“We’re working to push the Stampede into the 21st Century through Facebook, Twitter and blogger outreach for the first time this year,” said marketing specialist Heather Lauer, who is helping oversee the effort. This year, the rodeo will invite a few select bloggers and tweeters to attend and report on the rodeo as credentialed media members. “We’re interested in people who have a variety of perspectives,” Lauer said. “We’re really open to people’s creativity.” Click here to read the full story.
As I’m going about my daily business, I hear a lot of myths from people about what they think it takes to build a dynamic online audience, particularly on Twitter.
Myth #1: ”It’s best to just wait for people to organically find and follow me. If they want what I have to offer, they’ll find me.” There over 75 million Twitter accounts. You are a needle in a haystack. And even if you are a well known name or brand, you will remain buried in the haystack if you don’t do something to poke through the straw.
Myth #2: ”My friend with 10,000 followers sent out a tweet about me and included my @username in the tweet. Jackpot!” Sure, it’s absolutely great for someone to tweet about you and perhaps that will lead to interest from some people, but one tweet at one point in time among the hundreds of other tweets that people see on a daily basis is rarely going to capture people’s attention in a major way unless there is something really retweetable about you announcing your entrance into the Twitterverse. So unless you are an established public figure who already has a natural following or your friend tweets that people should follow you to see naked photos, you’re going to need to find more than one friend who is willing to do your bidding for that approach to work in a significant way.
Myth #3: “I used one of these fancy tools to grow my Twitter audience and now I have 100,000 followers! I am awesome and influential!” This is also usually a wrong assumption. Tools for growing your audience are great if you’re finding the right audience in the process, but out of the 75 million Twitter accounts in the world, there are a lot of people who will follow you back just because they expect you to do the same and they have no interest in participating in meaningful conversations because it takes away from the time they’re spending promoting their shady marketing scheme. If you have 100,000 followers, your influence is measured in the interaction you have with that audience and in the way they spread your ideas to their own followers. If you have 100,000 followers but only interact with a couple people per day and no one ever retweets you, you are not influential (and you are probably being largely ignored).
Building a meaningful Twitter audience simply comes down to searching for likeminded people and taking an interest in them by following them, with the hope that they’ll take an interest in you. Most importantly, introduce yourself in a non-annoying way and be a good Twitizen. Think schoolyard rules – don’t harass people, don’t be rude, and don’t be a bully. Be friendly and introduce yourself to people who also seem friendly and then work to maintain the relationship.
Field of Dreams was a lovely movie, but “if you build it, they will come” is a myth.
“Cameron was a good choice – not only is she an avid blogger and Twitter user, but she is tasked with promoting the nonprofit Miss America Organization, which is the world’s largest provider of scholarships for women. With the job of building communities and interacting with fans, it’s no wonder Cameron has embraced social media.
When it comes to promoting a nonprofit, there’s no doubt it can help to have a celebrity on your side, let alone one with (literally) award-winning looks. But it doesn’t end there. Miss America makes a point of retweeting her fans, making them excited and more engaged to her message of education.”
Miss America 2010 Caressa Cameron was interviewed at the 140 Character Conference in New York City about the relevance of social media for a modern day Miss America. She explained that tools like Facebook and Twitter are great for helping to spread advocacy and awareness about her platform issues.
“Through the MGR Foundation, we’re working to create GREEN Community Schools. We are working to create an oasis of learning about the very things that we depend on to give and sustain our lives — air, water and soil to grow our food. We are helping our teachers provide our children with lessons they can both take home and out into the world for the rest of their lives; lessons that will give practical, hands-on, real life knowledge while learning the things they need to do well on standardized tests. Visit our new website at www.GreenCommunitySchools.org to learn more about our initiative, and you can also find us on Twitter @ourGREENschools and Facebook.com/GreenCommunitySchools.” Click here to read the full story.
“Here’s an example of what can be achieved. In the United States, the Pickens Plan, a blueprint to reduce America’s foreign oil dependence, has recruited 1.5 million online supporters, built a 200,000-strong social network and precipitated more than a million emails to Congress.” Click here to read the full story.
We mentioned this on our Twitter and Facebook pages last week, but in case you missed it, Variety wrote an article about the Miss America pageant’s social media program and they interviewed me for the story. Click on the following link to read the article: Miss America wins new media fans.
Also, we’re working on some wrap up analysis of what was accomplished for the Miss America Organization over the last couple months and we hope to share that with you as a case study sometime in the near future.
Gina Bianchini, CEO of 
