A webinar presented to members of the I-95 Corridor Coalition on January 28th, 2010.

1. I-95 Corridor Coalition Social
Media Presentation!
January 28, 2010!
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2. Agenda:
!
• What social media can be used for in
terms of travel!
• How to implement it!
• Some issues & concerns!
• Looking forward—whatʼs next in social
media!
• Closing thoughts!
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3. What social media can be used for in
terms of travel
Marketing! Information Distribution!
• Conversation analysis! • Deliver existing
• Strategy! information resources on
new channels!
• Content creation!
• Leverage social
• Influencer outreach!
technology to deliver
• Campaign monitoring and more relevant content in
adjustment! more appropriate ways!
• Metrics! • Complement marketing
efforts!
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4. How to Implement it:
Marketing!
• Evaluate existing content resources!
• Analyze relevant online conversation (local
bloggers and online community leaders)!
• Develop a plan that links deployments across
multiple platforms!
• Identify and reach out to key online influencers!
• Track campaign performance, adjust
deployment to adapt to user response!
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5. Engage Through Multiple Services
!
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6. How to Implement it:
Information Distribution!
• Structure data, set up automated updaters, decide
on degree of channel monitoring, promote as part
of marketing effort!
• There are lots of potential channels to consider
—its not just about Twitter!
• Make discovery and sharing as easy as possible!
• Sometimes people will want to contribute or get
personal responses, so setting expectation is
critical!
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7. 511NY Twitter Feed
Listing Page!
• Visually integrated with
the existing 511NY site!
• Includes sharing buttons
to facilitate exposure!
• Also has a disclaimer in
footer that feeds are
automated and not
monitored!
• Provides a single point of
reference for the initiative!
• The nature of the service
allows this to be simple
—no signing-up or
creating accounts!
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8. 511NY Automated Twitter Updater
2) Information
processed by
SnapDragonʼs
application !
• Subway line(s) identified!
• Text shortened using
abbreviations!
• Checked for redundancy!
• Link to listing page
added if truncation
doesnʼt reduce report to
under 140 characters!
3) Information
1) Information posted to
extracted from
appropriate
511NY incident Twitter account!
reports page !
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9. Leveraging Open APIs and Web
Services!
• API = “Application Platform Interface”!
• Open APIs allow developers to link Web
applications and available data resources to
each other in order to create new functions!
• Doesnʼt require direct integration with agency
native IT environment!
o Good reasons for that: security, modularity,
scalability, extensibility!
• Weʼll get to why this is so important when we
discuss future directions for social technology!
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10. Lessons from 511NY!
• Marketing: Social media is an effective
complement to traditional marketing and
PR efforts!
• Information distribution: Users appreciate
appropriate, relevant uses of social media!
o Blog comment about 511NY feeds: “I think this
is the first non-stupid use of Twitter I've heard
thus far.”!
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11. SOME ISSUES & CONCERNS!
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12.
Issue:
Privacy!
• Opt-in nature of social media means itʼs
largely the responsibility of the user!
• The important thing is not to take
advantage of relationships—selling or
exploiting contact information would be a
mistake!
• Just because someone is participating on
one channel doesnʼt mean they want to
be spammed on another!
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13. Issue:
Getting management to buy in!
Staff not
Not enough info
available!
about it!
33%!
34%!
Not sure it Not sure how to
would be start!
useful! 22%!
11%!
Reasons for not using Social Media!
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14. Issue:
Getting management to buy in!
• Share success stories!
• Demonstrate measurability!
• Itʼs not all-or-nothing!
• Getting on peopleʼs radar, standing out
from the crowd will only get more difficult!
• Participation on the social Web can
improve an agencyʼs image!
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15. Issue:
Growing the user base!
• Engage key influencers and community
leaders!
• Track behaviors to find openings for
targeting promotional/marketing efforts!
• Ask your users what they want!
• Find ways to reward advocates who
spread the word!
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16. Issue:
How to measure effectiveness
!
• Basic site analytics!
• Can easily document followers, fans, etc.!
• Track the conversation to see how people
are responding!
• Like traditional marketing, there are some
ambiguities!
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17. LOOKING FORWARD—WHATʼS NEXT
IN SOCIAL MEDIA!
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18.
Whatʼs Next:
Real-time Web!
• “Push” techniques will mean that information gets to
devices and applications immediately (rather than when
the client queries the server)!
• XMPP, WebSocket, Firehosers, lots of new technology
being explored by industry leaders!
• Will increase pressure to accommodate user-contributed
information—ways to deal with that will be developed for
travel as well as in other contexts!
• Makes necessary new means of information delivery for
drivers—Ford SYNC uses Bluetooth to have text read
through car audio system!
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19. Whatʼs Next:
Location-aware Services
!
• Location-aware, data-enabled mobile devices allow
social media to be embedded in “the real world” in new
ways!
• Distinct from positioning used for navigation systems in
cars—attached to individuals and their online profiles!
• Foursquare, Twitterʼs Geolocation API, Googleʼs Near
Me Now, Yelp, Outside.in, more on the way…!
• The confluence of location-aware and real-time services
creates new opportunities to provide highly
contextualized information !
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20.
Whatʼs Next:
Augmented Reality
!
• On mobile devices for now, but potentially
expanding in new directions!
• Thereʼs going to be the first commercially
sponsored industry conference over the
summer !
• Will be driven in new directions as technology
improves and it links up with location-aware and
real-time trends!
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21. Augmented Reality
New York Subway App
by acrossair
!
• Displays information about
nearby subway lines as a
real-time video overlay of
immediate surroundings!
• Versions for several cities!
• A new means of delivering
information, made
accessible by adoption of
mobile devices!
• The iPhone initially didnʼt
support these sort of apps,
community pressured
Apple into allowing
developers to build them!
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22. Whatʼs Next:
Open, Open, Open
!
• More mash-ups, more open data, more open
platforms (whatever they might turn out to be)!
• This is why it is critical to make data available and
useful!
• Android device platform is a highly relevant example
for travel!
o On phones, navigation devices, cars themselves,
all sorts of sensors!
• TriMet App Center is a great example in the travel
space!
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23. CLOSING THOUGHTS!
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24. Social Applications of New Technology
Drive Adoption and Innovation!
• Follow the “alpha-geeks”—their record is
surprisingly good!
• New communication tools have their best
consumer applications worked out over time!
• It took Twitter years to become visible to a
wide audience, but once it did it was
everywhere!
• Changes happen quickly, but if you pay
attention to early adopters you can remain
ahead of the curve!
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25. At this moment there is a key cultural as well
as technological opportunity to be seized!
• Concern about environment (both built and
natural), public space, green technology, new
ways to organize cities, and a host of other
issues mean that state transportation
agencies are naturally at the center of a
vibrant and “hip” discussion!
• IBMʼs Smarter Planet campaign
demonstrates how easy and rewarding it can
be to participate!
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26. Thank You!
!
For more thoughts, visit our blog at:
snapdragonconsultants.com/blog
!
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