Zoomph, in partnership with MetroStar Systems, will be driving the event’s social media engagements by featuring tweets with the hashtag #Wikimania2012 on screens throughout the event and facilitating panel discussions with its question and answer feature.

Zoomph is also hosting Wikimania’s official Happy Hour on Thursday night, and boy do we know how to throw a party! There will be drink specials, a DJ, prizes, etc. Basically everything you would ever want in a happy hour. So the challenge was to create the right promotional flyer to capture the fun and excitement.

Here was a first draft:

Some questions we considered:

Do we want to use the Zoomph-styled font without the mark, or would that be compromising the logo?

Should we try a horizontal alignment?

The image gives the ad a 1950s feel, which is in keeping with the venue, but why keep the picture screened back like that? What would it look like bolder?

 Draft #2:

Let’s move the image up so you see people on the street. Right now it looks like buildings that aren’t connected to anything. But we’re still not completely sold on the image itself. Let’s do some research to find a photo that really pops.

Draft #3:

Now you’re talking.

I simplified the process quite a bit for you; this is only one side of the flyer and three versions out of at least 10, but this should give you an idea of how the Digital Team works with the Design Team to achieve perfection. There is a lot of emailing back and forth (and walking back and forth; our offices are on opposite sides of the building!) and a lot of little tweaks here and there. But the end result is something we can all be proud of. Anything less, and it’s back to the drawing board!

The post The Evolution of an Ad appeared first on MetroStar Systems Blog.

Writing back is rarely a good option. You want to keep yourself above the fray no matter what. I know we’re always told to add personality and the best social media sites humanize their brands with authentic and original voice, but this is one instance where you want to hide your emotional side. Responding to a negative comment might make you seem defensive, combative, or bitter. Chances are the offender will respond again, and before you know it, you are knee-deep in a heated exchange for all your fans, followers, peers and colleagues to see. Spare yourself this experience, take the high ground, and don’t get involved.    

Instead, let the comment sit there, and see what happens. You may find that your followers do have something to say and would like to voice their opinions on the issue. A spirited debate on your Facebook page would attract more engagement and followers.

Of course, if the comment involves pornography, hate speech, threats, graphic violence, bullying, and/or spam, you should report this abuse to Facebook, which will investigate and terminate the user’s account depending on what it finds. Facebook also allows you to delete comments. Offenders won’t receive notification if you delete their comments, but if they visit the page again, they will see it’s not there.

But the next time you are itching to argue back or delete the comment, remember the points above and consider doing nothing at all. We take so much time and effort into crafting the perfect Facebook page or Twitter feed, but it is in the very nature of social media that it cannot be controlled. The best we can do is create an atmosphere where people feel comfortable interacting with your brand and expressing themselves. If they write something disagreeable, have the courage to let your community stand up for itself.

Have you ever received a negative post or comment? What was the outcome?

The post Let it Simmer appeared first on MetroStar Systems Blog.

Now, much more than a discussion between world leaders, governments and businesses, this year’s United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development or Rio+20 is a conversation—and not just between participants attending the conference, but between spectators from around the world, including myself! Though I couldn’t attend Rio+20 in person, I felt very much a part of the conservation and was grateful to have the chance to participate in an issue about which I feel very passionate.

This is made possible by technology, of course, and the many innovations in social media that allow people thousands of miles apart to partake in a single conversation. Thanks to Zoomph, we can analyze this feedback and get closer than we’ve ever been before.

Since the beginning of the month, 418,699 comments using hashtags related to Rio+20 were generated on Twitter, with the potential to be seen at least 1,918,473,612 times (i.e. impressions). Already that’s more coverage than any single news source can expect to achieve, although one did influence the Twitter conversation more than any others. CNN’s Breaking News Twitter feed @cnnbrk was responsible for at least 7,847,129 impressions. Brazilian TV presenter Luciano Huck was also a top influencer as was Brazilian celebrity Marcos Mion.

A glance at the substance of the tweets themselves reveals the urgency of the issues discussed. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s opening speech warning that time “is running out” was the top tweet with almost eight million impressions. The words “future we want” and “end fossil fuel subsidies” top the list of commonly used words and phrases among tweets.

Tweets from Around the World

When you look at the geographic breakdown of the tweets, you see a truly global conversation taking place. Portuguese, English, Spanish, German and Vietnamese were the top languages tweeting about the conference. What’s even more telling is that Hindi and Mandarin did not make the top 5 list of languages used on Twitter, despite India and China being such prominent players in any discussion on sustainable development.

UCLA Berkeley professor of integrative biology Anthony Barnosky told the Washington Post that policymakers don’t realize how interconnected their communities now are. “People tend to think on a very local scale, and that’s what we actually need to get away from, both scientifically and politically. We have to realize in some sense, there is no local scale anymore,” he said.

Luckily and not a moment too soon, social media is making it easier for the world’s decision makers to experience this interconnectivity.

The post Zoomph @Rio+20: A Conversation with the World appeared first on MetroStar Systems Blog.