15 social media tips for parks & rec
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Transcript of 15 social media tips for parks & rec
15 SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS FOR PARKS & REC IN 30 MINUTESCarla Pendergraft
Carla Pendergraft Associates
www.carlapendergraft.com
About You
How many are using social media personally?
How many are using social in your job? How many have restrictions on use of
social in job?
About You
How many are frustrated with how municipal culture is the polar opposite of the culture of the Internet and social media? Change-averse vs. embracing change Closed culture vs. open culture
Municipal Culture Roadblocks Social media may be seen as
superfluous to the mission Virus dangers Open Records, Open Meetings Acts Municipal managers often behind the
curve on technology
Your Mission
To let go of the need for your city to “get it”
To be the evangelist for social media To embrace and become comfortable
with constant change in the technologies To commit to lifelong self-teaching To purchase and use technology on your
own in order to learn it (e.g. iPhones)
Some Innovative Examples
Pearland PARD Facebook Page Most posts are by citizens, not staff People use it like a rec center bulletin board
Looking for basketball partners People asking questions of staff
Maintenance complaints Dates of recurring events Requests
15 SOCIAL MEDIA TIPSFOR PARKS AND RECREATION
1. Ask for input from citizens.
Name that park! Report maintenance problems – ask
citizens to be your eyes and ears Where should the next park be? What else?
2. Conduct a photo contest
Upload photos of their favorite park, activity, etc.
Include stipulation that you can use their photos in your publications
Ask them to upload directly to your Flickr group, or your Facebook page if you prefer
3. Create a group on Flickr, encourage people to post photos of your parks.
VisitAustinTx invites you to share your photos of Austin in their Flickr group pool, via Twitter.
Round Rock’s Flickr Group - >1,000 photos
4. Video contest
Video Contest - “Tell us how you have fun in (your city’s) parks”
Comedy is encouraged! Must be family-friendly Embed the best ones in your website.
Plano, Texas Parks and Recreation
47 videos posted by the City on YouTube
5. Decentralize posting responsibilities Have a team of people from your staff do
the posting. This creates a variety of voices Helps keep the content fresh and new Arlington PARD “signs” their posts: “Gary-
APRD”
6. Post Before and After Photos Before the flood and after the flood Before the park renovations and
afterward Before the skate park and after
Always have people in the shot! It’s not about the parks, it’s about the people.
7. Link all your web presences Home page of your Parks website should
have links to all your social media pages This is where people go to get the whole
picture Cross-post these links. On your Facebook
page, have links to all the others and so on.
8. Conduct a Contest
Ask people to tweet about one of your events for a chance to win a prize.
Example: Go to @wacopard and tweet, “I can’t wait for #pawsinthepark in Waco this Saturday!”
Benefits: you get publicity for your event among all their followers, Google will pick it up, and the hash tag will indicate the level of interest in the event and prize.
9. Incent people to friend and follow you
Example: “Become a Facebook friend of the Waco Parks and Rec Department. Each month we will give away a prize. New winners will be chosen exclusively from our fan base.”
10. Monitor key searches on Twitter. Use Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, etc. to create
a saved search “Waco Park” or “City of Waco” or
“Cameron Park” might be some typical ones
Monitor the use of these terms and respond where appropriate.
11. Encourage Hashtags
Decide what hashtags make sense for your department, and start publicizing them. That way, you can monitor the conversation and give people a way to express themselves that is less random than if they make them up themselves.
Examples: #wacoparks, #texasredsfestival, etc.
12. Use Foursquare
Foursquare is a location-based social networking site.
Foursquare cross posts to Twitter and its traffic is becoming hard to ignore.
“Do you manage this venue? Claim here”
Claim your listing, correct the information, post tips, create specials
13. Claim your offices on Google Places
Go to: www.google.com/places Will allow people to find your offices
more efficiently Positions your offices on Google Maps
14. Use Yelp
Review your parks and points of interest Encourage others to do the same
Yelp.com – “park” near 78701
Great job, Austin!Many reviews of Austin parks.
15. Monitor your reputation and online reviews Do regular Google searches on your key
terms and phrases Set a Google alert at
www.google.com/alerts/ Correct misinformation where you can Encourage positive reviews
Bonus Tip – Google Maps
You can create custom Google maps of all your recreational venues
Embed them in your website Easily update them with changes Create different maps for different things
Waco CVB Recreation page
Google map of recreation-al venues in Waco