engagement workshop vacaville
DESCRIPTION
These are slides for a Digital First Media engagement workshop at the Vacaville Reporter.TRANSCRIPT
Better Journalism Through Engagement
Northern California NewsroomsDecember 2013
#DFMengage
Read more about it• stevebuttry.wordpress.com• slideshare.net/stevebuttry• @stevebuttry• [email protected]
Introductions• Name• Newsroom• What you do• Recent engagement success/challenge• What would make today a success for
you?
Throughout the day• Choose 1 or 2 things to try this week• Choose 1 or 2 things to try next week• Choose 1 or 2 things to dig in deeper
with us• Write down follow-up questions• Slides and links on my blog
What is engagement?
Tools of engagement
Ways of engaging• Community blogs• Seek community content (words, photos,
videos)• Curation, aggregation• Contests• Don’t forget the newspaper!• Face to face
Engaging community voices
Martin Reynolds
The Social Media Conversation
Great for promotion, but also …• Great for reporting• Find story ideas• Crowdsource• Join & spur the conversation (reply,
retweet, ask questions)
engagement
Photos engage better than updates
engagement
Why converse w/ no link?• Question invites conversation• Engagement w/ question boosts
views/engagement on subsequent links• Builds brand, gain followers• Do you enjoy conversation w/ people
always calling attention to themselves?
Engagement tips:• Engage with comments • Post and/or share from personal pages
(selectively; don’t be a spammer)• Crowdsource on community pages (not
just yours)• No AP photos
CT Twitter study:• Newsroom accounts mostly heads & links• @5thDistrictCT conversational (links to
competition, RTs, replies, great info)• @5thDistrictCT = 2x to 10x more referrals
per Twitter follower
Tips for being conversational:• Monitor @ mentions & reply (answer
questions, thank for links, address critics)• Make link posts conversational• RT competition, community bloggers• Ask questions
Monitor community conversation:• Save searches for key names, hashtags• Save location searches for breaking-news
terms (fire, emergency, siren)• Make lists (HootSuite, TweetDeck
columns) of key community users• Reply & RT
Encourage staff to be conversational:• Be personable (can do that w/o stating
opinions)• More than just links• Listen to community; reply & RT• Livetweeting events
What’s your social-media voice• All about me?• Join other conversations?• Appropriate to content (light, serious)?• Who would your social-media voice be
(think of a character)?
Crowdsourcing tips• Say what you know, what you need to
know• Don’t ask for help; invite people to tell
their stories, share their photos• Reach broader audience (hashtags, ask on
FB pages of groups w/ interests)
Liveblogging
Why to liveblog• Immediacy• News value• Storytelling• Traffic, revenue, sponsorships• Community engagement, loyalty • Interactivity• Saving time
Gettysburg engagement• More than 1,000 uniques daily, peak of
6,462• 5 days > 2K page views, peak of 7,728• 5 days > 35K engagement minutes, peak
of 96K+
Liveblogging situations• Breaking story• Meeting• Event (festival, march, concert, trial)• Daylong (Election Day, weather)• Sporting event (can use fans, bloggers,
HS journos)• Live chat
Liveblogging prep• Get names (confirm spelling), titles in
advance (ask, get program, etc.)• Set scene, saying what you’re covering &
that you’re live-tweeting• Describe your circumstances, vantage
point: at event, watching on TV, curating tweets (Andy Carvin)
Tips, techniques• Short, frequent takes• Space isn’t an issue; engagement is• Liveblog becomes notebook for story• Consider links, polls, photos, audio, video• Tweet & Tout, feeding hashtag • Promote live & replays• OK to step away for question, video, etc.
Liveblogging issues• Accuracy (stress verification, ask
questions, seek links & documentation, correct quickly and candidly)
• Rough copy• Sports credentials, court access• Multi-tasking• Learning curve
Live-tweeting tips• Don’t transcribe; observe & report• In sports, mix play-by-play & commentary• Use hashtag (& check & engage)• OK to pause for checking facts, names• Note significant pause (halftime, lunch)• Fun interludes, exchanges, anecdotes• Check facts before you hit “tweet”
DFM ScribbleLive Accounts
• “White label” accounts distributed by cluster & Thunderdome
• Embeddable chats for every site within the cluster
Live Event Options
• Auto-curated or staffed – or both• Allow readers to ask questions or
comment• Participants contribute on site, mobile
app or via Twitter• Add in photos, videos, links, polls, etc. • Pair with a livestream or Google Hangout
More ScribbleLive Training
http://bit.ly/scribblecourses• How-tos• Specialized topic sessions for sports,
politics, court reporting & more• Get ideas for monetization
Video engagement• Surveillance video• Seek submissions from community• Vine, Tout• Google Voice + still photos• Search YouTube, Vimeo• Hangout (live on YouTube)
Video engagement• POV camera• Live webcam• Post raw video• Live coverage• Video from source, agency