Connector Clinic Social Media Consultations
by Dave Dungan on May 17th, 2010
As part of the Irish Internet Association’s ‘Digitize the Nation’ campaign, Conor will be giving free consultations on Friday 21st of May between 2 and 6pm. Friday is the designated Social Media Day and conor is the current Chair of the iia Social Media Working Group.
We will be helping our guests to diagnose digital marketing problems and prescribe solutions based on the Connector 10C’s strategy. Regardless of the size of your business we will decide a tailor made action plan to suit your need based on your business and budget. Please email training [at] connector.ie to make your appointment.
Connector Social Media Survey
by Sarai Fernandez on May 17th, 2010
As this week the IIA is organising the “Digitise the Nation Week”, at Connector we want to know more about how you use social media. That’s why we have created this short survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DRCXLKH
We would really appreciate if you could fill it in and then pass it on your friends!
New Connector Training Video
by Dave Dungan on April 21st, 2010
We’re delighted to announce that we’ve added a new Connector Training Video to the training page of our website. The video introduces Connector Training in digital & social media.
Produced by Progressive Productions, the short video features some nice effects and innovative use of graphics, text and footage, not to mention an appearance by Conor Lynch himself who narrates with class and style!
Connecting Manchester United supporters around the world
by connector on April 3rd, 2010
Social Media plays an essential part in the way tribes connect in an increasingly smaller world. One organisation MUST (Manchester United Supporters Trust) have begun utilising social media to spread their own campaign message. MUST have always existed as a tribe in their own right, but as we have seen throughout history the bigger your gang the more power you can exert.
MUST have wanted the Glaziers out since they took ownership of the club, but this season they have given their movement legs with the “Green & Gold Campaignâ€. These are the original colours of Manchester United, then known as Newton Heath, with the idea being that the fans will continue to wear Green and Gold until the owners go.
MUST are also aligned with another tribe, the Red Knights, who are the financial arm of the campaign. The Red Knights are made up of wealthy investors, some who are fans of the club, who are prepared to invest in Manchester United if and when the Glaziers agree to sell and then give 25% ownership of the club to MUST.
In February 2010 membership was 50,000 when it was announced that Blue State Digital, the same company who led the digital campaign for Barrack Obama during the presidential elections, were appointed to take the Green and Gold Campaign to the next level.
Membership of MUST, a month and a half later, has nearly tripled and currently stands at 134,440 at the day of writing (Friday 12th March). Using new media such as a Facebook page , a Youtube channel as well as providing easier ways for new signups to share information through their Facebook status is the reason the campaign has mushroomed recently.
Traditional media has caught onto the movement recently too, with not a day going by where MUST or the Red Knights don’t feature in the sports pages.
Every tribe though needs a tipping point and a figurehead. MUST’s tipping point and figurehead could have come on Wednesday the 10th of March after their game against AC Milan. Enter David Beckham, famous the world over for his football playing ability and consumer appeal, who made a clear expression of support when he donned a scarf in MUST colours after the 4-0 defeat of Milan on Wednesday night.
The MUST movement is now ready to explode and reach every corner of the globe and gain support of an estimated 75 million fanbase. This simple gesture by David Beckham is exactly what MUST and the Red Knights needed to cross over into the mainstream.
The power of Social Media in this movement should in no way be underestimated!
David Mulligan
Best Irish Digital & Social Media Case Studies
by Conor on March 31st, 2010
As you may be aware, Connector Training is about to kick off tomorrow and we are really excited about sharing our knowledge as well as our connections.  As social media is all about sharing we are sharing some free places on the courses and would like you to share something too!
We’d like you to share your favourite Irish digital marketing case studies from recent years – if you can’t think of a great Irish case study, do you have a favourite international campaign?
We’re just looking for a link and the reason why you thought it worked so well. If it is your work, it is best to say that so we can credit your work. To submit, please leave comments below ideally about the problem, solution & results. You can email any materials to training [@] connector.ie
If you’re in a generous mood, we are also looking for submissions for the following -
- Best Social Media Web Sites
– Best Social Media Books
– Best Social Network
– Best Facebook Fan Page
– Best Online Community
– Best Content (Video, Music, Game, App etc.)
– Other cool stuff!
Connect online by phone
by Sarai Fernandez on December 10th, 2009
It’s only hours for the Connector Christmas Party, one of the greatest events in the whole year and a must-be if you want to be connected.
As all you know Connector runs monthly meetings where people can make professional and personal connections offline. But we want people to keep their connections online as well and to encourage that, we will raffle two wonderful social mobile phones, and all the benefits will go to the Temple Street Children’s Hospital.
The winners will get an INQ Mini 3G, courtesy of the mobile network 3. This little treat that we are offering has an authentic Twitter application, which will let you be always on’ and send tweets and retweets via the internet rather than using SMS.
It weights only 90 gr., has a 2 megapixels camera, usb and bluetooth and it also includes a ‘plug and play’ HSDPA modem enabling high-speed wireless broadband on PCs and Macs. And all this things in a tiny candy bar shaped phone with the coolest design!
Connecting With Consumers
by Sarai Fernandez on December 1st, 2009
Several days ago I found this article/ad in a spanish newspaper.
Short translation: “Blogger wanted, reward: 3.000 euros monthly and a the use of a new car, the new Citröen DS3, for a whole year and totally free of charges”. Maybe the salary doesn’t seem too high in Ireland, but in Spain, where the minimum wage is 624 € per month, and the average salary doesn’t reach 1,500 €, this job is a huge deal. Actually, it’s is being promoted as the best job of the year.
Citröen said they wanted to get the impressions of their targeted costumer directly before the launch of the car. And publicity as well, because now, for good or for bad everybody knows about the Citröen car that is not in the market yet. And this is a good example of how companies are choosing new ways of advertising, they’re not showing the car’s features, they’re just creating awareness. Blogs, twitter, facebook… social media are the new marketing tools, as the promotion in this area is cheap and allows for a much more targeted approach.
The idea is original, but not new, Ben Southall got what was considered as the “best job in the world” this year when he won the contest organised by the Tourism Department of Queensland (Australia).
And a closer example, Rob Cumiskey, one of our Connectors, won a new Toyota iQ in June. The agreement is that, in return for writing regularly on his blog and on Twitter about the iQ, he will be given the car for 6 months to drive and review. Rob has been writing regularly about his adventures around Ireland in his iQ and will surely be very sad to be giving the car back in January.
Connector Awards 2009
by Conor on November 30th, 2009
Here at Connector, we’re all about connecting individuals but we’re equally fascinated with connecting Tribes, which are communities with shared interests. Back in May, we held our Connector Tribes event, and at Connector Launches we saw some new Tribes such as The Digital Times and Bloggertone launch themselves to the Digital Public.
At our Christmas Party we’d like to reward the ‘Tribes of the Year’ and today we’re delighted to announce our shortlist for Tribe of the year, congrats to:
Culch.ie
Dartmouth Square
D Light Studios
Synth Eastwood
Funky Seomra
RSVP – Register for this event on Facebook Events (or if you don’t have a Facebook account, Register Here >>)
We will also be announcing 2 Connector ‘Person of the Year’ Awards (Male & Female) on the night. The awards are for friends of Connector who have had a successful year worthy of some peer recognition. So why not come along to our Christmas Party with some friends and see who has been crowned with one of these new awards. We’ll also be giving our predictions for the people & tribes to watch in 2010, same as we did with our ‘Top 10 to watch in 2009‘.
The night is sponsored by Peroni and we can’t wait to celebrate our great year with you. We hope to see you there & before then, next week is Tribes Week and we’ve written about each of our five shortlisted Tribes. Check back here to see if you can spot your Tribe and you can check out our Tribes page for more info.
Connector will be giving a Tribes workshop in the new year which will include some really important advice on getting sponsorship, utilising social media to it’s full potential, community management and content creation including podcasts, webTV and blogging. Email conor or rob [at] connector [dot] ie for more information about this event.
Taste of Darkness in Frankfurt
by Izabela Zelazna on November 26th, 2009
‘Taste of Darkness’ exhibition in Frankfurt’s Dialog Museum was an unique experience. By introducing me to the world of blindness, it opened my mind to other sensations.
Stepping into the darkness was intimidating, overwhelming and dangerous experience. My brain switched to alert mode, sharpening other senses to the limit. Out of my comfort zone of the world I know, I found myself feeling panicky and anxious. However, I had the other senses to guide me: hearing, taste, smell & touch. It made me realize that the more grown up I become, the more I explore the world with my eyes only. Unlike a little child, who wants to touch and sample everything within reach.
The exhibition was exciting and fascinating. My favourite part was when we were asked to lay down on the floor and enjoy the music. It was amazing how I could feel the bits tickling my feet, experiencing the music as a sort of a sensation going through the body, awakening the muscles and nerves.
In another ‘room’, I could even touch emotions, like friendship, anxiety and loneliness; curved in wooden blocks. Even Pepsi tasted sophisticated, pleasing the taste buds on my tongue…
I think that the communication between people should be inspired by the ‘Taste of Darkness’ experience as it shows that engaging messages which stimulate all the senses, will be exciting and memorable. That creating playful and interactive content will bring a positive outcome, be the opportunity to learn and understand.
This 1,5h journey, however, left me wondering how the online world deprives people from other senses. How poor is the virtual reality as it merely depends on what we can see&watch.
In Connector we are bringing the online into offline as we believe that they are complimentary to each other. Join our upcoming event and find out yourself.
Job Hunting 2.0
by Rob Cumiskey on November 20th, 2009
The following is a guest post by Sarai Fernandez, and was posted originally on her blog:
It’s almost a month since I gave up sending CV’s out. Before, I used to sit down in front of my computer for an hour each day, log into different websites and apply for all the jobs that I thought would suit me. The only thing I achieved from this was feeling exhausted, and I have not had a single phone call from these applications since September.
So, my new strategy is focused in two main points: learning and networking. Besides my PR studies, I try to spend all the time I can reading articles on the web about new trends, new systems or anything else relating to Public Relations. They can be blogs, e-zines, or discussions in LinkedIn, it doesn’t matter what, because I am learning a lot and also improving my English.
The second point is Networking. I started this with the Connector Lunches, and the Connector Halloween Party, and I hope to continue with these, and also try more networking events in the future. Besides that, I was at the Monster’s Career Fair today and, as was expected, I didn’t get a job, or even an offer. I did get a few business cards that could be very helpful in the future. I also attended some motivating speeches, and I took some very good tips from all of them.
If I have learnt something during this year, it’s the importance of social media and networking for your own professional development. With these tools you will never be ignored, and that is the most important step in order to achieve a successful career.
