Share Me Stickers

In the course of my Digital Strategy Research Project, I identified early on that one of the biggest weaknesses of the Library’s social media presence was a lack of diversity in representation from across the system. Our presence has been strong, but the voice has come primarily from the Central Library. Over the years, web department staff have tried to encourage branch staff to contribute photos and blog posts, but due to cumbersome workflows and internal politics, these efforts have been mostly unsuccessful.

Conceived initially as a way to recruit bloggers for Pratt Chat, I designed the program to allow staff to participate on whichever platform works best for them.

Here’s how it works:

• Each location will have an Ambassador, who acts as a liaison between the branch staff and Social Media Committee.
• The Ambassador is responsible for reminding other staff that they should share their photos and stories about interesting, exciting, and innovative programs, events, and day-to-day occurrences.
• Ambassadors get custom-designed “Share Me” stickers to use as reminders for themselves and their coworkers.

For those of us who are actively engaged with social media over the course of daily life, remembering to share photos and stories comes by rote. However, I acknowledge that most of my colleagues (perhaps most people, generally) don’t view everything they see or hear as an opportunity to share and engage with communities online. The main tactic of the Social Media Ambassador program is to identify one person in each location who is already plugged in and have them use that aptitude to remind coworkers that their voices and experiences are important.

Creating the Program

Welcome Packets

In February I visited about 2/3 of the branches and recruited a Social Media Ambassador at each. Because the focus was on creating an inclusive space, not all of the ambassadors have existing social media skills. I designed Moo stickers and a hip welcome package for them with sharing instructions, contact information for the list, social media 101 overview, and information about campaigns already in progress. I’m hosting an Ambassador’s Luncheon in April to welcome the team and offer some training. I will also provide ongoing support and guidance to the Ambassadors as needed.

In order to overcome the cumbersome workflows, I negotiated with HootSuite to customize our account so that the ambassadors can share directly to the streams and have their posts go into an approval queue. This will give them multiple points of access (mobile, desktop, etc), and will still give the Social Media Committee editorial control over scheduling and ensuring consistent voice.

Benefits

If successful, the Social Media Ambassador program will have many positive outcomes:

• An enhanced sense of organizational community and collaboration for staff.
• Improved reach for the interesting and exciting programs at all the neighborhood locations, hopefully leading to increased audience sizes.
• Increased recognition among both staff and the public of the Library as a city-wide system where each location has shared values and interests, while still offering tailored service to the neighborhood it anchors.

Kevin is a go-to photographer for the the awesome Effervescent Dance Collective,  and I will sometimes second-shoot with him. The shows are challenging because the light is always low and the setting is always unusual. However, I always get giddy with excitement when I see the ethereal, strange photos that come out of these shoots.

Taken February 23 at the NowChild Soundstage.

It offers a framework for constructing a social media strategy. I list key questions that should be answered in order to establish clear goals, accountability, metrics, and procedures. I developed this framework based on the most critical concerns at the Pratt, but I believe they can be adapted to any organization and any platform.

I’m currently in the process of applying this framework to every social media account at the Enoch Pratt Free Library. As an example, here is how we answer these questions for Pratt Chat, the collaborative blog that I manage:

Goals

• Who do we want to reach?
  Current and potential customers.
• What do we want to communicate to them?
  Interesting behind-the-scenes stories, local history related to our collections, and information about services and programs.
• What platform will we reach them on?
  A blog built in our website CMS, with posts shared on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms where relevant.
• What do we want to change as a result of this effort?
  To feature high-quality, timely content on our website; to build a collaborative, cross-divisional team, that staff are proud to participate in; to increase public awareness of our services, programs, resources, and history.

Accountability

• Who will post and how often?
  Regular and guest bloggers; 4-5 times per week.
• What will be posted?
  Longform articles that tell compelling stories; short articles to promote services and upcoming programs; photos and videos of programs and events; book/movie/music/online recommendation lists.
• What voice will we use?
  Individual and friendly, but professional.
• How will we engage with our community? Respond to comments within 24 hours; share posts on personal social media networks to increase reach.

Metrics

• Which metrics matter to us?
  Contributor satisfaction; unique page views; time on page; hit source.
• What does success look like?
  Contributors continue to be excited about participating and submit posts by the deadline; steady increase in page views, even if small.
• In what timeframe will we measure them?
  Monthly.

Procedures

• How will we moderate community participation?
  By following our Community Guidelines. The editor-in-chief will make the calls in the event of inappropriate comments.
• How will we respond to negative comments?
  If they break the Community Guidelines, delete them; if they do not, respond with an apology where appropriate, and an explanation of how we will address the comment.
• If the goals are not met, what will happen?
  The blog team meets quarterly; we will brainstorm new solutions to the problems and the editor-in-chief will implement them.

I created a new visual identity for the series that uses the new colors paired with striking photos selected by Kevin. The new logo keeps the blue circle from the old Full Circle Storytelling, but pairs it with a new potluck-y palette that reminds me of salad and casserole.

Our first Potluck show was We Think We’re Normal But We’re Not: Stories About Living in Baltimore. I created this fun poster and a matching Facebook banner.

Our next event is coming up on March 21 @ 7pm at Minas Gallery and Boutique in Baltimore. The theme is Show and Tell: Stories About Our Stuff.

I joined the team in Erfurt on Oct 3 and immediately got to work doing intensive social media coverage that includes Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and a blog.

The team has won at least one gold medal, and we’ll find out tomorrow what the overall standing is. This has been a great trip so far, and I’m truly grateful for the opportunity (not to mention the amazing gluten-free meals the chefs have prepared for me!). Please check out the blog and other work, and support the team!

Restaurant of Nations

Cold Platter Display

Kitchen Row and the Banquet Hall

As part of our campaign, I designed and built a new website, bmoreshapenote.com, designed a poster, and customized our Twitter profile.

We wanted to keep the design clean and contemporary, to avoid falling into the “Old Timey” trap that many singing groups fall into. We chose the slogan “Sing Loud” and I used the notation from the song Baltimore in the forthcoming Shenandoah Harmony as a decorative element.

We sing on Thursday nights in Baltimore City, and everyone is welcome to join us.

CVUES is my aunt Chris’ business. It has been amazing to watch her business grow over the past few years, and I’m honored to have had the opportunity to build this new website and help her move to a new level of online services and marketing.

Chris has always been extremely supportive of my forays into web development, photography, and design. She offered me a place to stay when I was taking classes at UVic, and she took good care of me while I was in town for my immigration interview.

I’m really pleased with this website, and I’m looking forward to seeing CVUES break new ground in the future!

Web developers around the world work to create websites that are inclusive and easy to use. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3) released their current set of international standards called Web Content Accessibility Guide (WCAG) 2.0 in 2008. This is the most well-documented and comprehensive set of standards, and is therefore the most authoritative.

The Web Department at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, where I am Assistant Web Manager, is currently participating in a statewide initiative to make all public library websites in Maryland fully accessible.

In this presentation given at Baltimore Lean Startup meetup on July 24, 2012, I offer and introduction to accessibility for the web.

Additional Resources

Tools

• Case studies of people with disabilities using the web on the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) website
• WAVE shows errors and warnings in context for individual pages
• Impairment simulator software from the University of Cambridge
• Your operating system’s built-in text-to-voice software for experiencing your site through a screen reader. For maximum effect, blindfold yourself during this exercise:
  • Windows 7
  • Mac OS X

Resources

• Section 508 0f the Rehabilitation Act
• World Wide Web Consortium (W3) introduction to accessibility
• W3 WCAG 2.0
• W3 Web Accessibility Initiative
• Tips on making your website accessible to the blind, from the American Foundation for the Blind

Demonstration of what it is like to use JAWS screen reader for navigating a website.

How could anybody think of Bach as ‘cold’ when these cello suites seem to shine with the most glittering kind of poetry.
- Pablo Casals

Title page of Anna Magdalena Bach’s manuscript.

Here are three ways you can experience this music for yourself:

Listen: Recordings in the Pratt catalog
Peabody grad, Zuill Bailey released this chart-topping recording of the cello suites in 2010.

This Grammy-winning recording by Yo-Yo Ma plays on my iPod at least once a week

Read: The Cello Suites by Eric Siblin
Canadian author Eric Siblin’s debut book was released in the US earlier this year. Part biography, part music history, and part literary mystery, The Cello Suites pulls together three dynamic and painstakingly researched stories. The first reconstructs Bach’s life and the time during which he wrote his cello suites, and the search for the lost manuscript. The second tells the story of Pablo Casals, the first cellist to rediscover and bring fame to the suites in the early 20th Century. The third traces Siblin’s experiences with the Bach Society, as a cello student, and his travels across Europe while he researched Bach and Casals.

See Casals play the Allemande from Suite 1 in this rare archival video:

I was propelled through Siblin’s beautifully written, intricately woven journey through this musical masterpiece; reading it was like being carried along by one Bach’s own galloping Courantes.

In this short video produced by the Canadian organization English-Language Arts Network, Siblin reads from his book and discusses his inspiration:

Watch: Yo-Yo Ma—Inspired by Bach
During the mid-1990s, world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma brought a unique vision to Bach’s cello suites to the screen. He worked with six independent film directors, each of whom interpreted one of the suites as performed by Yo-Yo Ma. The interpretations range from images of nature, Italian architectural etchings, Kabuki dance, and an exploration of the relationships between a limousine driver, doctor, and real estate agent.

These films are available in the Pratt catalog on VHS. If you (like me) no longer have access to a VHS player, you can view clips from the films on YouTube:

Originally published in Pratt Chat, the official blog of the Enoch Pratt Free Library on July 12, 2012.