TiESE: Case Study One - Millenium Campus Network

Case Study One: Millenium Campus Network

Sam Vaghar, Managing Director of Millenium Campus Network

Our panelists give Sam some valuable feedback on the social media strategy for MCN.  Please add your own advice for them if you’d like!

1)  Facebook bridges many youth, but does it reach older generations as well and create bridges between generations?  Are there more effective networks for doing this?

2) What are the parameters/limits of social media?  When it comes to organizing for social and political change, what can’t social media do or replace?  Will these parameters change in the next 5 to 10 years?

3) How can social media best be used to organize offline social action?

4) What makes Facebook and Twitter so popular?  What traits from these sites can we utilize in making our own websites gain a lot of traffic and interactive participation?

5) How do we cross generational divides? I want to reach potential donors and mentors who are not students.  How do we get out there?

6) How can we make MCNpartners.org addictive like Facebook and Twitter?

Panel Responses:

Ken: I think you want to make sure your blog is as good as it can be, with images, audio, video.

Joe: Don’t worry as much on the quality of the website, work on the blog.

Brian: Getting really good on the RSS, start commenting aggressively on their blogs with thoughtful comments.

Joe: We have the same issue, that people are one step removed from the people are affected.  At Boston Medical Center, we talk about women, kids, and cancer.  That’s the way into their hearts.

Brian: Facebook is going to solve your generational gap.  More and more 30-to-50 somethings are jumping on.

Sam: How do we make a kick-ass blog?

Gradon: Social media itself can’t do anything.  It’s just a tool.

Joe: Look at the blogs you go to, the ones you love. Check out problogger.net.

Brian:  As Seth Godin says, you want your blog to be remarkable.  Remark-able.  Something people are remarking on, talking about.

Do you have any suggestions for Sam and Millenium Campus Network?