Third Annual Calgary Poutine Crawl

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Socialgrrrl

Food Baby trophy Poutine Crawl 2013

(Drum roll please…….) the winner of the 2013 Poutine Crawl is downtown food!

Congratulations to Darren and his team at downtown food for receiving the highest overall ratings on his delicious home cured bacon poutine with a spicy kick from our Crawlers. We loved the palate cleanser and dessert as well, and that you spent time telling us about your dish. I’ll be in to see you this week to present you with your Food Baby Poutine Crawl trophy!

Congratulations to all the restaurants who pulled out all the stops to create an amazing experience on the Poutine Crawl.

  • Brava Bistro rated most decadent poutine
  • Brasserie rated most cheesy goodness poutine
  • Teatro rated most innovative poutine
  • National rated most authentic
  • Anejo rated most unusual poutine

70 Crawlers hitting 6 restaurants in one afternoon is definitely ‘a marathon not a race’ kind of event when eating poutine at every stop – I’m impressed with the commitment and dedication of everyone! *thank you stretchy pants!* What an incredibly fun way to see and try out new restaurants while having chefs compete for your ratings.

For those of you on Foursquare I have put together a List of all the Poutine Crawl restaurants so you can do your own crawl!

I’ve put together a Storify compilation of pictures and tweets throughout the day for you to enjoy.

From 2013 Crawlers:

“Loved the interaction that the chef had with us, the depth that they went to introduce what downtownfood is all about and the poutine that we were about to taste.”

“It’s more than the poutine eating, definitely the whole experience. Being surrounded by fellow food lovers, making our way around town to already-visited and new restaurants. The atmosphere and liveliness of it all is what makes it.”
“Meeting fellow food lovers and experiencing restaurants that I might not normally go to or that I have been meaning to attend. It’s also not often that you get to eat food that is not normally on the menu. I felt pretty special. The locational draws were really cool.”

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Will strategy kill the social media star?

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Socialgrrrl

Who loves the shiniest, newest, hottest, latest and greatest, just-off-the-presses social media thing? Marketers. I know, I’m one of them! Having to come up with new and creative ways to market ourselves or our clients can sometimes feel boring and redundant to us when we are in the same medium such as a website or a Facebook page we’ve had for several years. So, wanting to jump on the latest social media platform we suddenly seem to hear about everywhere is natural. Plus, it can be invigorating to talk about with other marketers (“what, you’re NOT on Vine yet?!) and it gives us a sense of keeping up with the cool kids.

But is fulfilling our own shiny needs as marketers serving our online communities? Is too much over-thinking it, planning and ‘strategy’ killing our inner social media star?

One of my favourite examples of the shiny syndrome is the QR code. Rarely used ingeniously (in local campaigns anyway) QR codes more often than not were added onto posters to take you to a website that was already there – not exactly creative. It seemed in every marketing meeting for awhile it was  ”what about using a QR code?”as a quick marketing solution to to many enthusiastic nods of agreement. Most of our audiences weren’t even using them, yet QR codes on posters persisted because it was latest bandwagon marketers were on.

In my job I often find myself preaching strategy over shiny, which I know can be perceived as creative crushing to aspiring social media stars. But there is good reason for putting some strategy ahead of your shiny – especially if it means introducing a new social channel to your mix.

Why strategy? To me, strategy really means thinking through introducing a new social channel and ensuring it aligns with your goals (business and marketing) and your brand. A new social platform will take a lot of resources, time and effort by you or your staff so you want to make sure it is worth it and will benefit both you (your business and brand) and your online community.

Get into the practice of mentally going through a thought process to see if a social channel is worth your time and money.

1.  Know each year your top 3 business and marketing and communication goals so that you can gauge whether a social channel will support one or more of these goals (if they don’t rethink it)

2.  Do you have the resources (time and passion not just money) to grow and maintain a new social channel? Is there training or support needed? Was this a one-off or are you going to incorporate this channel into your overall marketing mix? Is this such a great fit for your business and brand that you will re-direct current resources to it?

3. How are you going to let your audience on your established channels about your new social platform to build it? Have they insisted you use this channel because they do? Will it make sense to them and will they adopt it?

4. How will it compliment your other social channels and show off your brand? Will it add significant value to telling your story to audiences?

5. Is there something new or creative you can introduce within one of your established social channels or even your website that would get your audiences talking and sharing instead of a creating a brand new channel?

Trying to be on every new social platform could give your online community social fatigue, or even worse, dilute your brand by spreading yourself too thin. There are new features, bells and whistles coming out on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn everyday providing new opportunities to be creative in spaces we are already on, or there are a ton of third party apps available that can add on a few bells and whistles where we need them.

The real social media star challenge is – can you you come up with something new and innovative to capture the imagination and attention of your audience within the social channels you already have?

So the next time you hear about the latest and greatest that could make you a star, ask yourself – is it for you or for your online community? There will always be a Vine, SnapChat (even a new MySpace) around the corner vying for your attention. My advice for 2013 and 2014? Focus. Do what you do really well on the social sites you are already on, and continue to build relationships with happy customers. Remember, shiny may win you a one-time marketing award but strategy can build your business.

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Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Socialgrrrl

We visited Playa del Carmen over New Year’s and the first two weeks of January, and as always in Playa, we have fun finding new places to go and still love some old favourites.

Old favourites

Fusion at sunset

Fusion Beach Bar – on the beach in the heart of old Playa, Fusion is a place we go several times each visit. During the day it is a great place to lay in the sun, have lunch and and people watch. At night, Fusion is beautifully lit with candles and lights and you sit right on the beach to watch live bands each night under the stars. Address: 6 Norte S/N  Centro

Dirty Martini – our favourite go to bar in Playa just renovated to double its space and is just as charming as before. Home to many expats living in Playa, Dirty Martini is famous for martini’s and its friendly staff. After walking 5th Ave with thousands of people we ended up at Dirty partying on the street for New Year’s Eve! Address: 1ra Avenida entre calle 10 y 12

Kool Beach and Pool Bar – you can rent a chair on the beach for the day (about $5) or sit by the beautiful pool bar for the day which has a DJ that starts mid to late afternoon. My favourite things to have at Kool are the Fish Tacos and any of the sushi rolls, delicious!

To sit at the pool you definitely have to enjoy dance music spinning by the DJ and a lot of people. On busy days like New Years Day when we were at Kool to get a seat you need to order bottle service so be prepared!

El F0gon – this is my favourite local ‘tacoria’ or (lovingly called) street meat place in Playa. Everything on the menu is meat, it’s cheap and it is delicious! You will usually have to wait in line a few minutes but it is worth it (there’s a mariachi band to listen to on the weekends) – I always have the grande margarita and the archerra steak fajitas! Address: Calle 6th & 30th Ave

La Bodeguita – relocated on the newer North end of 5th ave this cuban bar is pure energy; a 10 piece live band plays as salsa dancers take the floor and this is definitely the place to get a freshly made mojito. Forget the quesadillas – the authentic cuban food on the menu is what to order. Address: 5ta Av esqu. Con 34 norte

Akumal – we rented a car for our entire trip this time so we made sure to use it to take some day trips. Akumal is an old fishing village located 30 minutes from Playa and is so worth a trip. We went snorkelling in a fresh water lagoon called Yal Ku in a protected park and it was an amazing experience I would completely recommend! We wandered through the village of Akumal and spent the remainder of the day on the beach of Half Moon Bay where you can see turtles just off the beach while snorkelling.

For Top 5 Playa del Carmen experiences from my 2011 trip.

New Finds

Salsa Rosa - located on the same side street as Piola (above) Salsa is a small indoor-outdoor bar with a great staff serving up creative martinis and cocktails with a small tapas menu. The north end of 5th Ave continues to grow so Salsa is definitely one of the new trendier bars. Address: 38 Norte, 5 Avenida Norte

Club de la Cerveza - a quaint casual bar with a fantastic patio (and the owner is a great DJ) on the north end of 5th serving up an international beer menu, many of which are from micro breweries in Mexico. I tried out some of the Cucipa brand beers from Mexico and absolutely loved them! Address: entre 34 y 38 Norte, 5 Avenida Norte

Chez Celine – a lovely French boulangerie pâtisserie serves fresh pastries, croissants amazing expressos and cappuccinos and decadent brunch and sandwiches. I loved sitting on the outdoor patio watching people go by in the mornings.  Address: Av. 5 and Calle 34.

Imprevist - definitely our new favourite place to eat (3 times this trip!) Imprevist is a small and chic restaurant with a few outdoor tables on a quaint street I love (across from my favourite candle shop) the food is inspired and amazing – and affordable! I would definitely recommend the Duck with vanilla mashed potatoes or the Quail and Wild Mushroom Risotto, insider tip; have the sticky toffee pudding if on the menu! Imprevist also serves one of the best breakfasts in Playa every day with all items at $14 each (you get more than you pay for!). Address: 1 Ave entre 16 Nrte y 14 Nrte calle

Bijou Bijou Jewellery – I have followed the Mexican artist in Playa since 2006 that now sells his jewelry along with an Argentinian artist at Bijou Bijou and I am in love with their one of a kind pieces. Located in the Plaza at the end of 5th near the entrance to Playacar I visit every trip!

Travel Tips for Playa Del Carmen

Credit card/cash - When you travel to Playa at high season (Christmas and New Years) as we did for the first time this year we learned some lessons. Many small restaurants, bars and local venues did not take credit card, and,  On New Year’s Eve, all the banks and bank machines literally ran out of cash leaving line ups of people unhappy – be prepared!

Car rental – we learned that when renting a car (probably anywhere not just Playa) you need to read the fine print; the promoted price will not include the insurance coverage that per day can be more than the car rental per day so just be aware!

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How to deal with negative comments and posts

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Socialgrrrl

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is ‘what do I do if someone says something nasty on my Facebook page?’ A reality that you must be aware of is that creating any social media account has some risk, and that over time, you will receive some kind of negative comment or behaviour because that is just human nature. You need to consider how you deal with it especially if you are managing an online community for a brand or business.

At the strategic level I have worked with key stakeholders to create guidelines for MRU that outline step by step how to respond to negative behaviour on our social media channels (which I recommend) but as a community manager, nothing compares to suddenly being faced with negative comments and properly managing them in the moment. I have had my fair share of experience dealing with negative comments over the past few years and know how nerve wracking it can be and how overwhelming the responsibility you feel can be.

Identify issues ahead of time – if you already have some challenges that your customers complain about in the traditional way (in person, email) creating a Twitter account or a Facebook page will only provide a more public venue for them to complain. Identify these issues and how you would respond ahead of time so you are not caught off guard. Know your audience; consider every scenario and the consequences of different actions such as deleting a negative post, responding privately vs publicly. Make sure you include key people in crafting responses to sensitive issues ahead of time; depending on the organization this could be the owner, the President or the head of communications.

Have guidelines in place - taking the time to put together well-thought out guidelines for communications staff and employees of your organization can save you heartache later. Guidelines that specifically outline how to respond to negative behaviour online help people/employees feel like they have some control over their response when they are suddenly in a situation of dealing with a furious customer.

Post a disclaimer on your social media site – in the ‘about’ or ‘bio’ section of your site you can provide a short disclaimer that any posts that contains excessive profanity, threats/abuse, racial comments etc. will be deleted can be helpful so that you do not need to explain why a post was suddenly deleted every time it occurs. If you do have official guidelines in place you can also refer to those here – I like this approach because it makes the response to negativity about the behaviour not the person who made the comment.

Have a strategy for the different types of negative behaviour -  it is important you work with key people in your organization to decide what you consider ‘crossing the line’ as negative behaviour so everyone is on the same page and how you deal with different scenarios that come up.

MRU student pays tuition in coin fueled hundreds of comments on social media

Also be aware that social media channels operate in different ways so you need to consider how your response should be carried out on each channel; for example comments posted on your Facebook page can be seen collectively by all your members in one place, while on Twitter your followers only see what you post, not what all your followers post about you (unless they seek it out).

  • Venting - again, it is human nature that no matter what your business or brand you will have customers at some point that will be unhappy or angry for a variety of reasons and want to vent to you about it on your social media sites. Response: acknowledge their unhappiness publicly and quickly, and 1) try to fix their problem if you can 2) provide them with specific information that will help them 3) be honest and realistic about what you promise.  Just by responding you will help diffuse their negative feelings  – not responding at all may look like you don’t care.
  • Trolling - unfortunately there are people out there that seem to have nothing better to do than to try to annoy you (your business) using social media. This could be anything from daily sarcastic or snarky comments on your sites to posting inappropriate pictures or comments to even ‘hassling’ your other community members. Response: do not engage them in conversation as this is what they are hoping for – attention. Try to ignore them for as long as you (and your community) can withstand. If it continues post a public note to them that your site is intended for constructive/fun/thoughtful discussion between people that care about/love the brand and that further comments will unfortunately lead to being blocked if it continues. If it continues or escalates block them, your community most likely will thank you!
  • You are in the news - if for some reason your organization is in the news or media for a negative reason you may get a flurry of negative comments in a short time frame, many that are legitimate comments and many that are just jumping on the band wagon to fuel the fire. Ideally you would know this was coming and you would be prepared! Response: you do not need to respond to every single comment made, but rather with one or two general responses across various social media channels to your communities addressing concerns. This will show you are acknowledging the situation but that you are communicating about it from an organizational point of view. One tactic in this situation would be to issue a release onto your website and post the link to the release to Twitter, post on your Facebook page, LinkedIn page etc. to centralize the response.
  • Serious comments with consequences – these are usually quite rare but you still need to think through exactly what you would do in the event of a negative comment or post your organization would consider ‘serious’ such as threats to others or themselves, posting of private/confidential information, slander etc. You will know it when you see it as a community manager because your heart will stop as you read it. Response: try to access their profile/bio and take a screenshot of it so you capture any information on themselves they provide. Take a screenshot of the serious comment. Delete the comment and block them. Send the screenshots to your internal areas such as security, human resources, student conduct etc. that would be responsible to take over.

Community manager ‘must do’s’ when dealing with negative comments:

  • Remain calm – remember this is not a personal attack against you, it is aimed at the business you work for so it is imperative you take a breath, think about your response objectively and respond calmly. If you feel yourself getting overheated walk away from your computer – remember every response you give affects your company’s reputation and brand.
  • Do not delete negative comments – unless they fall under the ‘serious’ category of negative comments (i.e. threatening) leave them up and respond accordingly. The whole point of businesses and brands on social media is to provide a two-way communication channel for your customers – deleting a negative comment will anger the person (even your community) and potentially escalate the situation. It can also make your business seem cold and uncaring.
  • Ensure your response is accurate - it can be tempting to provide a quick response off the top of your head to diffuse a negative comment but if the information you provide is not correct or specific enough it will only make them more unhappy and create more negative posts. Check links, phone numbers, email addresses etc. for accuracy before providing them. If you are unsure of the information to provide or the accuracy of it, find someone you work with who does before responding. If you are responding using your phone be especially careful because it is easier to make a typo on your phone.
  • Don’t go it alone - if you feel especially stressed by a negative comment or are unsure of how to respond, engage your colleagues or boss to help you. It is much better to include others to provide a well thought out accurate response than to go it alone and risk making the situation worse!
  • Remember every response you give is public - you are never just responding to one person’s negative comments on social media, your other community members will see your response as well. And, if your members decide to share your response the potential reach goes up astronomically. So before posting, read over your response as if you were your audience; does it address the issue brought up in the negative comment? Does it make sense? Does the tone sound helpful or is there a hint of sarcasm or anger in your response (remove!)? If the situation is sensitive maybe have a colleague read it for you.
  • We are all human - mistakes can happen and we all make them; if you respond to a negative comment making any of the mistakes mentioned above, take ownership of it and take action immediately by sending out another post clearly indicating the mistake, the correct information and/or a quick apology for it.
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Why Movember is such a successful word of mouth marketing campaign

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Socialgrrrl

This was my first year participating in Movember and not only has it been an amazingly fun experience but it struck me that Movember is also a perfect word of mouth marketing initiative – one of the reasons I think it is so successful.

While in Toronto presenting at a conference this year I had the opportunity to visit Movember Canada’s offices and meet passionate Mo Bros Matt Matheson and Jesse Hayman where I learned that Movember was reaching out to universities and colleges across Canada, and that in addition to funding prostate cancer research some of the funds would now also go to men’s mental health. I immediately thought of what a great initiative Movember would be for MRU to take part in, and for me.

Why is Movember so successful as a word of mouth marketing initiative?

Focus on champions – Movember’s model is not to focus on advertising or direct mail campaigns; they know that working with those most invested in Movember, their loyal champions, is where to start. Those affected by prostate cancer and their families and those involved previously in Movember in every city, in many countries, are the core group that begin to spread the word each year. Movember ensures these people have all the information and tools necessary to start recruiting friends in person and online to join the cause.  This model of working with inner champions outwards to their circles and in turn to their circles is key to a great word of mouth campaign.

For example, although I had heard of Movember before, it was because of following @CaronSue on twitter that got me hooked – Caron does an incredibly creative 30 Days of Mo campaign each year and following her progress definitely persuaded me to become involved. In turn this year, I have persuaded my circle of personal, work and Twitter friends to become involved and so it goes. An ad in a magazine could never have this kind of impact on it’s own which is why I love word of mouth marketing.

Great buzz topic to talk about – the fact that men involved with Movember actually grow a moustache for one month without shaving is a great word of mouth (and over the mouth!) topic because it is participation you can see. Women or ‘Mo Sistas’ can find creative ways to wear moustaches in support of Movember such as pinky ring moustaches, moustaches on-a-stick or fake moustaches for photos and events. There are endless creative ideas you could come up with as fundraisers, events, photo campaigns and videos that center around moustaches and being a part of Movember is just fun!

Easily Shareable over Social media – Movember has integrated it’s website and individual profile pages with Facebook so that any activity, donations or pictures you post in support of Movember can also be posted to your Facebook page letting your friends know so they can become involved or donate. Many cities have their own Twitter accounts (@MoCalgary @MoSistasTO) or Facebook pages to keep you up to date on what is happening locally in addition to the national @Movemberca account.

I decided to get all my female friends involved this year so I created a team called ’50 Shades of MoSista’ with a goal of participation as well as raising some funds. I asked my personal and Twitter girlfriends to join my team by taking a black and white photo of themselves wearing a moustache for our Mo Space and then to use this picture as their Facebook profile pic for the month of November. We asked each of our own Facebook friends to donate $5 each to spread our potential reach even further with our own circles. We raised over $2,000 as a team and had fun in the process!

And because moustaches are so visually fun to show off, taking pictures on Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter or making YouTube videos is a natural to share your MoGress with followers and friends and can also be put on your Movember profile. Hashtags such as #Movember #MoLove #MoBro and #MoSista are used by everyone across several social media channels connecting the conversation even more. I discovered a locally created App called ‘Mogress‘ which made it so fun and easy to get people involved by just taking their picture with a fun moustache of their choice.

At MRU I created a Mount Royal University Network on the Movember website so that every individual and team formed a community and we could watch and support our collective progress as a school. I kept everyone up to date over MRU Facebook, Twitter and Instagram providing ways for our community to easily share with their circles spreading our message about Movember. The response was amazing and as a community including our President, students, athletes, faculty and staff MRU raised $36, 500!

Take it from online to real life – it is easy to get caught up in fun social media campaigns but it is key to remember to take what you are doing online into real life and back to social media for real impact.  Core Movember supporters in every city across Canada and other countries organize several in-person get togethers on their own during the month of November to form bonds in person that can be continued over social media – this is critical to keep the momentum going. Movember Canada helps cities plan a huge end of the month Movember Gala Parte for everyone who participated to attend and meet each other and build relationships that will make Movember next year that much stronger.

At MRU on November 1st at our Registration booth we promoted a ‘live shave-off’ where a brave man agreed to shave off his beard and moustache of 15 years in support of joining Movember. This in person event made for great pictures, video and comments over social media and kick started our campaign with a bang!

I held an end of the month Go Mo party at Kensington Pub for everyone I knew who had participated and/or donated to Movember to celebrate our Mo awesomeness and to meet in-person some people we connected with about Movember only over social media.

Go Mo! Until next year…

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Students need guidance to take over your daily social media

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Socialgrrrl

One of the myths of social media is that because of their age, students by default can manage your social media for you. As the lead of social media at a university this is something I hear often. The reality is that our students do not come out of the womb tweeting and blogging, and that having a personal Facebook profile is nothing like using social media to market a business or use as a business communication tool. This is not to say that student interns and volunteers cannot be immensely helpful to you and your social media plans – they just need guidance and direction.

Set a framework for the students to use by doing the strategic planning up front (note: you should already have chosen your social media channels based on strategic planning before hiring a student, they should not be responsible to choose what channel you use)

  • Set the top 3 goals you have for your social media channels in the next year to two years that are tied to your businesses’ bottom line.
  • Based on your top 3 goals, set shorter term measurable objectives that are relevant to you but also realistic; for example increase number of followers to ___ by a date, increase number of comments on a blog, increase positive comments, decrease confusion over a specific topic, increase traffic to a specific website from Twitter. Students should be aware of objectives so that what they do daily works towards them over time.
  • Identify for each social media channel you use who the number one target audience is and be able to describe them in detail to create a profile.It is important with all posts on social media your student clearly understands, and can visualize, your main audience so they know who they are talking to.
  • Describe your brand in one succinct paragraph. This should provide focus to guide the tone and content for students of all your social media posts.
  • Put all of the above on one page and have students post this beside their computer so they see it every day

What students bring to the table

  • While we are the marketing and communication experts and strategic planners, students are close to our target audience (at the university) and they are idea generators. They have a different perspective on the content we are putting out over social media and unique perspectives and suggestions on ways in which various social media channels could be used (i.e. innovative). They have energy, enthusiasm, and a ton of ideas – make use of it!
  • Challenge students to brainstorm creative ideas and solutions for your campaigns, events, contests and key messages that meet set objectives and that fall within your brand. They can act as a focus group letting you know if some of your plans will ring true for other students (or a younger demographic) and ways to improve it.
  • Train students so that they understand your goals, objectives, audience and brand along with organizational social media guidelines before they take over some of the day to day duties of your social media and include them in ongoing strategic planning sessions involving social media.
  • Show them specific examples of responding to comments and questions posed on your online community, what ‘tone’ and ‘engagement’ actually mean in a real situation and how to deal with negative behaviour within your online community

The bottom line – involve your students in generating creative ideas and daily activities for your social media but don’t expect them to figure out what will market and communicate your business the best. That’s up to you.

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Our brains are wired for storytelling

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Socialgrrrl

I presented on the topic of storytelling and social media in Toronto at the CCAE conference recently and it seemed to strike a chord with many so I thought it would make a great blog series.

Storytelling has a history

Storytelling has come around again as a hot topic in marketing because of the access and amplification social media has made possible, but it has been around as long as humans have. From scratchings in caves and bone, to pictures on cloth and animal canvases to ancient hieroglyphics to the Mayan Calendar, it is part of the human experience to want to communicate and share with each other through stories.

Even in a digital age, oral stories continue to be committed to memory and passed from generation to generation – fairytales, mythology, legends tie us to our history and give us a sense of belonging. Childhood songs such as London Bridges and Ring Around the Rosy can be sung from memory but do you know the ominous history behind the lyrics? Aesop’s Fables were short tales that were not only memorable to children but taught a specific lesson (The Hare and The Tortoise)  that could be referred to later in life and shared easily with others  (slow and steady wins the race) providing context between people for real life meaning.

From cave drawings to tweeting, humans will always find what is available in the moment to share stories to communicate with each other. It is important to not only recognize the history behind storytelling but explore why it is so prevalent across centuries, cultures and mediums – if storytelling is a part of how humans operate, we as marketers need to understand how we can adapt it to social media and digital technology.

Our brains are wired for storytelling

The brain is so fascinating. It has been the focus of science and mystery alike trying to understand how it works including why it seems so wired for storytelling. By studying the narrative’s power to influence us, researchers are discovering how we analyze information and accept new ideas.

One thing we know is that large amounts of data or information with no context cannot be easily remembered; think of late nights cramming for an exam, memorizing data just long enough to regurgitate it the next day. You can’t remember what you memorized now nor can you find a situation to bring it up in conversation to share an experience with a friend.

Dr. John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist and research consultant (brought to my attention by faculty at Mount Royal University) says the most common communication mistake is “Relating too much information with not enough time devoted to connecting the dots. Lots of force feeding, very little digestion”.

  • The human brain can only hold about seven pieces of information for less than 30 seconds, which means, your brain can only handle a 7-digit phone number
  • People can only hold attention for 10 minutes at a time before they tune out (sad news for teachers and speakers everywhere!) something interesting and relevant needs to happen in a lecture or presentation every 10 minutes so that the audience pays attention and remembers what you say – be interesting and memorable
  • Repeat to remember – we need to be told the same messages over and over and over so that the brain can analyze information and put it to memory – know your brand key messages
  • Pure data with no context is extremely difficult for the brain to put into long term memory – tell your story

Cognitive Neuroscientist Michael Gazzangia who calls our left brain the ‘interpreter’ (storyteller) suggests that the reason humans love fiction is because thinking about fantasy first prepares us for situations that may come up in real life, narrative provides context. Hear Dr. Gazzangia describe what he calls the ‘storytelling brain’.

We also know that information reaching our old brain forms a deeper connection so information will be better remembered. The ‘old brain’ in humans is driven by basic primitive instincts such as hunger, sex and fight-or-flight are also intrinsically tied to emotion. 

  • The old brain does not understand numbers or abstract terms, like “integrated approach” or “comprehensive solution” which are an evolutionary part of our new brain. To speak to the old brain, information needs to be familiar and tangible highlighting benefits what you will see, feel, hear, taste or smell as a result. Ensure every story you tell has some of the human basics.
  • The old brain is influenced by beginnings and endings like in a simple story structure with patterns we can recognize
  • Hearing information told in the narrative from another person helps to reach the old brain, triggering emotion as we imagine ourselves in the story reacting and feeling. Research suggests hearing a story in narrative about a specific situation actually helps us prepare for when this situation potentially happens to us. Your audience talking about you in their own words tells your story in their narrative.
  • The old brain is visually oriented, in fact, when a great story is being told both the listener and storyteller’s brain patters are altered. People often look up when hearing a story because they are ‘seeing’ it, imagining it. Our old brain responds more rapidly to visuals than to words. Use visuals often to help tell your story.

What does this mean for us today?

Storytelling has been around as long as humans for a reason, it helps us communicate and share information with each other and will continue no matter what the medium. We need to respect this history and aim to adapt it to channels available to us today – social media. Storytelling by design reaches the primitive depths of our old brain triggering emotion and visuals helping us to relate to and remember information . We want stories to be memorable so they can easily be shared with others creating word of mouth.

Pure data, push promotional information or marketing speak is not enough; we need to tell the story, the experience in the narrative of our audience for others to have the context to retain information. In terms of social media we need to aspire higher than chasing our audiences across the internet, we need to be intentional and choose to tell a story that resonates with your brand and the human experience.

I hope you find this topic as fascinating as I do! Upcoming posts in this blog series will include ‘What makes a good story’ and “How to tell your story through social media’.

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Calgary’s Second Annual Poutine Crawl

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Socialgrrrl

One afternoon, one party bus and 40 people visiting six Calgary restaurants to eat, review and rate poutine. That’s how you do a crawl!

Each crawler received a sampler size portion of each restaurant’s poutine and rated it from 1 – 10 on their rate cards, and with every poutine eaten, crawlers get another set of Mardi Gras beads! There was no criteria set for the chef’s in making their poutine or for the crawlers to review the poutine; classic or novel, mild or spicy, with or without meat, type of gravy and cheese used and presentation were left up to each restaurant. Brava Bistro, Notable, District, Bistro 2210, Diner Deluxe and the Ship and Anchor all brought their A game to bring our crawlers some amazing and unique poutine dishes!

Drum Roll please…

Winner of Calgary’s Second Annual Poutine Crawl is BRAVA BISTRO!

Brava Bistro

Our first stop on the Poutine Crawl received the highest score and most ’10 out of 10′s’ from our crawlers. Congratulations to Chef Kevin on his lobster poutine masterpiece and thank you to Brava Bistro for being so being so welcoming to our group – we arrived to lovely set tables and enjoyed having Chef Kevin speak to us about the inspiration for their poutine, a gnocchi dish featuring the same sauce!

Crawlers agree, Brava’s decadent sauce definitely made this one – buttery rich goodness with morsels of lobster and a dob of marscyepone cheese to put you into poutine heaven. Brava Bistro

Bistro 2210 Duck Confit Poutine

Bistro 2210 went with their sophisticated and classic Duck Confit Poutine that was last year’s winner and still a big hit this year. In-house made gravy from duck fat and real Quebec cheese curds scored high marks. We took over the entire restaurant for one and a half hours and as always appreciate the top notch and genuine hospitality. Bistro 2210

District Smoked Sausage Poutine

District’s Chef Heather smoked Broek pork andouille sausage especially for her unique poutine dish accompanied by real Quebec cheese curds and in-house cut fries that crawlers described as smoky, sweet and savoury. We loved that Heather told us about each ingredient in her poutine creation and how it all came together and thank you for the gift cards for each crawler! District

Notable Pulled Pork Poutine

Notable is definitely a notable entry considering they do not even serve poutine on their menu – they created one especially for the Crawl! Crawlers enjoyed generous portions of perfectly pulled pork pieces with a definite kick of spice for a delicious flavour combination. Notable

Diner Deluxe Breakfast Poutine

Diner Deluxe gave Crawlers the most novel poutine dish; a breakfast poutine of potato and sweet potato hashbrowns topped with a zesty hollandaise sauce for a unique twist. We loved the energy of our hosts and the cool retro vibe of a true diner and could have stayed all day on the patio! Diner Deluxe

Ship and Anchor Tenderloin in Peppercorn Gravy Poutine

Ship and Anchor our final fun stop gave us the best welcome as crawlers were cheered as we walked past the patio patrons! Rare tenderloin accompanied by a rich peppercorn sauce was definitely the heartiest poutine of the day and exactly what you would want from an English pub. Thank you for also providing our crawlers with Wild Rose Velvet Fog! Ship and Anchor

Poutine crawlers had fun checking into all the restaurants on Yelp, leaving reviews and competing for Yelp party packs and a special thank you to ‘Lady Yelp’ for coming on the crawl. A few lucky crawlers won a coveted Poutine Machine tshirt designed by Jamie Irving (@Jamie1Irving) and printed by Food On Your Shirt (@foodonyourshirt). And of course, herding 40 people on an off a British Party Machine Bus brings everyone together (literally!) and makes the entire day fun.

I would say after tickets to this year’s Poutine Crawl sold out immediately that a word of mouth and social media experiment has now turned into a real Calgary experience.  Thank you to everyone what a great, fun, delicious day! Until next time…

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MRU Shift ‘How To’

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Socialgrrrl

MRU Shift on May 10, held at Mount Royal University in Calgary, brings together international thought leaders in digital and social media to discuss ‘bridging the gap’ from traditional media to social media. As the community manager for MRU and a speaker from last year’s MRU Shift I am so excited to attend this year and proud to be a part of a university that is forward thinking and a leader in innovative events like this.

The caliber and industry celebrity status of the speakers are a great draw and the panel discussion between them as part of the program will be a rare opportunity to hear candid opinions and insights from those that are leaders in digital and social engagement.

Peter Shankman – As opening keynote for MRU Shift, Peter will talk about the connection to being mobile and customer service; imagine each of your customers walking around every day with the ability to engage and spread the word about you – in their pocket.

Julien Smith – In Julien’s talk on the Adaptation Imperative you will be challenged to see a human + technology world as an ecosystem that is changing faster everyday, and as in nature, your business needs to adapt or perish.

Alexandra Samuel – IRL the online acronym for in real life is explored by Alexandra describing how to ‘love your life online’; stop thinking of what you do online and IRL as two separate strategies for integrated and increased engagement.

Chris Brogan – As closing keynote, Chris will speak about a concept he calls the Human Digital Channel which understands no matter what the technology, to be successful we need to a human approach.

What I am hoping to learn from the ‘bridging the gap’ discussions is about the next level of community engagement. We all know that social media is not a magic solution for marketing and communications and does not take the place of in person relationships. Many brands and organizations such as MRU have grown their online presence past the information push, past customer service into (mostly) meaningful conversation with our audiences. Now what? How do you take these conversations and relationships into human real life, and vice versa, for real impact with your audience. For MRU communities I want to see the lines between public relations, marketing, social media and customer service blur to create customer engagement and community.

How to get the most out of MRUshift

Conferences are not meant to give you the formula or the ‘how to’ do social media for your business, this is always going to be up to you. Attending a conference is much more than passively sitting in your seat and waiting for the eureka moment where you realize ‘that’s what I should be doing!’ and write down a 3 step plan to success. The key to getting the most out of a conference like MRU Shift is to have a game plan ahed of time:

  • Have an open mind and prepare yourself to absorb information and learn. Knowing ahead of time that much of the information will be larger, thought-provoking concepts means you will not be furiously writing down bullet points from the speaker’s slides. Give your full attention to the speakers. Listen. Absorb. Reflect.
  • Jot down the ideas that stand out to you during (or even better) after each speaker when you have had a minute to think back on what the important ideas conveyed were. I would recommend to NOT tweet every phrase and idea during the presentation which is common; this means you are focusing on providing your followers with information rather than truly listening to what is being said, and could miss your ‘aha” moment.
  • Network and meet other people at the conference that are not a part of your own circle. A great benefit of conferences like MRU Shift is to meet and interact with like-minded people IRL. Be active; ask why they are attending and what they hope to get out of the conference, what is the best thing they have learned so far, how will this affect what they do in business? Exchange business cards and connect with them online and keep the conversation going.
  • Agree to give colleagues or your boss a presentation shortly after the conference is over. Not only will this share great information you learned with your team, knowing you need to relay information to others makes you pay better attention to each speaker!
  • Take the top 5 or 10 ideas that you took away from the conference and ask yourself (and your team); how could this apply to what we do? This is a great exercise to go through – write down each of your top ideas on its own flip chart paper. Then brainstorm for each one how your business could apply it in real ways. Brainstorm as many ideas for each as you can and then go through all the ideas and choose the best ones for you. Do them.

I am so excited to hear from each of the speakers, we are so lucky to have them come to MRU Shift! I cannot wait to have my ideas challenged, my mind blown and be inspired to make changes on how MRU bridges the gap between online with traditional IRL.

If you are considering attending MRU Shift register now, the early bird deadline is April 23, 2012!

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Top 5 list for creating a social media plan

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Socialgrrrl

Every business, small or large, in any industry, using social media already or looking to start using social media – needs a plan. It cannot be overstated that without some thought and strategic planning your best intentions to jump into using social media could turn into (at the very least) a frustrating drain on time and resources with no benefit or (at the worst) damage your reputation and even a loss of revenue.

Brand and womm guide social media planning

With key decision makers in your business in one room; brainstorm, prioritize and write down the top goals you want social media to achieve for your business. Identify your audiences by those that are your champions and by prospectives that you want to recruit. Agreeing on your goals and audiences will provide the framework to start putting a social media plan together.

1. Align your social media philosophy to your brand

a) Have a clear understanding of your brand – you should be able to distill it down to a few sentences, repeat, remember it and post it. This should guide every decision about social media you will make as an organization.

i.e. If your brand is button down and conservative, your approach to social media as a company may be to only allow ONE account per social media channel that is controlled and will be used to push out more information than create conversation. A business with a fun-loving, personable brand may want to allow all employees to create conversation for the brand within an organized social media channel for a warmer approach.

2.) Choose the right social media tools

a) There are literally hundreds of social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google + with new ones developed every month. As an organization you need to strategically choose the social media tools that best meet your overall goals and is a fit for your brand.

b) Do your research - each social media tool has its own purpose, capabilities, culture – choose ones that will meet the goals you have set, are where your audiences already are and are a good fit with you brand. For example if your business is fashion related you may want to choose tools that show you visually; Pinterest, Tumblr, YouTube. If your brand is secure, confidential, high-level information; Facebook would not make sense but possibly a Blog would.

c) Develop smaller action strategic plans for each chosen social media tool -  those in your business managing your social media day to day will benefit from social media specific plans that tie their actions back to the larger organizational goals and brand so everyone is working towards the same things.

3.) Involve the right people in your organization

a) Intentionally put resources towards positions, software and equipment to implement social media plans within your organization – a ‘Community Manager’ position is essential. Passion for your business, a great communicator and a love of social media are qualities to look for  in a Community Manager that can grow with your brand over the long haul. In a small business this could be a front desk person or the owner themselves, in a large company this is often a coordinator in the marketing or public relations area that ‘seem’ a natural choice. Ensure the passion is there along with a good general knowledge of your business; then provide them with the support they will need through courses, conferences, training and the resources that will help do their job well.

b) Social media does not have to reside only in the Marketing or Public Relations departments; consider involving your front line staff, customer service staff and staff in key areas of your organization that affect the business bottom line.

c) Identify passionate champions across your organization and cultivate a community of community managers – many employees want to talk about you, give them direction on where (social media channels) and how (guidelines of social media use) to create a diverse cross section of ambassadors across your business.

4.) Empower those in your business using social media tools to represent your organization

a) Develop Guidelines for social media use at your organization – this is imperative; common sense is not common so you do need to spell out what is and what is not acceptable for your employees using social media and give guidance on expectations you have of them. Guidelines should fit your brand, be easy to understand and follow and be applicable across all social media tools for longevity.

Social Networking Guidelines at Mount Royal University

b) Develop a toolkit for larger organizations to help employees or areas of your business define their own goals, needs, resources for using social media that tie into your larger business goals. Remember, smaller areas of your business acting as silos do impact the overall brand – you need to work together. A ‘before you start social networking’ toolkit will help make this happen.

c) Develop training to use specific social media tools – if you want employee/area to be successful in championing your brand online you need to provide them with training. Many people have personal accounts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn but this is not the same as using these tools for marketing and communications. Demonstrate how to specifically use various social media platforms on a daily basis in a way that is brand aligned and meets area and business goals. Use success stories within your own business as case studies for other areas to learn from. Create training videos and a microsite within your own website if possible to house guidelines, case studies and tips for success.

d) Internal communication with your employees/areas is key to working together towards the same goals and elevating the brand as a whole over social media;

  • each area or your organization needs to understand how they fit into the big picture (brand) show them where and how they fit it
  • implement a hub and spoke model of internal communication so you can communicate to your internal champions and they relay the communication to their own areas
  • establish an open and active channel of communication with your champions so that in the event of a crisis you know what to do and so do they

5. Measure your success

a) Define goals that are measurable from organizational to area specific and embed these goals into all social networking projects at the beginning - this will provide focus and let you have a baseline to measure if you are successful.  When you are setting goals for your social media channels ensure there is a (realistic) measurable aspect as well as qualitative measurements and make sure you do actually measure these goals throughout a year.

b) Work with internal IT departments and external agencies/platforms to match appropriate analytic information with company marketing and communications goals. If you have a small business, free metrics within Facebook, Hootsuite and Google Analytics do a good job but larger organizations should budget for purchasing richer analytical platforms.

c) Numbers vs. long term relationships; understand the benefits of qualitative and quantitative measurement in social media engagement and be able to communicate it to stakeholders so they also understand. Having 20,000 Likes on your Facebook page sounds impressive to the boss but it is not positive if most of them have only visited your page once and do not interact with you again in any way – 2000 Likes that interact with you daily/weekly are much more valuable. It is worth it to spend the time to put on paper exactly what qualitative and quantitative goals/measurement means to your business and ensure the ‘boss’ gets it as well.

Video on tips for creating your social media plan

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