The Pacific Center for Advance Technology Training (PCATT) will be hosting their 8th Annual ITSummit on Thursday, May 20 – Friday, May 21, 2010 on the Honolulu Community College campus. This year’s theme is social media in education and the organizers have lined up speakers to lead discussions in virtualization, using wikis and blogs in education, mobile application development, and more. I’ve been asked to be the morning keynote to kick off what will be an exciting and vigorous two-day conference about social media in education.
Take a look at the schedule below and get in touch with Gerald Cerny or Wayne Lewis to register for this free event.
Pono Media has partnered once again with CommPac and their client, McDonald’s Restaurants of Hawaii for the launch of the new Mocha and Caramel Frappés and Mac Snack Wraps.
TWEETUP
McDonald’s of Keeaumoku
910 Keeaumoku St. Honolulu, HI 96814
Thursday, January 14, 2010
6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Like the #hiangus tweetup, we’ll all get together to sample the new Frappé blended ice drinks and Mac Snack Wraps till our stomachs are full. In addition to food and drinks, we’ll have a games and prizes so make sure you bring your laptops and smartphones! Games begin TODAY, so read below for details and see you on Thursday!
Check into McDonald’s of Keeaumoku on Foursquare and tag with #HIMCD using the ’shout’ option. (Tag #HIMCD is required).
Email photos of your meal and receipt to post@himcd.posterous.com (Photo of receipt and meal is required).
On January 14, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time we will confirm via Foursquare the Mayor of McDonald’s Keeaumoku and corresponding photos and receipts on the #HIMCD community blog. PRIZE: A $25 McDonald’s Gift Card will be awarded to the Mayor of McDonald’s of Keeaumoku.
I’M LOVIN’ IT! in Hawaii
Email photos of you, your family and friends enjoying a Frappé or Mac Snack Wrap at ANY McDonald’s in Hawaii (any and all islands welcome to participate) to post@himcd.posterous.com
On January 14, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. Hawaii Standard time we will count the number of posts per user. PRIZES: Up to (4) prizes will be awarded on Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island to the person(s) with the most posts.
TWEET, TWEET, TWEET
Post your Frappé or Mac Snack Wrap photos, texts, and tweets to Twitter and tag them with #HIMCD.
On January 14, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. Hawaii Standard time we will count the number of tweets from 1/05/2010 at 6:00 p.m. to 1/14/2010 at 8:00 p.m. PRIZE: A $25 McDonald’s Gift Card will be awarded to the person with the most tweets tagged with #HIMCD.
There will be more games and prizes at the Tweetup, so make sure you arrive early and look for us in the outdoor seating area.
Disclosure: Pono Media, CommPac, and/or McDonald’s Hawaii reserves the rights to change the rules of the games without notice. In case of a tie or dispute, Pono Media, CommPac, and/or McDonald’s Hawaii shall make the final decision. Pono Media is a paid client of CommPac.
Today I was fortunate enough to speak to the members of PRSA Hawaii about using photos and videos in social media. My focus was on (2) different uses of video as a marketing tool.
Use video to explain your product or service
One of the assumptions that companies often overlook is that their targeted audience or potential audience understands their product or service upon initial inquiry or contact. When launching your product or service, keep in mind the 3-types of learners: visual, audio, and hands-on. With visual learners, do not make additional assumptions that text or pictures are enough.
As the Chief Evangelist of Alltop, my opinion may be subjective, but take a look at the MyAlltop tutorial video below it has all of the elements of the different types of learners, including hands-on because it simulates the actual action readers will perform to build their customized MyAlltop page.
Put the camera in your customers hands
In October, I was fortunate enough to have dinner with Scott Monty, Ford Motor Company’s Head of Social Media. It was then that I first learned about Ford’s social media campaign, Fiesta Movement. In a coconut shell, 100 “agents” were given the keys to a Ford Fiesta, sent on selected missions over a 6-month period and asked to document their experience via social media.
I received an email from Scott last night with the following numbers from the agents’ published content:
More than 6 million views on YouTube
740,000 views on Flickr
3.7 million impressions on Twitter
Additionally, Ford has been able too:
Attract 80,000 people whom have asked to learn more about the Fiesta
Of the 80K, 97% are currently not Ford owners
Awareness of the vehicle is at 58%
Ford sold 1K vehicles in the first week of reservations
It’s important to note that the vehicle being marketed will not be available at dealerships until another 6-months.
Bruce Fisher, Ed Morita, L.P. Neenz Faleafine
If you’re still not convinced to use video to either help your potential customers understand your services or product or as a promotional marketing tool; fellow speaker, Bruce Fisher of Hawaii Aloha Travel demonstrated that a search for specific hotels in Hawaii on YouTube return his videos in the top results. Fortunately for the hotels, his videos enhance their brand, however not every company is that lucky.
For those of you familiar with social media and Alltop, you’re probably wondering how or why MyAlltop can be considered a social media tool. The answer is simple, regardless of your role in the social networking world, but especially if you’re an organization considering or executing a social media marketing plan you should be — reading more.
Second, scan through our more than 650 alltopics via keyword search, by category or alphabetically and identify the ones that are relevant to your niche, products, and services. To get you started I’ve listed a few alltopics to get you started:
Many factors are considered in the order of the sites on each alltopic page, however it is important that you or a member of your organization set aside some time to explore the different sites before selecting your MyAlltop choices.
Once you’ve sorted through and identified the sites whose news are most beneficial to you and your organization, follow the steps to set-up your customized MyAlltop account.
What are the benefits of having a customized MyAlltop page for your organization?
Staying abreast on the top news relevant to your organization.
Providing your clients with insight into your organizations’ thought process.
Share relevant content through your different social networking sites.
Take a look at MyAlltop page which is a collection of news sites that reflect my personal and professional interests. I also scan the headlines of the alltopics listed above as well as Hawaii, KGMB9, Lifehacks, and more.
MyAlltop also received a recent upgrade making reading RSS feeds via an iPhone much easier. If you’re not reading what’s going on in your industry, your competitors are — so don’t delay.
Lists, especially “Top Lists” are always open to discussion and debate because everyone has different opinions. It’s these differences in opinions that can make the world go round, crank the wheels of innovation, and churn up passionate emotions.
Tonight, digital ronin Burt Lum, co-host of Hawaii Public Radio’s technology show, Bytemarks Cafe presented the Top 20 Social Media Geeks in Hawaii at Pecha Kucha 5.0. If you’re not familiar with Pecha Kucha, in a coconut shell it’s an informal presentation format in which the presenter has 20 slides and 20 seconds to present each slide. (Note: This is an informal presentation format, for an equally effective, but a bit more formal presentation format follow Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 Rule).
Here is the Top 20 Social Media Geeks in Hawaii as compiled by Burt, and in case you’re wondering, he says, “it’s very subjective.”
Earlier in the week, Burt had contacted me for a picture so I knew I made his list, but I did not expect to be placed in the top position. I am thankful for Burt’s kind thoughts. I agree with everyone he has on his list and there are easily more people that could be added and room to rearrange positions, however I admire Burt’s courage for compiling the Top 20 Social Media Geeks in Hawaii.
Update: As Burt mentioned in his comment below, his list is not a ranking, but a flow.
It’s been two weeks since the official So Much More Hawaii tour ended, and everyone — bloggers, public relations representatives, marketers, writers, taxpayers, opinion formers — are all asking, what’s next?
The entire process was a complete learning experience for me. I am truly grateful for the lessons learned, even the tough ones. As I previously mentioned, my goal was to bridge the local social media and blogging community with the So Much More Hawaii team. The pairing process, while seemingly simple, was actually enduring. It was more than just coordinating schedules and niches; but also handling rejection gracefully and being able to adjust to personality differences.
One of the key elements that I had before making this commitment was knowing many of the individuals that make up my community. For many, a person’s passions are clear in their online content, however the traits that make them unique individuals can only be discovered through real life or more intimate conversations. Over the years, I’ve invested a lot of time offline at different events or online through frequent instant messaging, VoIP and even telephone calls fostering relationships. These sincere investments, I believe, provided the edge needed in building a solid bridge.
Another goal that was also met, and this perhaps was much more favorable for social media marketers, content creators, and long-time users and enthusiast of social networking; was that the Hawaii Tourism Authority gave consideration to social media tools through this tour. This ground-breaking decision led by Vice President of Tourism Marketing, David Uchiyama garnered the attention of local traditional media outlets: Pacific Business News, Honolulu Star Bulletin, and KHON2 news; and of course the blogging community.
The ultimate and foremost goal was to inspire action, specifically having people book and pay for airline tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals, and activities to experience a vacation in Hawaii. Time will tell if the ultimate goal was met, and the analytics of the tour is still being compiled. But, the question still remains — what’s next?
Here is what I have been doing and will continue to do next:
tough ones. As I previously mentioned, my goal was to 
