EyeSee

I am very excited to be part of something new and exciting, Fair Chance Ottawa. The goal of this group is to attractt and encourage high-quality candidates for this fall´s municipal election in Ottawa.

Here’s what I am talking about.

“who says you need conventional media to get your message out? Look at the Obama campaign. Online and social media and how you can make them work for you”

I hope to inspire the future councillors of Ottawa to take advantage of Social Media and the open source tools to communicate effectively and make a change.

At 4:30pm this afternoon I started down the path to participate in a social media scam. Here’s how it came about….

I was trolling Facebook looking for the latest example of a corporate Facebook Page that had a contest. No sooner had I started I saw a status update from one of my friends.

Well the iPad is a hot topic especially that it’s not available in Canada and people seem very divided about it’s usefulness. Eager to capture the screen shots I happily clicked away. I was led to the Test it & Keep it Apple iPad Facebook Page.

So focused was I on getting the screenshots that I failed to do the appropriate due diligence that I normally go through and Fanned the page right away.

I scrolled further down to follow the directions.

Step 2 was to invite your friends, a standard Fb contest step.

I did poke around on the main page though and found this.

Sure it’s fine and I went ahead and clicked on 30 people that I thought would find this interesting, thought that the iPad was not that great, etc. The thoughts that went through my mind was wow great marketing plan get people to spread this virally by forcing them to add 30 people!!

So I finally continue to step 3 where I register.

Next was the standard contest question. At this point I was thinking, amazing job with the branding, keep it simple and slick just like the Apple sight!!

It had the 16+ in big and I skipped over the fine print. I did notice the Canada logo thinking that is a program for Canadians; after all we still can’t get the iPad here.

This is where I stopped. Why do you care about my service provider and my mobile number? Yes it’s to give me a pin. I am getting suspicious at this point so I stop to poke around the Fb Page some more.

The Info. states clearly that this is for Market Research. Well at this point I am feeling very generous and why not help out those market research companies.

PIN here I come

At this point a friend alerts me via Fb that

Yes I am all for market research and helping those companies make better products. I then continue after this interruption.

A peek at the #of Fans

Well that’s a good number.

Another interruption via Fb mail. A skeptical friend stating that another Fb app taking friends info. Of course I am so righteous that I respond why I picked this individual and that if they won it would be great for the online community that they will build for the winners, well every good marketing company doesn’t just give away the prize but builds another micro site to then get feedback from the winners. They wouldn’t just say why it was good but give reasons why it sucks, how cool is that for better product development.

I then continue to look at the Terms and Conditions.

Well it states that it’s not affiliated with Apple.

In the meantime I Fb mailed the market research guru friend for an opinion, market research or scam?

My other friend proceeds to state that they still feel that it’s a scam. So I respond that I felt that way but not too sure and would participate to figure out if it was great marketing or just a scam.

So investigating further I take a look at the Wall.

And that is where I stop. If there are so many fans then why aren’t they saying anything? Why aren’t there any more wall posts by the market research company? Why no logo for the company?

Finally I take a look at the fine print but where could it be? The back button lead to it.

My earlier scan drew my eye to the 16+ therefore I totally missed the “Subscription service $2 per question”

Had I read that I would have been alerted to the fact that it was a scam.

At this point the market research guru responds with

“Market research does not do contests; marketers may.

If there is a prize draw as an incentive this is done fact the fact and with strict rules (in many cases these are governed by provincial lottery rules)

If you are asked to pay anything. Even a token sum, then ANY contest is a lottery & regulated as such.

For things like product tests, sure they give you shampoo to use & test it, but not expensive stuff that you haven’t rubbed all over yourself

I fear, but have no proof, that it is a scam.”

So there you have it.

Well I was this far in so why not see what happens next in this scam.

I enter my phone and get a text a few seconds later.

Find PIN @ end of msg.

Enter 4 a chance to WIN!

Trivia subscription

$2/Ques, 4Qs/wk, Info

skill2thrill.com, 2 end txt

STOP. Ur PIN: xxxx

The text with the PIN was followed immediately by a skill-testing question

Next Q: How big is the

touchscreen on the new

Apple iPad? 1:9.7inches

or 2:3.5 inches. TEst 1 or

2 to 33456 now!

This was followed by another text

Great! Ur chance to win

starts now! Answer the

questions, and remember!

more correct answers =

more chance of winning!

Help:18666700126

I text the correct answer to the number provided.

I receive a response

Yes! Correct answer! : -)

Next Q will be sent later

this week! More correct

answers = more chance to

win! (2$/Q) Info: 18666700126

I checked my mobile bill and true to the Terms and Conditions I was charged for the text. The $2 charge does not show up yet and I will look out for it and let you know where it shows up.

Let’s do some basic math.  There are 97,470 Fans. Say they each answered one question. Then the “Market Research” company in question should have made a whopping $194,940 in a very short amount of time!!!

Should I wait for the 3 other questions or just call it a day? After all it’s just $8 for the chance to win an iPad for market research purposes!!!

So there you have it folks, I have been SOIAL MEDIA SCAMMED!!!

Now it’s back to finding a great Facebook Page legit marketing example. Come across any?

Happy New Year I hope you took time to eat drink and be merry. 2009 was a challenging year for many with the economic crisis still having it’s effects on businesses. This year should be better for everyone.

As a social media strategist I find that customers generally ask the same questions. During the course of the year I will be answering these questions. The biggest one that I will discuss today is the business case for participating in social media.

My answer to that is that it is no longer “should we participate” but how should we participate. Or communications mix has increased significantly since the old days.  We now have

• print – newspapers, trade publications, magazines
• radio
• TV
• website
• micro sites – site for a specific product or promotion
• social networks – Facebook, LinkedIn
• micro blogs – Twitter, Identi.ca
• video sharing – YouTube, Vemio, Blip.tv
• photo sharing – Flickr
• wiki – pb works, Tiki wiki, media wiki

As a communicator it’s now a challenge to pick the right channels to participate in. Although most of these are free your time or your employees’ time isn’t. There is no one tool and it’s usually a combination of tools that are needed in order to communicate effectively.

Communication can be internal within an organization (intranet) or externally. If it’s external communication then it’s easy however if you are interested in internal communications then Facebook, YouTube, Flickr are not the appropriate channels for you.  There are open source and commercial applications that enable you to achieve the same goals.

So what facts do I have to back my claim? Just take a look at your habits at work and in your personal lives.

• How many emails do you get per day? How many of them are directly related to what you are doing vs spam?
• How much mail do you get? How much of it do you read vs put in the recycle?
• Where do you spend your spare time? Is it online playing games, looking at videos, photos etc…

The answers to this is pretty simple we have way too much stuff to read whether it’s email, bills, letters etc. therefore we are very good at filtering. So then as a business who needs to communicate externally with customers or internally with employees how do you get your message through?

It’s through use of these social media tools, photos, video and audio.

I will leave you with this.   Pepsi Skips the Super Bowl, Spends on Social Media Instead!!!!

I am looking forward to the MBA Café by the Telfer School of Management. I get to talk about social media from a different angle, Stories from the front-lines of Social Media

I will present compelling examples of how social media have been used to dramatic effect in driving business performance (as well as a case where it failed). Attendees will come away with an appreciation of the power and the limitations of this exciting new communication tool.

So come on out and meet some great people as well as some social media fun.

Where: Clock Tower Brew Pub, 575 Bank Street, Ottawa
When: Monday, November 30th, 2009
Time: 6:00 pm

As always you have to register.

I’ll be speaking at the next Zone 5 event and the topic is customer engagement through social media. Customer engagement seems to be the new buzz word but it’s something that is hard to achieve for most businesses.

Traditional marketing was about one generic message that was sent to all customers through controlled channels. Social media has now changed that model and enabled the sharing and customization of the message via many channels. The biggest change is the loss of control of the message.

Since there is a lot of emphasis on B2C and endless examples and case studies I thought that I would focus the discussion around B2B. My goal is to challenge status quo and inspire the audience to make their message/content engaging.

For further details on this event check out the Zone 5/OCRI website.

It all started with a conversation with some friends who were having a hard time finding the right gift for their Mother for Mother’s day. Their mom had said that they had everything and did not want more stuff.

So what are your options for mom when your mom is not into flowers, chocolates, bath products, doesn’t want more stuff or something along those lines? How do you show your appreciation for being an amazing mom?

The  idea also came from conversations that I had with friends who mentioned that they were busy enough with their careers and kids and that they did not find time for social media. There was so much stuff out there and they did not have the time to explore and figure it all out.

Then I thought the solution to these problems is very simple, a mom’s nite out with a twist, Social Media Mom’s Nite Out.

So I am pleased to announce that Virtual EyeSee will be offering an amazing gift for Mother’s Day, a Social Media Mom’s Nite Out.

It will be on the evening of May 28th from 7-9pm. So give all the moms in your life a break for a couple of hours and sign them up for this amazing evening of discovery. There is no restriction to age. We will serve fun drinks and have munchies to nibble on.

I will introduce them to the wonderful world of social media and what some of the tools are. How these tools are used to stay in touch with old friends, relatives etc… They will come away with a lot of inspiration and confidence in using some of these tools.

If you are still unsure of what this is about and if your mom would be interested, check out what social media savvy moms have to say about this.

So what are you waiting for, sign up your mom, grand mom, great grand mother for a fun filled evening.