I’m tracking my trip with Google Maps! I’ll be aboard the M/S Expedition from March 7 to 20 with the GAP Adventures “Quest for the Antarctic Circle” tour. Within the map, click on individual locations to see photos. I’ll also be tweeting with the penguins at @villageous.

P.S. Carole and Nina are holding down the fort while I’m gone – contact them directly to discuss any business matters!

View Antarctica 2011 in a larger map

Club CenPho at Palazzo will be a nightclub environment for Phoenicians who are looking to have a good time dancing to good music in a positive, upbeat environment. This club will be social in the physical sense, as well as the digital sense – we’ve got some exciting, unique concepts in store to have an enhanced nightlife experience through social media. There is NO other nightclub like this in the Valley of the Sun!

Club CenPho will take place every Friday night starting in mid-March at Palazzo in Central Phoenix. Our Phoenix-based friends are also invited to an exclusive preview of The Most Social Club in Phoenix on Friday, February 11, 2011 from 9 pm to close.

Click here for event details and to RSVP.

You may have noticed that from time to time we talk about our love of bacon. That’s because it’s not only the best meat ever, but it’s also the topic of Villageous founder Heather Lauer’s blog of nearly 6 years, BaconUnwrapped.com, and book, Bacon: A Love Story (Harper 2009). Here’s a fun video we produced with videographer Dean Shirley to celebrate the book launch and highlight a favorite local butcher. Watch closely and you’ll see several Villageous team members in the background! Enjoy bacon!

We’ve been blessed with a great year full of amazing experiences. Happy Holidays from Team Villageous and here’s to an even better 2011!

As with other public affairs panel discussions I’ve participated in, it’s typical for me to talk about my experience with the Pickens Plan and other online grassroots campaigns, and to share how important I think it is for almost any membership-based organization to engage in social media these days. But the conversation at the NABPAC conference raised some interesting discussion points about situations where social media may NOT be appropriate as an organizational communications tool – for legal reasons.

Corporate and union PACs are restricted in their ability to communicate with certain employees about PAC activities. So while social media can be an effective tool for communicating with donors about what and why the PAC is supporting, doing this can be a bit complicated if you need to prevent a class of employees from being exposed to that information.

We spent some time talking about privacy settings when creating a private Group on Facebook or LinkedIn, creating a private account on Twitter, or even creating a closed Ning network. But even the most private group environment can have holes in it, particularly when members of the group hit that “share” link and send the information to their friends. While those of us who advocate social media as a form of communication usually encourage liberal use of that “share” button, there actually can be a downside to it.

The conclusion of the panel was that there are still a lot of legal questions that need to be answered before certain PACs dive into using social media, and there’s clearly a whole new set of best practices that need to be developed with regard to this environment. But as with any organization considering a social media strategy, it’s important to understand what you’re trying to accomplish through social media and to develop a program appropriate for those needs, regardless of whether or not there are legal implications.

As a speaker on the social media panel, I was asked to answer the following question: “How is social media changing the way that citizens engage with their government and communities?”

I presented the audience with the following opportunities that social media can present to city governments:

• A vehicle for obtaining public support for initiatives.
• Engaging citizens in the process so they feel informed.
• Increasing the speed that information is released and available.
• Greater transparency.
• Citizens engage with one another about public policy issues, creating a public dialogue.
• Find out what’s on people’s minds through conversation, not just feedback.
• Create a level of transparency that fosters trust.

It was encouraging to see that our local governments are interested in communicating with their citizens through social media, and that they understand how important social media is – and will be – to engage with citizens, now and moving forward.

1) Going with the flow. Conan said it himself in his monologue earlier tonight: “Those people (on the Internet) saved my ass.” Even before he signed off for the last time at The Tonight Show, Conan and his team recognized the viral groundswell of support that he was experiencing, and he not only acknowledged it, but he let it carry him out the door. Rather than trying to control it or replace it with something manufactured, Conan let the Team Coco movement take charge.

2) They never stopped. Even when things were in limbo, the movement continued to thrive and grow, driven by the online grassroots campaign and inspired by Conan’s involvement and interaction with fans via Twitter. Once the summer tour was announced and the TBS deal was sealed, Conan’s staff began to take more control of the overall environment, but they never did it in a way that suffocated the effort and they never let it stop – the movement pressed on full speed ahead, and it continued to grow every step of the way. There was never a lull in the campaign from the time Conan went off the air at NBC to when he went back on the air at TBS – Team Coco, led by Conan’s writing staff, kept the party going 24/7.

3) There was always something in it for the fans. Conan set the tone for this himself when the first – and only – person he followed on Twitter was an seemingly unsuspecting girl named Sarah, aka @LovelyButton. Through Twitter, Conan became accessible in a way that he was never able to  when he was only on TV. People experienced the highs and lows as Conan went through the incredibly human and personal process of losing his job and figuring out what to do next with his life. Suddenly there was not only a movement around the TV host who got screwed over by network bosses, but rather a strong personal connection with someone who was going through a stressful time and looking for moral support and inspiration. It was a movement in support of a guy who – even when being shoved out the door at NBC – still had the class to sign off for the last time by saying, “if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”

Fans felt like they were a part of what was going on with Conan, and they always had a role. Even as his staff started to produce and distribute their own content related to the new TV show, user generated content still continued to receive attention through TeamCoco.com, Twitter @teamcoco and on Facebook. Fans wanted to work for the attention of Team Coco, and Conan himself, and the results were inspiring. As one small way of saying thank you, in the 10 days before the debut of the new TV show, Team Coco conducted a contest that gave away 10,000 t-shirts on a first come, first served basis – and the shirts were gone literally within minutes because fans were engaged and paying close attention.

4) Total team involvement. The Team Coco movement was both top down and bottom up. It was medium-netural. The entire team was responsible for the entire effort. Activity on the Internet drove people to watch the TV show, and the TV show drove people back to the Internet for bonus content. A social media campaign is at its best when it’s not just a social media campaign, but rather a fearless all-hands-on-deck movement, and Team Coco’s efforts are a perfect example of how this should work.

5) Content is king. Video skits. 24 hour webcams. Photos. Blimps. While we were all waiting for the debut of the new TV show, we were most certainly not without entertainment. From staff driven content, to videos featuring Conan himself, it’s almost like he was never off the air.

Success can be defined in a lot of different ways for Team Coco, but ultimately the goal was to convince fans to tune into the new TV show.  The result? During his TBS debut, Conan generated a preliminary 2.8 rating, translating to approximately 4 million homes that tuned in. Not a bad showing for basic cable.

Further proof that TBS understands what they’ve become a part of? Conan will be posting all of his shows online the morning after they air (TBS does this for several of their shows).  Click here to watch.

So of course the looming question is…will his fans stick with him? Only time will tell. But Team Coco has done everything they possibly can to set themselves up for success in 21st century TV land.

1. Do you do any kind of advertising?
Yes: 72%
No: 28%

2. If yes, what kind of advertising do you do (may choose more than one)?
Direct Email: 69%
Print Ads (Newspaper, Magazine): 62%
Direct Mail: 31%
Google Ads: 23%
Radio: 23%
Facebook Ads: 23%
Television: 8%
Classified Ads: 0%
Other: 38%
“Other” items specified include local directories, fliers, Yelp, hand to hand targeted marketing, coupons.

3. How much on average do you spend on advertising per month?
$0: 28%
Under $500: 50%
$501 – $1,000: 11%
$1,001 – $2,500: 6%

4. Do you retain a public relations agency?
Yes: 11%
No: 89%

5. If yes, how much on average do spend on public relations per month?
Under $500: 88%
$501 – $1,000: 12%

6. Do you have an email list?
Yes: 78%
No: 22%

7. How much on average do spend on direct email marketing per month?
$0: 44%
Under $500: 50%
$501 – $1,000: 6%

8. Do you participate in social media?
Yes: 100%
No: 0%

9. If yes, which social networks do you use (may choose more than one)?
Facebook: 94%
Twitter: 94%
LinkedIn: 50%
MySpace: 17%
Other: 11%
“Other” items specified include blogs and Yelp.

10. Do you pay someone to manage your company’s social media?
Yes: 11%
No: 89%

11. If yes, how much on average do you spend on social media per month?
Under $500: 80%
$1,001 – $2,500: 20%

12. How much time on average do you spend on social media per week?
0-5 hours: 61%
6-15 hours: 17%
16-20 hours: 22%

13. Are you a locally owned business?
Yes: 89%
No: 11%

14. How many employees do you have?
0-5: 72%
6-15: 22%
More than 50: 6%