Stay Informed!

By Sean Luechtefeld on 06/17/2010 @ 11:43 AM

Tags: Innovation

Earlier this week, I had the privilege of attending Digital Capital Week here in DC, along with my colleagues Kristin Lawton, Assistant Director of Communications at CFED, and Chris Campbell, Creative Services Manager for CFED. Digital Capital Week, or DCWEEK as it’s called, is a decentralized festival of sorts; an ongoing, 10-day long series of presentations, panels and lectures focused on identifying opportunities and confronting challenges posed by new communication technology. Given our unique interests, Kristin, Chris and I attended a series of panels and discussions centered on ways nonprofits can harness social media to extend the missions that drive our work. Here were a few of my top takeaways from the events:

You can’t do everything, so do less and do it well. In several of the panels we attended, one of the focal points was the difficulty facing smaller organizations. Many individuals voiced concerns similar to ours, which is how to manage and track the cadre of social media tools out there. The best advice, voiced by a number of social media experts: do less and do it well. Rather than trying to build up your base on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, choose one and do it well. Then, when time permits, move onto the next one.

Remember the “social” in social media. In an age when information overload is inevitable, people are looking to connect with actual human beings in a lonely media world. Always remember to add a personal touch to the brand your selling or the cause you’re supporting, or else you risk alienating the people with whom you need to build relationships. Likewise, when you’re in the position of the consumer, remember that there is a real live human on the other end of the Facebook page. Be patient.

Metrics, metrics, metrics. Having 49,674 fans on Facebook would certainly give you bragging rights, but may not be so helpful beyond that if those individuals aren’t invested in the cause. Perhaps before anything else, figure out what metrics you will use to measure your success and figure out how you will track that metric. A small community of dedicated supporters is infinitely more useful than a group of disengaged members with a population the size of Ohio.

Did you attend DCWEEK? What were your top takeaways? Use the comments section below to share what you learned!

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