SCAN NATOA Conference Presentation
The States of Southern California and Nevada chapter of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors invited me to speak on social media tools and tips at their event in Santa Monica.
The event provided an opportunity to publish the latest Tripepi Smith Orange County City Internet Strategy Analysis for October 2010. You can read more about that report here: Orange County City Internet Strategy and Analysis.
The presentation I made at the conference focused on the key points city governments need to think about when considering, implementing or evaluating their social media strategy. I also offered a few key points about the pitfalls of social media and the risks inherent in engaging this space.
The key points of the presentation:
- Focus on identifying and branding official city social media channels
- Use the platform to engage the public but not spam them
- Use software tools (client-side and web-based) to be efficient
- Understand the limits of social media
- Examine the metrics available through social media
The pitfalls noted were:
- Cities are subject to the rules of the social media providers (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube)
- Privacy is a concern and cities need to advise the public to protect themselves
- Engaging the public gives the public a soapbox, so have a policy that lets you consistently address comments and others engaged in social media
The presentation is available in this PDF. Click here for presentation slides: Local Government, Social Media, Web Strategy – SCAN NATOA Conference (PDF)