Pitching the need for Social Media to others...
(I wanted to preseve these comments when I changed the discussion forum to a category based system. This discussion is primarily about trying to pitch Social Media to others.)
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Permalink Reply by Islander on -
I am the manager of a non-profit community IT business development group at the western end of PEI, (Prince Edward Island, east coast Canada) with a mandate to promote technology and all its applications.
When I was interviewed for this job, one of the last questions I was asked was "What is the next big technological innovation for PEI, and how can you help our company bring it about?" At the time, the question seemed pretty daunting, but a) I got the job, and b) 'By George, I think I've got it.'
Prince Edward Island is a wonderful place, small, community-minded, quaint, unique. Lobsters, lighthouses, Anne of Green Gables, potatoes.
PEI has a "branding campaign" ongoing for the last 2 years, millions of gov't $, more to come, for one more year, trying to perk up the fading tourism industry. It is NOT working. The effectiveness of this campaign is debated strongly through the island media and gov't.
One area that has never been addressed is the use of social media and online community to engage interest in "our product", which is the island itself. I am working on this. I need to "Clue in" tourism groups and operators, turn on that social marketing/media lightbulb. I have been asked to present at a "strategy planning session" on Tuesday. (gulp)
There will be representatives from various tourism groups etc, and I am hoping that this venue will lead to the "Spark" of interest I need to bring them onboard the cluetrain. (so many puns, sorry)
Many points I would like to address in this forum:
-The challenge of initiating 'executive buy-in' on a provincial multisector level
-The challenge of uniting these groups on ideas, using this as basis for funding application from the go'vt (tourism or IT dev?)
-How to keep this in the hands of my company for management once the lighbulb goes on.
-I am going to stop now, this is looking like another rolling blog. Sorry, there is just so much to ask and relate to this situation to be brief.
Discuss?
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Permalink Reply by Leif Hansen -SparkGuy on -
Strange. Kim, despite the fact that you twittered to me that you'd be posting here, the notification of the post somehow got lost. And now I see, again thanks to twitter's 'nowness' factor --that you've presented and that it went well. Good job! Well, I'm glad I was at least able to personally refer you to some good resources and presentations. So, before I take a stab at your very good and challenging questions, what Q's still remain?
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Permalink Reply by Islander on
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Had another presentation last week, got cut down to 15 min of rushed slideshow and numerical data that really didn't hit the audience in the right place. (-In my opinion. I saw some nods and smiles, but the majority zoned out at my intro when I said Technology)
I do have some solid interest...but I am thinking that this will have to be a "if I build it, they will come" project.
This brings me to the money problem. I had earlier been advised to seek solid interest from the movers and operators in the industry I was targeting for the website, (been working on it) before exploring funding avenues, to be able to back up a funding request with "See, THEY all want it too".
Now I have been advised by the GM of my parent corp (my boss) that I must draw up finances... hypothetical Income Statement? ROI? Take the numbers and make it feasible, get funding to start, then bring it back to the operators and tourism groups for utilization.
Argh? Fine, Cost/expenses could be determined once I figure out what route to take for development, add management salary, marketing, etc.
Income? Devise ad costs/revenue possible, create a private "members only" section for interior networking and forums, charge for premium. Projected ROI for tourism industry based on... traffic x clickthrus / bookings x? percent, +$/customer on island = rabbit out of hat?
That is my task of the week. Plus, to figure out if I can use Ning for this to cut costs (can one set a seperate private forum on a public site?) or hire out to a developer.
Thanks for following along. Looking forward to input.
Kim
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