Rotary District 9690

Social Media Workshop

October 2011

Simone Carot Collinssimone@lasninas.com.au

PrivacyIf you are concerned about data becoming public, don't publish it electronically, even “privately” – this includes emails.

Consider the implications of “Friending”, “Liking” or “Following” people, groups or organisations. What does it say about you? Such links are usually publicly viewable.

Facebook privacy

What you see on Facebook is not necessarily what other people see!◦ Anything you post on a Page or Open Group is publicly viewable◦ You can set which broad groupings can see certain information in your Privacy

settings◦ You can select who can see each individual post◦ Use the “View As” button to see what information is publicly available, or visible to

certain people

Make use of “Friend Lists” to easily control who can see your information and posts: http://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/lists◦ Some “Smart Lists” are automatically created based on information entered in your

profile – you can adjust these◦ You can also adjust settings on a friend by friend basis◦ You can decide whether to allow people to “Subscribe” to your posts

Review your Privacy settings at least every 3 months◦ Make sure you turn OFF the settings that enable your friends to unwittingly pass

your data on to 3rd party applications or websites they may use:▪ Go to “Privacy Settings”▪ Select “Apps, Games and Websites”▪ Click the “Edit Settings” button for “How people bring your info to apps

they use” and uncheck all boxes.◦ Clean out old applications and review their access settings every 3 months.

▪ Always check what data an app wants to access about you when you add it. If it's an unreasonable invasion of your privacy, don't add it!

◦ The Rotarians on Social Networks Fellowship publishes information about changes to Facebook, including new Privacy settings, on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/rosnf as soon as we learn about them.

Facebook's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy are available at http://www.facebook.com/terms.php

What are other people saying about you online?

You may be surprised by how much information about you is already online. Try “ego surfing” (typing your own name into a search engine).

You can receive email notifications whenever something new is published publicly about your or your club by setting up a Google Alert at http://alerts.google.com

Develop your online strategy

What outcomes do you want to achieve from your online presences?

Outcome Methods

Increase membership Raise awareness of what Rotary does in general through sharing photos / videos / news updates about your club and Rotary in general

Keep in touch with alumni

Keep members better informed and engaged (increase retention)

Increase funds raised Promote events and fundraising initiatives

Advertise how to make donations

Source participants for programs / camps / scholarships

Promote opportunities available

Increase attendance at events Promote events

Source project partners Interact with Rotarians and Rotaractors online

Share ideas / knowledge Create an online repository of your club's knowledge

Contribute to online discussions with Rotarians worldwide

Which audiences are you trying to reach?

What information will you post? How often will you post information?

Which platforms will you use?

Who will your administrators be?

How will you deal with negative press?

Using Social Media in your Club

Recommended platforms

Facebook: Use a Facebook Page to share your news with the wider public.

Do not create a personal profile for your club! If you have a profile rather than a page, you can convert it: http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=18918

Closed or Secret Facebook Groups may be beneficial for connecting with specific audiences: alumni, committees / club members, people interested in applying for a program or scholarship etc.

Twitter: You can connect your Facebook Page to a Twitter account to automatically post your updates as “Tweets”. Don't forget to check your Twitter account for private message from time to time! http://www.twitter.com

SlideShare: You can upload your bulletins to SlideShare and embed them in your Facebook page and Website. Only do this if you can commit to doing it every week. Is there sensitive information in your bulletin that shouldn't go online? http://www.slideshare.net

What to share Photos: Projects, events, interesting speakers, new members being inducted...

anything that can show your club as interesting, relevant, worthwhile, fun.

Events: Use Facebook Events for inviting people to or reminding them about upcoming events and meetings.

Bulletins: If you have a good, concise, professional bulletin, sharing it online can give the public a good overview of what you do from week to week. Uploading them to SlideShare will mean that people will not need to download them to be able to read them.

Videos: Some clubs make good use of short videos to show their club in action. There are many professional videos available from RI that you can use too.

News snippets: Quick updates on what has happened or what is coming up in your club or district. You can also post general news about what is happening in the wider Rotary world.

Links: To more detailed information about something on your website or another Rotary website.

Static information: Via tabs - http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=190322544333196

You can also post items as your “club” on other Pages and Profiles on Facebook.

Gaining Likers / FollowersSocial media is all about building relationships. Gaining a following requires genuine, meaningful interactions.

Make sure your page / stream is engaging. Try to post updates at least every couple of days. It should only take a minute to do so. Respond to / “Like” comments in a timely manner.

“Like” other Rotary-related pages on Facebook, or follow other Rotary accounts on Twitter. Quite often they will return the favour.

Interact with other Rotary pages and groups on Facebook. If you add valuable comments or information on other Rotary presences while logged in as your club, other people will follow the link back to your own page and Like it.

The Rotarians on Social Networks Fellowship is a good place to start:http://www.facebook.com/rosnf

Use your personal social media profile to post about Rotary too. Share what you personally do in and get out of Rotary, friend / follow / subscribe to other Rotarians and family of Rotary, participate in Rotary-related discussions, and Like Rotary related pages personally. It may pique the curiosity of others in your networks enough to check out your club Page.

Don't spam! If you want to promote a particular event, don't post the same link in different groups / pages / profiles in a short space of time. If the same news / link is repeated over and over in someone's newsfeed, they will block your posts. Spread out sharing your information over different times of the day, to get maximum exposure without being seen as a nuisance.

Your Club Website

Recommended platform

WordPress: Free open source content management system that doesn't require programming skills to use.

Can use the free hosted version at www.wordpress.com (or you can add premium features such as your own domain name or no ads for a small annual fee), or you can easily install it on any other web server at no extra cost (you would pay for the hosting and domain name separately). Most hosting services offer management via “CPanel”, and WordPress can be installed in 3 clicks in the “Fantastico” section of CPanel.

What to share

More in depth information that doesn't need to be updated as regularly:◦ Where the club is located / where it meets◦ Projects & programs◦ Club board / contacts◦ General information about Rotary International & where the club fits in to

the bigger picture

Set up a feed from your Facebook Page so that news is updated regularly without having to enter it twice: http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like-box/

A website can be a useful central repository for club documents and documentation. Is an intranet warranted? Do club members have the skills to log in and use another system? Would they actually make the time to do so?◦ Google Docs is an easy way to share / collaborate on documents:

http://docs.google.com

Only set up a blog or upload bulletins if you can commit to updating them regularly. If it has been months (or years!) since the last update, people may think your club is no longer operational.

Keep in mind:

Keep it simple! The more information there is on the site, the more time it takes to maintain it.

Search engines can't show your site in search results if the words don't appear on your webpage. Put your full club name, suburb / town / city, NSW and Australia in the footer of every page.

Remember that most visitors to your site won't understand Rotary acronyms. Spell them out and explain them.

How to create a Facebook pageYou must have a Facebook account (personal profile) to be able to create a page.

1. Go to www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

2. Click on “Cause or Community”3. Choose a name for your page (Rotary Club of …), agree to the terms, and click

the “Get Started” button.4. Step through the wizard to continue setting up your page.

* Find / prepare a good image to use for your picture. It should include the Rotary emblem. Your club logo or bannerette image may be appropriate choices – try to keep a consistent brand. The maximum dimensions for the picture are 180px wide by 540px high. Consider how the thumbnail appears.5. Go to www.facebook.com/username to set a short web address for your page,

e.g. www.facebook.com/rcclubname or www.facebook.com/clubnamerotary 6. Add other admins – they must have Facebook accounts and be friends with you

- Click on the “Edit Page” button- Click on the “Manage Admins” link- Type in their name and save changes

How to create a WordPress website on WordPress.com1. Go to http://wordpress.com and click the “Get started here” button

2. Fill out the form and click the “Create Blog” button3. Activate your account (you will receive an email with a link to click).

You will then be taken to your WordPress Dashboard.

4. Remove the demo content:

1. Click on “Pages”, click on the “About” page, and update the content. You may like to make this the home page, providing information to orient the visitor with an overview of your club. Click the “Update” button when done.

2. Return to the “Dashboard” (top link in the side menu), and click on the “Post” link in the Right Now section. Roll your cursor over “Hellow world!” - a menu will appear and one of the options is “Trash”. Click on that “Trash” link to delete the post. This will also delete the demo comment too.

5. Adjust the “Settings” (last option in the side menu):

General: Enter your club name in the “Site Title”, enter a tagline (e.g. District, State, Country), adjust the Timezone. Save Changes when done.

Reading: Change “Front page displays” to “A static page”, and select the About page you edited above from the “Front page” drop down menu. Save Changes.

6. Customise the appearance of your site:

1. Click “Appearance” in the side menu.

2. Browse through the available themes and click the “Activate” link for one you like.

3. Set appropriate “Theme Options”, “Background”, and “Header” settings.