Official CAP Social Media - Any better examples?

[Eclipse]

See above, found it. 

[JC004]

So you're telling me that I run a SAREX with 3 squadrons with an AF mission number and I can't take any pictures?  They have to be approved by...what?  All the way up to 1AF?!  They need to take a serious look at how this is done and what it covers.  ROTC orientation flights?  How is a local sq PAO to know what to do with his picture from the ELT search, the ROTC orientation flight, the SAREX, or whatever?  My flight line pictures of CAP planes on a missing a/c search?

[JC004]

Another obvious social media item that I forgot to mention and is on my mental list of what I think should be done to the CAP stuff:

There is NO use of Twitter lists.  At all.  Totally a missed opportunity there.  Great marketing potential.  FAIL.  If units are interested in utilizing that for theirs, I could maybe provide some advice until my new article on this comes out.

[Eclipse]

So you're telling me that I run a SAREX with 3 squadrons with an AF mission number and I can't take any pictures?  They have to be approved by...what?  All the way up to 1AF?!  They need to take a serious look at how this is done and what it covers.  ROTC orientation flights?  How is a local sq PAO to know what to do with his picture from the ELT search, the ROTC orientation flight, the SAREX, or whatever?  My flight line pictures of CAP planes on a missing a/c search?

1AF wants full security on any photos taken during an AFAM,  I discussed this with a few "players" last Dec and the ramifications were pretty significant as you mention above.

That was last Dec with no further comment to the field since, but I can tell you that any AFAM's I've been involved in, including exercises, have included that briefing.

[davidsinn]

It's a PDF of a powerpoint. I'll have to see if she'll send me the original so I can scrub it because it has her phone number and email address in it and I won't post that without her permission

I can edit a PDF in a second.

...
Remember, no photos or videos of Air Force assigned missions are allowed to be taken with personal cameras. Photos should not be seen on your personal social media sites.
...

What the hell is this?  I see 'em for Air Force missions overseas...  Is this an effort to reduce the pool of usable photography, since they currently (poorly) have to Photoshop uniforms and things for the magazine?

I was personally told this by our SD in the recent past. I assumed it was CAP wide but I guess not?

It makes no sense.  If you take pictures of something that would be FOUO, that's a problem, but little is FOUO, really.  "personal cameras"?  huh?

I still want to ask her since she appeared to put a fair bit of work into it.

[Eclipse]

[JC004]

I can't find anything I'm allowed to cite ((*sigh*))

http://www.capmembers.com/cap_national_hq/ex_and_cc_open_cockpit.cfm/open_cockpit_aprjun_2011?show=news&newsID=10479
Photography on AFAMs: National Headquarters is currently reviewing guidance from AFNORTH for photography missions.  An AFNORTH briefing titled AFAM Photography 13 Dec 10 was released to the field prematurely, and it should not be disseminated further at this time.  Several questions have been brought up from the operations and public affairs staff that need answers before we can coordinate and release proper guidance (including an updated briefing) to the field.

While trying to find an open copy of the briefing, I ran into the above, so I took down my quote from the presentation that made the rounds last Dec.

Good.  Premature policy, so it only applies in people's heads.  Good thing they've never released a premature policy before.

Speaking of which, HEY! What about a long-overdue policy update on CAPR 110-1?!  I was asking for this in 2006...  Not even NHQ knew what 110-1 means in some cases (literally. It was referred to General Counsel, we discussed it, they said they didn't know because the people who wrote it left).

CAP would do well to put together a team of experienced people who know social media and to not tell Bob that it exists until it's too late.  (you didn't read that, Bob)

It would also do well to learn as much as possible from real professionals in this (not the silliness that was done before, which we joke about off CAPTalk). 

It would do well to put together a GUIDE and TEMPLATES, not a SOCIAL MEDIA POLICE. 

It would be outstanding if CAP would take lessons from all types of organizations and develop a comprehensive social media plan from there.  That means not just looking at the Army, Navy, Marines, AF and calling it a day.  CAP is a volunteer organization and needs to take lessons from volunteer organizations too.

The thing about a "social media plan" is this: it needs to be part of a communication plan.  Honestly, that's part of why the CAP social media presence is WAY behind industry standards - let alone best practices.  CAP doesn't have a real communications plan.  Having a social media plan is kinda like having a postcard marketing plan...sounds weird, huh?  It's really all part of a solid organizational communications plan.  These things are subsets.

I have multiple other things (a ton) that I'd do on the CAP social media presence if I ran 'em, but I was still looking for other examples from the organization itself.  Some people have suggested that I use CAP for the case study on poor non-profit social media implementation.  I'd rather see it improve.  Of course, the people at NHQ have to deal with a lot since the National Board has for many years neglected the issue of branding and everybody is trying to make it up as they go along so there is something... So it could take a while before it improves.  These issues, like others in CAP, stem largely from the AWFUL governance structure set-up inflicted on CAP.  The way this is, coupled with inaction by many years of National Boards (as in new NB members) has made the CAP marketing situation very bad.  It isn't the fault of the National Commander (or past), National Board (or past), NEC (or past), NHQ paid staff (or past), BOG (or past) - it's the mess this all creates and people doing whatever because of this mess.  There is, though, a whole host of things that can be done until the governance is fixed.

I'd still like to see good examples from the field!

[Майор Хаткевич]

Heh...I took marketing. They gloss over Social Media for the most part. Hope it's different for MKT majors, but it may be one of the "non-required" courses if it exists.

[JC004]

Heh...I took marketing. They gloss over Social Media for the most part. Hope it's different for MKT majors, but it may be one of the "non-required" courses if it exists.

That depends entirely on your university and how current the professor is on things.  One of my business professors in college still did his handouts on a typewriter and didn't use "the computer."  He has been since been sent to the glue factory, I think.  Nice guy though.  Great knowledge of philanthropy and enjoyed many out-of-class discussions with him about philanthropy, boards, governance, and other things that I work in/teach/write about.  Now it looks like I'm going to be teaching there as well.  Paid off to have those discussions that sparked it all.  My greatest pleasure there has been the opportunity to teach non-profit technology at a well-respected university.  That kind of spurred me into the work that I'm doing now.

[Eclipse]

Good.  Premature policy, so it only applies in people's heads.  Good thing they've never released a premature policy before.

For clarity, this is not a CAP policy, this was an AFNORTH directive.  I get no impression it isn't in force, just that no one can figure out
the practical realities of enforcing it. 

In at least one of my conversations on this, it came up that the military can't control their own people from posting photos in theater,
let alone civilians in their hometown.

I'd still like to see good examples from the field!

You won't find any because there aren't any.  Even those that are noted as "best" are all just doing the same thing - coupons and offers via Twitter
while minding their walls and discussions for people complaining their washer overloaded.

It's not "social", its just "marketing" and brand protection.  CAP needs marketing and brand protection, they don't need "social".

[Woodsy]

Heh...I took marketing. They gloss over Social Media for the most part. Hope it's different for MKT majors, but it may be one of the "non-required" courses if it exists.

I'm about ti graduate with a BBA in Marketing from North Florida. Technology has been the major area f study.  Internet based marketing, viral videos, and all sorts of social media is a major, say again, MAJOR focus of study.  In fact, I'd say that more time has been spent on social media than any other topic. 

[JC004]

Good.  Premature policy, so it only applies in people's heads.  Good thing they've never released a premature policy before.

For clarity, this is not a CAP policy, this was an AFNORTH directive.  I get no impression it isn't in force, just that no one can figure out
the practical realities of enforcing it. 
...

That's FANTASTIC.  So it's like...it could be a policy, it could not be a policy.  Do whatever.  It was released prematurely.  Don't give it to anyone else, but maybe enforce it.  Or not.  Whatever.  It's cool.  I'll get right on that...

I'd still like to see good examples from the field!

You won't find any because there aren't any.  Even those that are noted as "best" are all just doing the same thing - coupons and offers via Twitter
while minding their walls and discussions for people complaining their washer overloaded.

It's not "social", its just "marketing" and brand protection.  CAP needs marketing and brand protection, they don't need "social".

But that's...not it.  In fact, of my company's/website's 9,163 Twitter followers, and of the only 5,208 that I follow back, "dishwasher" does not appear.  None of them seem to be talking about their cereal.  You may have accidentally got subscribed to the GE Appliances Twitter list.  I would look into that. 

But it is social.  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social

They need effective marketing, branding, and public relations.  When people fast forward through commercials and block pop-up ads, marketing has changed.  When people refuse to accept their information from dead trees, communication has changed.  When people get upset about it taking 40 seconds for a web page to load, rather than being able to wait until the next morning for the same news, things have changed.  Changing with it is necessary to survival and success. 

Consumers now hold remarkable power and they DON'T want to be talked at.  When they are, with few exceptions, they turn you away.  Byez.

In my work, I have spent time with and collaborated with some of the most brilliant marketing minds there are today.  That includes those of highly successful political campaigns of recent times.  One said, correctly, that you no longer get to decide what's important and what the message is going to be ABOUT.  The public is deciding that and you have to decide how you will RESPOND to that.  You can dispute him all you like, but the results of his work are clear.  This is also what they're teaching at Wharton, BTW.  But those silly faculty don't know what they're talking about, I guess.

As I said, today consumers hold remarkable power and they use it.  Reference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo  (yeah, that's 10.5 million)

[JC004]

Let's compare some metrics!


Here's my website - my creation, my marketing - a Twitter account (a resource in of itself) and a site dedicated to non-profit management on Twitter:



Here's @CivilAirPatrol on Twitter:


Clearly CAP is better.  I surrender.

There's also our very own Mike whose Twitter account I am managing while he's away.  I now have it above the number of followers of CAP.  He is one person and he's not even AROUND.  Win?

[Eclipse]

But reached about what?

If Jim's appliances sells dishwashers, that's all he cares about, and if the word "dishwasher" doesn't appear in the twitter stream,
he's wasting his time and money.

Jim's Dishwashers could care less about the customer's travel plans, family births, or recent meals. 

And as a consumer, I could care less about what someone invested in social media thinks about a something I want to buy or do,
I occasionally check the complaints, but reviews I leave for the mainstream sites.

[JC004]

With our respective marketing messages - whatever we decided to communicate, clearly.

What you don't seem to realize or mention is that as in anything social, people form small - perhaps large communities.  My community is made up of non-profit organizations, government agencies, corporations, volunteers, philanthropists, etc.  CAP's current community is made up of...well, Georgia Wing, Michigan Wing, and Air Force News.  It is followed by some random, some members, and a some organizations that may matter.  It has much to do in developing its community.

But if someone cares to sell appliances, they form a community around appliances.  Starbucks forms a community around coffee.

This is also both supplemented (to more precisely focus a community) and overcome (to go outside the normal reach/community) with things like hashtags, lists, Twitter directories, RTs, etc.  That is how it works...when it is done CORRECTLY.  If CAP goes and follows or otherwise communicates with 2,000 people off Starbucks' list, it will FAIL.  If it does so in volunteer, aviation, nonprofit, government, education, youth development, Search and Rescue, emergency services, and similar communities, it will WIN.

This is how I end up not hearing about Joe's dishwasher, but I end up forming an exciting partnership with a major corporation.  Or anther recent example, end up with a couple hundred applications for people who want to develop and contribute non-profit management resources.

[RiverAux]

JC, are there some examples of good FB pages from other membership organizations of similar size and scope to CAP that you could provide? 

I personally don't see the appeal of Twitter. 

[JC004]

What do you mean "scope"?  There's a lot that can be applied from just about any great Facebook page - even if it's Macy's (I actually don't know if Macy's is any good, but I thought it'd be a good example of being totally different from CAP). 

I have a number of them that I'm collecting, analyzing, marking up, talking to the marketing staff for, etc.  That article series isn't expected to be done for a bit, but I could see if I can find maybe a handful that I could put on CAPTalk.  Unless you had a really special reason not to, I'd even say we should consider organizations as different as CAP vs. Macy's.

Twitter is "microblogging."  It allows you to send a short (140 characters or less) message and provides a simple, scalable platform to connect either directly (say by following Starbucks) or by using hashtags (etc.) to connect on a topic.  You might see the appeal of it if you were running a revolution (Iran or Egypt), or if you wanted to connect with either a company/org or your company/org's constituencies.  It's fast, easy, and effective.  If you know what you're doing, you can pull in a lot of attention.  For example, in the current campaign that I'm running for my website, I've been pulling in 75-100 new followers per day (that's legit followers - every few days, I go through and weed out spammers and the like).

I can see what I can pull together as some examples.

[RiverAux]

Well, I was thinking of organizations that would be using FB for similar reasons as CAP such as attracting potential new recruits, keeping current members and supporters engaged with CAP, etc.  There is a bit of a difference between trying to sell product (Macys) and what we're doing, though of course you can learn from just about anyone.