Incentive - April 2008 - (Page 31) You’ve probably heard of Facebook, but there are many other networking sites for your business needs: Gather (www.gather.com) Digg (www.digg.com) Twine (www.twine.com) Teebeedee (www.tbd.com) projects, I’ve had a very good financial year. But it’s not all about money. I have raised my profile in the association profession dramatically, and even hold down the number-one Google result for Ben Martin, he wrote.” He went on to describe how in the last year he has been asked to consult on side projects, give keynote presentations, write and present papers, has been interviewed and was featured on the cover of the top journal for association professionals. He calls himself an evangelist for such platforms as Facebook and Twitter. Simone Champagnie, managing director of The SNC Group, a destination management consultancy, began a blog in 2005 (www.sncdestinations.wordpress.com). An active Facebook user, she began several networking groups on Facebook, and is the coadministrator of a group for Society of Incentive & Travel Executives (SITE) members. March 2007,” says Champagnie. Champagnie recently created a Facebook group to motivate a regional team for the SITE Run the World, a fitness challenge to members given at the recent International Conference in Monterey, Calif. She is anxious to see how team members accept the fitness challenge as well as how they interact within the group. Dr. Lalia Rach, associate dean and HVS international chair at the Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism at New York University, recently spoke at the Meeting Professionals International Southern California Chapter (MPISCC) monthly meeting. During her presentation, “The State of the Industry,” Dr. Rach said that social media is the future of the Internet. She gave a brief review of several popular social media sites and predicted more to come. “Word of mouth rules,” Dr. Rach said. Choose Your Platform Now companies partner with MySpace, create user groups in Facebook. “We launched our blog in May 2005 after I read a BusinessWeek cover story on the business of blogging. I had no idea what I was doing or what I was in for. The launch was truly unplanned, as neither the company’s business plan nor marketing plan had any mention of a blog. Little did I know that our blog would become instrumental to our sales and marketing strategy, or that it would eventually be featured in Successful Meetings alongside that of Starwood and Marriott in ILLUSTRATION: KATHARINE SANDALLS “Social media is virtual WOM.” Another term social media pundits use for virtual word of mouth is viral marketing. In the past, companies spent millions of dollars to create pre-launch buzz in print media and on television for a new product or service. Now companies partner with MySpace, create user groups in Facebook For a full list and descriptions of the and post blogs that are picked up in RSS social networks available, feeds and delivered to e-mail addresses all over the world. VISIT INCENTIVEMAG.COM/SOCIAL incentivemag.com The plethora of social media platforms available can be confusing. To blog or to podcast? To be LinkedIn or Facebooked? What’s a newbie to do? “My advice for a newbie would be to do the research,” says Champagnie. “Not all vehicles for social networking are the same, and the decision to use one over another, or even a combination, will depend greatly on what his/her objectives are. In our case we sought to share more about our partners, destinations, the industry, etc., and therefore our blog and brief stint on MySpace were the ideal forums. LinkedIn, on the other hand, is more about professional relationships and connecting beyond your own network.” Following the MPISCC meeting I spoke with Lisa Meller of Meeting Perspectives, in Irvine, Calif., about the enormous potential that exists in social media for motivating teams, empowering employees or inspiring them toward incentive program goals. I showed her my Facebook profile and gave her a quick tour of my profile, my groups and my friends list. Research begins here. If you’re interested in linking in or blogging out, devote some time to visiting the sites mentioned and/or listed above left, poking around some of their member pages, and then determine which platform is for you and your business. | April 2008 | Incentive | 31 http://www.gather.com http://www.digg.com http://www.twine.com http://www.tbd.com http://www.sncdestinations.wordpress.com http://INCENTIVEMAG.COM/SOCIAL http://incentivemag.com
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