The Future Of Digital Social Sharing

I love a good infograph and a love sharing one even more. Sharing, it's like giving a gift. No matter how much we do it for other people, there always is some personal reward in it.

I am totally hooked on my Google Reader. I have it set up so it brings me my very own feed of personal interests, sorted into categories, so if I feel like flicking through thousands of nail art images I can, and if I want the latest Social Media news, I also have that.

This is my waterfall of knowledge that I share on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin - oh look, now I'm sharing on my blog too. But what do people share and how will this change as Social evolves? This lovely little infographic from The Wall Blog give you quite a bit to think about:

Dabbous, Whitfield Street

I lost a few hours of my life one evening last week in a basement bar in Noho. I drank four very strong, well made cocktails propping up the bar of Dabbous. It all started quite innocently with intentions of dinner, but on discovering the wonderful eight page cocktail menu and quiet, well staffed bar, a judgement call was made to stay and drink.

If you're looking for a New York style drinking establishment, with more space and less fashionistas,  recently opened Dabbous could tick all your boxes. It's quite lovely downstairs with attentive staff and a slightly impressive selection of gin. It was the first Wednesday they had been open and it was clear that there were a few teething problems.

I'm not going to lie, I like this place, I just don't love it. The fact our bill came to over £100 and they didn't care to inform us that their card machine wasn't working until we were both slightly inebriated was a little off. It's also worth a mention that although they had a menu of bar snacks, this involved  less than a handful of options, two of which were caviar and black pudding.... Eeewww! We ordered chicken bites, which were possibly the smallest bites I have ever seen and a steak sandwich, which essentially was meat on a slice of toast. All very tasty, not very impressive. To be honest, I'm not even sure I'd want to try the restaurant after this bar experience. What was quite frustrating, was that as we were leaving we were informed that we could have ordered from the full menu downstairs rather than just bar snacks. Considering that we had arrived and asked for a dinner table, it's poor form that they didn't tell us this right away.

I'm rather fond of sitting at a bar and chatting with the fine gentleman mixing my drink, Dabbous is just perfect for that. I managed to get served by one of the very charming owners (Ollie Dabbous' partner) who chatted away comfortably about the cocktails. You certainly can't knock the service here, as soon as you sit down, ice water is served and you are made to feel very welcome. The cocktails menu has a great selection of classics - including my favourite, an Aviation. It was made well, served in the correct glass and I even got to sample it with a selection of gins.

Come here as a bar, on a date, with a good friend for a catch up. The low lighting might have made finding the loos impossible but it certainly made the cool calm bar intimate. Overall, I'll come here again, but I'm not sure if it will be for more than a drink.

Dabbous | 39 Whitfield Street London W1T 2SF
www.dabbous.co.uk
020 7323 1544

Community Manager Confessions

So a few days ago I was approached by Social Media Citizen to complete an interview about Community Management. It seems that they're putting together a collection of qualitative information on the Social Media industry. I just couldn't resist!

I've seen so many "Social Media Gurus" preach about these subjects I felt it was about time that I sat down and told you how it was. So here it is...

(this is me)

Lizzie Gold started work as an Online Producer for GCap Media, she quickly established the key to engaging and growing your audience was building a community. She then then went on to be the in-house CM for Global Radio before moving to Yelp UK, as their Community Manager for London. She currently works for The Social Practice as their Community Manager for a range of our clients. In her spare time she blogs, bakes and cycles around London.

What are your top resources for community management (websites and people)?
Tempero and eModeration both write blogs worth reading, as are industry White papers produced by eConsultancy. Yahoo group (yup, we’re going old skool here) eMint is a fabulous resource as is following the #cmgr tag on Twitter. Please ignore anyone who uses the word “guru” to describe him or herself - it really gets my goat!

Who are your favourite community managers or community management case studies?
I'm quite fond of the chap who tweets about Monster Munch – but that could just be because I like those little crunchy monster paws.

Where is the best place to build the community? (Company website/Facebook/Twitter and etc)
I've worked on a variety of social projects; the most successful have always been on stand-alone purpose built sites. That does not mean “Build it and they will come” should be your attitude. I would seed a community on other social platforms and encourage my community members to share on these networks.  It also doesn’t mean I wouldn’t search for an experienced Community Manager to curate this activity on these platforms.

Social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are a great way to build a closer relationship with your audience and customers.

The definition of community, is common ownership; on Facebook brand pages (not including purpose built apps), Google+ and Twitter, it’s difficult to provide this. I find functionality limiting on these and the strict guidelines take away the freedom, creativity and ownership enjoyed by a community’s members.

What do you have to provide the community to make it work?
Ownership. As with any community you’ll find varying levels of user that you have to enable and reward. this re-enforce behaviour from your members generates an environment in which new members feel welcome and other can become more active and help the community grow. Giving users ownership gives them a sense of pride and will work to your advantage. Every social group has its super users – the prolific faces that you associate with that community – this is not the paid community manager, these are the blood bumping around, generating content and excitement and magnifying the work that a Community Manager does. It is these users you need to recruit and nurture.

How do you attract new community members?
I’m old school when it comes to Community Management. I believe in face-to-face recruitment and word of mouth. No amount of money you throw at advertising will grow your community; it might grow the number of Fans or Followers, but not the people using your space for a common goal. That comes from recruiting believers, super users if you will, that help make the community a place that people want to go.

But how do you get these super users? With time and effort. Being a Community Manager is a lifestyle job – like leading a church or being a head mistress. Just because you’re in Sainsbury’s doing your shopping does not mean that you ignore community member Jason S. who wants to tell you about his cat’s funky breath. Every user is special and unique. The more time you spend getting to know them and communicating with them, the better your community will get – for you and your members.

Oh and the great thing about these super users… they recruit new community members for you, because they believe in the common goal of the group.

What are the best ways to spark a discussion among your community members?
Look to other well established communities and forums for inspirational content and ideas. Using a RSS reader and Tweetdeck following trends and topics of interest is key to staying on top of things. I would recommend networking with influential people around your topic/genre remembering not to get too hung up on being shunned. This does happen, and the bigger you grow your community, the more industry “professionals” will start to take you seriously. Part of your job as a Community Manager is as a trend watcher.

What kinds of content do you share and post most often on the community platform?
Think about your users. How many super users do you have? How many dippers? How many floaters? How many skimmers?

Your goal as a community manager is to be there for the community. This means replying to question, encouraging UGC and giving them something to engage with. If you have a site full of skimmers, there’s no point in reaching for a level of engagement that is beyond their grasp or desire. If you’ve got a greater percentage of super users and dippers, they’ll need challenges and the ability to feel like they add value to your content.

Every community platform will have varying levels of engagement from a simple up vote or like to something more demanding like writing a review or comment. Different users will use this functionality to suit them, which will give you a greater understanding of your audience and the content they like.

How do you reward your community stars?
This all depends on which community you’re talking about. What throws newbies about the social industry is the fact that there are people out there that are willing to spend hours producing brilliant content, inspiring new members and being a spokes person for a brand, seemingly unpaid. To understand this, it’s important not to forget that just because it’s online and out of the usual social environment, it does still fit into the Cost Of Social Norms theory. Simply put, the same way you will give time and energy to your friends and family, for the reward of friendship, respect, support and acknowledgement, many super users give above and beyond to their communities.  Once you’ve grasped this concept, you’ll understand exactly how to reward your own community super stars and stop worrying about other people!

Does the size matter? Big vs Small community – what to aim for?
How long is a piece of string? (Apparently if you’re American, you might have to Google that phrase) Yes, it’s all rather wonderful that there are communities popping up all over the Web, but don’t be fooled; these all have a purpose. Growing brand awareness, building a customer relationship, insights into your audiences behaviour and interests, and possibly the simplest of the all, drive traffic. Take a look at Reddit for example – this community of internet super users has evolved and is now split into sub-Reddits. This huge community has suddenly become more useful to its members whose goal is pure entertainment. It’s evolved though it’s member’s ownership and dedication into an internet phenomena that baffles and terrifies even the most cocky “Social Media Guru”.

What are the most common mistakes in community management? What should companies do to avoid them?
Brand: Lets build a community
Community Manager: Why?
Brand: Everyone else is doing it.
Community Manger: Okay

And…

Brand: Someone said something negative about us!
Community Manager: Let me delete that for you

How do you measure the ROI of your community? (ROI indicators)
I want to scream that this is a stupid question. What the ROI of friendship – wow that sounded cheesy. But seriously, what’s your goal or motivation?

Communities are valuable to brands. When they're well run they enable you to have an open conversation with your consumers. They are your Social Media PR force, word-of-mouth marketers and your market researchers; they are your cheerleaders and your most valuable teachers.

The insights you gain from the conversations you have within your communities will be the life or death of your brand – it just depends if you’re listening to them.

I'd love to hear your comments and know your thoughts. Feel free to share them in the little box below...

East Street, Rathbone Place

I drank out a bucket. It had rum and real sugar coke in it and I shared it with my friend through a straw. It felt so wrong, yet so right! Welcome to East Street. No not the market, the Pan-Asian (cringe) eatery in Soho.

If you like Wagammas, you'll like East Street. It's budget food, that's hot and tasty with service that actually smiles. East Street is actually Tampopo, re-branded for a London audience.  If you didn't know already, Tampopo is a small chain across the UK in various shopping centres serving up a similar Asian cuisine. It has been described as a "Jack of all trades, master of none" but I have a higher opinion of it than others.

Don't stop reading now. This place is certainly worth a visit. They have a interesting menu with a selection of dishes for Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and more. Granted, they do taste very much like each other, but are served up generously and for a snip of the price of other places. They don't hold back on the veg and everything comes out freshly cooked. I ate Nasa Goreng which was nothing like the authentic dishes they serve up at Rasa Sayang, but still enjoyable. There was a lack of a whole fried egg on top and they didn't serve Satay on the side.

I had a side of Korean beef which was accompanied by Kimchee. Again, really generous portions of beef, seasoned and cooked beautifully but the Kimchee was a little off. It just didn't taste quite right, still tasty, just not particularly authentic.

I work on Rathbone Street in Soho. The advantage and disadvantage of this is the array of tasty food options at my fingertips as I roll out of the office. I ate at East Street twice the week I discovered it. It's good. Considering this place is in the heart of Oxford Street's shopping area, it's perfectly priced and you can pretty much ensure you'll always get a seat.

It's also good to note that these guys also have a selection of Asian sauces and products for you to buy. They're marked slightly higher than you can get in Chinatown but they really add to the authentic feel (think; I'm eating in a market). The whole place is decorated with large neon signs which everyone seems to like, even if they aren't always spelt correctly.

I can't help but like this place and everyone who come here, foodie or not, seems to agree with me. It's a gem and a welcome addition to the Wahaca, Pho and Moolis genre in Soho.

East Street | 3 - 5 Rathbone Place London W1T 1HJ
www.eaststreetrestaurant.com
020 7323 0860

Clean Up Your Apps!

Oh how I love a good pun (or a bad one...) and discovering this simple website last week not only excited me with its simplicity but also inspired me to write this post.

Working as a community manager across a selection of platforms, you tend to have your life "out there" on the internet for the world to see. Privacy is hard to come by and you have to be comfortable with who you are to ensure this public scrutiy by the people within your community doesn't destroy you. As a result, anything that helps me 'clean up my act' online in terms of permissions is a godsend.

Enter mypermissions.org – a sexy page which has eight shortcut links to the "edit permissions" pages for some of the most used social networks. As a result, in around 2 minutes you can readdress who has access to all your information from these profiles.

Just on a side note; you may have noticed that your Facebook advertising has become increasingly personal over the past few months. It seems that Facebook are tracking what you view on other tabs when you are logged into the site. If like me, you always have an open tab with Facebook, you might want to consider having this open in a browser that you don't use for anything else. I have a preference for Firefox because I love their add ons and use Chrome for Facebook only. But if your browsing is mainly Esty and Reddit (as mine may well be), you might not care too much about this...

Meat Liquor, London

Anyone on the foodie scene in London will have heard of #Meateasy. For those of you who haven't this is a meat wagon of joy that serves up possibly the best burgers in London. Unfortunately, that wagon of meat was stolen and Yianni Papoutsis, the creator of these meaty morsels had to go guerilla. Setting up a pop up in a pub in New Cross to serve his meat, Yanni was a hit. When it closed, meat lovers shed a tear… that is until MEAT Liquor opened.

I've got to really want it to wait 45 minutes, and I really wanted some of Yanni's meat, I also wanted his buns and booze. So in the cold last night I waited. Unfortunately, I also waited once I was sat down, waited after I ordered and waited to pay. The service here is a shit-show. I watched as one waitress walked back and forth 6 times with the same wet cloth in her hand not actually speaking to customers trying to get her attention, and ignoring the orders waiting to be delivered at the bar. Damn awful.

But, I didn't come here to talk about the service (lack of), I came here to get my lips around a mighty chunk of meat, and that I did. My dining partner is not like me. He never exaggerates for affect or humour so when he says that this is the best burger he's ever eaten in his meat eating life, do not knock it. 

A little pink in the middle, the pattie burger actually melts in your mouth. They also have an outstanding selection of sides and starters. The buffalo wings were lovely and vinegary with a slight kick and the blue cheese sauce with actual blue cheese in it was perfectly pongy. As for the onion rings, that sexy batter that was light and fluffy, cooked just so that the onion doesn't actually get greasy beneath it's batter coat.

The bar is also impressive. Sazerac and St Thomas are on the menu and they even managed to cobble together an Aviation when I asked. They have a library of hot sauces and I even found one that was just to hot for me - this rarely happens.

So booze, tick, meat, tick, everything else, try again. Uncomfortable seating, really loud music and service that makes you want to scream. Was it worth it? Totally! I hate myself a little bit right now.

Meat Liquor | 76 Welbeck Street, Marylebone, London, W1G 0AY
www.meatliquor.com
020 7224 4239

A change...

It's been a while since I have posted a London cat photo. Maybe it's the cold weather pushing them all inside next to radiators or finding that warm spot on the floor where the pipes run – I know I'm finding it harder to get out the house these days. It could also be the fact that I'm walking less. I've joined the thousands of cyclist in London and commute to work by bike. Now I no longer notice feline faces on doorsteps, under cars and hiding under parked cars. As a result I'm going to grow and develop this blog into an online version of my head.

I suggest you keep following if you're interested in any of these:

Cats
Cats and squirrels are still the love of my life, I will still post updates and photos of the things that I see.

Online Communities
I'm a Senior Community Manager. Up until a few years ago a CM didn't even exist and now it seems like every brand and company are looking to fill this role. There is a lot to learn and most of it is from experience. I hopefully will share some ideas that will be helpful to people just starting out as well as insightful to those working within the industry.

London Life
I've lived in London for almost 10 years now. I know it well but I always strive to discover new places and events. There is this current obsession with Pop Up shops, bars and restaurants which makes the foodie scene ever changing. Also, as we all know, the current financial climate means that businesses are opening and closing daily. This makes the city fascinating. I will be blogging about the most exciting things.

Cycling
As a female cyclist in London I have learnt the hard way best practices on the road: falling off my bike, having it knicked, flat tyres, cycling in skirts. A lot has happened and I'd love to share this with people. Hopefully it'll make more ladies brave enough to get on a bike and inspire people to see cycling as a fun and exciting sport for everyone.






Nails, Make Up and Products
I'm obsessed with nail varnish and make up. I'm also super fussy about products I use and will give you honest advise and opinion on what you use to make you look more fabulous.

So now you know the plan (as much of one that there is...) I'll be writing again soon.






There are millions of blogs out there so I hope that this will be fresh, funny and interesting. Please feel free to leave comments and suggestion. I'd love to hear from you all.