SXSW

Humans vs. Ticks and Internships

Are humans smarter than ticks? According to Dr. Tom Mather at University of Rhode Island’s TickEncounter Resource Center, not by a long shot.

But ticks don’t have social media.

Leading a team 4 social media interns and 2 other social media professionals, we’ve spent the past 6 months fighting off ticks one tweet at a time. How’s that? Come again?

A decades-long leading tick researcher, Dr. Mather saw an opportunity to harness social media to save lives and well-being. According to the CDC, Lyme disease rates are actually 10 times higher than what has been reported. In these parts, it’s hard to find people who haven’t been affected.

CBS News reports: “This new preliminary estimate confirms that Lyme disease is a tremendous public health problem in the United States, and clearly highlights the urgent need for prevention.”

Are ticks zombies in our midst? Here’s where we start to fight back

I narrowed down URI’s Harrington School of Communication’s best and brightest to become TickSmart interns. Thanks to Newport Interactive Marketers, I knew just which social media pros would be ideal social media mentors. Once we settled on an initial strategy and goals for this first-of-its kind project, the pros trained and mentored the Journalism, Marketing, PR, and Environmental Science/Writing majors.

The first challenge was nailing the messaging. How to train an intern to speak the language of tick researchers? Everyone adapted, and we found successes.

TickSmart Social Media Team Successes

Blogger outreach and guest posting
Building Pinterest boards without strictly showing pictures of ticks
Developing media outreach lists
Creating segmented newsletter content
Developing a TickSmart pledge card tool to link in-person events with ongoing relationships
Testing and engaging and growing followers and fans on Twitter and Facebook
Repurposing email content into SEO-rich blog posts

Some Welcome Social Media Surprises

Developing memes and enticing the tick research teams to create dozens more
Videoing a riff of a cult movie trailer
Presenting at South by Southwest Interactive

South by Southwest is still a work-in-progress, and I’d like your help!

If you’re not familiar with SXSW Interactive, it is the premier conference for social media professionals. In 2012, Interactive had 24,569 attendees, up 27 percent from 2011.

Help spread the word about Lyme disease and tick prevention by engaging with these influential people!

Let’s use social media & SXSW influencers to beat back the ticks: Click on the thumbs up, or leave a comment. Simply follow this link, http://bit.ly/TickvsHumansSXSW, sign in, and comment!

Thanks in advance, on behalf of the TickSmart Social Media team, the tireless TickEncounter researchers, and everyone who’s been or will be touched by ticks and may become infected.

As technology has increasingly created a number of self-organizing online or real communities, companies are also experimenting with cultural changes such as decentralization.

This trend was discussed in depth at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival, led by Amgen, Inc. Executive Director James Taylor, Burning Man Human Resources Manager Kat Steinmetz, and Second Life Founder Phillip Rosedale. These professionals discussed the burning question of “Decentralized Organizations: Do They Really Work?” Highlights …

Thought leader and author of The Future of Work Thomas Malone shared insights into why things are changing

“For the first time we can have big business economy of scale and small business human culture.”
“We’re in the early stage of change in business, similar to change we saw in democracy/government”
“Old structure for corporations are based on efficiency. Today’s is about innovation; new focus is intelligence”
“Benefits of decentralized decision-making are exactly the same as drivers for business success-innovation and flexibility”

Exploring and using non-traditional techniques to structure their organization

It’s not just about cool tech startups (example Zappos model), huge productivity boost
Burning Man has no CEO. Instead 6 execs who decide by consensus. Slows decision-making, but speeds up implementation
We need to rethink the efficiency metric, place more emphasis on collective intelligence
The point is to build community, not to be efficient

The future forecast for organizations is uncertain

In a few years maybe no one will work for technology companies. Employment is going to change so substantially.
Anonymous surveys, voting systems for both customers and internal employees, organic management, and peer-based recognition systems are becoming more commonly used

Thanks for your insight, @bombaycowgirl, @ACoulton, and @CofoMan!

Stop the Ticks: Send Us to South by Southwest Interactive