TSPRA members on Twitter

This is a list of members of the Texas School Public Relations Association who are on Twitter. If you are a School PR/Education Foundation Pro who would like to be added, email me at terrymorawski@gmail.com with the following: Name, Title, School District/Organization Name, Twitter name.

Boykin, Alicia - Web Specialist, Mansfield ISD, @adboykin
Brown, Tommy - Public Information Officer, Alvarado ISD, @tommylbrown
Cantu, Jerry - Multimedia Specialist, Mansfield ISD, @davidjcantu
*Domitrovich, Brad - Director of Comm/PR, Bandera ISD, @braddomitrovich
Escovedo, Richie - Comm Spec/Webmaster, Mansfield ISD, @vedo
LaGrone, Charlotte - Dir of Comm Relations/Ed Found, Weatherford ISD, @clagrone
Morawski, Terry - Director of Communications, Mansfield ISD, @morate
Nielsen, Dave - Assistant Webmaster, Hurst-Euless Bedford ISD, @davidnielsen

Also see Texas School Districts on Twitter.

*Former TSPRA President.

OCC Week 3: Twitter

This week, we will take a look at Twitter. Honestly, Twitter is a wide open opportunity for our organization. Because the tool is so simple, building strategy around Twitter is much like discussing a strategy for how to use the telephone. Our Twitter recommendation will very likely evolve as those of you who are just trying out the service become more comfortable.
Mon/Tues: (If you already have an account, skip to #2.)

1.Go to twitter.com and register for an account. I'd get a personal account, just to play around if you are new to the service. Find 10 to 20 people to follow. There are some suggestions below. You can use the basic Twitter interface or get an app.(Desktop:Twhirl,Tweetdeck,Tweetie(Mac only); iPhone: Tweetie, Twitterfon; Blackberry:Twitterberry) The experience is much easier and more fun via apps, although the basic Twitter interface at twitter.com adds features everyday.

2. Find examples of professional organizations, corporations or other organizations using Twitter. You can follow them or just make note in the comments. Note anything you like or dislike about their Twitter presence. (If you don't feel you are a good judge of this yet, that's okay.)

Quick word of warning: Once you get a little comfortable on the service, it's easy to feel like posting any thought that pops into your head is appropriate. Twitter is public and can be easily searched. So, just basically be smart. I always follow the general rule that if I hesitate in posting something, I probably should not post it at all. That said, have fun!


Wed:

Thurs/Fri:

A few lists of people you might want to pay attention to:

TSPRA Friends on Twitter
Texas School Districts on Twitter

Media Outlets on Twitter
Media People on Twitter


Nuts and Bolts of Twitter Pres, Common Craft Vid other and Possibly Helpful Stuff:

The Nuts and Bolts of Twitter

View more presentations from Richie Escovedo.

Twitter in Plain English by Common Craft



Photo gracias: Flickr user ~aorta~

Become an RSS Super Hero in 3 Steps

Are you trying to monitor news, but just can't keep up? Have you realized how much information is available online but felt overwhelmed trying to keep track of it all? RSS is the secret weapon you need to become a news super hero.

RSS news feeds let you view news from many websites in one place. The potential is amazing! Anyone can monitor news from parents' blogs, other school districts, updates to specific Twitter and Wikipedia pages, and nearly any other website, all in less time than it would take to visit a handful of sites and check if they have anything new. And, it's so easy that you can get started in just 3 steps:

Step 1) Sign up for a Google Reader account. - You need an "RSS reader" (sometimes called an Aggregator) where you can choose news feeds you want to subscribe to and read their contents. Google Reader is great: it's free, it's easy, it's web-based (so you can log in from any computer), and you can use an existing Google account if you want.

Step 2) Get the web address of an RSS file. - Go to almost any site that posts news items and look for a small orange square with white radio waves in the middle. That icon is the universal symbol for RSS. Right-click on that icon, copy the link or web address. That is the web address of an "RSS file" -- a special file setup by the website that contains all the information your RSS reader needs to know about new items being posted on the site. Sometimes, instead of the icon, there might be words like "RSS" or "Subscribe to this site".

Step 3) Paste the web address into Google Reader. - Go back to your RSS reader and look for a button or link to add a subscription or feed. Paste the link you copied into the space provided.

Done! You've subscribed to an RSS feed. Keep finding and adding feeds from sites with information that's valuable to you. Remember, you don't have to read everything -- a big part of reading RSS feeds is skimming and just reading the items that are actually relevant to you (and then impressing everyone around you with your vast, cutting edge knowledge)!

OCC Week 2: Blogs

Thank you everyone for your participation in Week 1's study of LinkedIn. Your thoughts and recommendations will be part of the final proposal that goes to TSPRA in June. On to Week 2...

We will take a look at blogs. More specifically, we are interested in how a blog could possibly help TSPRA. Since I am(ahem) a little late getting the first day's info out there, it will be for Monday and Tuesday.

MONDAY/TUESDAY: Find an example of a blog that you like. Provide the URL for us and tell us what you like about it. (You will be awarded a few extra points if it is a blog for a professional organization, but it's not required.) If you're not sure how to tell if a site is a blog or just a garden-variety Web site, look for these tell-tale signs: users can make comments, articles (called "posts") are stamped with the date and the most up-to-date content is front and center and generally(not always) the writing is a bit more informal and less "newsy".
Want to search blogs only? Try Google Blogsearch. http://blogsearch.google.com/
Here's one I like (from PRSA San Antonio): http://prsanantonio.blogspot.com/
Here's the one for our district: http://yourmansfieldisd.blogspot.com

WEDNESDAY: Please review the section below, "Ideas," and offer your comments. Then, go find a mirror, look in it and say, "You're awesome!" That was from me. Enjoy your day.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Let's continue the great discussion on the idea of the TSPRA blog. A few details are listed below. I added one related to promotion today. Otherwise, I think we are working toward a solid recommendation.

IDEAS FOR TSPRA BLOG:
*Regular posts would feature a group of regular authors(about 10). These authors would be required to write on a regular basis. A TSPRA staffer would be responsible for administrative duties related to the blog. A TSPRA member would serve as the Editor-in-Chief for blog content.
*The TSPRA president, EC and blog team would be responsible for encouraging subject-area experts to blog on related topics, i.e. bond elections, special event planning, online initiatives, etc.
*The TSPRA blog would need to secure an appropriate domain. This is inexpensive and will aid with credibility. (The other option, which is also fine, would be to use free hosting via blogspot, wordpress or typepad.)
*The TSPRA blog should be promoted in every possible venue. As the blog will serve as a showcase for the knowledge and talent within our organization and our field as a whole, it should be strongly promoted. Some outside(and inside) TSPRA will choose to interface mainly with the blog because that is where they are comfortable, so it deserves a strong focus.

A Great Video and Some Helpful Links About Blogging:

Is your Web site frustrating users?

A recent article by UX Matters gave a very relevant example of web communication as part of the entire user experience:
While working with a company call center receiving about 300,000 calls/year, the article’s author found that about 55% of callers were asking one of three questions:
• Where can I purchase product X
• I have a broken product X; where can I get it repaired?
• I have product X; how can I get a new copy of the product X manual?
Of course, all of this information was available on the company website. As a temporary solution, a message was added to the on-hold music to remind callers about the information on the website.
The result? The callers became more irate – it turns out that many callers had tried looking on the website and hadn’t found the information. In the end, the design of the website was adjusted to feature the information that visitors were most likely to need, resulting in 25% fewer calls to the call center.
The story emphasizes two great lessons:
First, online information must be easy to find or it might as well not be there. It’s not enough just to post information online.
Second, we should be very aware of all communications with stakeholders, whether they come through our department or not.
What are you doing to make online information easy to find, and where are you finding guidance on what information stakeholders are actually looking for on your district's website?
(Posted by Guest Blogger - Dave Nielsen, Asst.Webmaster, HEB ISD)