Notes

=Chat Transcript: Group 2, September 22=


 * Chat: What SMART objective are you measuring?**

Geoff Drake: 1) What is the value of social media in driving attendance?2) How effective is social media in keeping people connected to the Aquarium, regardless of where they live?


 * If you started but didn't finish, why? What are your questions?**

Debbie Ford-Scriba: I will be filling out form after meeting w/Analysis Exchange team. I envision that Analysis Exchange team will help refine our project and develop parameters.

Nathalie Arch: I've started planning, but our big annual event is this Saturday so putting my hands on the keyboards to finish laying out the pilot has been pushed back on organizational priority list. I just have to work on it next week once we pass Saturday.

Christine Lindberg: We've worked on strategy on the social media and communications side, but are lagging on connecting with our policy team happen so we can all get on the same page and make sure the goals we've set out in the campaign plan are aligned.

Michelle Berg: Our org is supportive of social media, but the hardest part is having time to measure. Luckily, we now have a volunteer from Cisco who is helping post and take measurements (starting during our Oracle Online Action Challenge)

Jocelyn Herbert: We have worked with you to identify the benchmarking preliminary research, but honestly, work has been super busy the past month, plus I moved, and have had a hectic travel schedule, I'll get it set out this month.

Danielle Brigida: We need to identify KPI's that we can use for our regional office dashboard/process. I'm going to try surveying them/calling them but I'm going to have to find time on the schedule.

Natalia Castaneda: Having trouble timing the launch of the report with the timing of the pilot (the report is not ready yet)

Maria Ibanez: Challenging to set aside quality time to focus on the pilot while in the throes of our conference and other competing deadlines.

Alison Carlman: Natalie, hopefully you can use your pilot as "proof" of your success

Jenn Breckenridge: I can share

Debbie Ford-Scriba: I'd be happy to share some of the traction we've gained in outside communities with Hidden Villa. Also, how we've worked with staff to integrate responsibilities. AND, how our funders have come to expect this! GOT to block out the time.

Christine Lindberg: (to share with Hidden Villa) Running a competition with prizes is helpful, if budget allows for it. We recently ran a staff social media competition and while participation wasn't as high as we'd hoped, it got a lot of people interested and excited. Also, we held social media trainings basics, aka a step-by-step of how to sign up and use Twitter.

Nathalie Arch: Debbie--I'd love to hear about this! Please feel free to email or call me at any time (development@hiddenvilla.org or 650-949-9702). Attaching funding to social media is also something I'm very interested in.

Debbie Ford-Scriba I agree. Everyone loves prizes!

Nathalie Arch: Christine Lindberg--That's a great idea, thank you. I am behind on running that informational/introductory meeting. The idea of setting up a contest is also something I think my organization can get excited about--thanks! Thanks everyone for your helpful feedback and suggestions. I really appreciate it. :)

Debbie Ford-Scriba: This is helpful...

Debbie Ford-Scriba: We've had a good experience with our Senior Fellows via a private LinkedIn Group.

Alison Carlman presents Alison Carlman: First slide: www.globalgiving.org; "Unmarketing: Stop marketing. Start Engaging." book by Scott Stratten about using social media effectively: http://www.amazon.com/UnMarketing-Stop-Marketing-Start-Engaging/dp/047061787X Last slide: Adding "campaign" tags to URLs so they are more trackable in Google Analytics: http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?answer=55578

Debbie Ford-Scriba: Wow! What is size of her org? Is that ALL she does? Great stuff...

Maria Ibanez: when did Global Giving start using only social media as its primary marketing tool?


 * Feedback on new chapter**

elisabeth copper: agreed!

Andy Freeze: the resonates with us

Nathalie Arch: Consequences: too true.

Debbie Ford-Scriba: I have found that as a journalism-trained content provider, analysis is not my first love. HOWEVER, I do understand the importance of it. We have an administrator who is in charge of our metrics. The info is reported out @ staff meetings at least quarterly; sometimes more often depending on upcoming board meetings, funder reports, etc. where we need to report #s. As a learning organization, we are not afraid of failure, as a small shop we really want to learn how to best focus our limited resources.

Nathalie Arch: Objectives: Yes! I am terrified of objectives--because social media is too new to my organization I get a huge set of wild and contradictory objectives from well-meaning people

Christine Lindberg: Agree! Setting solid objectives is hard because then it's clear when you don't meet them and feel like your failing! Also concerned about feeling overwhelmed (I think we talked about that during our chat, Beth). And it's hard to avoid the "measure everything" trap.

Brendan McLaughlin: that point about it being too time consuming definitely sounds right. uncertainty about the time commitment required to effectively measure. evaluation in general is a big, scary concept for non-profits. organizational evaluation is a huge undertaking that many NPs go through, which feeds our reluctance to measure

Debbie Ford-Scriba: Amen!

Andy Freeze: interrupting data resonates

Alison Carlman: Fear of improper analysis! Measuring engagement still seems so complex; when looking at statistics about facebook engagement, for example, itâ€™s hard to know WHICH variables contributed to the post that bombed. Was it the time of day? Wording? Length? Subject? Photo?

Christine Lindberg: The baby steps idea really helped us -- there's no shame in starting out small -- you can still think big! i just takes time to get there

Nathalie Arch: I fear "advice"...everyone seems to be an expert in social media because they have a twitter account and they suddenly have lofty goals and make crazy suggestions. So I fear "experts"...helpful experts, but it's hard to be firm about boundaries

Debbie Ford-Scriba: Just do it! See if staff who are well-trained & comfortable with Access or Excel spreadsheets can provide assistance.

Maria Ibanez: Try as best as possible to stay focused on the mission, purpose and keep talking about that to staff teams, keep them engaged.

Brendan McLaughlin: but with digital media, it's a manageable task. we just need successful experiences in discrete evaluation to help dispel the dread.


 * 7th Habit**

Debbie Ford-Scriba: 7. Do a little every week.

lyle hurst: a couple of valid objections: if you have poor metrics, measurement is of questionable value; measurement is inherently backward-looking, like driving using your rearview mirror instead of the windshield

Maria Ibanez: I think a 7th habit is to continously engage your internal audiences

Jocelyn Herbert: admit when you're not getting the desired result, and figure out why not.

Brendan McLaughlin: not a new one, but encourage strong emphasis on ongoing realtime eval

Alison Carlman: keep track of STORIES/anecdotes of successes and failures to color data

Hilary Gridley: One fear is that what people like on social media may not line up with our program objectives--too much emphasis on "likes" could cause us to pander to our audience rather than what our experts agree is best

Caroline An: Engage your followers. Remember: patience!

Nathalie Arch: 7. Always have a back-up plan/person. The project can't fail because you got sick for three days.

lyle hurst: 7th habit: your most fundamental source of energy with all stakeholders is a compelling mission


 * Next steps**

Andy Freeze: determine benchmarks from previous data

Christine Lindberg: Meet with our policy to really iron out our campaign plan! AND do the spreadsheet

Natalia Castaneda: Continue to fill out worksheet and discuss with staff

Hilary Gridley: next step: find out what metrics others in our org find most useful

Geoff Drake: We are conducting a Facebook deal this weekend; refine goals based on results...

Jocelyn Herbert: reiew email tips from Beth, go through handout and write-out the scope of the benchmark research study

Brendan McLaughlin: move on to integrating real time evaluation into our twitter engagement

Nathalie Arch: Next step: have a conversation with my director and finish fleshing out the pilot with full, verbalized support (rather than tacit/implied support).

Jenn Breckenridge: Lay out project with our development team.

lyle hurst: catch up on my delinquent materials for this project

Danielle Brigida: Chat with Regional office/Affiliates about what they see as KPI's and then start drafting a process/worksheet to help smooth out the process.

Michelle Berg: start measuring internally - time spent by department, and externally - which department's content is most popular

Debbie Ford-Scriba: Scheduling call w/Analysis Exchange today. Need to get information ready w/colleague to present on call. Plan to share learnings from this session; also draft SMART objectives.

Pam Sturner: write up pilot #2

Caroline An: finalize strategy with my colleague; the pilot we are measuring starts soon

lyle hurst: i've been lurking faithfully but not updating my spaces...

Maria Ibanez: Get started on my pilot!