Julie's notes from the first ever SLRC UNconference

Yesterday was the first-ever SLRC UNconference- a free conference on web2.0 held at Pratt Central. There was about 70 attendees and it was a great day of discussion. Here are my notes:

SLRC Unconference - August 12, 2010

9:33am - Opening and welcome by Wesley

Abigail Cooley, Andrea Snyder, Rebecca Sullivan - planners

only 4 people had been to an unconference before (out of 70)

 

Lightning Talks

Mimi Bolitin - MCPL, lib answers

builds an faq based on the questions that are asked.

MCPL_libraries - twitter!

people can comment on the answers in libanswers (by libguides)

HELP THEMSELVES!!!

query spy so admin can see questions so they can be added, built, etc.

costs $1600 per year - hosted by springshare, libguides

suggested that epfl use libguides.

 

Michael, southeast anchor library- their new conversations programs

spanish and english program where people can talk together and practice spanish or english

they took the conversations online (mail) since they met once a week but people were interested in the program but couldn't always come.

using bcc instead of an official listsev

 

Nini, merlin communities

merlincommunity.org

hosted on slrc servers, using joomla

 

Julie Zamostny- best and worst iphone apps for libraries

worldcat and overdrive aren't useful!!! :-)

maryland libraries aren't all listed in worldcat. no other advanced search options

overdrive - took her 10 mins to figure out how to do it.

awesome apps- wordpress app!

pandora app - filling in those moments of silence with some soft music - good to mark time when in small groups

 

nini - nook ereader

freezes and there is no reset button

doesn't get library books on it because she has to plug it in to the commuter to dl lib books

can't surf the internet. no links (no email)

battery eh, charge to an outlet, not computer

ist gen machine

e-ink…

no color

 

tina - sony ereader

1st gen, no wifi, no color

has a reset button

charge to a computer not a wall outlet- extra charge for the AC adapter

can change your orientation and text size.

holds 80 books

overdrive compatible

has to be plugged into computer to DL- not over air

 

andrea - librarians and foursquare

check in to locations

consistent branding

add tips and tags (like wifi so people in your area can find you- not everyone knows the lib has wifi)

 

maurice - managing your online reputation

consistent name - unique

online reprutation management

1) who are you? who do you want to be online?

2) where are you socially and why are you there? personal professional, adverting? etc

3) where are you people? are your people there yet and how are they getting their information?

4) google yourself regularly

5) set up a google alert - painless.

tele and f2f is social media with a different method

 

theresa - free online tools

doc2pdf.net

posterous.com - email to the site (attachments) to post to the "blog"

picnik.com - free photo editing (integrated with flickr)

webresizer.com/resizer - resizing photos without dling.

digital inspiration blog labnol.org - tips and articles on new things and managing stuff

smashingmagazine blog.

zamzar - image conversions and data text file conversions

google docs & zoho - customers can save their work when not on public computers

yousendit.com

 

John, loyola.edu- im tools

uses pidgin and libraryh3lp…

loyola doesn't have a lot of text message usage

 

Marketing breakout discussion

tina pickens

betsy schroeder- cecil county

Erica Jesonis- cecil county

ERin Neusbaun- queen anne's county

guy charity - prince georges county

focus on how thngs are applicable to EACH INDIVIDUAL- what's in it for them?

6 on pratt social media team (3 primary people)

pratt using social media to solicit questions prior to the events/programs that they're having

SOCIAL MEDIA CONNECTS THE NONUSERS TO THE LIBRARY

prince georges country director uses twitter. not sure is using youtube or facebooks

pratt person from PR and marketing is managing the social media experience but multiple people are contributing to it.

http://hootsuite.com/ - dashboard for teams using twitter

 

Tom Rowe- director of web marketing for visit baltimore

social media isn't a magic bullet… its going to amplify what you're already doing.

@baltimoremd -8450 followers

baltimore buzz brigade

use twitter to create relationships. branding exersize

mundane things lets the customer know there is a human with whom there can be a relationship built.

consistency in branding  and message. print, website, social media

added tips on foursquare to specific venues.

visitmybaltimore.com - people can share their twitter, Facebook or youtube feeds. locals driving the content and promoting the brand. partnered with ratings site and pulled them in. marry the marketing content and brand with the user-created content.

baltimore buzz bridage- online community tasks with experiencing baltimore and sharing. ambassador in the social world talking about all the great things in ballot.

@tweetcontest - $500 to help pomote to followers for a ticket giveaway- helped with clickthrus (2k total)

"competition" between baltimore, chicago and portland to get the first 3k followers - tattoo promised for followers. tweetbomb, activated community, live stream on upstream.tv and Facebook fans.

media was paying attention - foxnews.com, abcnews.com, local papers, blogs, twitter trending, etc. = moral- just try it.

 

1) all it takes is time

2) only do what you can manage and do it well

3) there is no off position - its always on- you always have to have our attenna up

4) pay attention. act quick

5 integrate. integrate. integrate. it all needs to work together and have a consistent voice and brand.

 

steve kruzkamp- mariner bank, commerce marketing manager

web strategy and some product development

it was all "brochure-ware" before Steve got there. its about relationships - knowing who your customers are. building the strength between your brand and our customers

there was a loss of relationships and f2f banking. its so crowded with advertising- people re getting bombarded from every angle. how do you differentiate yourself and establish the relationships

there was risk regardless of if you deiced to be a part of it.

started a blog- not product specific but getting a dialog going to build relationships. customers started to ask uestions about products. PR effort that turned around into sales conversations

1) your brand is already in the social media - your customers are already talking about you - let them talk TO you and engage! yu can use your brand to your benefit

twitter gives you an opportunity to service your customers in front of your stakeholders.

blog post- technosailor.com - first mariner bank: a new shining star in social media PR

chose not to sell any products - focused on goal of building relationships. customer or not- have a dialog.

1) listen

2) learn

3) engage

b2b dialogs

 

Q&A

no one goes out of their way to create crappy content isn't warranted- your negative feedback has meaning and leads to recovery and change

"i think the internet was originally built by jerks"

if someone is being an idiot or profane you can just delete it and move on

preferred app for polls for Facebook.they don't build polls they just ask the questions. polldaddy

do you have a privacy policy? social governance?

"we decided to take this on because it's the right thing to do" - we're doing other things but this is part of the deal.

let people know who manages it! be human and social

 

the future of libraries- breakout session

if you can get a book in 60 seconds through the kindle, what is the future of libraries?

academics and publics aren't that different.

public libraries- being a community center and a clearinghouse

"my role as a librarian wasn't about a stack of books" librarians are needed moreso since there's so much going on and being bombarded from all angles.

teachers don't look at librarians as one of them (with as much education)

The staffing model of the library- people in the library are staff support folks who can do the tech support and whatnot- freeing up the librarians to be more embedded in their communities (a'la jamie la rue) and one-on-one research.

still need librarians on the desk- or you might miss the real question

need a national ask campaign- people need to know to ask questions

"can you read me the first chapter" no… why didn't they get them assistance with literacy.

are your database stats dropping? MARKETING NEEDED!

customers get lost out in the internet.

"its not that they love google its that they are easy to use" james kelly

we have a bad track record of getting together and with one voice saying "we want something better"

authentication with widgets and apps linking to databases.

sites.google.com/

 

what did you learn? (thoughts from others)

foursquare as a marketing tool

consistent branding

"if the only way to get a contest to work is to get a tattoo, it won't work"

spread the idea of the unconference format.

JUST EFFING DO IT. and be flexible. ask for forgiveness not permission

look at your Facebook insights page

Actively court the youth.