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“Media and Marketing for Middle School” Goes Digital

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On January 10th, GCAI kicked off the seventh year of “Media and Marketing for Middle School,” a vocational mentoring program at the Zanetti School in Springfield, MA. The program was started by Holly Barden-Lopez, an English Language Learners teacher at the school and John Garvey in order to introduce students to the marketing field and all of the writing that it entails.  At that time, Holly had requested that we meet with a small group of her students to discuss the pamphlets they were working on. We  decided to built on that idea and introduce them to the entire print production process – from concept and copy to inks and printing. Since Zanetti was our neighbor at the time, we were able to take them on a variety of tours including  James Langone’s Photography Studio, The Republican, CBS3 Springfield and our office on the 24th floor of Tower Square. John was not offended when students remarked that the best part of the office tour was looking out the window as opposed to his comments.

When the school moved out of their 100 year old building and into a new facility a couple of miles away, GCAI brought the program to them – with some new twists. While traditional media remains a big part of the program, digital marketing is increasingly playing a bigger role in the presentations.  Television, radio, and print news will all be covered, but so will the mobile wave, social media, and online advertising.  Most of the eighth grade students participating have Internet access in their home and are active on Facebook. Many of them already have Smartphones and all of them have iPads, thanks to a grant written by their teachers Tonya Claiborne and Wendi Meunier.

Along with John’s introductory presentation, the 2012 speaker lineup is as follows:

1/17 – Brenda McGiverin, Digital Sales Director, WWLP.com

1/31 – Elysia Rodriquez, Anchor/Reporter, WWLP 22News

2/7 – Craig Swimm, General Manager, WMAS 94.7 FM and  “The Hall” 1450 AM

2/14 – Elizabeth Romàn, Reporter, The Republican

2/21 – Mary Fallon, Media Director, GCAI

Thank you to all our speakers and stay tuned for more reports from the classroom!

What GCAI is Thankful for This Thanksgiving

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For this week’s edition of GCAI’s social media news we wanted to switch it up and in honor of Thanksgiving we each listed what we are thankful for. Enjoy!

Screenshot of Google Turkey

John:

Two things that immediately come to mind…starting with the most important – I am most thankful for the creativity and determination of my peers here at GCAI. Mary Fallon, Laura Chechette, Kaitlyn Bigica, and Michelle Wolters are what makes our business a success .  Without them, I would be just another guy with a good idea and a dining room table.

From a technology standpoint – I am thankful for all things Apple.  Our iPhones, iPad, and MacBooks have transformed the way we conduct SEO PR and digital marketing.

Mary:

I am is thankful for the opportunity to present and discuss GCAI’s SEO/SMO/ORM approach with college students because I love my job and hope to inspire others to pursue a career in marketing and communications.

Laura:

I am thankful for social media tools like HootSuite and TweetDeck because they allow me to schedule Facebook and Twitter posts for GCAI’s clients on Thanksgiving while I am enjoying my turkey and mashed potatoes. I am also thankful for Kaitlyn Bigica who helped me create and schedule all of those Facebook and Twitter posts.

Key Takeaways from the PR + Social Media Summit

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Last week the GCAI team traveled to Milwaukee, WI to attend the PR + Social Media Summit at Marquette University. I presented during the panel discussion, Online Reputation Management: Tools, Tactics, and Tips from Experts on the Front Lines while John moderated the panel. Mary also moderated the panel, Engaging with Social Media Communities for the Right Reasons and the Right Outcomes.

When not busy presenting, we attended multiple breakout sessions and also listened to keynotes from George G Smith Jr., Sr. Manager, Social Activation Strategy and Execution at PepsiCo, and Jennifer McTighe, Director for External Relations at IBM Research. We learned a lot at the summit and wanted to share some of our takeaways from the event with you!

John Garvey and George G Smith Jr. at the PR + Social Media Summit

George G. Smith Jr. and John Garvey presenting at the PR + Social Media Summit.

John’s Takeaways:

  • How advanced Marquette University is; students’ questions, participation, MU greeted me on Twitter when I arrived.
  • Social media has arrived for major brands – it is not “new”, “an after-thought”, something for kids – or interns…
  • Strategy is all important – know where you are going and what to measure.
  • Concentrating on building fans is so yesterday.

Mary’s Takeaways:

  • Social media isn’t about promoting new products/services; it’s a virtual culture for your brand.
  • The future of social media is moving toward radical transparency.

Laura’s Takeaways:

  • Redefine influence. Always remember that small communities online matter just as much as the larger ones.
  • Don’t complain about changes to social media platforms. The platforms have to change to survive.
  • Focus on engagement with your communities, not the number of fans or followers you have.

Were you at the PR + Social Media Summit? Anything you would like to add? Please feel free to email me. Thanks! – Laura

 

Tornado’s Winds Whip Up Volcanic Search Results

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Tornado in Springfield, June 1 2011By John J. Garvey

Who would have thought that my digital “15 minutes of fame” would come because of a tornado passing right by my 24th floor window?  Tornadoes just don’t happen in western Massachusetts.  In fact, it took my co-worker Mary Fallon and I a few seconds to realize what it was despite its obvious destructive power. Once I did, and came to the conclusion that it was moving away from us, I snapped a picture and did what any other digital native would do. I posted it to Twitter.

Twitter is the same social media platform that I am always a bit squeamish about explaining to clients and prospects. It’s hard to say tweet or tweeted with a straight face in a business meeting. Every time I do, eyebrows raise and thought bubbles are suddenly very visible: “And this from man who calls himself a PR pro?” This is the same Twitter that only about 13% of online adults using it? It’s no earthling-eating Facebook after all.

Tweet I did and that is when the action started. This recent story in the Sunday Republican captures most of it – how national news organizations one by one lined up to ask permission to use my tweeted photo minutes after I clicked send. That’s just part of the story however. Sure CNN, ABC News, and in particular AP helped yield the seven pages of results now available through a Google Image search (“john garvey, tornado”). But it was the story itself and the resultant commentary on social media that quickly buried the needle on our search and social media intelligence software. In fact, the initial 10,000 results that came in on the keyword phrase “Springfield, MA” basically shut down our system.

One other metric, Google Trends, had the search term “Springfield MA” as the number one hot search in the entire US on the day of the tornado – a status described as volcanic. Now, to put that into context, “Springfield MA” finished ahead of Shaq, who had just announced his retirement: Ocotomom, whose doctor had his license revoked; and Anthony Weiner, who – well, you know that one. That is truly volcanic hotness. The peak for that hotness happened at 6 p.m. EST, about an hour or so after the tornado had passed.

Google Hot Search June 1, 2011 (Volcanic)In just 24 hours, we picked up over 6,400 individual mentions on social media alone and the search for “Springfield MA tornado” yielded close to 1.2 million results, including one funny video, in the weeks following the event. The volume of social media commentary remained incredibly high after the tornado as well: close to 5,000 mentions.

What’s a mention you might ask? Here are a few random samples:

RT @nytimes: A Tornado Is Reported in Springfield, Mass. http://nyti.ms/lC8BRu

@feliciaday Hi Felicia, would you like to send your love to community in and around Springfield, MA?…

Well damn. As if my old home didn’t have enough problems. RT @science: Tornadoes strike Springfi…

(We have about 4,997 more.)

Even more amazing is our analysis of where these mentions came from. While you would expect the top states to be in the New England area – and, in fact, MA, CT, and NY are the top three. Wrong! Our analysis shows that after our fellow neighbors in MA, CA was commenting the most about the tornado, followed by NY and CT. It appears that that Whitey Bulger was not the only MA expat hanging out in the Los Angeles area at that time. We have no evidence of him tweeting, however.Tornado Map Overlay

Conclusions?

1) I am no longer squeamish about saying Twitter, tweet, or tweeted around adults. In fact, I have let it be known that I actually am a Twitterer.

2) As proven through this experience, Twitter is a great way to get information and share information.

3) For those of us in the digital communications business, Twitter and social media are very important channels to use to connect with media quickly.

4) Social media essentially makes the response time for crisis communications zero. Media are monitoring these channels and as soon as a negative post goes up, it is in their hands.

I don’t care what the other 87% of Americans think – they are missing out and I have proof. Also, compelling news travels and gets shared. Creating compelling, share-worthy content is the goal. Sure, a tornado on a rampage in New England is pretty compelling, but then again, most of us do not need 1.2 million search results either.

Final note: There was nothing funny about this tornado. Mary and I had front-row seats to the destruction and have seen up close the damage, devastation, and despair.

Thank you to Laura Chechette otherwise known as @GarveyComm for helping me pull together these statistics.

Media Links:
Pew Internet Research Twitter statistic
Sunday Republican Article, Springfield tornado photo storms around the world
Google Image results for “John Garvey, Tornado”
Google Hot Search results June 1, 2011
Flickr photoset of GCAI tornado images

FieldEddy and GCAI Bring QR Codes To Local Print Advertisement

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QR Code From FieldEddy AdQR Codes have landed in Springfield thanks to a new ad campaign launched by Garvey Communication Associates Inc. (GCAI) for longtime client, the FieldEddy Insurance Network. While some are still trying to decide whether QR Codes, otherwise known as Quick Response Codes, are the latest fad or in fact a game changer, GCAI has begun to adopt the new technology for virtually all the projects it undertakes. With close to half of the US population using smart phones, QR Code use is expected to expand rapidly.  Essentially, anyone with a smart phone can download a simple to use, free app that will allow them to scan a QR Code and be immediately linked to Internet based content.  Already, most major retailers are using them to link to videos, special offers, and additional product information that would not fit in conventional printed space.  FieldEddy Print Advertisement Featuring QR Code

According to John Garvey, president of GCAI, “The FieldEddy Insurance Network ‘Shopping’ ad was the perfect way to leverage other Internet-based media that was available. Last year, the boys at viz-bang! produced a terrific commercial for us. It built upon the popular ‘Shopping with Wendy’ campaign we launched in 2009. By employing QR Code technology, we were able to leverage that popular video and essentially add Internet capacity to a print ad.”  GCAI already has several other QR Code projects on the design table and will launch several additional ads employing the technology this spring.