Engagement

You know that social media engagement is the “Yellow Brick Road” for your organization, but are you terrified about the journey? There are so many social media tools and resources that are available to non-profit organizations today and it can be really confusing! Should you use Facebook? Is Twitter the best option for you? How can you possibly use Instagram to reach your audience? Today, we will learn about the latest trends, strategies and resources, that will help you to effectively manage your online presence. Towards the end of the session, we will hold a general discussion, where you can ask questions and receive advice from colleagues, in your field of work! No question is off limits and technology use is encouraged.

Rebecca Beck
Partnership for Children of Cumberland County

Speaker Bio
Rebecca Beck, a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, is a technology professional, training facilitator and leader in the public sector. Rebecca is the Vice President of Information Technology at the Partnership for Children of Cumberland County and began her career with the organization in 2000. Her strengths include; technology infrastructure planning, organizational leadership and social media strategy development. Rebecca has hosted speaking engagements on social media planning and business leadership at the National Smart Start Conference and other local events throughout the state. She also shares advice on a variety of technology topics via Twitter and her blog, IfItHasButtons. Rebecca has an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration (Public Administration) and will receive her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (Marketing) from Fayetteville State University in 2016. As an active member of the local community, Rebecca has received Citizen’s Academy certificates from Cumberland County and the City of Fayetteville. She also volunteers with human service organizations that strengthen the local community.

Being able to tell your organization’s stories is vital to connecting with your audience!

I will talk about how you can find some of your stories. But mainly I would like to focus on the process of written storytelling. You need to craft it so that it will grab your reader immediately.

I will discuss written storytelling and draw points from my blog series: http://www.howtoreachpeople.com/power-of-written-storytelling/

Some other points I’d like to make:

Story isn’t new! After all we have cave drawings to prove that! But what is new is the communication tools we use. Plus, the dialogue we facilitate.

There are so many places to tell a story. It’s difficult to know what medium to use.

Telling stories to your audience directly is a long-term plan, with amazing benefits.

Also, we’re running a storytelling speaker event and workshop in March and April in DC. So some of what I will talk about is based on what I learn there also!

Heather Ratcliff
NetSquared DC

Speaker Bio
I am a web content and social media strategist advocating for human rights and social change. I have worked with nonprofits and small businesses on reaching their audience, and prior to that, I was a journalist for about 10 years.

I blog at howtoreachpeople.com. You can read more about me here: http://www.howtoreachpeople.com/about/ You can read more about what motivates me here: http://www.howtoreachpeople.com/what-jolts-you-awake/