Tales of the City Library

A couple of weeks ago I was at a conference about Social Media in Scotland, and there was a great case study presented by Liz McGettigan of City of Edinburgh Council. Liz runs the Council's Library department, and has embraced using social media such as Twitter and Facebook to keep libraries at the heart of their communities. Their Twitter account, @TalesOfOneCity keeps followers up to date with events happening in libraries all over the city, and their Facebook page does too.

It's so refreshing to see a public sector organisation embracing these new technologies. It's also great to see institutions that could be seen as 'old media' showing just how much they can use 'new media' to keep relevant. It was interesting to know that they were partly driven by the fact that they knew their website wasn't interactive enough, but that it would take a long time to get that right by going through the official channels. So they adapted channels that others are already using to give themselves the platform they needed. Obviously, it's best when your website and your social networking activity all give out a coherent message and integrate well, but I can understand why they took that route - they needed to make their social networking activity a success first, in order to make the argument for a redevelopment of the site!

I would love it if Glasgow City Council followed their lead! Know of any other Councils using social networking well?

By Kate Wooding
Published: 22 July 2010
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80s-tastic

So, a couple of weeks ago I was speaking at a Marketing Industry Network event in Leeds about Using Social Networks for Business... and one of the other speakers on the panel was Colin Gilchrist from Digital Face.

After we'd both presented, and answered questions, and spoken to all the lovely people who came along, we ended up in the bar with our fellow speaker Adam Gordon (as you do...) and at some point in the evening somebody asked me where I come from (it's the accent). So I got to talking about the good old days of growing up in Camden Town, and how the Market isn't like it used to be (sigh). Turns out that Colin used to have a stall in Camden Market, selling dresses he'd made from a job lot of men's tweed jackets...

And wouldn't you know it, here is a photo of me, circa 1988 (aged 15), in aforementioned jacket-dress, made by Colin's fair hand! I was at my cousin Karen's wedding, and just in case you were wondering it was kind of obligatory to have bad hair in the 80s.

And here's a wonderful photo of Colin himself from that era, much as he might have looked when he sold me that dress.

What a coincidence! Anyone want to divert attention from my 80s hair by sharing some reminiscences of their own?!

By Kate Wooding
Published: 21 May 2010
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Top tweeter Kate's just soooo polite!

Having spotted a tweet of Kate's yesterday I felt I had to pop a comment on the tictoc blog about the fact that she has made the top 60 Scottish Tweeters list and, as I'm sure those who know her will agree, has been quoted very accurately!

The people were picked on the basis of how often they tweet, the quality of tweets, how often they retweet and followers (not the number of followers but who their followers were). Here's the quote from the site :

Kate Wooding
Quite possibly one of the most polite people in Glasgow.

Feel free to visit Kate on Twitter and send her a tweet to keep her at the top of the list and find out more about her love of courgettes, her Figaro car and what's in her Graze box this week!

By Melanie Russell
Published: 25 August 2009
1 Comment

Lance's impromptu Twitter ride in Glasgow

Well Lance Armstrong certainly knows how to cause a stir! Late last night the seven-times Tour de France winner twittered "Hey Glasgow, Scotland! I'm coming your way tomorrow. Who wants to go for a bike ride?". The response to the impromptu bike ride was instantaneous, mainly from myself and Colin! At 10pm last night I found myself out in the dark oiling my chain and testing the brakes. I also had to take off the child seat :)

On the flight to Glasgow from America Lance twittered again telling us all to meet in Paisley at noon. This scuppered any plans we had of meeting the legend but several hundred people did brave the rain and media to meet and ride with the man himself.

To add to my woes it turns out he headed out towards the village I live in. So I texted my wife to tell her he was passing, hoping for some sympathy. However, her reply of "I could feel his presence" was only to be expected.

The power of twitter still amazes me!

By Alan Masterson
Published: 18 August 2009
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Sore feet and social media

Today's event, in conjunction with the Marketing Industry Network, about using social media for business was a huge success, I've been watching the comments and feedback on Twitter (using the hashtag #usnfb). Take a look at what people thought, and I'll write a proper report tomorrow. Huge thanks to all the speakers (Guy Stephens from Carphone Warehouse, Kyle Macrae from Blether Media, Heather Gorringe from Wiggly Wigglers and Craig McGill) and the delegates - you made it an extremely enlightening and enjoyable event!

By Kate Wooding
Published: 1 July 2009
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Digital marketing works, and here's the proof

Comic Relief's website saw a 100% increase in traffic to its Red Nose homepage which the organisation has attributed to digital marketing initiatives. The campaign used social media initiatives including networking websites, blogs and Twitter to publicise the site, and gain appeal from people who didn't watch the TV show when aired.

Red Nose fact :

Over 50 million Red Noses have been bought over the years – remember The Hands Nose, The Tomato Nose, The Colour Changing Nose, The Shaggy Nose and The Nose That Grows?!

By Melanie Russell
Published: 23 March 2009
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Brandtweet

Not only is tictoc all aTwitter, but we think it's worth our clients (and every other organisation) thinking about using Twitter too. It won't be right for everyone, and it's not everyone's cup of tea, but plenty of organisations are already Tweeting. And they're not Tweeting for the sake of it - they're using it to spread the word, build relationships, communicate directly with their audience, achieve their objectives, and make money!

For example:

• Dog's Trust tweets regularly and has already rehomed a dog using Twitter
• Dell is using twtqpons to give its Twitter followers exclusive discounts - they've already made $1m on products sold via Twitter
• Wiggle bike shop use it to tell their followers about new services, and newsflashes - they've just been voted Mail Order Company of the Year by 220 Triathlon magazine and I bet they got their Twitter followers to vote!
• Stephen Fry is telling people about the t-shirts they can buy from his site - and after he tweeted about it he got so many visitors to the site that it crashed!
• Companies in the States like Comcast, Zappo's, and Dell have been quick to see the potential of Twitter as a way to directly engage with dissatisfied customers and sort out their problems.

So, before you dismiss it as a fad, think about how you could use Twitter to offer something to your customers and potential customers.

By Kate Wooding
Published: 13 February 2009
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Twit ups

Now that Twitter is everywhere (c'mon, everybody's doing it!) it's clearly taking some of us a little while to understand the ramifications of broadcasting our every waking thought. Sometimes it's easy to forget Twitter is public. Here are two cautionary tales of people who've got into trouble by Tweeting (in other words, they made a #twitup).

The first is the tale of @keyinfluencer, a social networking evangelist at Ketchum, who accidentally offended a client in one of his Tweets. Cue big tweeting problem.

The second is the story of a Republican Governor who tweeted prematurely about some secret negotiations that were going on - with the result that the other side found out and put paid to the Republican's plans!

I'll leave you to read both stories and make up your own mind about exactly who was in the wrong. But these are cautionary tales for ANYONE using Twitter - especially if you are representing a brand/company/organisation. Personally, I'm considering getting two Twitter accounts - one that's identifiably me, and one that's not. That way, I just need to remember to tweet anything silly/personal/rude from the unidentifiable one!! Thank goodness I'm not a celeb!

By Kate Wooding
Published: 13 February 2009
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