Harvey Milk motivated and mobilized thousands of people to agitate for political and social change, and became the basis for the award-winning biopic, Milk. If Milk were alive today, how could social media have helped him reach out to people, organize and inspire them? Mark Farmer shows you how to start your organization down the social media path by imagining how a grassroots organizer from the past might have used today’s media and technology. Sean Moffitt will flesh out the social media story with a presentation on the success of Movember, the annual prostate cancer fundraising event that’s achieved maximum visibility through a savvy use of social media. Attendees Will Walk Away With: • An understanding of how to get started with social media • Comparisons of some of the different social media • Real-world examples of social media success Mark Farmer Mark is the founder of Webness, a full-service electronic communications solutions provider, and has consulted for such organizations as Earth Day Canada, Give Green Canada, Eco Generation Services and Summerhill. Sean Moffitt Sean is Canada's leading social influence marketing advocate, author of Wikibrands and Founder of Agent Wildfire, Canada's Word of Mouth

1. WWHD: What Would Harvey Do?
An introduction to social media using the (hypothetical)
case study of Harvey Milk
Mark Farmer

2. On today‟s menu
• A brief introduction to social media via one of the great, and recently
celebrated, social activists.
• What technologies Harvey Milk would use, if he were trying to accomplish
his goals today?
• Not a survey of what social media tools are being used by community
groups and non-profits.
• Not a biography of Harvey Milk, nor an analysis of his accomplishments.
• A fun intro to the world of
social media, with Harvey
Milk as an example, with
case studies and insights
to guide you in your
next steps.
2

3. How did we get here?
3

4. How did we get here?
4

5. How did we get here?
5

6. How did we get here?
6

7. Me Me Me
7

8. Brands Ahoy!
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9. The Truth about Social Media
• Before getting into Harvey‟s story, a few things to remember about social
media…
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10. EPIC!!!
• No other discipline in the history of communication is so fraught with
hyperbole and SHEER HYPE!
• But social media isn‟t quite the moving-heaven-and-earth experience you
may have been lead to believe it is.
• So don‟t worry – it‟s much simpler than you might think.
10

11. Ok, not so epic….
• It‟s communication.
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12. Communication
• The important thing to remember at all times, is that the fundamental
nature and aspects of human communication haven‟t changed since we
came down out of the trees.
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13. P2P
• It‟s still just someone talking to someone else.
• So do what you would if you were talking with an acquaintance.
• Don‟t do anything you wouldn‟t do if you were talking with an
acquaintance.
13

14. The Street Corner
14

15. A kind of magic?
• With social media, as with all communication, you don‟t get something for
nothing: social media isn‟t magic. It‟s not going to solve your
communication ills or change any communications fundamentals.
15

16. Don‟t, don‟t… don‟t believe the hype
• Too many people fall into the trap of believing that social media is a
shortcut to more bang for their communication buck.
• They put a couple of
wheels in motion, and then
wait for wonders to occur.
• Wonders fail to occur,
anger and disappointment
ensue, and then the
offending media get
shut down.
16

17. Not
• Social media isn‟t a campaign. It‟s a conversation.
• Yes, that‟s a cliche.
nope
• Yes, it‟s 100% true.
• If you treat it like an ad campaign that you turn on and off, and
expect results, you‟re going to be mistaken.
• It takes time to either build a network or tap into an existing
one that‟s going to care about your brand, and your product,
whatever that may be.
• So start building your network now for when you really need
results to happen later. Get people interacting with you.
17

18. Cargo Cult
• Just because you build it doesn‟t mean they‟ll come.
• Time and again I meet organizations that see the exterior trappings of
social media, and execute some of them at their organization, in the belief
that it‟s the mechanisms that make social media happen:
• Usually, this fails to
produce the desired result.
18

19. So what does work?
• Every time I see social media work, above all else, I see two common
factors, time and again:
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20. Compelling Content
• Me: 130 followers.
• Sockington: 1,513,649 followers.
• Typical Sockington tweet:
• STRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETCH
oh come now this belly doesn't rub
itself
DO I HAVE TO DROP ALL THE HINTS
AROUND HERE
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21. Compelling Community
• 1,513,649 followers
• 7,538 “Likes” on Facebook
• 434 people are part of his community
page on Facebook
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22. Compelling Community
• Achewood.com
• My best-commented piece on webheresies.com:
13 comments, not including mine
• Achewood‟s last cartoon: 221 comments
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23. Great success!
• The monster social media success stories you sometimes hear about
happen because someone tapped the natural enthusiasm an existing
group of people demonstrate for a particular brand.
23

24. Brand
• The difficulty: not everyone has a strong brand.
• Inconvenient truth: not everyone has as established as strong a
connection with their audience as they think they do.
• Social media can‟t create that kind of connection out of nothing, but it can
help you build it out if you‟re willing to put in the effort.
24

25. Success Story #1: The Fiskateers
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26. Who the Hell are „The Fiskateers‟?
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27. Success Story #1: The Fiskateers
• Fiskars wanted to try something different.
• Hired Brains on Fire to help them.
• Combined social media with real live people.
• Created “The Fiskateers,” a group of user-evangelists who combined
in-store visits with an online community.
27

28. The Win
• Goal: recruit 200 more of these ambassadors in six months.
• Fiskars achieved that in 24 hours and reached 20 times that number within
eighteen months.
• Goal: increase “chatter” (online conversations mentioning the company
by name) by ten per cent.
• It increased by 600 per cent over a 20-week period.
• Goal: increase store sales in specific areas by ten per cent.
• Increased 300 per cent in the first year alone.
28

29. Success Story #1: The Fiskateers
• What did they do right?
– Tapped into people‟s natural enthusiasm, specifically their natural enthusiasm for
a brand (and an activity)
– Didn‟t limit themselves to the virtual world – married social media with face-to-face.
• Some of the most interesting and impactful success stories with social media
happen when the virtual & real worlds get together and have a party.
– Worked from an existing, strong brand.
– Fitted social media to an existing infrastructure and audience, not vice-versa.
• E-mail me for a link to the complete case study.
29

30. So, WWHD?
• Milk‟s #1 goal was to motivate and
organize people.
30

31. So, WWHD?
• So what social media work best for
motivation and organization,
especially for social change?
• Blogging
• Social Networks
• SMS
• Twitter
• E-mail (yes, e-mail – stick with me on this one)
31

32. The good ol‟ not-so-good-ol‟ days
• Dan Nicoletta
– “One thing about a lot of the political movement of
that time that people don't realize is that it was
the same 10 people doing everything... we
imagine that it was epic because it was epic
sociologically in terms of what was shifting, but it
was the same ten people doing everything... well
maybe 20 on a good day.”
– Social media changes all that.
– To borrow a term from the military, it‟s a
„Force multiplier‟ – it allows you to do things you
couldn‟t normally otherwise do, by increasing your
capacity and reach.
– In the case of social media and social change,
it enables others to help you make that change.
32

33. Building Community
• The good ol‟ days
33

34. Building Community
• The good new days
34

35. Building Community
• Not the only game in town, but close enough - Roughly ½ of all Canadians
are on Facebook.
• For some people, it‟s becoming the web.
• Used to be a choice between setting up a fan page and a group.
• That choice is gone now, thanks to the „like‟ button.
• Replacing previous tools like Evite for many functions.
• One of the best ways to promote a broad engagement with the public.
35

36. Organizing
• Then
36

37. Organizing
• The winner?
37

38. Organizing
• Now
38

39. Trippy? Trippi!
39

40. One-on-one
• Then
40

41. One-on-one
• Now
41

42. E-mail
• Still works well. Completely unglamorous, but completely useful.
• And more importantly, it‟s direct, in a way that thing like FB really aren‟t
• Compare: about 106 million people world-wide have Twitter accounts.
• More than twice that number of people
have e-mail accounts.
• In the USA alone.
• E-mail lends itself to direct calls
for action because it‟s direct:
one e-mail per person. It‟s a
personal medium, not a
broadcast one.
• Not to say it‟s the only way to
make a call for action, but it‟s a
good way
42

43. Microblogging, circa 1975
43

44. Microblogging, circa 2010
44

45. Microblogging, circa 2010
• Great way to quickly, easily get your thoughts out there.
• It‟s also an outstanding way to coordinate people in the field in real-time.
• What it doesn‟t do as well as those things is conversation.
• Can Twitter be used conversationally? Absolutely?
• Is it being used conversationally in most cases? No.
• Twitter is still too often a communication one-way street.
• How Twitter defines „conversation‟
45

46. Microblogging, circa 2010
• Twitter is becoming more and more versatile, but it‟s not a panacea. Its
limitations haven‟t changed, even as its popularity has increased.
– 140-character limit.
– Demographic reach: elderly, marginal communities, others.
• Success stories:
– Chilean earthquake
– Iranian protests
– Thai protests
46

47. Staffing the phones
• Old days
47

48. Staffing the phones
• Recently old days
– SMS messaging.
– Dedicated short-code?
– Make SURE you have a white list.
48

49. Staffing the phones
• Now
– Social media goes mobile:
• Twitter (Twitterific, HootSuite, etc.)
• Facebook.
– Dedicated apps:
• Providing value or just a novel way of promoting
yourself?
• Approximately 150,000 apps on the iPhone store.
How will yours stand out?
• What‟s the ROI on a $10K layout?
49

50. This is how we do it
vs.
50

51. Publishing
• Then
51

52. Now
• Now
52

53. Blogging
• Dan Nicoletta
– “I think the first campaign's literature is really clunky
and was done on some funky mimeograph machine,
for example, just because the guy across the street
had one and was willing to run stuff for the
campaign... and then later our own printing press
and silkscreen operation, etc., etc. to save money
we didn't have in the first place... “
53

54. Success Story #2 – Blogging at the ACA
54

55. Success Story #2 – Blogging at the ACA
ASK
55

56. Success Story #2 – Blogging at the ACA
56

57. Success Story #2 – Blogging at the ACA
57

58. Success Story #2 – Blogging at the ACA
58

59. Lessons from Harvey
• You have to capture people‟s attention and interest before they‟ll listen...
• ... and you have to get people to care before they‟ll act.
• Find a champion (and it may be you).
• Walk the walk.
• Take risks (smart risks).
• Learn by doing.
59

60. The killer “Be”s
• Be authentic
• Be succinct
• Be useful
• Be honest
60

61. Further reading
61

62. Further surfing
• Social media trends & analysis:
– twistimage.com/blog
– webworkerdaily.com
– sncr.org
• Technology news, including social media:
– cnet.com
• Examples of how to do it right:
– bluestatedigital.com
• Social activism:
– actonprinciples.org
– thedallasprinciples.org
62

63. Contact me
• E-mail: markfarmer@webness.biz
• Website: webness.biz
• Blog: webheresies.com
• Twitter: markus64
• Facebook: markus64
63

64. Thank you
• And thank you to Harvey Milk, for blazing a trail, and being an inspiration.
“If a bullet should enter my brain,
let that bullet destroy every closet door.”
64

65. Mark Farmer

66. WWHD?
66

67. •Adam Garone, Co-Founder and CEO, Movember
•Elissa Sacks, Asst. Brand Manager, Canadian Club
•Growing the Mo
•Sean Moffitt, President – Agent Wildfire
•Smoffitt@agentwildfire.com

68. •“Much respect for all the outstanding
work you guys have done to date. Almost
single handedly you have made it cool to
care!”
•Ashley via email

69. •Movember is a new generation of philantrophy
•Not built around a celebrity
•Bono
•Lance Armstrong
•Idol gives back
•Not founded by a mega wealthy individual
•Bill and Melinda Gates
•Mike Milken
•Not a cause marketing campaign by business
•Pepsi Refresh Everything
•KFC bucket chicken gives 50 cents to Susan G
Komen
•Movember is created by building and energizing a
community around a cause.

70. •The community – the Republic of Movember
•Movember team
•Mo Bros and Mo Sistas (255k in 09 >> 400k in 10),
level of involvement is up to them, however level of
engagement is key >> not about number of people in
your community its about how engaged they are!
•Awareness
•Fundraise
•Host their own party
•Attend gala
•Movember committee
•Individual donors (1.2 M in 09 >> 1.7 M in 10) – the
fundamental secret behind grassroots philantrophy is
people give to people they know and trust

71. •THE VALUE PROPOSITION
•Movember - a great product: •Know your target market
•Men growing moustaches in Movember
•The right mix of fun, retro appeal, sense of belonging to a
team and a global movement that is making a difference
•Satisfies altruistic motives
•Shows the women in / or potentially in our lives that we are
caring, good people
•Men’s health - a neglected cause:
• Men’s health particularly prostate cancer
• Men wanting to reclaim their masculinity
•If it’s awesome they will use it
•Movember - a great brand that is trusted
•If it’s awesome they will talk about it
•Movember – a remarkable experience – never underestimate how
viral one customer interaction can be

72. •BUILDING THE COMMUNITY
•PR •Leverage •On-line influencers •Partnerships
•TV, Radio, Print, Online •Social Media participation •Sponsors
•Tweeters / Bloggers •Beneficiaries
•Ambassadors
•NHL •Word of Mouth •SEM
•September •Business •College •Movember •Local
•engagement •program •database Communities
•Drive traffic to
•October •Movember.com
•November •Registrations
•x $160
•+ word of mouth
•= changing the face of men‟s health

73. •Energizing the community
•Showcasing the outcomes and the impact each
member of the community is having through video
•Sense of ownership in the brand and being part of a
movement that is having an impact
•Delivering value:
•Fun
•Competition
•Sense of belonging to community

74. •DEGREES OF ENGAGEMENT BY COMMUNICATION TYPE
•Face to face
•Are you listening to me? •Highest engagement
•Lowest reach
•Video chat
•Phone call
•Chat service (AIM, Skype)
•E-mail
•Facebook message
•Facebook wall post
•Lowest engagement
•Greatest reach
•Tweet

75. •GLOBAL GROWTH
Registrants
300000
255,737
250000
200000 172,195
134282
150000
100000
56129
50000
30 432 9315
0
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Funds Raised (local currency)
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Australia $ - $55 K $1.2 M $7.2 M $15.3 M $20.1 M $20.3 M
•$100 Million
New Zealand $874 K $2.1 M $927 K $1.1 M raised so far
United Kingdom £1.1 M £2.1 M £5.2 M
Canada $549 K $2.4 M $7.8 M
•5 year
US $623 K $1.1 M $3.3 M
potential >
Ireland € 364 K € 1.2 M
$600 Mill

76. •SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
•www.movember.com
•Social media technologies aren’t the point.
Relationships are the point. Relationships
are always the point. The most basic of
fundraising secrets is that people give to
people.
•Social media simply provides more tools to
help people connect with each other and
with your brand.
•FOCUS:

77. •Auto post through Facebook connect

78. •Pepsi‟s – stop motion video application
•
•Create good, fun content and people will use it – its not about the product!

79. •.....is every brand‟s new homepage

80. •The Power of active listening +
responsiveness + transparency

81. •....harness the power of video
•Tell your story through video
•Competition for user generated videos

82. •This Year – Very MO - tivating
- Web and mobile applications
- City-based digital team challenges
- Sponsor activations –
- The Big Shave Off
- The Virtual Mo‟
- Mo-Licious
- Social media influence
- Grassroots celebrity

83. •FIN