November Archives
Lenovo blogger shares post on gratitude
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 28, 2008
It’s worth remembering that blogs are not just viewable by the people in the country where they are written. Rather, they are global platforms that transcend borders. Bill Stevenson, who manages Corporate Social Investments for Lenovo, recently shared a guest post from a sales manager working for the company’s Australian division.
While traveling in India recently, he took some amazing photos and wrote: A debate rages in the car: we are arguing about the source of happiness of these women. Eventually we decide that it comes from their sense of place. They are not aspiring to great wealth, they are content with small improvements to ease the burden of their lives. It makes me think about how lucky I have been in the lottery, born into a middle class Western family with access to high levels of education and high paying employment.
This is not PR. This is not even about a product or service. This is authentic honesty from one man working for a giant global corporation, sharing his feelings about the world. Does your blog allow such honesty? If not, why not?
Read more of Bill’s travel blog post…
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Gobble, gobble, blog … corporate blogs and Thanksgiving
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 26, 2008
Many corporate blogs are highlighting the Thanksgiving holiday being celebrated this week in the US, so we thought we’d share a look at how some Blog Council members are getting into turkey day:
Graco - Stop by Graco’s Thanksgiving Traditions post to see how the blogging team likes to spend the holiday, as well as a few Thanksgiving traditions from Graco friends around the blogosphere.
Microsoft - The Outlook team has some very timely tips on how to get the most out of Outlook’s Out of Office Assistant. Bookmark this one now and come back in late December, too!
Newell Rubbermaid - On the Newell Rubbermaid blog, you can find two posts dedicated to tips and tricks for a healthy Thanksgiving: Holiday Leftover Safety Tips and Thanksgiving Tips for your Holiday Meal.
SAP - Marilyn Pratt, Community Evangelist for SAP, makes a connection between community and thankfulness: “It would be my fondest hope realized to not only support an environment to help bridge IT and Business, culture with culture, community with community here, but also make meaning out of our work engagements and find some way of sharing the abundance we are so blessed to enjoy: be it knowledge, experience or copious harvest fruits.”
Sharpie - The folks at Sharpie share a creative way to personalize your table this holiday weekend using decorative stones. Cool stuff!
Walmart - Tara Raddohl shares the news about Walmart donating 70 million meals and new refrigerated trucks as part of its $2.5 million donation to the Feeding America organization. That’s fantastic and kudos to Walmart for helping out those less fortunate.
Wells Fargo - For college students, Thanksgiving can be a bit stressful because it’s usually “catch up time” for homework or long-overdue projects. Caroline Hanson shares some tips for college students to make Thanksgiving productive on Wells Fargo’s Student LoanDown blog.
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Sharpie uses about page to show off personality
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 26, 2008
Sanford Brands, the makers of Sharpie pens and markers, recently launched a corporate blog. The site includes all the necessary legalese, but also has a distinct voice and fun personality.
Nowhere is the brand’s fun personality more clearly expressed than on the site’s about page: “In the beginning, man took paper and pen and put forth ideas and art. Then came Sharpie and the world exploded with a measure of color and vibrancy never seen before. Now, the Sharpie story continues here with inspirations and ideas and infinite possibilities.”
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How corporate social media can complement advertising
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 25, 2008
How can you use social media to help your traditional advertising efforts? Well, one way is to give it meaning, which is exactly what Chris Byrd of Dell did when describing Dell’s commercial using Kira Willey’s catchy tune, “Colors.”
In his post, Chris shares the creative purposes behind the selection of the song as well as an interview with Kira covering both her background as an artist and the inspiration for her music.
Kira Willey inspirational video
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Blog Council members take home multiple 2008 SNCR awards, Dell named Brand of the Year
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 24, 2008
The Society for New Communications Research recently announced the winners of their 2008 SNCR Excellence in New Communications Awards at the 3rd Annual SNCR Research Symposium and Awards Gala.
More than 100 case studies were submitted, and we’re excited to congratulate Blog Council members Dell, Molson and SAP for taking home individual honors. Dell also deserves an extra shout-out for being named Brand of the Year in honor of the company’s excellence in using social media tools and technologies to improve the company’s internal communications, collaboration initiatives, and brand image.
Overall, Blog Council members took home four of the seven corporate division awards, including:
- “Behind the Firewall” (Internal Communications/Corporate Division): Dell, Inc.
- Blogger Relations/Corporate Division: Molson with Hill & Knowlton
- Collaboration & Co-creation/Corporate Division: Dell’s IdeaStorm Team with Salesforce.com
- External Communications & Communities/Corporate Division: SAP
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Using comments to talk with detractors during a crisis
Posted by on November 24, 2008
GM is facing a tough situation right now. That’s no secret. But not only is the company using the blog as a direct way of countering false statements from detractors, it is fully engaged on its own turf as well. Comments on the GM Fastlane blog are turned on, and if you follow the threads, it definitely features all opinions (not just positive ones of support). The company deserves kudos for keeping comments open even during a crisis.
Disclosure: GM is a member of the Blog Council, but we would have linked to them anyway because we think they’re great. Read our disclosure policy.
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GE uses blog to talk about re-org
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 21, 2008
When a major division of GE re-organizes itself, it’s a big deal. The company used its GEreports blog to post an in-depth explanation of GE Capital’s re-org. Rather than simply rehashing a press release, the post goes into detail on why changes were made, features a link to the new org chart, and includes a video interview with COO Bill Cary and Communications Director Marissa Moretti explaining the changes.
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Building your corporate blog’s readership by leaving it
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 21, 2008
Often when building a social media presence and establishing a community, it’s natural for a large amount of focus to fall on your own content.
Mack Collier, though, points out that this is a trap many involved in social media fall into. Instead, Mack suggests we focus on building relationships:
“The big mistake that most new bloggers make (I did this as well) is that they think that they need to invest all their time on building their blog’s content. Wrong. You need to invest all your time in building your COMMUNITY. That happens by interacting with other bloggers in THEIR space. Go to their blogs, and communicate with these bloggers. Give them as much solid feedback as you can. They will reward you by following you back to YOUR blog, and returning the favor. Before you know it, you’ve planted the seeds for your own budding community.”
See more of Mack’s advice at The Viral Garden.
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Who is the voice of corporate social media?
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 20, 2008
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges in getting a social media presence off the ground is finding the proper author or authors. While ultimately this selection will likely boil down to the story you’re trying to share, it’s fascinating to take a look at the diversity of voices in corporate social media today–where authors represent everyone from front-line employees to C-level executives.
Here are a few examples:
Jonathan Schwartz, CEO, Sun Microsystems
Jonathan writes at “Jonathan’s Blog” and covers everything from the reasons behind major business decisions to new technological developments. As the CEO of one of the biggest tech companies in the world, his blog is followed by a wide audience and is frequently quoted by the press.
Amanda Wilson, Restaurant Manager and Resident Blogger for McDonald’s StationM
Amanda was selected by her peers at McDonald’s through an online vote to be the voice of their digital community of more than 13,000 crew members. Amanda, who maintains her primary role as a restaurant manager, now also shares news about restaurant staff achievements, McDonald’s system technology and innovations related to best practices through the company’s online community.
Russell Winters, Professional Buyer and Author of gadget-related topics at Walmart’s Check Out
Russell describes his job at Walmart in layman’s terms: “I buy stuff for a living. Specifically, I buy mobile phones, phone service, and accessories for other people. I am a personal shopper… with millions of clients.” Russell’s unique position within the company provides him (and his readers) insights into the new technology, gadgets and toys that Walmart is looking to offer within its retail stores.
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90-9-1 offers snapshot of real-world social media participation
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 20, 2008
CommunityGuy Jake McKee has created a new site called 90-9-1.com where he explains a concept crucial to understanding how social media participation works. Jake’s 90-9-1 methodology states “In social groups, some people actively participate more than others.”
This is crucial understanding for any corporate social media program because it offers a snapshot of what typical social media participation looks like in real-world conditions. ROI and goal projections should be adjusted accordingly.
For those that want to turn more of the 90% audience into active Creators or Editors, Jake offers these recommendations:
- Make contributing easy for everyone.
- Encouraging editing over creating.
- Reward participants.
- Identify both power users and up and coming users.
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