Maria will cover topics including the value and benefits of strong content curation; how to make the case for human editors versus automated content filtering services; business applications of content curation; tips, tricks, useful tools, how-tos and more.

Information about the conference can be found here >>

Social media allows people with a common interest to converse online and interact in ways that would not normally be possible (or practical) in person. In November, however, I learned about the powerful offline benefits of social media when I attended a tweetup – an in-person gathering of Twitter users – at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.

As an avid fan of astronomy and space exploration, I follow a number of space enthusiasts, publications and organizations on Twitter – including NASA itself. The US space agency has an impressive array of Twitter accounts. Its corporate account (@NASA) communicates information about major NASA activities, and the organization has dozens of mission-specific accounts that publish news and photos from space probes and telescopes beyond Earth.

Spreading the Good Word

As a publicly funded government department, NASA has a duty to keep the public informed of its activities, and it relies on public support to maintain its funding. While most Americans have a positive view of NASA, few are familiar with its day-to-day work. The organization quickly recognized that social media would allow it to disseminate information to its biggest “fans” and help them spread the word about its work and impact.

Today, the @NASA account has almost two million followers (think about that – two million people are following a government department!) and it regularly invites followers to get a behind-the-scenes look at its facilities in person via “tweetups”.  In exchange for this unprecedented access, tweetup attendees happily narrate their experience through tweets and photos. Through tweetups, NASA enables its most passionate followers to perform outreach on its behalf and convey stories about NASA to their followers – an audience that NASA would not normally be able to access.

The Human Element

Until I participated in a tweetup, I did not fully understand the human impact of social media. Tweeting about space from my home computer did not generate much interest in my Twitter account or for NASA. Over two years, I had slowly built up about 250 followers and had made some virtual “friends” that I occasionally conversed with via short tweets. All of that changed, however, when I was chosen to attend a NASA Tweetup for the launch of the newest Mars rover, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). Suddenly, I was not just a faceless tweeter – I was a Canadian who was invited to a rocket launch!

My story attracted an unexpected amount of attention from media interested in learning more about this unique social media event. I was interviewed for the Ottawa Citizen, appeared on CBC Ottawa Morning radio and even appeared live via satellite on Canada AM. While the “story” was about me, these appearances gave NASA (and this particular Mars mission) exposure that it would not otherwise have had in Canada. It also helped me gain new followers as people were very interested to see and hear my experiences first hand.

Making Connections

Once at the tweetup, I met 149 other people just like me – enthusiastic space geeks who couldn’t believe their luck. In addition to tweeting about the sights and sounds we were seeing at the Kennedy Space Center, we were building “real” relationships with each other over lunches, dinners and tours. Not only did I gain more than 100 new followers from the event, I found that many of the people that I had met were much more likely to “retweet” my posts to their followers now that they knew me in person. The “real” relationships built through the tweetup generated a comfort level that has expanded my Twitter following and helped me to meet a new set of people who share my interests.

Engaging Your Biggest Fans

NASA did not invent the tweetup, but it is extremely successful at organizing these events and using them to spread its message. Every organization – be it a company or non-profit group – has its core “fans” and we believe that the NASA model could be emulated by a number of businesses.

If you have a factory or clean room, could you invite ten of your social media followers to see your operations up close? If you perform a service that is normally behind closed doors (such as focus group interviews, usability testing, executive coaching or training) you may be able to interest people in seeing how you work. If you have ever said “if only people saw what we really did here, they would understand,” a tweetup may be an idea worth exploring. You may already have a set of fans just waiting to be converted from passive followers into powerful evangelists.

Andrew blogged about his NASA experience and you can read about his adventures and see his photos at http://canadianastronomy.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/my-nasa-tweetup-adventure-part-i-selection-media-coverage/

I am compelled to write this article after witnessing the appalling state that executive bios appear to be in. As part of a recent project, I edited a large number of public- and private-sector executive biographies. While a few of the bios we were sent stood out as thoughtful, informative and relevant to the situation – the vast majority were atrociously slapped together.

I pondered: why would such a critical aspect of one’s personal and corporate brand be so chronically overlooked across industries and sectors? I can only conclude that the subjects don’t give much thought to their biographies – perhaps they are modest, busy, or simply ignorant of the importance of an executive biography.

The Important Role of Exec Bios

An exec bio is the subject’s calling card to the world. It is the story of how one came to achieve and position of prominence. Biographies are nearly always provided upon request – which indicates that “The Story of You” is wanted or needed by others. For example, you will likely be called upon to provide a bio when you:

• Are in a leadership position at a corporation or organization
• Are presenting a seminar, workshop or keynote address
• Are nominated for an award
• Join a Board of Directors
• Are a member of a Committee
• Become a member of a prestigious club

Given the import of these occasions – and the breadth of the audiences who will see the bio – I urge you to hire a professional writer (e.g. me) to develop this important piece of branding. Do not let your assistant do it. Do not let your marketing intern do it. Do not let your spouse do it. They are all certainly excellent people who know you well – but chances are good that they don’t know much about telling your story in a business-relevant way.

Maria’s Top Tips for Exec Bios

As a rule, one should have four versions of one’s bio. These are:

1. A full-length version – about 250 words in length
2. A short version of about 100 words in length
3. One or more micro versions for use in online summaries such as LinkedIn and Twitter profiles
4. A version that is customized to the particular occasion or application

In my books, a good quality executive biography will convey the following information:

1. The subject’s professional storyline, starting with where one is today then tracing back through one’s history as it is most relevant to today’s position, concerns and causes. The biography needs a “plotline” – that is, a thread of logic that helps the reader to visualize the subject’s progression through life. A reverse-chronological laundry list of positions, titles and awards does not constitute a story.
2. The subject’s personality – a sense of who the individual is as a person. Some of the personality traits that could be developed in a bio might include: philanthropy, personal philosophy of leadership, hope/optimism, bold/dominance, community orientation, family orientation, caring/compassionate, etc.
3. A blend of professional and personal merits. Many executives and other professionals hesitate to share personal information in their biographies. However, if you consider the biography as a story rather than a résumé, the plotline must give the reader some clues about the experiences and influences that have shaped the individual’s achievements and contributed to his or her current status. There are subtle ways to do this if the subject is cautious about stating information about their family or hobbies.

My final “top tip” on exec bios is that they should usually be tailored or customized to the situation at hand. For example, if the biography is to be part of an award nomination package, it may be necessary to tweak it to emphasize aspects of the subject’s story and experience that are most relevant to the award. Likewise, if the biography is to be placed on the website of a charitable organization, then it would be advisable to tweak it to emphasize the aspects of the subject’s story that relate to the charitable cause.

Getting It Done

One of the many reasons to hire a professional business/marketing writer (me!) to craft the executive biography is because, as a third party, I am able to conduct a fruitful interview with the subject that is focused on extracting the story line. I am also able to objectively review the information then identify and draw out the story in the writing.

In some cases, the work can also be done based on resumes, information from LinkedIn, collating information from biographies that may be scattered on various websites, and/or an interview with the subject’s assistant or other acquaintance.

Finally, as a writer by trade and by talent, I am best able to summarize the executive story line into effective micro-bios for Twitter, LinkedIn, ‘blog bios and so on.

If you have a requirement for an executive biography, or if you are looking to further coordinate your corporate branding with high-quality management biographies, please contact me to help!

Too often, the trademark symbol is used to indicate a good idea. For example: “Wow! I was brainstorming last night about this new service offering and I came up with the most awesome name for it! We have to trademark it!”

But trademarks should represent more than just a good idea. Rather, they should be focused on foundational ideas, names and concepts – i.e. the truly unique, identifying aspects of your company or your offerings that will underpin everything your brand offers.

As this helpful article puts it: “Branding is the key to protecting a business’s corporate identity. Successful branding often requires a unique and identifiable symbol or name that distinguishes the business and its products or services from those of others. Trademark law protects these branding efforts.”

From a branding perspective, then, don’t think of a trademark (or a service mark or a certification mark etc.) as a way to coin a term or emphasize a neat-o phrase. Instead, think strategically about your brand, your offerings, and what people need to remember about your business and your offerings. Another way of thinking about this is to ask, “What will I pay to protect about my brand?”

From a purely legal perspective, it is important to become informed about trademark law in Canada and in any other geography that you intend to conduct marketing and sales. Discuss your options and needs with a trademark lawyer so that you can make the best decisions about which trademarks you’ll invest in.

The topic of paying to protect a trademark brings me to a final point. Too often, I encounter ™ symbols used without any real intention to proceed with the legal process of seeking trademark registration. A trademark or service mark indicates to the public that you are actively seeking the legal right to exclusivity over that mark, and each mark will have legal fees associated with pursuing registration. They should not be sprinkled about like confetti.

If your goal is to draw attention to a term or phrase that is crucial to explaining or differentiating what you offer, a legally registered trademark (®) is no guarantee that your idea will be memorable. That requires a brand strategy, smart naming and a fabric of supporting messaging that weaves through every instance of communication that emanates from the brand.

For trademarking information and advice, contact your business lawyer for a referral. For assistance in bringing your brand promise to fruition through marketing and communications, please contact us!

Recommended Additional Reading:

• Canadian Trademarks Act
• United States Trademark Process
• IP Frontline Article, “Trademark Law in Canada

PIKA will benefit from Kaszas’ experience in designing, monitoring, implementing and auditing campaigns for a variety of B2B and industrial B2B companies.