I’m also ruminating an a long diatribe about social media as communications evolution not revolution—if you’ve chatted me up at a conference or in the hallway you’ve likely heard me rambling on via my imaginary soap box on this subject. Working on that soon too.

OH and I’ve been painting — updating Facebook.com/LuckyGirlArt with the latest stuff soon (do you LIKE me?).

Whew–so much awesome, so little time! Thanks for stopping in and clicky clicky for more rambling socia media and artistic radness.

I was on on New Marketing TV, Check it out:

My Marketing Nugget from SXSW 2011

For our upcoming PSFK SALON at SXSW this year, we’ve invited Renee Alexander to discuss the future of mobile marketing. Renee is Social Media Manager at UNICEF USA. Here are a few questions we asked her in preparation for the event.

What is the most exciting challenge that UNICEF USA is addressing right now?

Challenges are exciting aren’t they? From my perspective it is rejuvenating the brand. Making this historic, venerable organization relevant to the next generation of donor and supporter. This is not to say making it “cool” or “hip” or in-authentic, but the challenge is in introducing or re-introducing the magnitude of what we do and how people can plug in.

Are there any other projects that are currently inspiring your work?

We’re inspired by projects both in and outside of the non-profit world that inspire action and are actually led by the supporters. The social web has spawned a new breed of grassroots activism that has allowed deeper connections to  causes and brands while making taking action and making change easier.

What emerging trend, idea, or technology are your excited to see develop in the future?

Of course mobile is exciting. It’s the always on and always on you connector. Being able to share content, get feedback and inspire people wherever they are is exciting. What’s incredible about mobile is that it has implications across business segments here from fundraising and development which heretofore we have seen with SMS text to give campaigns to in the field projects such as mobile tags on field tents with vital information. We know that even in some of the most destitute developing countries, many families and even children have mobile phones. Imagine the education and community development potential there!

What has been the impact of social media on UNICEF USA’s work?

Beyond communicating information on UNICEF USA’s work in the field, social has really been a prime touch point for younger donors and supporters. To date the use of social has been more management and engagement, in the coming year it’s about pushing the envelope, being strategic and adding  real fundraising goals into the mix.

I recently spoke in Vegas for the awesome Ragan Comunications/PRSA. Here is a follow-up article from @RussellWorking on my presentation.

6 steps to gaining company backing for social media

Having trouble getting buy-in from your company on your social media campaign? Maybe it’s because you’ve set the wrong priorities.

The first bullet point of any campaign should not be to amass Twitter followers or Facebook friends but to restate your organization’s mission, said Renee Alexander, social media manager for UNICEF USA.

Speaking at Ragan’s Social Media for PR & Corporate Communicators conference in Las Vegas, Alexander also urged social media managers to reach out widely within their organizations when building their presence on the Web.

Alexander—who has also worked for a major digital agency representing clients that included Coca-Cola, Olive Garden Italian Restaurant, and Kleenex—has successfully used social media to raise donations or boost sales.

Here are some of her tips:

1. Put the company’s goals first.

“Your goals in social [media] should be the exact set of goals of your company,” Alexander said.

That means point No. 1 on the social media mission statement should be a rewording of the organization’s own mission.

“If it’s to grow the business by 15 percent, grow your business in social [media] by 15 percent,” she said. “If it’s to create long-lasting relationships with your donor base if we’re talking nonprofits, that should be your social media mission.”

In adopting this attitude, the social media strategy is no longer how to get out a press release in 140 characters, but how to accomplish the corporate plan the bosses themselves designed.

“They’re going to love you,” she said.

2. Reach out to other departments.

“Social media is not a marketing function,” Alexander said. “It’s not a PR function. It’s not a promotion function. It’s not an R&D function. It’s not a customer service function. It is a business function.”

That is, social media has implications across every single segment of a business or nonprofit organization. Once other departments see the benefits for the work they do, they are likely to buy in.

For example, she said, at one company, employees started griping about their bosses and their shifts and even resigning via Facebook. Suddenly, human resources could see the importance of social media.

The same message can resonate in the research and development department.

“How many times from an R&D perspective,” Alexander said, “have you been able to think about a product and go, ‘Gee, I wonder if our consumer base would enjoy this product? Would they like it better in purple or red?’”

Social media gives companies the ability to try such questions out among hundreds of thousands of people at once, making it integral to product development.

3. Use case studies to persuade the bigwigs.

When corporate leaders seem shy about social media, Alexander brings out case studies about how it can hurt or help their brand. “The best possible thing you can do with your higher-ups is to give them case studies,” she said.

For example, she said the “United Breaks Guitars” song that went viral hurt the airline’s ticket sales, whereas good use of social media, such as Kodak’s, can help revive a company.

Likewise, frustrated customers have begun tweeting about how long they’re kept on hold. So a major call center with 400 employees placed five staffers on Facebook and Twitter watch, searching for comments to address, Alexander said.

4. Listen to customers—and learn from them.

When customers started tweeting that they didn’t like the name of a new Kodak camera, the company launched a social media campaign to rename it, Alexander said.

Other companies have had similar campaigns, effectively enlisting “the people to do your job for you.” This means the social media staff has to figure out where people are and what they are talking about.

The organization must also be prepared to respond. “If customer service says, ‘We know you hate that about our cell phones, but we’re going to fix it,’ you’d doggone well better have engineering ready to fix it—or don’t tell them you’re going to fix it,” she said.

5. Don’t get left behind.

Alexander once compiled a report for a major client who had business interests all over the world. She told them, “Oh, by the way, there were about 3,200 Facebook pages or groups for their brands that they had no idea about, where a district manager or a sales person somewhere had set up a Facebook page or group by themselves…”

They were filling a void left by the company.

6. Take a long-term approach.

In her presentation, Alexander displayed a slide that read, “First comes LOVE, then comes MARRIAGE, then comes monetization.”

It is possible to use social media to increase sales, she says, but it takes time.

“You can monetize,” she said. “You can raise money. You can increase sales. But it’s a little bit longer. It’s not going to be in the back of a Camaro. It’s going to be in a church.”

From the U.S. Fund for UNICEF blog:

Last week marked the one year anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. While much has been done to stabilize the country, there is yet very much left to do. To mark this somber anniversary, UNICEF USA was not content to hold a one-time event or create a social media campaign that lasts a day and doesn’t actually accomplish anything. Instead, we wanted to create something that focuses on what we really need; a long-term, dedicated team of people united to support the children of Haiti and keep them at the forefront of the countries rebuilding efforts. What evolved is the Haiti 365 project, designed as a call to service for people who are passionate about making true progress for Haiti’s kids.

Through the social media enabled micro-site supporters can sign-up via e-mail to commit to a year of service to Haiti’s children. Throughout the year, those who sign on will receive calls to action when needed. The first such call took place earlier this week when the New York Times posted an article about Haiti’s Recovery that completely left-out the most valuable asset to recover, Haiti’s children. Haiti 365 supporters were asked to write letters to the editor in the first of many actions we will collectively take to make sure the children are the story. Also on Haiti 365, we have captures snippets of first person stories and experiences from the children themselves. These stories will continue to be rotated as we capture more and more of the heart-breaking yet ever hopeful accounts of life in Haiti for a young person. Once you have read one of these stories you are prompted to bring that story to life by creating a video.

The videos are perhaps the most incredible part of this project. In the Voices of Haiti 365 gallery there is an ever-growing collection of user-generated videos from all ages, races, backgrounds and localities featuring one common message WE SUPPORT YOU. These video messages (over 100 of them so far) are an incredible example of how people are doing more than “click-through” activism to support this cause. Some famous faces are present in the gallery including NBA stars Sam Dalembert and Pau Gasol, music and television superstar and UNICEF Ambassador Selena Gomez and actress/humanitarian Mia Farrow with many more to come.

The Haiti 365 project will continue to grow with some exciting developments soon to be announced. If you have not already signed-up or created your video please do so. Get your church, school, family, neighborhood involved and become a real part of the solution for Haiti. Through the Haiti 365 project you really can BE THEIR VOICE!

Luckily, the report supports the best practices we present to our clients. While most of it seems like common sense to us “expert” social media types it’s refreshing to have data to support it. Clients love a good third-party graph to make them feel better about the mysterious world of social.

While this report is great for understanding scheduling posts it doesn’t quite get into the content. So we know WHEN to post but do you know WHAT to post. And furthermore WHO should be posting and what is the tone and voice that the post should have?

Wow, down to the last sip of coffee and we have more questions than when we began.

I have a fantastic formula that we use to help make sure brands are avoiding marketing speak and providing content that is engaging and interactive for their online guests and consumers. Furthermore we work with each of our clients to experience the kind of paradigm shift that us Non-Profit types went through over 2 years ago.

That is the shift from talking TO our audience to talking WITH our audience. This requires a lot of hard and uncomfortable work. It requires us to loosen our brand stringency, to be open to talking about topics important to our consumer but not necessarily on brand. I can’t wait for a report to come out that shows effectiveness of Facebook post content….perhaps I’ll start one myself using my clients as the case-study.

I’ll be posting our formula for success in social communications very soon, in the meantime click below to check out this latest report and enjoy your morning!

Facebook_Post_Effectiveness_White_Paper_9_20_10

CLICK HERE to learn how to do it yourself, and while you’re checking out my blog, find your favorite post and test my new share buttons!

Longer, more rambling and wondrous post coming soon!

So I go by Lucky Girl because even with God’s great grace, it’s the little bit of luck, that magical thing that seemed to smack me in the face somewhere between my dad coming back from Nam and my first formed thought, that keeps me from totally making a mess of things.

Why the mysticism? Well, how else do you explain a life like mine?

What could possibly compel someone to leave a fantastic job at an INCREDIBLE non-profit for a gamble with a kind-hearted man in New York? What could possibly make them think they could survive divorce, career shifts, single parenthood to 2 unruly dogs and yet another career shift in the span of 2 months?

What other than the grace of God and a little luck could make this person not completely combust?

well, actually the WHAT is a WHO and the WHO is YOU.

people. people like my dear friend Phil, who even from hundreds of miles away gives me strength everyday. People like the 4 incredible mentors I have had over the years that give me strength and confidence to wake up and do a bit more than pretend to know what I’m doing. People like you, whoever you are–close friend or some unwitting person who somehow stumbled upon my blog and is undoubtedly wondering why they are still reading.

So enough with the cryptic and the Kleenex moments–What the heck have I been doing for 2 months?

I Left NYC and MobileMatters in March not sure where I would go or what I would do. While at a speaking engagement at Coke I interviewed at Studiocom, a digital agency. Even the manner in which the interview came about was touched by some magical (spiritual) hand. I thought it might take weeks to get hired there or any other place so I packed up the dogs, the cat and the little brooklyn apartment and headed to mom’s guest room in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

No sooner had I returned the U-Haul, and Studiocom contacted me and brought me on. Oh and by the way can you start next week? So just 8 days after moving from NYC, I packed again (this time emptying 2 storage units) and headed to my newly rented 1920′s bungalow in East Atlanta.

So here we are, a little over a month in. The house is great except for the leaky roof, broken AC/Heat, Washing machine that won’t drain and crazy landlady/neighbor with 8 dogs. Oh and speaking of dogs, mom came to visit and help me fix up the house and on her first day Corny runs outside, dislocates his hip, gets surgery complete with 8 staples and a cone on his head. Stinky, not wanting Corny to get all the glory proceeds to bite my neighbor/landlady’s hand.

Did I mention I was Lucky?

So, I had intended on working in some actual content somewhere. Perhaps likening my move and history of chaos to the  Facebook’s 50k + Plug-Ins or my imploding self esteem to ning but I digress.

I think I’ll start fresh with some juicy social media mojo and a review of the transition from selling children’s smiles through social media to selling Kleenex (veiled client shout out 1). And by selling I mean figuratively, we all know it’s about relationship building, engagement and creating brand loyalists that truly love your products and services. Duh.

I have indeed learned a lot about the agency world being on this side of the desk and for all my grassroots Social Media homies here’s a tip—go to an agency and show them what ya got because the me n in suits truly have NO IDEA what’s going on. We engagement types have a lot to bring to the table to show traditional mass media folks how to really get in bed with consumers. And it’s not about clicks and e-mail address acquisitions. It’s about who’s gonna show me a picture of their kid singing our jingle and who’s gonna defend us to others when they throw rocks at our glass house.

I am inspired by the warm welcome both from my agency and from our clients. I am excited that what seems chaotic about my life actually is the spice (veiled client shout out 2) that peppers my life experience and gives me the ability to engage so many different people on so many different levels.

So thanks for tagging along, hope you aren’t getting whiplash from all the twists and turns and when I said YOU are who gets me through, I mean it. Every time that little wordpress ticker goes up and there’s no negative comment to follow, I feel like th world aint so bad!

I have fallen in love with Emiliana Torrini, if you haven’t already, you will:

I  realized I had not written in a bit so sat down to write a new blog post. I wanted to write something official and professional about Social Media and Communications and experiential marketing. But I am so filled with joy and cheese-ball optimism that I have to just go there.

Last night was the super bowl for us girls, OSCAR NIGHT. And in true form I sat and cheered, jeered and teared right along with the plasticine Hollywood types. And as I can in most things, I found immense inspiration in the ceremonies.

Let’s get the snark out of the way–the fashion was sub-par. Dresses looked like cupcakes and everyone seemed like they forgot their hairspray or smoothing serum. I was hard pressed to find a dress that brought gasps of awe, but rather was reduced to gulps of awe-ful.

But the underwhelmed feeling inspired by the Oscar night fashion was replaced by the triumph of the winners. Perhaps this year’s awards resonated more deeply with me because of where I’m at in life. I mean I am walking a figurative red carpet to a new career, a new home (with tiole wallpaper) and new opportunities to show my stuff.

I feel like I won something with my recent offer to work for a stellar interactive agency with a philosophy that so closely mirrors mine. Starting Monday March 15th, I will be Social Media Strategist for Studiocom – and I couldn’t be more thrilled. I might be a bit intimidated by the killer client list but not one to shy away from an adventure, I am anxious to see what I can bring to these incredible brands and how together, we will create super awesome customer experiences.

O.k. so back to the real stars—I have long been a fan of Sandra Bullock–cheesy, maybe but here is a chick that writes her own rule book, doesn’t take herself too seriously yet takes her work and her service to the world extremely seriously. She married my boyfriend and is a true southern G.r.i.t.s. (Girl raised in the south). I was rooting for her and for an equally deserving and dynamic chick, Mo’nique. And lo & behold, they both won.

That’s Sandy on the bottom left in a production of Peter Pan at East Carolina University with my friend Katherine Peyton Wallace

As if that triumph was not enough an incredible story came at the end–well worth staying up late for when Katherine Bigelow and her low-budget yet super powerful film “The Hurt Locker” kicked the crap out of James Cameron and his massive “Avatar” winning both director and best picture categories!

The implications of these wins are major in so many ways. As affirmations for women film makers (1st female to win best director); inspiration for independent film makers; proof of life after divorce etc etc etc. The overwhelming message from this years Oscars: talent and hard work CAN be rewarded!

Perhaps I am even more connected to this year’s ceremony because I got to watch it with thousands of friends from all over the world. For the first time ever, I was part of live commentary through my beloved Twitterverse. I was able to talk smack and rejoice in triumphs with people who I have never met yet shared the experience with me. (Shout out to @EveSimon, @Buttercupd, @Baratunde & all my other tweeps).

It was further proof that the social web is enhancing every aspect of our lives. These channels heighten our involvement in events, media and brands. How many of us actually felt our commentary on Charlize Theron’s dress was as funny and well received as those TV hosts? We were more engaged than ever and mainstream media came to our hashtag for predictions and quips.

It is this connection, the enhanced experience that makes me love the role I get to play in Social Media. That gets me excited and pumped up about the possibility to create real social change and break down the barriers between causes and brands and truly create a voice for the consumer and activist.

This brings me back to my exciting new position and my journey back to Atlanta. I hope you like what I wear down the red carpet, it will be something comfy and my limo will be a 14foot Uhaul towing a Toyota Matrix—but if this year’s Academy Awards are any indication; this low-budget, Girl Powered juggernaut will triumph!

(had to do it)

The exciting news broke this week that Barbie’s new career is “Computer Engineer Barbie“. This is super exciting to me because like many girls of my generation, I was a Barbie fanatic. Ever the rebel I would make clothes for my girls and give them little pixie hair cuts and even would draw glasses on them. Though I was a feminist, I never subscribed to the notion that Barbie’s give girls poor self-esteem. Perhaps because I believed that they are catalysts to imagination and the problems arise when children are not encouraged to be creative or are not given other examples of women to pull from.

My mother gave me incredible female role models, herself included. My mother was in the advertising industry and while other kids in my suburban classroom had mothers who stayed home and baked cup-cakes and crafted and such, my mom was putting on her Aigner high heels and matching brief case and going to the office. Mom exposed me to great women by hanging works from Frieda Kahlo and Georgia O’Keefe in the house.  She encouraged my exploration of the arts, religion, music (except when i went through my riot grrrl phase with the screeching and shouting of profanities). Even as a young girl my mother always told me I could be whatever I wanted to be and let me know if I needed a ride to the top of the world, I could count on her to help me get there!

I started this post to analyze the implications of Barbie’s new career and look at the crowd sourced nature of the process. And like many of my fellow women bloggers I am excited and nervous all at the same time. But as I reflect on the message this brings it makes me more appreciative that I didn’t need a Barbie to support me as a developing girl-I needed a community. So my message, rather than one of techy goodness, is one of community and YOUR responsibility to nurture young people in your life. What young girl or boy could you encourage today? Who could you inspire? Our greatest blessing in life is the ability to leave a legacy of progress and possibility by influencing the next generation.

So in the spirit of Barbie and all that is possible in the world, I encourage you whether you’re a computer engineer or a waitress to spread a bit of inspiration today and throw out an “atta boy” wherever you can!