Lori Packer
Web Editor, University of Rochester

Surprisingly few people in here. I bet all these (after lunch) sessions are the same. Have the Heweb attendees all fallen into food coma?

Obstacles:

• 1) Twitter is easy to mock – weird vocabulary and people don’t get it.
• 2) They know, but they don’t know.
• 3) Shouldn’t you be working? – Maintaining a FB page needs to be someones job.

Statistics can be used to open doors/eyes.

• 99% of incoming freshman already have  an account.
• 6.5 years
• 500 million users (3rd largest “country” in the world only behind the US and China)
• 475,000 users added per day

Then take then for a demo. Ask your far away friends to say hi in real time.

At this point they may get scared. Show them what’s already on YouTube :)
It’s not about control – it’s about authenticity.

Our most important role is to be useful – let’s offer them something (content) that they can’t get anywhere else. Participate. Not Dominate.

Being “social” is hard work – it’s like being the host of a party.
Your content? Cocktails and nibbles.

It’s not about you. It’s about the conversations around you.

Experiment with your own social media presence before trying it out with the institution.

Try a pilot program – one specific event.

Try being more personal, less institutional? There are real people behind that logo!

“Be an F-ing person!” When a hard question hits, acknowledge that you are just one person.

Daily TwitPic.

Can I have a FB page?
“OK – how often do you update your current website”