DISQUS

steve garfield · 2 years ago

Great post. You are giving us a personal connection inside the newsroom.

Delta Airlines is now my twiitter friend. Companies are figuring it out.

Jim Long · 2 years ago

Thanks Steve! I think companies are figuring it out. I don't think my company would implement anything like this unless it was suggested by someone with a slide deck and VP attached to their name. I'm like the crazy uncle in the newsroom shouting "social media!". ;-)

Chris Heuer · 2 years ago

Thanks Jim - this is a wonderful way of telling the Social Media story, with the sort of compelling benefits that will help more organizations 'get it'. I am particularly interested in the title of the post - employees as brand champions / storytellers is one of the most important opportunities that are provided by this medium. The reason being that it is no longer possible for many companies to make people aware of their products/services and the value it might provide through simple advertising buys. Now, let's be clear, this is not the end of advertising or traditional marketing, insomuch as it is a realization of the high value that real conversations can provide.

Employees have always been the 'living brand' of an organization, only now more companies are realizing they need to cultivate this more thoroughly as one of the services that employees can provide to the organization. Why? Because they are already having them, at the PTA meeting, at conferences, at dinner and all over town throughout their day.

Companies do not have conversations, people have conversations. Creating the ability for employees to have a human connection with the people who are passionate about their company is the important first step. Figuring out how to let them be human is the revolutionary requirement.

Whether you believe in the concept or not, the reality is that the proliferation of niche media choices and new attention grabbing channels of communication has fractured the 'big audience' of traditional media. Focusing on the sale for the sole purpose of 'making the numbers' as the focus of any marketing effort is not going to be viable much longer. The real key is the co-creation of value with the people in your market - this is best accomplished with real conversations more so than the staged 'market research' interviews and psychological manipulations.

The company PR department and their agencies can not possibly belong to or engage with all of the communities and sub-communities that exist around the biggest brands - only people can. Who better to participate in the communities and represent the brand, then the employees that turn the brand from an abstract concept into the reality of personal relevance.

Humans don't scale, but organizations of humans do...

Shaine Mata · 2 years ago

I get the same reaction about my posts from work. I don't think too highly of my job, but others find my Twitter posts interesting. They get an inside view of a worker bee in the Texas Legislature.

vergenewmedia · 2 years ago

Chris you make some very useful comments here that really help propel the conversation forward.

Companies do not have conversations, people have conversations. Creating the ability for employees to have a human connection with the people who are passionate about their company is the important first step. Figuring out how to let them be human is the revolutionary requirement.

While this part of the equations seems simple, it is the one companies fear the most I suspect.

vergenewmedia · 2 years ago

Shaine, Texas State politics??? Now THAT'S great material! ;-)

Jack Hodgson · 2 years ago

Jim, As I've told you before, I enjoy your posting. Fascinating stuff.

And I agree that your postings are probably helping your employers. But, as I've read your twitters, blog posts, and watched your video's, I've often wondered what your employers feel about your visibility and "revelations".

Your posts have improved my impression of MSM, but a fellow employee of yours, who was more clumsy, or less literate, could produce a very different result. And I think that's the danger that frightens your bosses. Or would, if they thought about it.

I hope they never try to stop you. But I'd be surprised if they were to give a blank check, let alone encouragement, to others.

BTW, I don't know your background, but I predict that your posts will lead to you having the opportunity to move away, from running the cameras, to more actively creating content for them. That may, or may not, be appealing to you. But I'm betting the opportunity will present itself.

Jim Long · 2 years ago

Jack, thank you for that encouraging post! Sorry for the delay in posting it, but Akismet spam blocker marked you as spam for some reason. I think your points are very useful and certainly point to valid corporate apprehensions. There's PLENTY of material I could kvetch about as a little guy in a monolithic media corporation. But, like the subtitle of Chris Brogan's blog,

I write about things that excite me.

The same goes for my Twitters!

Amani Channel · 2 years ago

Jim, I think some mainstream outlets are catching on. It's been so interesting to see the reaction from my mainstream compadres to my new blogging venture. Most are excited and interested in the idea. I'll just give you one example... the PR folks over at CNN tracked the links back to me after I wrote about one of their weekend documentaries, and they started sending me press releases. After I contacted their office, and explained who I was and what's I'm doing, they invited me to interview one of their new anchors... This def. adds to the transparency, and now that the video is online it's taken on a life of its own, as you well know folks imbed, email and link. There are a couple of lessons.. first of all from a pr standpoint credible bloggers can and should develop relationships just like mainstream reporters. Secondly news networks can benefit from establishing relationships with bloggers as well, ie TVNewser, and I guess MyUrbanReport on a much smaller scale.

Jim Long · 2 years ago

Amani, I'm VERY jazzed about the path your blog is taking. You, my friend, are the TRUTH! I'm keeping my eye on you. ;-)

CoryS · 2 years ago

Jim -

Blogger and VC, Fred Wilson posted about the convergence of Twitter and media: "Just because it's said in 140 characters or less doesn't mean it's not journalism. To think otherwise is patronizing and wrong."

When I commented that you're providing a prime example of how to leverage new technology to amplify media's reach, he replied "bingo".

You may need to add a new first to your list of likely outcomes - "Create a new media start up" :)

Jim Long · 2 years ago

Cory, i'm preparing my "10-20-30" slide deck now!

Kami Huyse · 2 years ago

I think that the key here is that it is now POSSIBLE to have that one-on-one connection to the audience. I think that is the real paradigm shift that has been such a struggle for some media organizations. And can you blame them? Everything has been based on reach in the past, but today it is more about depth. I think media companies will adapt, I don't believe in the "mainstream media is dead" myth/meme.

Jim Long · 2 years ago

Kami, I'm with you 100% on disabusing people of the notion that legacy media is dead. Smart media plays will be collaborative efforts between traditional and independant content creators. Thank you for your thoughts here.