Mentoring for Twitter on Twitter?

This year I started thinking seriously again about mentoring and how to carry out a mentoring relationship on Twitter. Basically, I'd like to use my knowledge and experience with Twitter to help others get a better grasp of its benefits and features. As a mentor, I'd like to combine instruction and tasks with helpful support.

Mentoring for Twitter on Twitter? Yep, alongside helpful tips and advice in video format and via Google Hangouts and with blog posts here, I aim to guide mentees through an 8-week mentoring 'program'. We'll not only look at using Twitter effectively and efficiently, but also the voice you are broadcasting through it and how you may be perceived by your followers on it.

If you're interested (it's free) all you need to do is send a tweet letting me know, and include the hashtag, #learnwme, in your tweet when you do.

How do you do this?

1. Open a Twitter account. 
2. Compose and send a tweet that looks like this:

Follow the Twitter Mentoring Program on this page!

Twitter Basics: Approaches & Management

Training through Twitter: It IS possible!

I recently facilitated an evening workshop for the CSTD Toronto Chapter. The aim of the workshop, 'Training through Twitter: It IS possible!', was to help people working in the Learning and Development field see that Twitter is a valuable and viable training tool.

As my approach to workshop facilitation is to always have as much hands-on interaction as possible, I planned to use Twitter the entire evening, and had pre-published some tweets in advance by using HootSuite's Publisher feature. No Power Point slides, just tweets on the screen all night!

I used Twitter to introduce the Learning Objectives for the evening:

I then set up the ice-breaker via pre-published tweets as well:

The ice-breaker, with tweets appearing on the screen in real time, accomplished a number of things: 

• It helped me see who had what level of experience using Twitter, so I could form groups accordingly.
• It got participants using some of the 'hallmarks' of Twitter right off the bat: tweet, hashtag, retweet and mention. 
• It facilitated social learning as groups at each table were helping each other to tweet, learn and use Twitter correctly. 
• It briefly had participants already thinking about Twitter as a customer service tool, which warmed them up for the main activity. 
• It was damn fun! Lots of laughter and engagement! 

The main activity, a training challenge, was also explained via pre-published tweets:

Rather than have me as the 'Sage on the Stage' explaining how to use Twitter as a training tool, I had the groups dig in, use Twitter and come up with a solution to my training challenge: Use only Twitter to train a group of CSR's -customer service representatives - how to provide effective customer service on Twitter. The groups' solutions were then to be tweeted in 15 tweets maximum under a given hashtag, rather than presenting in front of the 'class' on chart paper. 

*(NOTE: Unfortunately, yours truly didn't realize that Twitter only allows search for past tweets up to a week into the past, so I can't send you to the hashtags to see the wonderful solutions! Sorry.)

I was blown away by the full-on engagement, the wonderful ideas and the social learning that was taking place once all five groups dug right into the Twitter mud and got their hands dirty! It was fantastic, exciting and so much fun! 

Here are some of the tweets explaining some solutions to the training challenge: 

I was very pleased with how the evening went and that everyone who attended gained a fresh new perspective on how Twitter, an increasingly ubiquitous platform that to some is still threatening, can be a powerful and useful tool for training. 

How about you? Have you trained through Twitter? 

I #foundMomo Today!

It's not a secret that I love Social Media networks and the possibilities they can bring. Although a rather 'late adopter' to Instagram, I've come to really enjoy the platform and all the connecting and sharing it has allowed.

On a weekly basis, I post an Instagram Weekend Challenge - #wkndchllnge - which is often guest-curated by one of the many regular participants. When I began using Instragram, I figured it was a good excuse to look at the world around me creatively again. And why not see if others would like to do the same? So, every weekend, numerous IG'ers worldwide submit photos specific to a chosen theme and exercise our creativity while sharing it with others. I love it and still can't believe we're up to 436 #wkndchllnge photos since autumn last year!

Instagram Weekend Challenge example. Curated by @_awad on Instagram

One of my favourite parts about the #wkndchllnge is that @ianbusher's great dog, Finn, has become our official mascot moreso 'by accident' than anything else. The whole creative affair brightens my weekends and often amazes me at the demonstrations of creativity that participants share. The connections and friendships that I've created through the #wkndchllnge are such an integral and rewarding part of it, too.

 Finn the #wkndchllnge mascot. Photo by @ianbusher on Instagram

Months ago, I stumbled upon an article that was written about #findmomo on Instagram. Andrew Knapp - @andrewknapp - of Sudbury, ON, has a wonderful border collie named, Momo, who obediently hides in photos. To the delight of myself and approximately 5,000 IG'ers per day, we must then spot Momo in the photo! The #findmomo meme brings smiles to my face and outright laughter at what Andrew comes up with on a regular basis.

Spot him? Momo in Toronto. Photo by @andrewknapp on Instagram

Well, Andrew's been in Toronto for an extended stay and thankfully organized an #Instameet today in Trinity Bellwoods Park here in town where Momo fans could meet the star and his gracious owner. Brilliant.

#Instameet announcement by @andrewknapp

I don't care what you say about Social Media, but the ability to gather some fun, creative people together on a cold, wet evening to meet a spirited dog, other dog lovers and an imaginative dog owner is something I'm glad some savvy Instragram use could bring about.

We #foundmomo and had a  blast! Thanks @andrewknapp!

Keep your eye open in 2014 for the #FindMomo book that will be released. You know it's going to be on my bookshelf!

Momo brings lots of smiles to many faces, including mine. @jgoodto on Instagram

Get Lucky! -Daft Punk's Marketing Brilliance

Daft Punk got lucky this week. Or did they?

The duo knew exactly what they were doing last weekend at Coachella when they released a funky, catchy teaser for their new single, 'Get Lucky' which also aired during SNL the same night.

Featuring Pharrell on vocals, the song has stuck in my head ever since hearing it. And apparently I'm not alone. It harkens back to the smooth and 'robotic' sound that made Daft Punk huge in the late 90's and has certainly caught the attention of thousands worldwide.

So, what does a DJ duo expect will happen once a 1 minute teaser track is released in this digital age that they have been a big participant in? That hundreds of 'full-song' edits would start appearing online and be shared extensively. Laptops and tablets were logged into right away with tech-savvy fans creating unofficial versions of the song overnight. Social Media channels accelerate the sharing of, and in less than a week, news of the song and forthcoming album (release date May 21) is known worldwide without any further effort nor spending on Daft Punk's side.

I say brilliant.

Until May 21, many more versions will pop up on SoundCloud (500+ and rising), get shared, commented on and liked (or disliked) and without lifting a finger, anticipation for their new album will be high. Will people be sick of the song before it even hits the iTunes store? Maybe. Will those who already love it - like me - be looking forward to hearing the real version? Most definitely.




But wait. Maybe they've come to regret their marketing decision. Or are they worried about that possibility of people getting sick of the song before it even gets released? I can't answer that, but I can report that the official release has been announced, and it is at 12:01am tomorrow, Friday April 18 2013. It appears all the hype gave their plans a quick change. Maybe their fans, as amateur DJ's, have created some unappealing versions that many have mistaken for the real thing, and this doesn't sit well with the duo. Who's to say?

Whether they regret what I think was an ingenious marketing approach or not, their use of Twitter's new video service Vine to announce the track listing for the album and the teaser being featured at Coachella where they performed what is now a legendary show in 2006, have certainly prepped the masses for a new Daft Punk album.

I, for one, will be purchasing the song tomorrow.