a 1.5 hours presentation and q&a to an audience municipal councilors and administrators in Ontario

1. Social Media and Municipalities: Risks and Rewards www.redbrick.ca

2. Some Social Media Stats An average Canadian spends 17 hours online every week. 72% of Canadians are using social media. Over 16 million Canadians are on Facebook. Toronto is ranked #6 worldwide in number of Twitter users. The fastest growing demographic on Facebook is women aged 45 to 60.

4. We are approaching a sharp tipping point.

5. Municipalities are catching up.

7. Select departments:

8. Emergency services

9. Parks and recreation

10. Public works

11. Economic Development

12. Cultural Development

13. Campaign experience

15. Who is Using Social Media? Large and small. Urban and rural. Six times more municipalities are using social media than in April 2010. Grew from less than 20 to more than 125, out of a total of 444 municipalities.

16. Barrie Burlington Clarington Deseronto Guelph Kitchener London Mississauga Newmarket Niagara Region Municipalities to Watch Nipigon Orangeville Oshawa Ottawa Quinte West South Dundas Stirling-Rawdon Stratford Terrace Bay York Region

17. Facebook London uses Facebook to share community events, links, photos, and to engage with users. 5,000+ people “Like” it. What are they doing?

19. More than 750 million users.

20. Primary demographic is 25 to 45.

21. The fastest growing population is women aged 45 to 60 years old.

22. 50% of active users log into Facebook at least once a day.Many organizations, businesses and brands use Facebook pages to communicate with their customers and audiences.

25. More than 175 million users. Great for conversation building and increasing traffic to websites. Primary demographic is 35 - 45. Users post content and links in a public post of 140 characters called a ‘Tweet’. Hashtags = using a # symbol to tag posts with a topic. It allows topics to be threaded and searchable (i.e. #Twitter, #AMO2011, #FF).

26. The City of Guelph on Twitter Guelph is sharing information and links, and engaging in conversation with more than 2,700 followers on Twitter.

27. LinkedIn is a professional social networking site, connecting over 75 million users through business connections. Primary demographic is 35 to 55. Helpful tools/features: creating groups, company profiles, interconnection with other social media platforms, such as Twitter and blog feeds.

28. Municipalities on LinkedIn South Huron, Stratford and York Region all maintain LinkedIn profiles.

29. Rewards Build an online relationship with residents and stakeholders. Speak directly to residents’ concerns. Provide useful information such as important community news, service changes, traffic construction updates, etc. A direct-to-user channel where you can tell your own story.

30. Risks Council use during meetings. Political spats. Media criticism. Tweeting first, thinking later (ready, fire, aim). Publication of closed meeting information. Issues management: what if people are critical, negative or even abusive? Public is often poorly informed. Authorized vs. unauthorized staff use. Commitment of time and resources.

31. Risk: Employees as Designated Communicator The operators of the City’s water system have received four reports from residents complaining that their drinking water has a bitter taste and an odd smell. The City’s investigation is underway. On the City’s Facebook page, a resident makes a tongue-in-cheek post stating, “My water tastes like it came out of the swamp down the road!” Shelly is a summer student and “deputized” social media communicator for the City. She readies herself to respond.

32. Social Media Policy for Designated Communicators Issue tailored “licenses” to communicate Establish the terms of the license based on a subject-matter specific risk assessment Identify the individuals can communicate and the one or two individuals who are accountable Determine how communication work will be remunerated

33. Green Light, Yellow Light, Red Light A model for your designated communicators An attempt to balance control and creativity No approval necessary Approval required Don’t even ask

34. Risk: Off-Duty Expression Chelsea is a caregiver at a municipal long-term care facility. She’s had a bad go lately, and has used her Facebook page to vent. She’s griped about patients, supervisors and co-workers. Only one of Chelsea’s 20 friends works at the municipality, and was so shocked by the comments that she brought a copy of the page into the facility’s HR manager.

35. Social Media Policy for All Employees The duties already exist Social media policies Put the rules in context Debunk the privacy myth Give fair notice to employees Consider packaging your message as something other than policy

36. Social Media Policy for All Employees At a minimum, address these duties Duty of loyalty and fidelity Duty to keep certain information confidential Duty to refrain from harassment/disparagement Duty to provide productive service Duty to disclaim association with municipality

38. Humble

39. Not overly promotional

40. Positive

41. Productive

43. Best Practices Identify central themes and speak to the heart of an issue. “Change, controversy, human interest” still apply. Think before you tweet. What you say is on record. Post regularly, respond to those who engage you and do so in a timely manner. Be transparent (use real names), honest, friendly and knowledgeable.

44. For More Information Brian Lambie, Redbrick Communications @brianlambie lambie@redbrick.ca www.redbrick.ca 905-271-1669 ext. 151 Dan Michaluk Hicks Morley LLP @danmichaluk www.allaboutinformation.ca www.hicksmorley.com 416-864-7253 www.redbrick.ca