Archive for March, 2009

U.S. Government Employees Can Access Social Media Sites

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on March 31st, 2009

I had a good friend from Toronto staying with me this past weekend. She works at a credit union was explaining that she can’t access the Internet at work. It seems that many organizations are still living in the “dark ages” when it comes to allowing staff access to their Internet. There appears to be some concern that people will “waste” too much time online or perhaps say something they shouldn’t…

U.S. government employees are now able to access social media sites at the office. If the highest offices are allowing staff access, other organizations need to rethink why they are banning…

Twitter for Business

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on March 30th, 2009

I saw the Chris Brogan blog post on 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business a few months ago. The post has been making its rounds on Twitter, and I came across it again over the weekend.  For those of you wondering how Twitter can work for your organization, this is definitely worth a read.

If A Mayor Tweets – Can His Staff Hear Him?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on March 25th, 2009

One of the challenges of working as a communicator in today’s world of Twitter, blogs, podcasts, vodcasts, Facebook, YouTube and other social media tools is that some organizations haven’t kept pace with the new way of doing business and living life. Take, for example, the case of Toronto’s Mayor, David Miller. Mayor Miller is on Twitter, which is good for a politician. It allows him to reach out and be a part of an ongoing conversation with the good people of “Hog Town.” Unfortunately, depending what organization you work in—including the Mayor’s own office—you might not have access to Twitter.…

What Are The Liabilities Online?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on March 24th, 2009

I am often asked in workshops and when meeting with clients what the liability is online. There are challenges that accompany the opportunity to freely speak your mind to a potentially global audience. I read this article with interest. A California court has ruled that a dentist can pursue a lawsuit against the writer of a bad review on Yelp. Yelp is an online Web 2.0 company that operates a social network, user review and local search. According to stats, over 10.6 million people access this site each month putting it in the top 100 U.S. websites. A good review…

How's That Working For You?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on March 20th, 2009

There is a great blog post, which I learned about via Twitter, about dead or dying PR tactics. I think that it’s well worth a read for a lot of reasons. There are a lot of great comments on this post as well, although it looked like it was mostly PR or communication types that were commenting on this. It would be interesting to hear from a reporter.

Another reason to read this is to have a real look at some of the PR tactics that are listed that you may still be using – maybe they are working for you,…

Are You Listening?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on March 18th, 2009

There is a very interesting article in The Vancouver Sun today that cites a survey done by 6S Marketing. According to the survey, 61% of companies using social media are tracking what is being said about them while 39% don’t pay attention.

Social media is hitting critical mass – and as I mentioned in previous posts, one of the underlying themes at the Ragan Social Media Conference in Vegas last week was that social media is now a part of everyday life for the majority of people. My question is to that 39% not paying attention – why aren’t you? There may be…

You've Been Served

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on March 17th, 2009

It was reported recently that a New Zealand judge has allowed papers to be served via Facebook – check out the story here.  This isn’t the first time that the legal world has used social media, and it won’t be the last. It does make a pretty interesting point – social media is a part of our day-to-day lives now.

I was at the Ragan conference on social media in Las Vegas last week and there was an underlying theme that came from all of the speakers – social media, online media, Web 2.0, Web 3.0 – you can call it…

Social Media – Not Just For Kids

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on March 10th, 2009

There is a great post on how Imedia Connection on how mothers are becoming more and more engaged and involved in social networks. It would appear, according to a recently released industry study, that year over year growth of women ages 25 to 54 with children in the household has gone up nearly 50% on Facebook since 2007. This post is worth reading. It has some very interesting stats and facts, such as: according to a recent MySpace study, the average MySpace mom spends more than 12 hours a week on the site. — That’s a lot of time!

One of the…

Are You Missing Out On Opportunities?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on March 05th, 2009

Recently we have had the opportunity to assist several large organizations create, expand or improve their conversation with a diverse stakeholder base. These days, social/online media is always considered when it comes to this type of initiative. Enabled by technology, organizations that have a diverse audience and/or one that is geographically distanced or separated have an excellent opportunity to open up a two-way conversation that fulfills the needs of everyone involved. There are more cost-effective and engaging ways to communicate now than ever before.

While technology has provided us with the ability to reach out and connect, it’s always important to…

The Changing Face of Media

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on March 02nd, 2009

I was watching the late news on Friday night and saw a story on the challenges that CTVglobemedia is facing. The Vancouver Sun has a good article on what the media giant is dealing with. Being a media junkie and a communicator, I have been watching the shift in the media for quite some time – but on Friday, it really hit me that the news business is in trouble and not just in Canada. Denver’s Rocky Mountain News closed its doors on Friday. According to many reports, including this one at Public Radio International, there are a lot of other print papers…