Being Buff: Marketing the social economy

I attended another informative Case Study Jam Ottawa 3 last night and, as promised, brought along my trusty recorder to share it with you. This time we got to learn with:

Dan Blouin about how National Defence is using social media to attract new recruits – CS Jam site blurb: “Of course, it’s not all sunshine and lollipops for public servants interested in introducing social media tactics and tools. Sometimes, communications ideals come head-to-head with a risk-averse culture and very legitimate concerns about privacy and discretion. Can the military embrace social media or will loose twits sink ships? Join National Defence media analyst Dan Blouin as he ponders this important (and cheekily-worded, if we may say so) question.”

Theresa Woolridge and Jennifer Jager from Public Safety Canada about how they used social media in their Get Prepared campaign. CS Jam site blurb: “Notwithstanding the warnings REM’s been giving us since back in the ’80s (editor’s note, I’m freakin’ old), it seems not everyone in this country is prepared in case of the end of world. Or, you know, some far more realistic disaster. The folks at Public Safety Canada, clearly seeing that club-friendly pop-music wasn’t getting the job done, took a more proactive approach and launched the Get Prepared campaign – complete with outreach to mommy bloggers. Theresa Woolridge and Jennifer Jager will tell us how they did it.”

Constable Nathan Hoedeman about how the Ottawa police (well, him actually) are beginning to use social media to engage the public around community policing – CS Jam site blurb: "How the Ottawa Police Community outreach is about a lot more than walking the beat for the police these days. Constable Nathan Hoedeman, the officer in charge of Ottawa’s Somerset Community Police Centre, is not only using social tools to reach out to his community, he’s also bringing in volunteers to help get the message out. Constable Hoedeman will share his story and give you a chance to help shape the future of his online outreach efforts.” (Nathan said up front that he was there more to ask questions than to present as he’s just beginning to use social media.)

Click the titles above to play the audio and if anything you hear sparks some thoughts please leave a comment!

Tags: Case studies, Case Study Jam Ottawa, CSJam, National Defence, Ottawa Police, Public Safety
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I attended the second Case Study Jam Ottawa tonight and was treated to stories of both social media failure and success. This was great because failures, social media or otherwise, are both the least talked about and what we can often learn the most from.

This installment of the jam featured three jammers:

Ian Capstick

Ever had a really great idea that just sort of flopped?  Ian did and he shared his failed attempt at creating a resource for bloggers.

Ian’s talk.

Kelly Rusk

With more and more books coming out about social media, doesn’t it make sense to have a book club? Doesn’t it? Guys? Anyone? Bueller? Kelly shared her fledgling efforts to get an Ottawa chapter of the social media book club off the ground.

Kelly’s talk.

Bob LeDrew

Long before the anti-proroguing crowd was turning heads with its efforts to convert online activism into on-the-ground action, Bob was rallying Ottawa’s social media crowd to help the Cornerstone women’s shelter, one of the local shelters to be hit by a devastating fire a few months ago. He shared the secret of  mobilizing the online masses.

Bob’s talk.

I will be on hand for Case Study Jam 3 – and may just share some failures, ah, I mean learning experiences myself.

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