It doesn’t get any swankier than the Junior League ofHouston. The audience could not be more prestigious than The Baylor Network. That was the setting of the stage I had the honor to share with some of Houston’s most established gentlemen in media.
Fox 26 Anchor Melissa Williams, the Emcee of the morning event, introduced the panel: Lance Roberts, financial advisor and radio talk show host on KSEV; Michael Berry, former Houston Council Member and current radio talk show host; D’artagnan Bebel, General Manager at Fox 26; Tom Koch, news anchor at ABC 13, and social media guru Sandra Salazar.
Goosebumps! Did she say the G-word? Holy Mac! Trying to live up to that expectation was quite challenging, especially sharing the panel with celebrities.
AT the beginning I found it difficult to even introduce my self, but once I got engaged in the discussion, I got caught in a case of “Help! I’m talking and I can’t shut up!”
Many things were left in the proverbial inkwell/microphone/keyboard, so I was compelled to write a little about this amazing experience.
D’artagnan was absolutely right to say that Youtube is the ultimate video news deliverer. He gave an excellent example with the recent Japan earthquake and tsunami events. However, he did not give his medium (television) enough credit for something social media has a hard time delivering: context.
I applaud Lance for giving free advice on the air without advertising his business. This is what social networking is all about. There is an expectation of free, and as I mentioned briefly at the panel, the other side of this coin is the principle of reciprocity. I do disagree that radio is a dying medium. Like television, radio helps in providing context to breaking news.
Michael had an excellent point in mentioning user-generated content. Any integration of users is the essence of the paradigm shift D’artagnan had mentioned at the beginning. Radio has been doing this ever since the first talk show host asked “caller are you there?” In that sense, talk radio is the pioneer of social media.
We cannot think of social media as competing with traditional media. In fact, the mere idea of competition belongs in the old paradigm. Sharing and embracing belongs in the new paradigm. As Tom said, television co-mingles with social media. The station produces a news item, and, sometimes before it airs, it is posted online. The station and the talent each have their facebook and twitter accounts and “push” the links to the stories through those social media accounts.
Does ABC 13 get any revenue from their social networks? No. But, can their sales staff get by with just the Nielsen data like they used to back when? Absolutely not. They also have the stats on the site hits. That’s why their site has to be beefed up. That’s why their URL is mentioned at the end of each story, and that’s why they friend everyone on who cares to ask.
That being said, it is important to mention that social media is measurable and strategies can and should be established before organizations begin investing resources in them.
Finally, there was a brief discussion about monetization. Social media is not a quid pro quo in terms of monetary value. Social media is better appreciated in terms of social capital, and is better appreciated in terms of audiences.
• Example 1: When Michael says that the money is not with the teens, but rather with their grandparents, he’s right because he perfectly understands his audience.
• Example 2: When Lance says that a future desired skill will be face-to-face communication, he’s right because he understands his own set of audiences.
Both Michael and Lance have audiences of aural connection who can interpret body language.
This last point brings me to perhaps the one I didn’t have time for: the fact that I was introduced as a social media guru does not make me the prescriber of social media as the panacea. Perhaps I disappointed those who were expecting a mouthful of acronyms and a few references of the coolest, latest apps. I just prefer to describe my self as a message maven who prescribes a medium according to the audience.
Nice post Sandra. Wish I could have heard the discussion! Social media is often the part that starts the conversation as the story is told. It helps take down the walls that separate businesses and their customers. The conversation often needs to continue face to face and social media can help that along.
ReplyDeleteThanks, David. You are right. Social media is just another extension of our relationships. By the way, great information on your video!
ReplyDelete