Does your business need a social media policy?

Yesterday I was having a breakfast meeting with a friend who owns several popular restaurants in Colorado. Even in this down economy, his company continues to grow and his staff continues to multiply. After several cups of coffee, a glance at the Yelp sticker on the front door, and some banter about the importance of social media conversations, I asked if they had social media guidelines in place for their employees. He said that they didn’t but was shocked that they had never even thought of it. I assured him that he really shouldn’t feel like he was behind. Yes, large organizations such as Intel, IBM, The New York Times, SAP and the US Coast Guard all have them in place. But should small businesses jump on the proverbial bandwagon and do a little social media preventative damage control? I can’t say ‘yes’ fast enough.

A recent proofpoint study shows that almost 20% of companies disciplined a staff member for violating blog or message boards and nearly 10% terminated employees for these actions.

But how can you discipline employees if they don’t understand what you expect from them in this wild world of Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and SMS? According to the Deloitte LLP 2009 Ethics & Workplace Survey, only 17% of companies have programs in place to monitor and mitigate the potential reputational risks related to the use of social networks.

As a business owner and entrepreneur, I join the ranks of those who understand the importance of providing all employees a handbook. Hey, we even update it several times a year with memos that our team members sign. With social media playing such a prevalent role in our day-to-day activity at GroundFloor Media, we would be remiss to assume that our employees didn’t have access to the same type of guidelines and resources that we provide them in an offline environment. You then have to step out of the way and trust that they will do the right thing.

I spoke at an HR-related event in Boulder County a few weeks ago and we discussed the importance of creating a set of social media guidelines for business of all sizes. One participant disagreed with the idea of providing these guidelines, as her company didn’t allow access to social media sites. I asked her if their employees identified themselves as employees of that company on their personal social networking sites that they worked on “after hours.” She agreed that most identified their company as their place of work. Enough said.

Consider the legal implications you could face for NOT putting social media guidelines in place. I promise it is a lot easier to have the discussions knowing their is something to actually look at on paper while talking about an inappropriate blog post or Tweet with your employees.

Here are a few helpful social media policies that can at least get you thinking about the types of guidelines that will be important to your company.

• Dell Online Communication Policy
• Intel Social Media Guidelines
• IBM Social Computing Guidelines
• Cisco Internet Postings Policy
• Wells Fargo Community Guidelines
• BBC Guidance Personal Use of Social Networking and Other Third Party Websites
• DePaul University Social Media Guidelines

Mashable has a great article on whether or not your company should even have a social media policy. It is worth the quick read.

GroundFloor Media put our social media guidelines into place this year, and we have helped many other companies do the same. It is not an overwhelming endeavor and it is one that I strongly encourage you to consider sinking your teeth into yet in 2009. And grab a cup of coffee while you are at it. It makes it all go by a bit faster.

~ Laura

Loved the LEX Trip!

Now that I’ve recovered from the LEX trip to Minneapolis, the bronchitis I brought home from the Twin Cities, and two more out-of-town trips, I have to take a moment to thank the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation (DMCLF) staff who made the LEX trip happen.

What is LEX, you might ask? It is an amazing opportunity coordinated each year by the DMCLF during which select leaders from the Denver community are escorted on a three- or four-day excursion to a strategically chosen city where best practices are studied and friendships are forged. LEX stands for Leadership Exchange trip, and the recent trip was cause for celebration, as it was the 20^th anniversary of the annual LEX trip.

Having organized and attended hundreds of large-scale events during my career, I was impressed every step of the way with how the DMCLF staff paid attention to even the smallest of details. From the luggage tags that kept all of our luggage together so it arrived magically at our hotel, to the pocket briefing book that became our bible over the three days, to the lost-and-found items that appeared each morning after an evening full of activities, they planned for everything and made it appear seamless. As we all know, in reality, they were herding 150+ Type-A cats at any given time over a 58-hour period. I’m sure you can appreciate how challenging that can be!

So, thanks to Denise King, Anna Loewen, Christy Newhof and Allison Tolson, along with Toi Jones and Jean Kavanaugh, for making the trip such a success. And thanks to the senior staff of the Chamber and the Foundation – Robert Blankenship, Tom Clark, Karen Kruse, Maureen McDonald and Tamra Ward – for your participation and enthusiasm throughout the trip.

If you’re not familiar with the DMCLF and the fantastic programs they offer, check them out online. I’ve been fortunate enough to participate in Leadership Denver, where I learned a great deal about our community and formed lifelong friendships. Obviously I am now hooked on the above-mentioned LEX trip, where I learned even more about what it takes to make our community great and met and spent quality time with leaders from a variety of sectors – United Way, Metro Denver Sports Commission, Western Union Foundation and Young American Center for Financial Education from the nonprofit sector; Comcast, Xcel Energy and Qwest from the public sector; the Public Education & Business Coalition, Denver Public Schools Foundation and University of Denver Colorado from the education sector; and my colleagues from creative agencies, Linhart Public Relations, Johnston Wells, Pure Brand, Xcelente Marketing and GBSM -- who I hope to cross paths with countless times throughout our careers in Denver. I encourage you to check out the DMCLF and get involved. You’ll receive back tenfold what you put into these programs.

~Ramonna

There is much to be learned about social media from the Healthcare industry

I recently attended the Mayo-Ragan Healthcare and Social Media Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz. More than 100 internal and external communications specialists and public relations agency representatives from the Mayo Clinic to Kaiser Permanente to Methodist University Hospital to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston were in attendance.

We were all eager to share and learn best practices from one other (as well as cheer on Green Bay, or was it Minnesota, during Monday Night Football). Generally speaking, the healthcare industry has been slow to adopt social media due to the trepidation around HIPAA. However, it was evident at this summit that there are numerous opportunities on social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Yammer, FlickR, YouTube, Sermo, etc. for hospitals and health-related organizations to engage in this marketing medium and develop a powerful online community for its patients and physicians.

While there were many interesting statistics related to the healthcare industry presented, such as 7.3% of hospitals are engaged in social media and only 30% of companies have a social media policy, what really hit home for me, is that strong case studies and best practices from one industry can be directly applied to another and prove quite successful. Take Operation Smile’s social media model – which, when it found out that its supporters were online, engaged and ready to take action – the nonprofit worked to empower its online supporters to create new smiles for children around the world. Other industries have similar constituents (maybe your “donors” are your college students or physicians at your hospital). Find your social media audience and then work to acquire and cultivate them to become advocates of your brand, to volunteer or donate.

At GroundFloor Media, we officially launched our social media platform in late 2007, although we have been using blogs and online media since 2004 with a variety of campaigns. We have worked with clients in numerous industries including America On the Move, Westwood College, The Children’s Hospital, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Morton’s The Steakhouse, BNSF Railway and Qdoba Mexican Grill in varying degrees to evolve and/or develop their social media programs. Earlier this year, I became a member of GFsM, or GroundFloor Social Media team. We specialize in finding strategic and innovative ways for our clients to engage in social media and set them apart from their competitors. We meet weekly and discuss new trends, social networks, case studies, etc. to ensure we stay on top of these ever changing medium.

Our GFsM team agrees, if you are looking to dip your toe in social media, we say go for it! Start small. Find one social media network to activate and then follow the key influencers in your industry and in social media. Do it as “you” for a coupe weeks and then launch your company’s platform. Talk with your key audiences and engage in the conversation. And as my friend at Operation Smile shared, social media ROI isn’t Return On Investment, but rather Relationships, Opportunities, Involvement. Go ahead, engage and if you get stuck along the way, please call us – we’ll talk you through it.

Oh and one more thing, purchase a Flip Video. You won’t regret it and it can only enhance your social media activities. Start developing your own videos and post them to YouTube, Facebook and your Web site.

I extend a big thanks to Mayo Clinic and Ragan Communications for hosting a wonderful summit and securing excellent spokespeople!

Natural Food Trends: Cocoa Flavanols, Superfoods, Gluten-free products and Packaging

I am a self-admitted chocolate addict, one of many in the office. Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, you name it, I’ll eat it…in moderation of course, most of the time. As a consumer of all things chocolate, I also enjoy watching food and beverage trends as part of our food and beverage practice so when I saw a recent announcement that the International Congress of Nutrition brought together experts to present evidence that cocoa flavanols have health benefits, I knew they were on to something. Like, did you know that cocoa is actually a fruit? A fruit! That means technically we are allowed to have 2-3 servings per day, right? But wait there’s more. Cocoa is not only a fruit but a “super fruit, packed with unique active plant compounds called flavanols, linked to healthy circulation.” Go ahead, read more about it. It will make that next Dove bar seem harmless:

Cocoa Research Finds a Place in the Global Health Dialogue <http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS17664+07-Oct-2009+PRN20091007>

How do you top good news that involves chocolate? Here are a few trends uncovered at the Natural Products Expo East/Organic Products last month in Boston identified by editors and experts from New Hope Natural Media, publisher of Natural Foods Merchandiser, Delicious Living, Functional Ingredients and Nutrition Business Journal:

• Hot new ingredients include coconut oil, lavender, maqui, agave nectar and ancient ingredients such as salba grain


• Superfood producers continue on their quest for even higher levels of antioxidants, omegas and other functional benefits; probiotics are being featured in drinks, powders, yogurts, cereals and bars


• Gluten-free products were found outside of the baked goods aisle; low-calorie and low-sugar products are strong, especially in beverages


• Dairy-free and nut allergy avoidance are hot topics, as is transparency of sourcing and a commitment to social and eco-responsibility across many product categories


• Value products are being introduced in response to tightened budgets; packaging trends include mini-sizing, portion control and squeeze-packs or pouches, especially for kids

I look forward to seeing more products in the coming months with cocoa flavanols, but don’t recommend having these in mini-sized, portion control pouches. Bring on the superfoods. You'll find me in line at the new Sprouts Farmers Market in Boulder.

Colorado Fall Home Show had a Great First Run!

Attendees left the show “seeing green”

The first-ever Colorado Fall Home Show took place this month at the Colorado Convention Center offering more than 6,000 visitors a variety of ways to renovate, remodel and renew their homes. But what interested attendees the most was the variety of companies emphasizing sustainable living products and services. Walking the floor of the show, it was obvious to see that if you apply yourself, you can incorporate green living products into every inch of your home!

In addition to the 300 exhibitors, two demonstration theaters were busy with experts showing do-it-yourself ways to bring sustainability and energy efficiency into your home, as well as eye catching interior design and remodeling tips. The cooking demonstrations (and samples) were a special treat!

Similar to the Annual Colorado Garden & Home Show, a percentage of the proceeds generated at the Colorado Fall Home Show will further extend grants and scholarships for Colorado’s horticulture industry. CGS has awarded a record breaking amount of more than $500,000 in horticulture grant projects and scholarships for 2008 - 2009 including grants to more than 40 organizations and seven substantial scholarships including a four year, full-ride scholarship.

We are looking forward to the Colorado Garden and Home Show in Denver on February 13-20, 2010.