing turned to testing when I was a reporter, to find sources or promote my stories. Then testing turned into research to try to be more successful on the web and figuring out how to achieve it. When I was accepted into my graduate program I knew I wanted to learn more about online media, and I thank my lucky stars for being accepted into a school that already had a technology evangelist.

Sree Sreenivasan was my class' dean of students, but his career crosses borders and industries. From reporter, teacher and founder of advocacy groups or start-ups, to television commentator and TED talk speaker (5!) he can easily find talking points in diverse audiences and relate to people of all ages. Sree is now the chief digital officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and offers workshops on social media whenever he visits a new town- his "Social Media One-Night Stand" (SMONS) workshops.

While the topic of social media may not be "Fifty Shades Of Grey" racy, attendees still get excited over the event. I've attended two workshops after my time in grad school, and in true nerd-spirit every group shares a collective desire to learn more about the latest social tools or tricks to try.

A week ago, February 19 and 20, Sree visited Boston with his family for February school vacation and like a multitasking champ he offered two free SMONS workshops at Harvard Kennedy School of Government. For both sessions attendees were asked to help make #SreeBOS trend, and for one of them the hashtag did! The beauty, though, is that the hashtag wasn't even used by 100 people when it happened, with give or take 50 individuals the tag trended.

I will list the highlights of Sree's workshop for you to consider in your use of SM. The main point is to remember the power a small group of people can have with the help of social networks. If you're trying to give your brand an extra boost, with organization and a plan you should be able to.

• Sree was organized: he got us all in one room, two separate nights wto share content he he knew very well.
• Sree had a plan: he have us a hashtag as well as examples of Tweets to share while he spoke, all while reminding us to mention prominent people he used in examples to gain even more attention for our posts.

This past Saturday, February 28, I was at a youth event presenting to teenage entrepreneurs about using social media for their projects. What I said to them I say to you: never stop learning. I learned new things from Sree, which I shared with these teens and now with you... and which I hope you share with others. The "pay-it-forward" effect does apply to social media, but as Sree also mentions in workshops: give credit where credit is due.

Thank Sree for his workshop and try to catch him if he comes near you! You could say, ".@Sree: Thanks for sharing new tools and tricks at #SreeBOS, come visit (Insert your town)!"

Now, the good stuff:

1. How to have a great Twitter profile:

• First important detail: Put a space between your name, i.e.: Bessie King vs. BessieKing. People search by a contact's name, not by their handle. They can either search within Twitter or right on Google, this is why it's important to use your name, and have a space in between, even if you didn't find a handle with your whole name in it. Point in case: @bessiejking, the "J" stays until I can get "my name" from Twitter.
• Second most important detail is your bio: Be, "your best current you." Every time you switch jobs or achieve something, like writing an e-book or winning an award, you will update your bio. Granted your Twitter bio won't mimic LinkedIn, nor can it due to space, you can still tell the world why you're special without labeling yourself as, "guru," "expert," or "industry leader." The people who get called these terms do not identify themselves with them, othersidentify them as "guru," "expert," or "industry leader" because of activities that have proven their knowledge and skills in a field. Earn the title, don't just give it to yourself.

• On the topic of bios: make yours blue! As in, clickable. A god example given was of PRI's David Beard, he lists handles he's connected to, websites to find his work and an email. He makes sure people can reach him. If you're already on social, be social. A tip I've used: create a professional email account you can use for your bios across the web, that way you don't have to use all of your personal information.

2. Across all profiles, change your header image quarterly, not every other week. People can recognize you visually. If you're known for a specific hobby, share that theme each time you change your header, for example. Header images can also reflect the projects you are working on. This point also relates to your profile image, make sure your profile photo looks like YOU. Likewise, maintain a steady profile photo to allow people to recognize your mug. If you don't want a headshot, consider a logo or the first letter of your name as your identifier.

3. Don't worry about being "verified" on social media! The majority of people who are verified are either celebrities, politicians or journalists: so, public figures. Being verified does not open some secret door to better analytics or a post scheduling wizard. Focus on your engagement and maintain a healthy rate of Followers to Following or Page Likes. Your content will verify your skills.

4. Related to verification and content: be interesting in real life to be interesting in social life! Read, listen to music, have discussions, all in the real world. Your activities, your interests, will reflect in your tone and help you stand out.

5. If you want to get noticed, plan it. Twitter lists are useful because you can create a private list with the key people you look up to, want to work for, or want to have follow you. You can also try lists on Facebook to organize your friends into the key contacts you want to interact with professionally, too. Research what your selected social media users post about and learn from their content. Answer questions they post in a helpful manner to get noticed. Share quality content and share it with them directly. All of these activities can grow your following in a valuable way.

6. LinkedIn is more than a job searching tool. Just as you want to share good content on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, LinkedIn's Pulse is an overlooked short-style blogging platform that can get you noticed by clients or colleagues- not just recruiters. Use LinkedIn as a live directory of fellow industry members that can come to or invite you to events, offer their expertise for a project, and even become mentors. One of the first business books I read said networking was not about keeping tabs but about building relationships. LinkedIn can become your platform to build them.

7. Try, try, try! There are new tools in the "old" social networks we use, such as: Twitter video! Facebook CTA buttons! Instagram caption edits! If something new comes out go ahead and test it, don't be afraid to "fail" because we're all figuring out these updates as well.

8. Track your click links, just as you track RTs, Shares, reposts, etcetera. To dothis, use a link shortening site like bitly.com and get free analytics on your links! This way you'll know what type of content your audience responds to.

9. Awesome new tools to try, in no particular order:

• Buffer - Buffer makes it super easy to share any page you're reading
• Peerindex - check out social ratings with social media analytics based on footprints from use of major social media services, Klout-like
• Topsy.com - allows you to search by time & place, set alerts, and analyze sentiment for every tweet ever made
• Snapbird.com - helps find old tweets and messages by going months back into a feed
• Editonthefly.com - Edit video and photos with effects and audio tools that will make your mobile captures look professional
• Twiangulate.com - the leading tool for search, analytics and mapping of connections between Twitter friends and followers
• Hashtracking.com - enables you to see at a glance who participated in a chat, how many people were reached, who was retweeted the most
• iftt.com - automate actions you already do on the web to be more organized and look like a pro. Such as: "if you post a photo on IG then the native image not the link will be shared on Twitter." There are fancier things like banking tracking but this IG formula made my day
• Bananatag.com - know when your email was received and when it was opened without hacking into anyone's account
• Rapportive.com - shows you everything about your contacts right inside your inbox

10. Sree is always generous in sharing his slides with us, but to find additional tips and a public set of slides he's edited with more information visit: Bit.ly/sreeslides

I hope you learned something. If you need help figuring out an item mentioned leave a comment or send me a message!

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*If you would like to read my future posts please click "Follow" at the top of my LinkedIn Pulse articles and feel free to connect with me on Twitter.

**This post originally appeared on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/social-one-night-stand-bessie-king?trk=mp-reader-card

Generation Z

No, I'm not talking about zombies...

In late February I had the great pleasure of volunteering with United Way of Massachusetts for Youth Venture Professional Development Day. In this program teens from across the state work on projects that will benefit their schools, families and communities. The event was a check-in for students to present their project developments and get feedback from mentors and judges to continue the completion of their projects.

On that Saturday I was also asked to do a short presentation about using social media for project promotion. I tell you, speaking to teenagers about best practices for Twitter is more nerve-racking than addressing million-making company CEOs on the matter. The whole day was wonderful, with no glitches, plenty of questions and a lot, a lot, of inspiration.

In the first half of our day we heard students present their projects for feedback. Two of the projects we heard from were from Lynn, Massachusetts. The first working to have a second Dance Jam where professional breakdancers and choreographers could join a dance party to promote healthy living through art and dance while increasing teen's confidence. There was a lot of meaning behind what could be deemed as just another party. The student group had hosted the event in 2014 and in 2015 their goal was to raise enough funds to secure a dance class at the Lynn YMCA and show that looks or outfits don't matter on a dancefloor.

The second group also turned to their YMCA, but for a different purpose. The students wanted to create a support group for homeless teens in Lynn. Their personal experiences and research showed that Lynn has one of the highest teen homelessness rates in the state. Three other judges and I were floored after hearing this. The students explained that these teens never fit in, they pretend their lives are alright because they are embarrassed to admit their homelessness but this defense mechanism never allows them to create real friendships. Their support group would pair a homeless teen with a teen who has a home to talk about feelings, TV shows, life goals, teen love, anything at all, to give homeless teens a place where to belong. When asked why the group decided to tackle this issue, the seeming leader, "Eddy," said that his grandma asks him frequently, "have you made someone smile today?" and he wanted to make the homeless teens he knows and sees at school smile.

"Have you made someone smile today?" Osayaba, aka "Eddy," whose @speakunited project is to help homeless teens in Lynn.

Eddy's intention stuck with me. An outspoken young man with a fiery spirit, he wore a dress shirt and bowtie to look his very best, despite being from a city with a 21.9 percent poverty rate. Perhaps his family, too, has dealt weathered through tough financial times, or perhaps not. But by making the choice to present himself in the best way possible and share his desire to make others see the very best in themselves as well, I was given a perfect example of dignity and humility. Eddy left me wondering, do I make someone smile everyday?

The last project we heard from tackled colorism. It was from students in East Boston who wanted to talk about people discriminating against each other because of their skin color being darker or lighter, despite coming from the same race. This was a politically charged and societally needed project, which stemmed from Michael Brown's shooting in Ferguson, Mo. As a Mexican-American I was marvelled at the willingness these high-school students have to address subjects my own parent or grandparents feel uncomfortable talking about.

Once the presentations were over I hosted other students for a branding and social media for business presentation. Again, the questions from the young-adults and their capacity to grasp new concepts, when explained a little more in detail, blew me out of the ballpark. Two sisters behind the project of a "Grateful Wall" approached me to ask for more social media guidance for their idea. They want to build a website where people worldwide can post a message of gratefulness for 10 cents, and choose a charity for the dime to be donated.

Have you heard these kind of ideas, using movement or events or art or outreach or education or crowdsourcing to accomplish a goal, from ANYONE in your office lately? After the event I felt guilty.

Guilty because I, like many others, have doubted Generation Z. The news reports of teen bullying, sense of entitlement, lack of skills due to over-digitization and so much more, truly blindfolded me. I've volunteered to help fellow, younger millennials, or pre-high school students because of my biased thinking, "teenagers nowadays just don't care." Boy am I, and are we wrong.

Generation Z has incredible potential. The next generation of employees will be hyper-digitized, globalized and politicized. It is up to everyone 25 and older to help them focus their skills and knowledge into positive work. Let's face it, the teens of today will not live through another Y2K or Facebook launch or first Black elected president.

For the most part our civilization is set as we know it, but Generation Z will experience the changes and consequences of environment, new civil rights, and even terrorism-related happenings. If we want our businesses and corporations to have a legacy, we need to think about adjusting our business models beyond millennial lifestyles. We need to start thinking of more than digital offices, we need multilingual work environments, community involvement, a plan for global impact, increased education and travel work benefits and real, acted-upon, values.

I've been asked more than a dozen times, "what do millennials want to stay in a job?!" The answer is easy, we want to see a clear path of growth if we're to stay in one single company for more than 2-years. I think Generation Z will want more than that, they will want to understand how the work of one person can affect the whole company and the world. While there are some millennials who think like this now, the mindset will expand. 

Be inspired and afraid and, like me, get your blindfold off. Today's teens are ready to make changes. 

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*If you would like to read my future posts please click "Follow" at the top of my LinkedIn Pulse articles and feel free to connect with me on Twitter.

**This post originally appeared on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/generation-z-bessie-king?trk=mp-reader-card

Help Vanuatu

After news of the natural disaster I've been searching for ways to help communities in Vanuatu. I came across the New Zealand Kiwanis who have been working for over 20 years sending books and school resources over there to help children.

After cyclone Pam, the group is back to square one. Right now they can't send books, though if you are in or near New Zealand message me to learn how to drop off a book and school supplies donation, but they are accepting donations to restart their program.

If you can give anything these are their details: 

Account name - New Zealand-South Pacific District of Kiwanis International
Inc
Account number - 030181 0000105 00
Swift Code - WPACNZ2W
Bank name - Westpac New Zealand limited
Bank address - 198 Kitchener Road, Milford, Auckland 0620 New Zealand
Reference: Vanuatu Disaster Relief
contact: treasurer@kiwanis.co.nz

Education is the greatest tool for personal growth and empowerment. Thank you in advance for helping this cause.

"The headmaster of Central School, lays out books to dry in the sun after the roof of the school's library was blown away by Cyclone Pam in Port Vila," International Business Times.

30

In exactly 30 days at 3p.m. I will welcome my 30s.

Earlier this year, I asked you, family and friends, to share 1 word you thought described me. Unknowingly, you sent words that describe you, too, and characteristics I have obtained thanks to you being in my life.

I am celebrating 30 years by giving thanks to YOU and raising funds for Alzheimer's research, the illness that took my dad and changed my mom's and my life since his diagnosis.

I'd like to raise this money to give back to a community of caregivers that is often overlooked, to share some of the love and support you have given my family and I through the years, and to raise awareness about an illness that is not an "old people" problem.

More importantly, I want to do something significant in honor of my mom. She alone cared for us, never getting enough credit for it all and never having enough resources available.

I invite you, then, to begin celebrating with me by making a $1, $5, $10 donation and raising $3,000 in 30 days.

http://act.alz.org/goto/3k30D

And, together throughout this month, celebrate each other and the amazing memories you've gifted me in 30 darn great years. The #YearOfLove continues, let's make this happen too! #3K30D !!!