Barry Jackson, AARPSr. Manager Grassroots

AARP

AARP – About Us

• 40 million members• AARP The Magazine• AARP Bulletin• AARP.org• Email, Direct Mail, Phone• State and local offices• Emerging Social Networks and Mobile

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Membership Organization and Multi-Channel

AARP

2009 – A Year in Pursuit of Health

• www.healthactionnow.org • Integrated some social networking aspects in-site

• Flickr (photo petitions)• Video stories (Youtube)

• 550,000 phone calls into Congress• Over 2,000,000 emails sent into Congress• 10,000 people circulating offline petitions for signature• Over 2,000,000 offline petitions signed through mail• 10 nationwide townhalls attracted over 500,000• Obama townhall multi-channel affair via web, phone and

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Health Action Now Main Campaign

AARP

• Good for monitoring trends

• System meant for individuals and groups

• Can be useful to channel discussion into groups or other forums

• Popularity and “cutting-edge aura can be issue as many organizations or programs jump into the fray to “check the box”

• Lack of metrics as opposed to traditional and more refined channels

• Staff resources not adequate to fully stand-up social networking strategy

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Social Networking Challenges

AARP

Social Network Guidelines for Staff

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AARP

Social Network Guidelines

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AARP Employee Personal Use of Social MediaAARP employees using social media platforms on their own personal time, not on behalf of the organization: Be Smart: You are personally responsible for any content that you publish on social media platforms, so use good judgment. Like any conduct, employees should adhere to the AARP Workplace Guidelines and Ethics Policy in your social media activities, whether personal or professional. Consider how your comments or posts might appear if we were called to defend them by a news organization – just like you would at any public event or forum. Respect Copyrights & Confidentiality: Only post things you have permission to post. Make sure you have permission to post any copyrighted (e.g. images, logos) or potentially confidential information.Be Transparent: When sharing non-proprietary, non-confidential AARP-related messages, make clear that you are an employee of AARP. Be a Responsible Advocate: You may share information or your personal opinions about political campaigns, parties or candidates as long as you are not a spokesperson for AARP or other designated staff. However, you must be careful to avoid any type of attribution to AARP. Be Accurate: Even though you may be expressing a personal opinion, do your research and source your information.Be Generous: Social media is, at its base, social. Share, connect, and provide links to interesting things going on, both at AARP and beyond.Share Stories & Best Practices: If you have a great story to tell or have a great idea for AARP to tell our story through social platforms, share those with colleagues.

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Our approach: Member-based

• Make your ask simple• Be precise – don’t assume• Start slowly• Find out what they WANT to do• Position your program where your members are rather than where you want them to be

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Our Approach in Advocacy

• Two staffers matrixed to project• Weekly messaging and themes• Coordination among channels, including

• AARP’s blog – ShAARPsession• AARP.org’s communities, including the new AARP Advocates community• Twitter• Facebook• Mobile

• Integration of social networking echo chamber into all alerts and updates• Identification of “influencers” within AARP existing grassroots structure• Development of specific metrics and deliverables• Communication and dissemination of best practices with states and cross-organizationally

AARP

Results via TweetReach

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Key Points

•Only 30 tweets in response to the link in the TAF email.

•But potentially reached up nearly 5,000 people.

•Additional benefit of identifying Twitter influentials by impressions contributed.

AARP

Summing Up

• Employees are likely your best ambassadors• Use regular internal channels to highlight organizational efforts• Recruit employees to social networking efforts• Develop and implement guidelines for “official” use• Develop and implement guidelines for personal use• Don’t expect too much too soon.• Be creative and be nimble.

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