City of Calgary already in the conversation
Posted by Doug Lacombe
“Our brand is the public opinion of a million citizens … ”
said Cindy Pickett, the City of Calgary’s Director of Communications, “and our research shows a high penetration of web 2.0 use in that population.”
Ms. Pickett was addressing an appreciative audience of IABC communicators at the recent “How Does Social Media Impact You?” luncheon event.
A few in the full-house crowd “live Tweeted” the event (meaning took notes using Twitter) from the historic Fort Calgary location.
Source: Canada.com
What a juxtaposition, to pound out Twitter notes on smart-phones from the barracks of the old Northwest Mounted Police!
Ms. Pickett emphasized how conversational social media is, and how important it is to engage citizens and respond rather than broadcast.
Besides, she noted, citizens will develop their own social media communities if the city doesn’t do it first. Alerts and bulletins regarding essential services such as EMS, and hot topics such as taxes or snow removal, should not be left to the public.
Better to fill the void with timely and accurate information than to leave critical topics to random communication.
“Start with small, low-risk experiments,” Ms. Pickett advised. “Our first effort was a Facebook page for a dodge ball tournament where we had a budget of $50!”
The result? Most attendees surveyed came to the tournament thanks to a Facebook connection. That page later morphed into a youth programs page. The City learned that event-based pages have a short shelf-life, partially defeating the purpose of community-building.
Fueled by that success, the City of Calgary gradually added a YouTube channel, a Twitter feed, and a CentreCity blog that explores new ideas for the city’s core.
“To be successful in social media you need internal policies,” stated Ms. Pickett “just as you would have policies around who can speak to traditional media.”
However, she emphasized, social media is too fast-moving and changes too much to study it endlessly or develop long term plans.
“Don’t get too attached to a particular tool or platform either, instead focus on goals and objectives. Do you remember Friendster? Neither do I.”
Whatever the future of social media may bring, one thing is clear from Ms. Pickett’s presentation: the City of Calgary has definitely joined the conversation already.
Tags: Advertising, Branding, Calgary, Government, IABC, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, Traditional Media
Mar 05, 2009
I think it’s great that the City of Calgary is connecting with citizens in new ways. One quote from your post sent up a red flag for me though.
“Besides, she noted, citizens will develop their own social media communities if the city doesn’t do it first. Alerts and bulletins regarding essential services such as EMS, and hot topics such as taxes or snow removal, should not be left to the public.”
I struggle with this quote. It sounds like the City is attempting to corral the conversation to keep an eye on things. I understand that they want to ensure that the most accurate and up to date information is provided, but, in my opinion, creating a community before the public does goes completely against the grain of what social media is all about. Engagement and conversation are fantastic, but trying to control the flow of information is a great way to shoot yourself in the foot.
I don’t want to be controlled, nor do I want somebody telling me what information is important. If taxes are an issue, I don’t want the City telling me it’s an issue. I want to see the conversation on Twitter, on blog posts, in other comment streams. I want to see reps from the City actively engaged in the conversation, commenting on the same blog posts, sending out links to the correct information. I wouldn’t mind a forum where they aggregate as much of the conversation as possible. But in no way do I want them owning the community.
Mar 05, 2009
Perhaps I didn’t capture the tone of Ms. Pickett’s comments as accurately as I might have liked to in regard to the “EMS” comment.
Let me try again.
I think what she was trying to convey was that in the event of an emergency situation, the conversation could be significantly enriched by having the facts from the City first or early. So people don’t have to guess if there’s an emergency, or jump to unwarranted conclusions about the scope or scale of the incident.
Similarly with non-emergency issues like taxes or snow removal, having the facts from the City early on should make for a more informed discussion. Ms. Pickett was clearly in favor of having the discussion go on without interference.
Never once did she imply any aspect of control, so I do regret if my words somehow inferred that.
Mar 05, 2009
Interesting. If you moved the quotes in the title of the talk and change one letter you can have this: “How Does Social Media Impact Your Luncheon Event.”