“Our job is not to defend yesterday, but to invent tomorrow” - Peter Druker, Management Guru

1. Extension 2.0: Harnessing the Power of the Blogosphere to Expand Programming Potential & ImpactJamie Seger & Mark LightThe Ohio State University Extension Seger, J., & Light, M. (May 2010). Extension 2.0: Harnessing the Power of the Blogosphere to Expand Programming Potential & Impact. Computer lab presented at CYFAR 2010 Conference, San Francisco, CA.

2. “Our job is not to defend yesterday, but to invent tomorrow” -Peter Druker, Management Guru

3. Why Extension? • Lack of knowledge about Extension among younger generation (18-34 yo)

4. Why the Internet?

6. Blogging to Engage Source: Elizabeth Wells, Michigan State University

7. Blogging to Engage • From teaching to Engaging • Many generations of clientele are online: • To socialize • To learn

8. Possible Issues? • Difficulty? • Time/Task Management • Communicating Impact

9. Creating Your Blog • What do you want from your blog? • Ease of Use: • Google Blogger/Blogspot • www.blogspot.com • Professional Appeal • Wordpress • www.wordpress.com

10. Finding & Reporting Impact • Where do I obtain statistical data? What kind of an impact is my blog having?

11. Finding & Reporting Impact • Options: • Wordpress.com Statistics • For blogs hosted by Wordpress.com (free) • Can retrieve blog hit information daily, weekly, or monthly • Top posts & pages • Search traffic (i.e. if someone views your blog via a search result) • Subscriber information (RSS feed, e-mail, etc) • Referring sites • Move It Miami County dashboard • Over 7,900 hits since the MIMC program in March. • MIMC program ended second week in May. • Blog averages approx. 70 hits per day.

12. Finding & Reporting Impact • Options (cont..): • Google Analytics • For use with a Blogspot blog – or – can embed into any blog (with administrative access) • Can retrieve daily, weekly, monthly, yearly stats • Traffic sources (referring sites, direct, search engines, etc) • Top posts • Traffic map (see who is visiting your blog nationally & internationally!) • Export data into a PDF or similar view • Family Blog

13. Finding & Reporting Impact • I have all of this data – now what do I do with it? • Annual Reports • Monthly Mini-Reports • List of new and updated posts (include “active” links) • One or two helpful comments that were posted to the blog from readers • Overall statistics for that month

14. Group vs. Individual Blogging • Group Blogging • Blogs that have contributors of two or more people • OSUE FCS blog • Pros: • Less amount of work for everyone in updating the blog • Blog posts could represent a range of topics / authors could focus on their area of specialization • Cons • Blog may seem unorganized, less uniform, and not targeting one specific niche • May require more work: checking with other authors before posting, etc.

15. Group vs. Individual Blogging • Individual Blogging • Blogs that have one contributor/author • Van Wert County Ag blog / Parents in Action blog • Pros: • Blog can be more focused • More of a “high-touch” blog (readers correspond with one author – makes for an intimate experience) • Cons • More work for one person

16. Group vs. Individual Blogging • Which format is best? • Extension staff • Extension clientele

17. Advertising Your Blog • Boost your impact by advertising your blog and posts • Twitter • Facebook

18. Microblogging: Facebook Fan Pages For organizations to get a Facebook presence in the past they had to create a group or make their organization a “person” on Facebook. Group – • Use for specific people that you want to stay in contact with Fan Page – • Use if you are trying to promote your organization to a larger audience.

19. Microblogging:Facebook Fan Pages • Creating a fan page • Inviting people to your page • Selecting a user name • Promoting your page to go virally • Value posting • Cross promotion • Getting others to connect to your page • Posting from your phone

20. Microblogging:Twitter Basics • People must follow you before you can DM • Only DMs are private, all other twitter activities are public unless you lock your entire twitter account • Mentions: @ replies – Anytime you put an @name anywhere in your tweet, it will be seen by that @name (if they check their mentions) • Hashtags – using the # • Help to spread, organize info on twitter • If all agree to append a topic with a certain hashtag, topic is easy to search/follow • Widely used for conferences and events • Example: #agSMExt – social media webinar • Twubs, tweetchat are a couple of examples of how to follow a hashtag

21. Cross Posting www.hootsuite.com

22. Cross Posting Twitter Application Features: - Cross post the same information to multiple social networks - Schedule Tweets and Posts - Attach photos and documents - Post on personal and fan Facebook pages

23. CD Resources • Copy of this presentation • Videos (How to blog, how to develop a podcast for your blog, etc.) • Links to other social media presentations • Handouts

24. Thank You! • Questions? • Please take a moment to fill out the session evaluation. • Contact Information: • Jamie Seger - seger.23@osu.edu twitter.com/jamies4families • Mark Light – light.42@osu.edu twitter.com/light4h

25. Extension 2.0: Harnessing the Power of the Blogosphere to Expand Programming Potential & Impact~Video & Podcast Resources ~ Jamie Seger & Mark Light The Ohio State University Extension

26. Included in this PowerPoint… • Instructional videos on how to set up a blog in Wordpress or Blogger, along with blogging tips. • Instructional videos on how to develop a podcast for your blog and when to use it. • Note: In order to view all of the videos, you must have a working internet connection.

27. How to set up a Wordpress.com blog

28. How to set up a Wordpress.com blog

29. How to set up a Blogger.com blog

30. How to create a Podcast

31. Blogging Tips

32. Using Google Analytics to Capture Impact

33. How to create a Facebook Fan Page to build your Brand

34. Using Twitter & Facebook to market your ‘business’ (programming)

35. Social Media (in plain English)

36. Extension Presentations on Social Media • Extension 2.0: An Introduction to Blogging, Extension-Style • Recorded eXtension Professional Development session given by Jamie Seger, Mark Light, Andy Kleinschmidt & Kara Newby (The Ohio State University Extension) • Extension 2.0: Beyond Blogging and into the World of Social Media • Recorded eXtension Professional Development session given by Jamie Seger, Mark Light, Andy Kleinschmidt & Kara Newby (The Ohio State University Extension) • Social Media: Promises, Pitfalls & Perils • Recorded webinar given by the University of Florida Extension • Get There Early: Sensing the Future to Compete in the Present • Recorded keynote presentation given by Bob Johansen at the 2009 eXtension conference in St. Louis

37. Current Relevant Blog Examples: • Eat, Save & Be Healthy Blog • http://osufcs.wordpress.com • Parents in Action Blog • http://parentsinaction.osu.edu • Facebook Fan Pages: • www.facebook.com/allencountyextension • www.facebook.com/allencochildrensgarden

38. Thank You! • Questions? • Feel free to contact us anytime! • Contact Information: • Jamie Seger - seger.23@osu.edu twitter.com/jamies4families • Mark Light – light.42@osu.edu twitter.com/light4h

39. Handouts: • Helpful Websites, Blog Posts & Links: • *click on the title to go to that particular post or site • To Blog or Not to Blog • How to Blog Almost Every Day • Where to Find Images for Your Blog • Should Your Non-Profit Launch a Blog? • The Facebook Marketing Bible: 24 ways to market your brand, company, product, or service inside Facebook • How to Market Your Blog Using Facebook • Twitter for Dummies Cheat Sheet • How to Use Smartphones at Work: a visual guide • PBS Frontline Digital Nation Site: Life on the Virtual Frontier • Penn State College of Agriculture Social Media Strategy • Ohio State University’s Social Media Guidelines

40. Handouts: • Presentations on Social Media: • Extension 2.0: An Introduction to Blogging, Extension-Style • Recorded eXtension Professional Development session given by Jamie Seger, Mark Light, Andy Kleinschmidt & Kara Newby (The Ohio State University Extension) • Extension 2.0: Beyond Blogging and into the World of Social Media • Recorded eXtension Professional Development session given by Jamie Seger, Mark Light, Andy Kleinschmidt & Kara Newby (The Ohio State University Extension) • Social Media: Promises, Pitfalls & Perils • Recorded webinar given by the University of Florida Extension • Get There Early: Sensing the Future to Compete in the Present • Recorded keynote presentation given by Bob Johansen at the 2009 eXtension conference in St. Louis • Free Clipart for Your Blog Design & Posts: • http://wordplayblog.com/free-clip-art-to-increase-your-post-appeal/ • http://creativecommons.com

41. Handouts: Reasons to Facebook • The manner that young people and adults are communicating with each other is rapidly changing in society that is, in part, driven by the latest technology. As a youth driven program, we must engage in new strategies and methods by which we communicate with members, volunteers, families, and the community at large. Social networks are a growing and popular venue for much of our target audience and we must learn how to leverage those networks to enhance our programmatic efforts. • Significant discussion has centered on the potential risks associated with social networking sites. Yes, there are risks associated with this communication strategy, but we must not let potential risk alone determine if it is a viable option for our program for the future. We know that simply offering programs for youth, there is a degree of risk that we must accept, that which we must manage, and that which we must avoid. We have been tremendously successful in managing our higher risk programs, such as camping, equine projects, shooting sports, overnight trips, etc. If we simply listed of the potential risks involved activities, we likely would not conduct many of these programs. However, we have taken steps to appropriately analyze and manage the risks associated with each of them. We know that camping with youth is one of the biggest risks we have in 4-H youth development, yet we continue to camp because we feel that the benefits to youth are significant and we have managed the risks. • We do not know a lot about online social networks, so it becomes relatively easy to question the appropriateness and/or viability of the strategy. However, taking the time to learn about the risks and the best strategies for managing them will enhance our programmatic and communication strategies in the future. If we ignore and don’t engage in the opportunity simply because there are potential risks, then the risks potentially multiply if youth are left to make their own paths. As an organization, we have much to learn, but we also must seize the opportunity to use the resources that are available and being used by our target populations.

42. Handouts: Reasons to Facebook •  Why is the Emerging Technology Action Team asking 4-H professionals to create a Facebook account? • 4-H professionals do not meet together on a regular basis – It was our goal to find a tool to communicate and connect with fellow professionals. Facebook allows for : • Professionals to link together through each person’s page • Action Teams can collaborate through the use of groups • Helps you to better know your fellow professionals • Linking to other 4-H professionals in other states • Facebook originated as a .edu platform, so it is geared towards education • New professionals can be mentored through regular contact • It helps to create a virtual 4-H office where we all can connect • Privacy and user control – Professionals do not have to open up their profile to youth if they do not choose to. • 4-H Access will be released this summer/fall as the national social networking platform for 4-H. Our Action Team believes that by helping Ohio 4-H Professionals create a Facebook page, they will become familiar with social networking when this platform is released. The following goals of National 4-H as to why 4-H Access was created are similar to why we are asking Ohio Professionals to be the leaders. • To extend 4-H’s leadership in youth development to the Internet and establish 4-H as the online leader in PYD • To deliver online research-driven PYD programs • To revitalize and expand the 4-H brand

43. Handouts: Reasons to Facebook •  To recruit 1.7 million new youth to 4-H clubs • To increase the capacity to recruit, train, support and retain 4-H volunteers and professionals • In our research with college students only 8% of the students said that we should stay out of social networking sites and that they were for youth only. They indicated that participation would allow us to connect with youth. Who is teaching positive youth development online? • Creating collaboration groups like camp counselors and junior fairboard • Show youth how social networks can be used by employers as an online resume • Create project support groups that enhance current project books and allow youth across Ohio to share with each other and project experts