Social networking for a different generation

At the OSU Creativity Retreat I participated in Wednesday and Thursday, I got into a wonderful conversation about social networking. I was the only student - every other person was either a professor, department head, dean of a college, etc. Most of them are not into Facebook, Twitter, blogging or any of the like. One lady, not knowing my keen interest in social networking and how it affects different generations, mentioned she recently joined Facebook, but is sad because nobody is adding her as a friend. Another lady said she just added Facebook, but is afraid to add friends because she doesn't want her identity stolen. They had never heard of Twitter and didn't read or publish a blog. One woman did have a Linked In account. I don't ... should I?

I was very excited to explain to these people about the direction communication and marketing has taken. I explained the importance of protecting your information and being careful who you add as your friend. I explained where the privacy settings are located and how to control them. I also explained the wonders of Twitter and told them the name of my blog. They thought it was quite creative, haha.

These academically-minded people were thrilled to hear about social networking and social media as a new innovation. I shared with them how Monsanto, IBM, Boone Pickens and numerous other individuals and companies are using these new tools to help expand their business and contact a new target audience - virtually for free! Yes, these companies must hire someone to use the tools, but the tools are free.

I'm glad more people are beginning to embrace all this new, fun stuff. Maybe they can include some parts in the classes they teach. Wouldn't it be interesting to require a hotel and restaurant administration major to have a blog about what they're learning in class? Or for a child and family services major to write about problems they'd like to change once they have a job? Anything would be interesting to me!

I've shared Twitter with a lot of people recently, but none of them have created an account. I must revamp my elevator pitch of this cool toy! Perhaps I should become more Twitter-savvy myself.

Now, if only I could get my dad to learn how to turn on a computer and check his e-mail ...

Monsanto makes for a gracious host

This past weekend, I met with the other National Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow officers in St. Louis, Mo., for our fall board meeting. We come from across the nation - California, Missouri, Florida and Oklahoma. Monsanto allowed us to visit their world headquarters and provided a conference room for our business meeting.

It was the perfect atmosphere for us to cover what we needed - from the Critique and Contest to the new Web site, and we even discussed podcasts and fundraising. I'd like to offer a giant "THANK YOU" to Monsanto for their hospitality. We received breakfast, a mid-morning snack and lunch. Yum!

Lunch is what I'd like to discuss as related to social media. Monsanto created a new social media team within their public affairs department, and we talked a lot about this during lunch. This is a fairly new team - I believe one gentleman started working strictly on social media in July, and now it's a team of three. They have a Twitter page and are out in the blogosphere. Obviously, this is the direction media is going. All of this Web 2.0 stuff is being noticed by top companies. Don't you think companies like Monsanto, IBM or the National Pork Board would simply ignore this if it didn't matter?

I learned a lot about Monsanto during our visit, and it's definitely a company for which you should want to work. I could tell the employees loved what they did and believed in what they were working to accomplish. Their passion was contagious! All of the officers agreed visiting with them made us excited to graduate and pursue our careers.

Thank you to Megan, Katie, Kathleen and Ben! I enjoyed every second!

Using the right tools

As I was sitting in my office editing the latest edition of Spears School magazine before it went to print, a few young men came in and began talking about a video project to promote a food drive. (I share my office with three other people so this is quite common.)

I was excited to find out these gentlemen advertised the food drive using YouTube last year, with great success. They are doing it again this year, and want a high-quality video. I am just proud of people who are using the right tools to reach their audience.

If this same food drive would've been in my hometown, it would've been a flop. The majority of people do not know what YouTube or Facebook is. These gentlemen are posting the video on YouTube, embedding it in their blogs, putting links on their Facebook profiles, etc. This are the right tools to reach their audience. While college campusus may not be the perfect breeding grounds for helping feed the hungry, OSU students love helping a great cause.

And, thanks to several social media tools, I have no doubt OSU students will roll out and help with this food drive.

P.S. Have I ever mentioned I'm proud to be a Cowboy? Because I am. Through and through.