Will SA Government lead the pack with social media strategy?

Will the South Australian Government lead Australia with a multifaceted social media strategy and embrace folksonomies, blogs and wikis. ? Interesting to see if the 200+ public servants who attended the Digital Media Revolution conference will respond to the industry's presentations.

The audience was told that citizens are expecting more from their governments and governments need to give their constituents a say in pretty well everything. But did you know that South Australia was ahead of its time when it launched an online talkback service called ‘Talking Points’ in around 2002? The idea didn’t take off basically because most of the chat was boring.. and maybe over-moderated? But now we have communities that are used to baring their souls online, we can expect to see the human face of the SA Govt.
The good news announced at the conference is that local providers will now have an opportunity to apply for a DFEEST-run grants program to help establish some innovative social and interactive media programs.
Thanks again to Ann Clancy and the AIMIA SA committee for making this happen.

South Australia's Digital Media Revolution Part II

People use social networks (online or offline) for psycho-emotional reasons. (IMHO) Faced with an overwhelming tsunami (per Mark Pesce) of information, many people are using their personal networked space (facebook, myspace, bebo, twitter, etc) to cocoon, to protect themselves from the deluge. They are using RSS feeds and news alerts to avoid getting all the other information. I believe people will get even more choosy about the content they receive. I'm not saying email marketing is facing extinction but it is certainly ailing.

Also, when interactive TV becomes part of our lives (the Federal Government promises 2010, for god's sake, make it happen!), can you imagine the impact of social networks? People will be able to watch TV in one corner of the screen while commenting on what they're viewing in their personal networks... Never mind Idol, Dance or Big Brother, think how that will affect an election outcome when people can vote by remote control without getting out of their chair.

Adelaide's public servants get hyper-connected

Mark Pesce, of ABC-TV's New Inventors, opened the Digital Media Revolution conference today in Adelaide. Mark is the master of powerpoint -- not a boring list of dotpoints in his whole show. His takeaway message was also the subject of his next book - Hyperconnectivity.
I was surprised at how connected this large group of public servants were, there was no visible resistance to the idea that Facebook, YouTube, Twitter (and Podmo!) are holding all the power, or that they are largely anarchistic. Or maybe they were just being polite!

Australian charities look to the Facebook generation for donations and members

According to Oxfam, the Environmental Defense Fund, Community Information Strategies Australia (CISA), DonorTec and hundreds of other nonprofit organizations surveyed, the number of people who open or respond to e-mail messages is falling, threatening this previously powerful and low-cost marketing tool for nonprofits.

A new study shows that the percentage of people who opened messages from the charities fell from 21.3 percent in 2006 to 17.6 percent in 2007, while the percentage of recipients who clicked through to a web link included in the messages decreased from 4.9 percent to 3.8 percent. But surprisingly the amount of money that the groups raised over the Internet (by any means) increased 19 percent from 2006 to 2007.

The message is clear, says CISA CEO Doug Jacquier, organiser of the Australian national Connecting Up conference, charities need to start using the social web to stay up with changing habits of giving. See "Australian charities turn to Facebook generation for survival" for the views of Doug and leading nonprofit social media guru Beth Kanter.

Sharing the love with the South Australian Government: Digital Media Day

Today it's Anzac Day and I'm preparing some words for the South Australian Government's Digital Media Showcase. This is a concept to let SA Government Agencies know how they could be using local talent to take advantage of interactive media.

I'll be sharing a panel chaired by Frank Grasso, one of Australia's foremost search engine marketers. Frank runs E-channel and Dynamic Creative, a tool for large scale management of GoogleAds. Also on the panel are Jason Neave from ViaMedia, Leonora Beresford of Starcom; Stuart Pool from Adelaide Now; Leila Henderson (me) CEO of NewsGallery; and Jason Dunstone, Managing Director, Square Holes. How we'll fit in all of that information in a half hour session is a mystery.

On the 'Serious Games' panel, Ben Kilsby from simulation company Holopoint cracked me up when he saw that he'd be sharing the stage with Adrian Smith from Sydac and John Buchanan from Carnegie Mellon -- Ben says 'that's like a garage band finding out they're sharing the bill with Pearl Jam'. Go Ben.

So congratulations to Ann Clancy, that powerhouse activist and official Creative Industries Catalyst, Department of the Premier and Cabinet, and the AIMIA SA committee for getting this off the ground.