A New Perspective

As part of GroundFloor Media’s 10th anniversary Get Giving initiative, I was a member of the Colfax Crew, the team that was supporting Colfax Community Network (CCN). As a reminder, CCN advocates for and works on behalf of children and families residing in low-income, transient housing (primarily residential motels) along Colfax Avenue by providing information, services and programs to strengthen and improve family and community life.

Before learning about CCN, I never gave too much thought to Colfax Avenue – other than thinking that it wasn’t exactly the prettiest street in town and that I didn’t want to find myself walking down it alone after dark.

I now look at it in a very different light. In fact, the other day I found myself driving down Colfax and paying particular attention to the many motels along the way. What would it be like to call one of those places home? To wake up there every morning? To live in one of those motel rooms with four or five other people, sometimes more?

Or, even worse, to worry every day about your children living in a motel that may be filled with convicted felons and sex offenders who are on parole and have been placed in Colfax motels by the Colorado Department of Corrections. In September 2011, 9News conducted an extensive investigation of sex offenders living in Colfax motels. In many cases, the motel management staff did not disclose the number of sex offenders living in their establishment, or they openly stated to undercover reporters that the motel was safe for children despite some places having more than 20 registered sex offenders living there. Read more about this issue on 9News.com.

On my drive down Colfax, I happened to see a child running down the length of a motel parking lot and couldn’t help but wonder about his life. And I thought of the kids involved in CCN’s after school program – the ones we spent an afternoon with the week before Thanksgiving. They are such amazing kids – full of so much joy and energy and promise. A particular exchange between two of the kids that afternoon especially pained me, though – and I wondered if they were mirroring some of what they see in their daily lives at the motels – aspects of life that no child should be exposed to.

And while I know that our small contribution alone won’t ultimately change these kids’ lives, it helps me to think that maybe we were able to make some sort of difference. Perhaps one of the field trips we sponsored will end up sparking an interest for one of those kids (e.g., an interest in astronomy following a trip to the Museum of Nature & Science) that helps keep them in school and out of trouble, or maybe an article of clothing we donated will help keep one of them warm this winter. Regardless, I am grateful that GroundFloor Media encouraged and allowed us to undertake this project. And I am grateful that caring people such as the employees and volunteers at CCN are working so hard every day to make life better for these kids and their families.

As we wrap up our Get Giving project, and especially as Christmas fast approaches, I feel compelled to make one more “ask” – if you would like to learn more about CCN and/or find out how you can help support the organization, please go to the organization’s website or drop us an email at getgiving@groundfloormedia.com.

~Amanda Brannum

Managing Social Media During the Holidays

The last two weeks of December become a ghost town in many offices, as employees scatter far and wide to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. Social media management often falls to the wayside as team members focus on year-end reports and 2012 plans instead of Facebook updates and new blog content.

It could dangerous to assume however that just because the social media manager is away from his or her desk that your customers and followers are offline as well. In fact, many people will capitalize on quiet mornings at home during their vacation to catch up with their interests online, including social media content distributed by the companies they follow. Moreover, if you are a retailer or service provider, customers will actually expect to hear from you throughout the season—especially if they are anticipating coupons or exclusive sales for being a social media follower.

To remain relevant during the busy holiday season without over-extending a skeleton staff, below are five tips for staying on task into the New Year.

1. If your company does not already follow a monthly social media editorial calendar, draft one with daily, pre-written content from Dec. 19 – Jan. 2. This will save whoever is in charge of social media through the holidays any added pressure of being creative when he or she is hearing crickets around the office.
2. Create an “in case of emergency” social media monitoring and response team. A crisis can bubble up at any time, particularly on social media channels, and depending on the size of your business, you need to have at least two people on call for responding in a timely and effective manner. Dealing with a customer complaint from Dec. 24 on Jan. 4 is no longer considered acceptable, and could cause more harm than good if the issue spreads virally in the interim. 
3. Use the scheduling feature of a social media dashboard like Hootsuite to schedule tweets and Facebook posts on days when no one can publish content personally. However, do be sure that someone will review comments and questions that might come in from fans within a 24-hour period to maintain some sort of responsiveness. 
4. Take advantage of quiet time in the office to review your 2011 social media plan, and dedicate time to executing ideas that have sat on the back burner all year. For example, if you planned to issue at least one Facebook poll but never got around to it, draft and distribute a short poll that is relevant to the holidays and your business. We all tend to get stuck taking care of tactics when we’d rather focus on being strategic – take advantage of the time you have.
5. Ask an eager employee who enjoys social media to help with creative posts on official office closure days. For example, if a few team members will be meeting on New Year’s Day to go skiing, having them post a photo to wish fans a safe and fun holiday can give your company personality, and show that employees enjoy being together.

The holidays should be a time when we can all unplug and unwind to celebrate a successful year. Just be sure that downtime is balanced with the type of social media content and customer service that will have customers returning to your company for more in the New Year.

Or, at the very least, offer followers a sincere “best wishes” for the holidays and let them know when your company will be closed in order to allow staffers to spend quality time with loved ones. Tell fans what date to expect regular posts to commence and enjoy the downtime!

~Alexis Anderson

Tails are wagging!

If you read Kristina Reilly’s blog post in October, you learned that the GrrroundFloor Animals at GFM united to support Morris Animal Foundation’s Canine Cancer Campaign as part of GroundFloor Media’s 10th Anniversary Get Giving project. We reached our goal to donate a minimum of $2,500 and had fun putting together a video featuring all the GFM dogs. Our donation will go toward furthering research in treatment, prevention and hopefully finding a cure for canine cancer some day soon. If you forgot to donate or are looking for a good cause this holiday season to make a donation, visit the GrrroundFloor Animals fundraising donation page.

Beyond the Canine Cancer Campaign, Morris Animal Foundation (MAF) aims to help not only dogs but, all companion animals and wildlife as a national animal charity in Denver’s back yard. We asked Heidi Jeter the Director of Marketing and Communications to tell us more about ways to give and what our efforts mean to the future of animal health. Our team is very passionate about helping our furry family members – you might just run into one of our four-legged friends if you stop by our office impromptu - and hope our efforts lead to finding a cure.

What does GroundFloor Media's donation mean to MAF and the future for canines?

Cancer is the no. 1 cause of death for dogs over the age of 2. The only way to beat this disease is through scientific study. Unfortunately, there is little government funding for animal health studies, so scientists who want to help animals depend on organizations like Morris Animal Foundation for their funding. GroundFloor Media’s donation will help us make a difference in preventing and treating cancer in dogs.

When did the Canine Cancer Campaign start and how can people get involved?

Morris Animal Foundation’s Canine Cancer Campaign is an unprecedented global effort to prevent, treat and, ultimately, cure cancer in dogs. It launched in 2007 with the goals of learning how to better diagnose, prevent and treat cancer in dogs. The Foundation currently is funding 39 canine cancer studies. Some of the cancers being studied are bladder cancer, lymphoma, bone cancer, mast cell tumors and soft-tissue sarcomas.

There are lots of ways to support the campaign, many of them are listed on our website at www.CureCanineCancer.org, including.

· Donating in memory or honor of a special dog

· Participating in a Morris Animal Foundation K9 Cancer Walk

· Hosting a dog walk to benefit the Canine Cancer Campaign

· Creating a personal Cure Canine Cancer fundraising Web page

· Sharing your survivor stories or memories

We also have some great gift items on our website at http://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/make-a-difference/shop-smart.html. These include animal-themed ornaments, wine, pet tags and a lot more. Part of the proceeds from all of these items benefits Morris Animal Foundation.

Are there any connections between canine cancer and human cancer, especially around research?

Cancer is similar in dogs and humans. What researchers learn from dogs may lead to cancer prevention and treatment breakthroughs for humans and vice versa—treatments being used in humans successfully are now being studied for dogs. Different breeds also develop different types of cancer, which indicates strong genetic factors. Learning more about the genetic connections in dogs could help researchers studying human cancers as well.

Tell us about the K9 Cancer Walk? When is it and how can I participate?

The K9 Cancer Walk program raises funds for its Canine Cancer Campaign, which funds prevention and treatment research to help dogs enjoy longer, healthier, cancer-free lives. In 2011, the Foundation hosted five walks nationwide including the first-ever in Denver. The 2012 walk schedule isn’t finalized yet, but people can visit www.K9CancerWalk.org to learn more.

~ Carrie Odberg

Kids on Colfax

Thanksgiving came a bit early to GroundFloor Media (GFM) this year.

In the weeks leading up to the annual kick-off to the holiday season, Alexis Anderson, Amanda Brannum, Kimmie Greene, Laura Love-Aden and Jennefer Traeger, aka the Colfax Crew, set out to collect personal hygiene products and clothing donations to support the Colfax Community Network (CCN), an organization dedicated to providing information and programs to the children and families residing in low-income and transient housing (primarily residential motels) along Colfax Avenue in Denver.

On Nov. 17, the team filled three cars with donated goods and that was just the beginning.

Once the cars were unloaded, the fun began as the team spent the afternoon volunteering with the kids from the CCN afterschool program. The program strives to create an afternoon of “normalcy” – a break for kids who are likely heading home to unpredictable circumstances.

The kids, ranging in age from 5-11, gathered together to read and share stories about the day before eating homemade snacks and starting homework. Toward the end of our time together, pencils and notebooks were traded in for straw hats and stuffing to build two scarecrows for the CCN garden. The GFM team worked with the kids throughout the afternoon, engaging them about their favorite foods, music and hobbies, as well as helping them with spelling and math.

We felt lucky and proud to spend time with the kids and staff at CCN and urge anyone with two hours to spare to reach out and volunteer their time. The connections are invaluable and remind us in the midst of the mayhem of Black Friday and Cyber Monday about the true meaning of the holidays and giving.

Our involvement with Colfax Community Network is part of the agency’s 10th Anniversary Get Giving campaign. GFM is celebrating 10 years in business by donating a total of $10,000 to four Denver-area nonprofits – $2,500 per organization – Colfax Community Network, Underwearness, Morris Animal Foundation and Dress for Success. In addition to the cash donation, GFM staff divided up into four teams to collect community donations and volunteer time for each organization.

Best Friends Helping Best Friends - Canine Cancer Campaign

In August our family patriarch passed away. Red (aka Reddrick von Poopenheimer III) was the classiest of dogs. A Hungarian Vizsla, Red was as close to a human as a dog could be. He could open the fridge on his own, sing a tune and give you the slyest of winks. He was woven into our lives like nothing else, and we miss him every day.

It’s in honor of Red and all the other GFM fur babies who bring so much love and slobber into our lives that we’re working to raise money for canine cancer research as part of GroundFloor Media's Get Giving 10th Anniversary campaign.

Morris Animal Foundation's Canine Cancer Campaign is helping scientists worldwide prevent, treat and, ultimately, cure cancer in dogs. We believe that, working together, we can one day cure canine cancer. Research funded through the campaign will help develop prevention strategies, test new treatments, establish tools for cancer researchers and train new scientists specializing in cancer research.

Please donate today to help us create a healthier tomorrow for dogs.

~ Ashley

Knee-Deep in Underwearness

It’s not every Sunday afternoon that we find ourselves knee-deep in thousands of pairs of kids’ underwear. Now before you go calling the authorities, consider this: according to the Colorado Health Foundation’s most recent Colorado Health Report Card, more than 143,000 children in Colorado live in poverty. Our state ranks 14th in the nation for children living below the poverty line.

What do these things have to do with each other? Well, this holiday season thanks to a start-up charity called Underwearness, thousands of kids will receive new, clean underwear – something most of us take for granted, but for many underprivileged kids it is a rare extravagance. As part of its Get Giving 10th Anniversary campaign, GroundFloor Media’s Underdogs team (Wendy Artman, Carissa McCabe, Amy Moynihan, Claire Mylott and Ramonna Robinson) helped Underwearness founder Koree Khongphand-Buckman purchase and hand-sort thousands of pairs of girls’ and boys’ underwear. Koree started Underwearness out of her home when it came to her attention that some poverty-stricken children do not have underwear — clean or otherwise.

With Koree’s help the Underdogs team literally emptied the aisles at the local Kmart, then proceeded to count, sort by size and gender, and jam-pack boxes to help fulfill orders for several nonprofit organizations around town, including Safehouse Denver.

As we were diligently counting and sorting, what struck us most was the sheer volume of underwear needed by each organization. Safehouse Denver alone needed more than 1,000 pairs of varying sizes of underwear to accommodate the boys and girls it serves. All of us who volunteered that afternoon are mothers ourselves, and it was hard not to think about our own children and how fortunate we are to be able to provide for them. By literally being knee-deep in underwear destined for shelters, our eyes were truly opened to the dire straits of other Colorado families. There is something particularly enlightening about holding another child’s basic needs in your hands that stops you in your tracks.

In an effort to include GFM team members outside Colorado, too, the Underdogs have joined forces with Underwearness to launch a giving campaign in Milwaukee, where Wendy is based. Koree introduced us to a local supporter there, and we are helping to promote a drive with the goal of collecting 5,000 pairs of underwear for local nonprofit Journey House. Journey House will then distribute the underwear to families in need on Milwaukee’s south side.

We couldn’t be more proud to have helped Underwearness on a recent Sunday afternoon and to have expanded our support outside Colorado to the current fundraising drive in Milwaukee. Although our part is just a small drop in the bucket toward satisfying the demand for clean underwear, we walked away with a new appreciation for what a good heart, a great idea and lot of hard work can do. Thank you Koree and the Underwearness team for all you do to give kids dignity!

NOTE: if you’d like to get involved in our effort to support Underwearness in Colorado or in Wisconsin, please contact getgiving@groundfloormedia.com.

The Art & Science of Key Messages (part two)

(See Oct. 31 post for part one, which covered identifying target audiences)

Limit Key Messages to Three and Back Up with Proof Points

There's no magic to three key messages other than it's usually easier for people to remember items in threes. Coming up with three targeted, memorable messages will help everyone in the organization serve as ambassadors, delivering consistent messages each time they communicate on behalf of the organization. Developing proof points to accompany your messages will help bring your messages to life and make them stand out. This is where you can come up with a "kitchen sink" list of proof points for each message. Examples of proof points may include: awards and recognition, research, statistics, real-life examples, practical applications, etc.

Key messages Should Be One or Two Brief Sentences

Messages that are three or four sentences each will not be memorable or resonate with your target audiences. By writing your messages down, this will help you focus on making sure they're brief, concise and understandable.

Practice Makes Perfect

Once you develop key messages, it's critical to vet them. Practice your messages with people outside your company or organization. Deliver your messages to friends, family, neighbors and complete strangers, asking them to repeat back what they heard to ensure you’re accurately communicating your key messages. If your messages don't easily flow from your tongue and the recipient is having trouble repeating them back, they may need more work.

Train Your Employees, Volunteers

The final step, and one that is often overlooked, is training your spokespeople, employees, volunteers and other ambassadors for your company or organization on how to effectively deliver key messages and proof points when speaking to target audiences. Media train your spokespeople and have them practice delivering key messages in mock interviews. Role playing in groups where employees can team up in twos and practice sharing the messages in different mock settings (cocktail party, business lunch, child's soccer game) is another effective way to learn and become comfortable with the messages.

Uses for Key Messages

Your key messages and proof points should be incorporated into all internal and external communications efforts including media interviews, news releases, speaking opportunities, marketing materials, proposals, social media outreach, employee communications, website, etc. They should be reviewed and updated, especially your proof points, several times each year to ensure they remain relevant and timely.

GroundFloor Media recently worked with several nonprofit organizations, including Youth Opportunity Foundation, Colorado Youth at Risk and Rose Community Foundation, to help them develop key messages and proof points for their respective organizations.

~ Barb Jones

The Colfax Crew Connects with the Colfax Community Network

The Colfax Crew team has adopted Colfax Community Network (CCN) as its beneficiary for GroundFloor Media’s 10th anniversary Get Giving program. For Amanda Brannum, Laura Love, Jennefer Traeger, Kimmie Greene and myself, all it took was a few words about CCN to make us realize that we wanted to be a part of supporting its mission.

Let’s start with one simple question…

What do you think about when you drive down Colfax Avenue and pass motel after dilapidated motel?

I am willing to bet you don’t think very highly of the people who are inside. The terms drug addict, criminals and prostitutes probably come to mind. There may also be an assumption that the motel dwellers deserve to be there, or that they haven’t worked hard enough to find better housing.

However, what if you learned that those motels actually house hundreds of families with young children—children who do not choose to be born into poverty and spend their entire childhood growing up in those conditions? What would you think if someone told you that the grandparents, parents and children in the residential motels are more of a community—a community of good people who are struggling every day to stay one small step above being homeless?

When the Colfax Crew team learned the truth about those “seedy” Colfax Avenue motels, we knew that we wanted to donate our time and Get Giving donation budget to these families and the CCN staff.

Currently, CCN focuses on the following services for the motel community:

• Family Night
• Emergency Walk-In Services
• Access to Services
• After School Program
• Summer Camp

CCN is also always looking for volunteers and donations. We encourage you to visit the “Get Involved” section of the website to review available volunteer positions and current wish list items.

In the coming weeks our team is thrilled to be donating time and resources in several areas. We will attend a Family Night gathering to meet motel families and learn first-hand about their struggles and the support CCN provides. We are also sponsoring six field trips for children serviced by CCN in order to expose them to new, positive Denver experiences and hopefully lighten their spirits in the process. And finally, we will collect clothing and hygiene products for the families to help fulfill CCN’s current wish list needs.

We look forward to sharing our experiences with you here on the GFM blog. Click here to read more about our work with CCN, and please email us at getgiving@groundfloormedia.com if you would like to get involved as well!

~Alexis Anderson

The Art & Science of Key Messages (Part One)

Effective communications is both an art and a science, and to be successful, any marketing communications program must be relevant to your target audiences. At the very heart of the communications program are key messages. For this reason, developing key organizational messages is a critical first step to any communications campaign.

Key messages should speak directly to target audiences’ interests, while effectively impacting the desired behavioral changes. Too often, organizations craft overly complex messages by including "everything and the kitchen sink" that they want to say about the organization. The result is key messages that tend to be too long and difficult to remember. Instead, messages should be clear, concise and direct. “Easier said than done” – true, but not impossible. Following are some quick tips for developing memorable messages for your organization and for training your organization's ambassadors (spokespeople, other employees, volunteers, etc.) to deliver those messages.

Identify Target Audiences
Some important first questions to ask when beginning the message development process: Who are you trying to reach and why? What is it that you want your audience to learn or do as a result of your message?

Key messages are what you want your target audiences to "take away" from your campaign or program. Your organization will have multiple target audiences, but instead of trying to come up with 12 messages for the 12 target audiences you've identified, there's probably an opportunity to combine these audiences into like-minded groups. For example, let's pretend your organization is a food pantry providing food to individuals and families. While the food pantry may identify numerous target audiences, there is a natural way to "group" audiences because of what you want them to do.

Potential targets for a food pantry include:
• Donors – People and businesses that donate money and food to the organization
• Influencers or key stakeholders – Policymakers and community leaders interested in finding ways to reduce the number of families living in poverty
• Clients or customers – Individuals and families who use the services of the food pantry.
In this example, you can begin seeing how your messages are targeted to each of these distinct groups.

Following is an example of a key message directed to donors:
"ABC Food Pantry is a model of efficiency and stability, from its low administrative costs and vast volunteer base, to how it collects and delivers food to people in need." From there, you can insert a proof point to back up the message. "In fact, 93 cents of every dollar raised goes directly to providing services to people who are hungry."

Check back for part two of this blog where I'll cover more on how to develop key messages and proof points.

~ Barb Jones

An inspiring tale of one's quest to become healthier

Do you ever read a blog that gives you the extra push you need to make something happen? Most recently, I enjoyed a post from our client, Bob Mook, at the Colorado Health Foundation. His post, "To health and back again," focused on his quest to live a healthier life - for him and his family - and offered some key advice: While health-focused organizations like LiveWell Colorado encourage and promote healthy living, "revolution also begins at home – as in your home."

Just like me, Bob's post, might give you the extra push you need to walk, run or venture to the gym this weekend.



~ Jennifer

Team Impressionistas Takes a Second Look at First Impressions

Around 55% of another person's perception of you is based on how you look. Fair? No. Human nature? Regrettably so. We’d all like to believe that an employer will choose substance over style during a job interview, but there’s no denying that wardrobe is part of a first impression.

You know the scenario – the golden call for a job interview comes in and, the night before, you’re tearing through your closet trying on every suit you own to decide if it’s “the one.” I’ll admit I’ve probably spent more time prepping my interview outfit than my interview question responses.

But the reality is that not everyone has the luxury of picking and choosing from a closet stocked with professional attire. If you’re a low-income woman on a budget, there’s one place you’re likely to turn for a little wardrobe 9-1-1 – Dress for Success Denver. As part of GFM’s 10^th anniversary Get Giving initiative, the Impressionistas Team is donating money and time to help Dress for Success Denver continue to help women make powerful first impressions in the workforce through updated wardrobes, as well as career training and counseling. And, seeing that it’s the nonprofit’s 5^th anniversary this year, the timing for our partnership couldn’t have been more serendipitous.

The timing is also opportune for you to donate. Are you now working in a more casual or remote environment, yet keeping a stash of just-in-case suits? (This was so me until recently.) Did you lose or gain weight and can’t bring yourself to purge the old-you attire? Label it lazy, hopeful, sentimental or something else, but really… it’s time to put those perfectly good suits to good use.

Here are a few ideas you can do today to help Dress for Success Denver’s disadvantaged women in their journey to economic independence:

• Donate… duh. Drop-offs are the second Saturday of the month at Dress for Success Denver, which means the next one is Nov. 12. Mark it on your calendar today. Heck, go a step further and round up suits from your friends and/or officemates. Help them help others.
• Don’t donate. What I mean to say is don’t donate anything you wouldn’t wear yourself. These women want to feel chic, professional and confident, so bring only new or nearly new clothes with no stains or tears (that means no 80’s shoulder pads a la Melanie Griffith in “Working Girl”). Current wish list items are: white button-down shirts, black slacks sizes 16-26, camisoles, nice jewelry and handbags.
• Financial support. Don’t have suits to spare? Financial donations in any amount help.
• Volunteer. Visit the Dress for Success Denver volunteer page to sign up to be a personal shopper, career center counselor or donation day warrior.
• Show some Facebook love. Follow Dress for Success Denver on Facebook to learn about their events, their needs, help share their cause with your own networks or just to tell them what a great job they’re doing.

~ Rebecca

GrrrrroundFloor Animals Get Giving to support Morris Animal Foundation’s Canine Cancer Campaign

Morris Animal Foundation’s Canine Cancer Campaign tag line says it all, “Best Friends Helping Best Friends.” It was our team’s love for our best friends that quickly united us to support the Canine Cancer Campaign as part of GroundFloor Media’s 10^th Anniversary Get Giving project. For me the decision was also deeply personal; this past June I lost my best friend Duke to lymphoma.

Duke was a labor of love. We rescued him when he was just shy of his second birthday. We were told that we were his fourth home, but that had nothing to do with behavioral issues rather lack of time to care for a high-energy Weimaraner. We welcomed Duke into our home, and he quickly became my shadow. He was never keen on leaving the house and often had to be bribed to go for a walk. Offering a ride in the car was always met with hesitation and usually required us lifting him reluctantly. Duke was a home body. Sounds great except that it was Duke’s home and he was adamant about not letting others in, making it difficult to entertain or host house guests.

In March, something changed in Duke. At first, the vet optimistically thought it was a minor infection, but he wanted to run additional blood work. A few days later that blood work confirmed the worse –Duke had lymphoma. According to Morris Animal Foundation, 1 in 4 dogs will die of cancer. It is also the leading cause of death in dogs over the age of 2 years, and the risk increases with age. On June 20, my best friend Duke became part of that statistic.

Morris Animal Foundation’s Canine Cancer Campaign is funding research to help develop prevention strategies, test new treatments, establish tools for cancer researchers and train new scientists specializing in cancer research. Our team hopes that you will support this campaign by helping raise funds to one day cure this disease that affects so many of our "best friends." For every dollar we raise, through its 10^th Anniversary Get Giving program, GroundFloor will match it up to $2,500.00. Please take a moment to visit our giving page and learn more about Morris Animal Foundation’s Canine Cancer Campaign. Feel free to share the link with friends and family because together we are working to fund a cure.

~ Kristina, team member of GrrrrrroundFloor Animals

10th Anniversary Get Giving: Underwearness

As part of its 10th Anniversary celebration, GFM has identified four charities to which staff teams will be dedicating time and effort, as well as donating $2,500 to help the cause. In this video meet Koree Kongphand-Buckman, founder of Underwearness. GFM will be supporting Underwearness in the coming months by helping to fulfill and deliver orders around the Denver metro area, as well as raising awareness for Underwearness through some local media outreach. You can learn more about Underwearness at www.underwearness.org.

Celebrating by Giving Back

As most of you know by now, GroundFloor Media is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. And as you also know, giving back to the community has been an integral part of our agency from Day One. So, it only seemed natural that our celebration should include a community component. The only question was what it would look like…

In the end, we decided to build upon our existing Get Giving program and donate $10,000 ($1,000 for every year the agency has been in operation) to four nonprofit organizations. Our crew divided into four teams, and each team chose a nonprofit to support. The only stipulation was that the organization had to be a 501(c)3 – otherwise, the sky was the limit. Not surprisingly, knowing our crew, women, children and animals rose to the top, and the selected nonprofits were:

• Colfax Community Network: advocates for and works on behalf of children and families residing in low-income, transient housing (primarily residential motels) along Colfax Avenue
• Dress for Success – Denver: promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing them professional attire, a network of support and career development tools
• Morris Animal Foundation: advances health and welfare research that protects, treats and cures companion animals, horses and wildlife worldwide
• Underwearness: provides new underwear to children in need

Our teams will be jumping in to volunteer with each of these groups, in addition to providing them with $2,500 apiece. We’ll be conducting a clothing and hygiene product drive for Colfax Community Network (CCN), as well as planning a field trip for the kids involved in CCN’s after school program. We’ll be working with Dress for Success – Denver as it celebrates its own fifth anniversary. And we’ll be supporting Morris Animal Foundation’s Canine Cancer Campaign and helping to deliver underwear to kids in need.

Of course, we’ll be blogging, tweeting and posting to Facebook about our adventures along the way – so be sure to check frequently for updates. And if you’d like to find out how to get involved with any of the above projects and/or organizations, please check out our newly launched 10^th Anniversary Get Giving webpage. We have been so fortunate to be a part of this community for the past 10 years – we are thrilled to be able to give something back as we celebrate this milestone.

~Laura Love-Aden

Stop Taking the "Social" out of Social Media

Measurement is the “Social Media 2.0” topic of discussion in 2011. From sessions at South by Southwest Interactive titled “Value of a Facebook Fan” to client inquiries about the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) dollar value of social media, metrics and analytics of social media efforts are front and center these days.

The problem is there is no silver bullet for social media measurement just yet. The social aspect itself is what makes measurement so challenging. What and how social media efforts are measured is going to be different for every business and/or business objective. Social networks exist online, but that doesn’t mean they can be tracked in the same ways, or even with the same expectations, as your online advertising or SEO efforts. Don’t forget that social media is “social.”

We all have access to free services like Google Alerts and Twilerts that provide frequent updates on mentions of your brand, but how can you be sure you’re not missing an important conversation? Subscription-based tools like Radian6 and Sysomos* have become the industry standard for aggregating online conversations about your brand and measuring engagement numbers (things like sentiment, share of voice, etc.), but what about those private Facebook conversations or password-protected Yelp reviews that currently aren’t funneled into your results? Similarly, Google Analytics and trackable links like Bit.ly allow us to monitor click-throughs and conversion rates, but how can you know exactly why a person clicked at the time they chose to do so? Was it the post itself that motivated them to click? Or was it a combination of other influences that resulted in a click on that specific post?

I often compare time spent on social networks to time spent at a cocktail party. For me (and most surveys and industry articles agree), it’s extremely annoying when a person talks all about him/herself without actually having a conversation or lively banter with you. And it would be unheard of to have someone walk up to you, hand you a business card, and then turn and walk away. Have a conversation. Get to know the person, what they do, and how they might help your business. Then, take it a step further and introduce people who might benefit each other. That’s the beauty of networking, and that is what should truly be measured as a result of your social media efforts. Social media is first and foremost about connecting with people, building your brand, being a thought leader. The sales leads and CRM will come as a result of making quality connections. It really is about the quality of your connections, not the quantity.

Twitter’s recent announcement that it has started allowing promoted tweets (from brands you don’t even follow) to appear in your feed is a prime example of removing the “social” from social media. I understand the purpose or end goal - Twitter is working to find ways to boost revenue through “guaranteed” or increased visibility and click-throughs. But please, don’t interject yourself in my current conversation, hand me a business card or a coupon, and then leave. You wouldn’t do that at a cocktail party, and you shouldn’t do that on social platforms either. It’s disingenuous, and sure, it might result in a brief spike in web traffic, but what does it say about your brand and the impression you leave with your customers? Treat social media as an opportunity to connect with people, a chance to network and build your brand. Then measure how well you’re doing it.

~ Jim Licko

*GFM subscribes to and frequently uses both Radian6 and Sysomos on behalf of its clients.

A Time to Blog

Your social media strategy has been set. Pages have been built. And, for the first few months, the “shiny new object” of your organization’s social media practice kept everyone motivated to produce strong content on a daily or weekly basis.

But then work gets in the way—new client proposals, business travel, budget forecasts and plan development for the fiscal year ahead. And more quickly than you even realize, the company’s social media content has gone stale and finding the bandwidth to reprioritize can seem overwhelming.

Below you’ll find a few simple suggestions for keeping the content pipeline full without having to reserve nights and weekends for writing.

1. Block time to draft multiple blog posts at once. Find a hole on your calendar and block at least an hour to draft posts not only for the upcoming week, but the one after that also. You’ll need to stay nimble enough to quickly develop content when timely issues break, but most industries lend themselves to scores of evergreen content that can be written in advance and updated slightly just before publishing.
2. Create – and stick to – a social media editorial calendar. This tool works well for blogs, in addition to Facebook posts, Tweets, YouTube videos, Flickr albums and more. Dedicate an hour to mapping out content for the month ahead and you’ll breathe a sigh of relief every Monday when for the most part, the week’s posts have already been written. But do remember that someone still needs to be monitoring for and responding to incoming comments and questions, as well as jumping on relevant trends or any issues that are brewing underneath the surface of the social channels.
3. Think beyond the written word! Many of us forget that we can also rely on photos and a stellar caption for quick, eye-catching blog posts. “Wordless Wednesday” is a popular movement in the mom/female blogosphere that utilizes just one interesting photograph and a word or phrase for that day’s post—a great option for organizations with strong visuals, such as a consumer product manufacturers or nonprofits (with client consent of course).
4. Develop a “weekly roundup” schedule. One day each week, such as Friday mornings, recap the company’s top post of the week based on Web traffic or comments along with outbound links to top industry stories/blogs from the same time period. Readers will eventually become accustomed to turning to your organization as a resource on that specific day to help catch them up on what they might have missed during the week.
5. Secure guest bloggers. Aim to have credible guest bloggers submit content as far in advance as possible – depending on the topic – to fill the coffers on weeks when you or your team cannot dedicate an ounce of bandwidth to social media. For example, you may want to send out a tailored email at the start of each quarter to five or more potential guest bloggers to ascertain their interest in contributing content, providing a few topic ideas and general guidelines for length, accompanying visuals and timing. Be sure also to request that he or she cross-promote your blog on their social media channels once the post is live.

Maintaining a steady blogging cadence is not easy, but by getting ahead of it during the “slower” times, you can avoid losing all momentum when work (and life) gets in the way.

What other tips do you suggest for keeping up a regular blog schedule?


~Alexis

GFM is 10!

Celebrating 10 years of what matters most ~ our people.

The cupcakes have been delivered. The custom beer has been brewed. A proclamation has arrived from Mayor Hancock declaring Aug. 26, 2011, as GroundFloor Media Day, and Governor Hickenlooper has sent us a congratulatory letter. The team is busy posting videos of our clients singing “Happy Birthday” on YouTube, and there are (unfortunately) pictures of each one of our team members appearing on Facebook from when we were all 10 years old. Although we may be most thankful for the fact that our hairstyles and wardrobes have seen a marked improvement since the 60s, 70s and 80s, what I believe we are truly thankful for is the fact that we actually have a reason to celebrate tonight.

When I started the company a decade ago in my unfinished basement in Boulder, it was truly out of desperation (I had recently moved to Colorado, bought a house, was weeks from getting married and was without a job due to the recent dot-com bust) and a desire to be the type of company that others were not. I realize it doesn’t sound like a well thought out business plan, and trust me, it wasn’t. My business “plan” was outlined on the back of a napkin at a bagel shop in Boulder. It contained three critical points: 1) I wanted to work with people that I truly enjoyed being around; 2) I wanted to offer a flexible, blended work environment; and 3) I wanted to be able to make enough money to give back to the community. Do you thinkHarvard Business Review called? Not so much. Regardless of my lack of planning, I feel proud of the fact that 10 years later, we have not waivered on any of these principles.

I was once told that people start their own business so they can lead a balanced life. I would like to run into this person again so I could gently tell him that there is no such thing as a balanced life. Your life and work will be intertwined, and there will be no distinct line between the two. There is only one thing to do – make every second of every day count. We tend to call it a blended life around here. Last night I answered an urgent call from a client while my husband pushed our toddler in a stroller, I carried our infant in a Baby Bjorn and we juggled holding the leash so our giant Bernese Mountain Dog could go for a walk before it rained. As I hung up (thankful that we managed to make it through the conversation without any screaming or temper tantrums), I was reminded of how fortunate I am to be a part of a culture that embraces (and even celebrates) this insane lifestyle we all lead.

Someone recently asked me which accomplishment I was most proud of during the past 10 years at GroundFloor Media. It wasn’t the awards, financial stability or the innovations we have helped forge in the industry. It was – quite simply – the colleagues, clients and partners we surround ourselves with each and every day.

For each one of you, I am truly grateful.

~ Laura Love-Aden

USA Pro Cycling Challenge Rolls Into Colorado

As an avid cycling fan with my cowbell in hand, I set out to write about the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, which welcomes 127 of the world’s top cyclists to ride nearly 600 miles across some of Colorado’s most acclaimed mountain passes and scenery. After German cyclist Jens Voigt’s breakthrough success as @thejensie on Twitter, capturing 48,097 followers since his first tweet on July 11 during the Tour de France, I figured online audiences would be hungry for information about this inaugural race that revisits many of the routes traveled during Colorado’s last great stage race, the Coors Classic.

But as I started to catch up on some of the latest online updates, including @schleckfrank of Luxembourg missing his one-year wedding anniversary to race in Colorado, I noted a slightly different story – one with social media lessons for others planning to take their brands online and reach audiences worldwide.

First, the USA Pro Cycling Challenge is scheduled at the same time as the Vuelta a España, Spain’s version of the Tour de France. Fielding riders at multiple events at the same time is common in pro cycling; however, for a first-time event, it’s tough to compete with one of the top cycling events in the world as you try to build awareness amongst loyal cycling fans.

But the good news is that all of the podium finishers from this year’s Tour de France opted to head to Colorado instead of Spain, so the scheduling issue isn’t a huge point, just worth noting as Twitter fans have developed an alternative hashtag for the USA Pro Cycling Challenge #notthevuelta. Let’s face it – we all know its better to be known for what you are than what you’re not.

In fact, Twitter fans are using a number of hashtags for this week’s event. The official #uspro is being used by race organizers @usaprochallenge. But several others have cropped up on the first day of the race including #thatraceinCO, #usprocc, #usaprocc and #usapro – the preference of the local Colorado broadcast news media.

Unfortunately, it’s not a good sign when brands and the media covering them are out of sync. As a result, race organizers, sponsors, media and online audiences may loose out on the concentration of information that results from a well-optimized hashtag.

Perhaps some of the confusion is stemming from the fact that race organizers had a hard time pinning down a name for this event, which was first known as the Quizno’s Pro Challenge and was rumored to have gone through a few other options since @lancearmstrong first connected with former Governor Bill Ritter to secure the world-class event for Colorado. Thankfully, online mockery about the name, limited mountain-top finishes and the fact that co-founder Armstrong was in Texas, not Colorado, for the first two days of the event are being overcome by an outstanding field of cyclists and a first-class online experience that includes a fully optimized mobile website featuring the Shack Tracker and Map My Ride virtual cycling challenge to benefit Spokes of Change.

Stage one winner @levileipheimer is joined by a strong field of world-class riders who are using their Twitter feeds, Facebook profiles and blogs to share their experiences in Colorado with cycling fans from around the world. Despite some of the hurdles inevitably faced by a new event of this magnitude, the online chatter is significant and if everyone can figure out the right hashtag, the USA Pro Cycling Challenge is bound to be #trending in Denver as the final stage rolls onto Speer Boulevard next Sunday.

GroundFloor Media Teams With Children's Hospital Colorado to Speak Up for Kids

Did you know that 170,000 Colorado children do not have basic health care? GroundFloor Media's Amanda Brannum recently sat down with Deb Federspiel from Children's Hospital Colorado's Children's Health Advocacy Institute (CHAI) to talk about our partnership, funded by The Colorado Trust, working together to reach mothers and families throughout Colorado to inform, educate and encourage families to speak up for better access to health care in Colorado. Learn more about the program and how you can get involved at www.childrenscolorado.org/speakup

The Colorado Health Foundation Guest Blog

Alexis Anderson has been with The Colorado Health Foundation, a GroundFloor Media client, at its annual Colorado Health Symposium this week.

Check out her second guest blog, "Discovery Session: The spectrum of health care challenges and the media assigned to tell its stories," to read insights from some of Colorado's most respected health care reporters regarding the challenges they face covering the broadcast spectrum of health care.

The Colorado Health Symposium

Alexis Anderson is in Keystone working with our client, The Colorado Health Foundation at its annual Colorado Health Symposium. Check out her guest blog "Discovery Session: Motivate People to Take Action and Inspire Behavioral Changes" about the daily challenges of health care social marketers.

~ Kristina

Google+ Warning

I was thrilled when a former coworker invited me to join Google+. I felt like the cool kid in town. I quickly signed up as there weren’t many steps since I already have Google logins for Gmail, Picasa and Blogger.  My personal blog is Lex & Learn, and I’ve been slowly building it and dedicating more time to it since my first post in 2009.

In setting up my Google+ profile, one step I spent a bit of extra time on was the automatic linking of all Picasa photos to my Google+ account. There were a lot of random photos (old apartments, vacation rental home pictures, etc.) that I didn’t want linked to my Google+ profile, so I deleted them. Because this was part of the Google+ signup, I only thought I was deleting them from my new profile—not forever.

I was very wrong, and it appears I am not alone.

Since the signup process didn’t make it clear, I feel the need to send a quick warning to everyone who has or may be getting ready to sign up for Google+ that if you delete Picasa web albums that are also linked to a Blogger account, you will lose every single photo on your blog.

Just take a look at this forum thread from other panicked bloggers like me here. What’s even more frustrating is that I have never used Picasa to upload, edit or store photos for my personal blog. I always use the Blogger uploader tool, and had absolutely no idea that everything was being linked to Picasa – relying on that Google product to store everything.

I’ve searched high and low for a response from Google and so far all I can find is this:

Our team can't undelete your photos, but we'll make it clearer that your Picasa photos themselves are displayed on Google+ and not copied. It's the same backend, so photos you upload in Picasa are visible from Google+, and vice versa.

I realize this isn't helpful for those who've already deleted their photos, but going forward, make backups and make them often. You can download a .ZIP file of your photos and other Google account data using Google Takeout at https://www.google.com/takeout/

This response, of course, included no apology, and no reference to people’s concern that Blogger users are in no way prompted that Google+ and Picasa impact all blog photo storage. And unfortunately, Google feels that it is our fault for not backing up more.

If you aren’t a blogger, you may think being “heartbroken” over this is a tad dramatic. But honestly, when you lose a good part of three years worth of personal work, that is how it feels. Mainly, I want to put a warning out so that anyone and everyone understands this issue with Google+, and to hopefully prevent it from happening to anyone else. Please share this with coworkers, friends and family who keep Blogger blogs and may accidentally delete their photos in the setup process.

And, if you discover a fix or a magical land where deleted Picasa web albums live, please share it!

~Alexis Anderson

Note: Since this happened I have been slowly reposting pictures to my personal blog.

LinkedIn: It’s Not Just for Job Seekers

Two comments in the past week got me thinking about one of the most under-utilized and frequently forgotten social networking sites: LinkedIn.

“Isn’t LinkedIn just a site for people who are looking for jobs?”

“LinkedIn is the stuffy, suit-wearing, MBA, always-on-his-Blackberry of social media sites.”

The fact is, as of March more than 100 million people have a LinkedIn account. Mashable recently posted an interesting article outlining how individuals are using the site. Some of the findings were expected (24% of entry-level employees are looking for jobs), while others might be somewhat surprising (67% access the site “a few times a week” or more). The underlying point is that LinkedIn really does provide opportunities for you and your business that the Facebooks and YouTubes of the world can’t. Here are a few to consider:

Small businesses: When the big guys have a problem, they’ve typically got money to throw at it. But for those of us who work at or own a small business, how do you quickly find cost-effective ideas for cloud services? How do you get recommendations on the best project management tools? What if you need a template for a social media response policy? LinkedIn provides opportunities through discussions, groups and even one-on-one connections to help small businesses get information in a fairly quick and inexpensive way.

Business to business marketing: There are a lot of good case studies out there and even thorough tutorials from LinkedIn itself for your company page. But many businesses are using LinkedIn to obtain organic information about their clients and prospects. Pay attention to your prospects and their employees. Are they asking questions you can help with? Are they providing information that might be useful for your sales cycle? And do some research on the many LinkedIn apps out there like TripIt, which tracks when users are planning an upcoming trip to your city, or who is in the city you’ll be visiting next week.

Cross-promoting social media platforms: You probably repurpose, link back to and promote select content between Twitter and Facebook. How can you utilize your company page or even your own profile to highlight your latest blog post or new product offering? LinkedIn is an effective way to diversify who is reading about you or your company – not to mention a fairly effective way to boost your SEO efforts.

Reconnecting: If you’re like me, there are probably a few Outlook contacts you haven’t caught up with since finishing that project in 2008, and you’d really like to know where they are now to help you out with your latest project. Facebook might be a little too personal, and maybe they’re nowhere to be found via a Google search. Connections are valuable, and LinkedIn is a professional way to reconnect with long-lost co-workers, project partners, vendors, and even former clients. Connect with them now so they can help you on your next project, and then recommend them. That’s truly the social aspect of LinkedIn.

It might not be the perfect tool for all of your HR/sales/networking needs, but just like any other social networking site, you have to put yourself out there in an intelligent, authentic way to realize the benefits. Don’t just ask questions for your own benefit all of the time. Take some time to answer others’ questions and position yourself as a thought leader. Don’t merely focus on connecting with potential sales leads; seek out that vendor that helped you in a pinch and reconnect with her.

LinkedIn might look like your briefcase-toting neighbor, but there’s a reason he’s so successful.

Mid-Year Update From GroundFloor Media

We're more than half-way through the year already and the GFM team is going strong as we launch into the second half of 2011. In addition to lots of exciting client activities, we're also preparing to celebrate our 10th Anniversary. Join Ramonna Robinson and Amy Moynihan for a quick overview of where we've been and where we're headed through the remainder of the year!

Calling all #ToughMudder fans

Do you have what it takes to be a Tough Mudder?

From weekend warriors to competitive athletes, that’s what thousands around the world are asking as they prepare to take on what has been dubbed “the toughest event on the planet.”

And where are they finding answers? The Internet.

Tough Mudders and Mudder wannabees are reaching out in droves to connect with each other via social media to share training tips and stories of the mud, shock, chills and spills that are all part of the military-style obstacle course that offers events year round in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.

It’s not a competition, it’s about team and team starts from the moment you visit the Tough Mudder website (www.toughmudder.com). The website welcomes you with photos and videos of men and women enduring all that the event has to offer. And to top it off, the grimaces and smiles benefit a good cause – the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization committed to supporting the needs of severely injured service men and women. To date, the Tough Mudder event series has raised more than $1.2 million and counting.

Event organizers are social media savvy. Not only do they encourage fans to follow event news and highlights on Facebook and Twitter, they also created the website and social media properties as a community hub for all things Tough Mudder. Got a video? Upload it. Uncover a new training technique? Post it. Want to get in on the action? Comment on the Live Tough blog – nearly 700,000 fans are reading it.

More than 6,600 people follow the Tough Mudder Twitter feed and the YouTube channel has fielded nearly 550,000 views. On Facebook, 700,000 fans “like” Tough Mudder, and Tough Mudder enlisted and finisher badges on Facebook are becoming a mark of distinction – not just anyone can get one.

It gets addictive. We all like to push ourselves to the limit, and the Tough Mudder provides a turnkey way to keep race day enthusiasm going for the days, weeks and months leading up to and after the big event.

I should know. For the past few months, I’ve experienced the collective fervor firsthand as my husband and his Spider Monkey teammates prepared for Tough Mudder Beaver Creek (note: not sure why they were spiders or monkeys). Their early morning workouts hauling rocks up Chautauqua in Boulder, Colo., were chronicled online and group proclamations about kicking some Tough Mudder butt were tagged with the #ToughMudder hashtag on Twitter for all the world to read.

They got some responses, “rocks…cool,” but more importantly, they tapped into the broader Tough Mudder community, which gave them the extra inspiration to push for the finish line.

Yes, Ironman is grueling and triathletes have been online for years, but the Tough Mudder is taking endurance events to a new level and using social media to reinforce its purpose of encouraging teams of people to get out together and push themselves for a cause.

And the crazy thing is that the spectators are just as nuts about the event as the participants. Nearly 2,000 fans cheered on more than 6,000 participants in Beaver Creek last Saturday. My cowbell announced my arrival at each obstacle as I scampered from one vantage point to the next just in time to snap pictures and post online updates. Family and friends kept tabs on the race from afar and all in all it was a great event – one that I will remember and share with Tough Mudders and Mudder fans for years to come.

Congrats to GFM friends Roger Greene, Jimmy Reilly & Luis Benitez for conquering the Tough Mudder!

GroundFloor Media Teams With USA Swimming Foundation

GroundFloor Media's own Jim Licko and Alexis Anderson just returned from St. Louis where earlier this week they kicked off the 2011 Make A Splash tour on behalf of client the USA Swimming Foundation. In addition to working with Olympic swimmer Cullen Jones and engaging with amazing kids at the local Mathews Dickey Boys and Girls Club in St. Louis, the team secured fantastic media coverage and are looking forward to future tour stops.

Watch this video for an overview of the story and some highlights from the St. Louis trip!

Managing Tough Situations

In the midst of one of the busiest weeks in GFM’s 10-year history, I attended what I called an “ill-timed” yoga festival in Boulder. And as it turned out, the timing couldn’t have been better…

The Hanuman Festival celebrates the Hindu deity, Hanuman, who is “…symbolic of the perfect mind, and embodies the highest potential it can achieve,” according to exoticindiaart.com. This reminded me of the teachings I learned as a Heart Math instructor during my days at Swedish Medical Center.

When you’re faced with busy, stressful situations, it all boils down to this: We cannot control what happens around us, but we can control how we react to the things that happen around us. When faced with countless hours of work to do, ever-changing demands and moving deadlines, you can choose to get frustrated, throw a tantrum and complain about the situation OR you can choose to take a deep breath, remember that “we’re not curing cancer here” and find something in the situation to laugh about.

I’m so proud of the team at GFM and how our teammates tend to take the latter approach. Sure, change is frustrating, but why let it ruin your day? I truly believe that we’re honored to work with extremely talented team members and clients, who tend to keep things in perspective and do amazing work.

So, as we helped The Colorado Health Foundation announce that they had signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding to sell their approximately 40 percent equity share of the HCA-HealthONE LLC joint venture to HCA; worked closely with the St. Anthony Hospital team to manage the media relations and social media surrounding their historic move to a new campus; prepared to launch USA Swimming Foundation’s six-city Make a Splash tour; guided a few clients through challenging issues in the media; and kept more than a dozen other clients’ PR programs afloat, it was calming to remember that we couldn’t control the situations, but we could control how we reacted to them.

Next time you feel your blood pressure rising because of the demands of the day, take a deep breath and take control of the situation. You’ll feel a lot better!

Namaste,

Ramonna