This is a feedback session of the "Digital 4 Christ" conference I was able to attend. The feedback was given to my colleagues shortly after the conference in Cape Town earlier this year (2011).

1. D4C Conference Feedback

2. First Session - Jaco Meiring Jaco Meiring is the head of digital marketing for Investec South Africa and has been dabbling in Internet related stuff since 1997. His specific areas of interest include search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, online media (banners and rich media), affiliate marketing, e-mail marketing and social media to name a few. 1. Infleunce 2. Experience 3. Engagement 4. Relationships 5. How to get there “ There were so many interesting factors that were discussed, but five components stuck with me. These factors should be utilised throughout any social media initiative”:

3. Social Media overview 2011ish: Who’s doing what and why?

4. 1. Influence Connecting people online became more popular after the launch of the social network called Friendster which only focused on interaction with people. People started creating fake profiles (of products) and Friendster eventually deleted all their online profiles. Thereafter, Facebook and Twitter started with connecting people as well. These social networks realised that people want to belong to something and want to socialise. Facebook is one of the social networking tools that focuses on engaging with people online and off line. 2. Experience Create experiences for people. No matter how small the experience, it will still have impact on the client. As a result, people will start talking about it and you will get more hits on your website, more facebook fans and more twitter followers. 3. Engagement Millions of people engage through online gaming, for example, Farmville and Angry Birds all have one common denominator: they get people to engage. Fun engages behaviour. It change peoples behaviour for the good. If you create experiences that engages with people, you start building a relationship with them.

5. 4. Relationships A vision is something in your head – a shared view for a group or organisation. Envisioning refers to the way in which you show people where that vision is going. 5. How to get there Listen and provide feedback Be there when people respond Look to your culture Look at the strengths within you and use that

6. Second Session - Japie Swanepoel Japie Swanepoel is an internet strategist and entrepreneur with a single-minded determination: “How to make the internet work.” After evaluating several Christian organisations’ websites, Japie focused his presentation on a (insightful) website checklist which got every single person in the venue intrigued. If you want the traffic to your website to increase every month then bear the following steps in mind.

7. Your organisation has a web site, so what now?

8. 1. Content – “Content is King” Keep it relevant and current – “nothing older than yesterday” Don’t promise anything you can’t deliver Use as much original content as possible – try and generate your own information Text, audio, video and photos are very important. It gives your website aesthetic value Allow for sharing – add space for people to comment on your website. Add facebook , twitter and email plugins in order for people to share or ‘like’ the content on your website. 2. Keep it Current Old news is NO news. Keep everything current and up to date. Don’t be afraid to update content, news, contact details, leadership details and meeting times on a daily basis “If its not on your website, it doesn’t exist” 3. UX: Usability Can people find what they need on your website? Have you done your “mother” test? For example, Ask your mom if she can you find the new photo album you posted this morning on your website. If she cant find it on your website, then you fail. Don’t change your website too much. People will get annoyed if they cant find things that have moved.

9. 4. Flash Flash is technology that allows you to see website and play games Don’t use it as entire home page. Put it on the second page. Ensure it is mobile friendly It will have a negative impact You will loose users It is not SEO friendly 5. Mobile Friendly Is your website mobile friendly ? Have you seen your website on a Tablet PC - iPad , Samsung Galaxy , Blackberry Playbook or DELL Tablet ? 6 million South Africans access internet via their cellphones everyday Ensure that you have a mobile version of your website, other wise you’ll loose out There are lots of free apps to use to assist you with making your website mobile 6. Contact Details If your conatct details are not visible on your website then people cannot engage with you Ensure that you have the following contact details on your website: Phone number Fax number – You can set up a free fax to email address with Hertzner Email address Physical address Enquiry form

10. 7. Maps Add a Google map to your website Google and Bing offer free online maps If you add your company address on the map, it automatically gives you directions to your organisation 8. Link to Facebook and Twitter Add the facebook and twitter plugins on your website homepage Allow people to engage with you via your social networks 9. Best Practice What type of language do you use on your website? Decide what type or tone of language you use and carry it through all your communication tools There’s no room for spelling and grammar errors Response times? How long does it take your to respond to an online query? Have the guts to say “we will get back to you within 3 hours” NOT 24 hours Say something and stick to it Credit for images – ask permission and give credit to all the images you publish online

11. 10. Don’t Stop Innovating! Look, listen and apply You’ve innovated by being here Read, attend conferences, listen to your users Get a different perspective from another industry Start contributing – Start a blog , contribute and comment on online articles

12. Third Session - Nevelia Heilbron Nevelia Heilbron is the Chief Imagination Officer of Forgood . Forgood, an initiative of Heartlines , is a social network that helps people connect online to make a positive difference offline, in various interest areas such as education, health, HIV/Aids, environment, arts & culture, etc. Nevelia’s heart warming and interesting presentation focused on how social media can do good for you and your community. Many people know how big social media and networking is but not many people realise the impact social media and networking has on community involvement. Social media gives a voice to non-profit organisations, churches, ministries and to people who have previously been opressed never had a voice. Some of the most crucial statements that she mentioned during her presentation were the following: Nevilia’s Powerpoint Follows

14. social networking for social good Nevelia Heilbron – www.forgood.co.za

18. The global good

19. ushahidi

21. revolution by social media

22. fundraising today

23. gaming for good

30. the Church: the original social network The Pope on fb

31. The controversial

35. Final Session - Japie Swanepoel In the second part of Japie Swanepoel’s presentation, he enlightened the audience with an informative session about the basics of Facebook , Twitter and YouTube . So let’s start with the obvious. What is the difference between social media and social networking? Social media refers to sharing or commenting on a photo or video clip that has been posted online. Social networking refers to the community of people in your network, for example your friends on facebook that you link to.

36. YOUR social media action plan

37. Facebook The purpose of utilising facebook and other social media networks for your organisation is to engage and deal with people and to be a part of their lives. Ensure that your facebook page is up to date and current. Nobody likes reading old posts. This is YOUR page and YOU make the rules. If you do not like or agree with specific things on your facebook page then remove it. Don’t be afraid to block somebody who used profanity on your facebook page. It is extremely important to respond to comments and wall posts. Engage with people on you page, thank them for liking a wall post or photo. People like talking to people who give feedback and respond.

38. Twitter 3 777 Million people in South Africa have Twitter accounts. It’s quite easy to get in to the hang of twitter. The first thing you have to do is set up your twitter account , then you set up your twitter bio . You have 140 characters to set up your bio so make it count. Mention what you are, what you do and what you stand for, then start tweeting about anything related to your bio. Think about what you put out there. What is a tiny URL? As you know, you are given 140 characters to create w tweet, so it might be a bit tricky to add a URL link to your message. For example, if you tweet the following URL you wont have any characters left to say anything else: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_YouTube_and_how_does_it_work. There are many websites that can help you shorten your website URL such as bit.ly and short url.com . The shortened URL link will look something like this: http://anse.rs/lK0nzp. Now you can add text to your shortened URL.

39. YouTube YouTube is a video sharing website on which users can upload and share videos. It’s easy and very basic to set up your own youtube channel . Once you have set up your channel, you can start producing and uploading your videos. You can also set up a youtube plugin on your website and link it to your videos on youtube. An important tip that Japie gave is: “Keep your videos under 3 minutes to avoid buffering.” Nobody likes waiting for a video to buffer for hours before being able to watch. Tag videos properly with any phrase that links to the content in the video.