Why Twitter is Worth Your Time

As someone who has always embraced social media, I found myself avoiding Twitter until very recently. My husband, a chef at Vino Paradiso in Portland's Pearl District, had always avoided social media sites until about 4 months ago when he announced that he had created a Twitter account. Shocked, I asked why, and he was quick to respond that it was solely for the purpose of work. So of course I, in turn, created an account so I could follow his tweets.

In time I saw his followers grow and consistently re-tweet his food specials, wine dinners and general food news and comments. Soon came connections with other chefs, farmers and food writers in and around Portland. As it turned out, the people with the pulse on the Portland restaurant and food scene tweet constantly! 

The recent study by ExactTarget confirms just this fact, that while Twitter has only 14 million active users, those individuals are an outspoken bunch and are quite active on other social media, forums, blogs or even main stream media. Daily Twitter users comment and/or upload twice as much as general internet users, are four times as likely to blog and six times as likely to upload articles. So capturing an audience of daily tweeters can reach those individuals hungry for information who are eager to share it.

Morgan Stewart, a Principal at ExactTarget, clearly believes that daily Twitter users hold a key to online influence. "The concentration of highly engaged and influential content creators is unrivaled-it's become the gathering place for content creators whose influence spills over into every other corner of the internet."

So now that we have confirmation that Twitter is a powerful tool for business, the next question is how do we attract followers? If I examine my husband's success in Twitter thus far, I can easily say that it is all about regular interaction and support of those in your target community who matter. While you can't force people to join Twitter and become daily participants, you can seek out those already there and work to build relationships and recognize their content. Yes, it takes work and time, but if my husband can crack the seemingly impenetrable Portland food scene through Twitter, anything is possible.

For those of you curious about my husband, his philosophy on food and what he's cooking, you can follow him on Twitter @PLoschPDX

Are Women Better at Building Brands With Social Media?

Research shows different people use social media differently depending on their race and gender. But there is a growing amount of evidence that suggests that women -- and I realize this plays into a total stereotype here -- are better at the personality, connecting and building relationships that are what social media is all about.



A viral video from social media personality iJustine.

From a study by Harvard Business:

On a typical online social network, most of the activity is focused around women—men follow content produced by women they do and do not know, and women follow content produced by women they know.

Bam.

In other words, women's higher social intelligence now has a pretty powerful venue.

I'm just going to make a little mention here that the core Campbell Consulting team happens to be made up of five fabulous women. We also pull in fabulous female contractors from time to time.

Check out this list from Forbes of the top 20 best-branded ladies on Twitter.

Spoof: Twitter movie trailer

Maybe you've seen the trailer for the new movie, "The Social Network," about the founding of Facebook. Well here's one about Twitter from the comedy team Rated Awesome:

Biggest brands on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare

Ever wonder which brands have the biggest social media following? Is it Starbucks? Zappos? Does Ashton Kutcher count as a brand?

Well now you can find out. This site has created a directory of official corporate social media pages on Twitter, Facebook and even the hot new location-based social network, Foursquare. It's a big garish to look at, but offers a quick guide to who "gets it" with social media. It even assigns a dollar value to a Facebook fan page, and it is testing a measure for "influence" on Twitter.

The number one user (brands and everybody) on Facebook is Texas Hold 'Em Poker Games. Number two? Michael Jackson. On Twitter, Britney Spears is the number one user, surpassing Ashton Kutcher at number two.

Of course, you don't just want to know who's on top - you want to know how to get there. But watching what other companies do can be a great insight.

Top Ten Brands on Twitter

1. Twitter - 3,483,308 followers
2. CNN Breaking News - 3,282,381 followers
3. New York Times - 2,533,020
4. Google - 2,373,705
5. The Onion - 2,319,838
6. E! Online - 2,298,108
7. Time - 2,125,076
8. People Magazine - 2,116,630
9. Mashable - 2,049,778
10. NBA - 2,024,542

Top Ten Brands on Facebook

1. Facebook - 16,396,226
2. Starbucks Coffee -12,439,579
3. YouTube - 11,119,032
4. Coca-Cola - 10,391,154
5. Oreo - 8,471,716
6. Skittles - 8,341,486
7. Red Bull - 7,664,632
8. Victoria's Secret - 6,183,633
9. Disney - 5,665,089
   and the shocker (at least to me)...
10. Windows Live Messenger - 5,391,554

PDX Summertime Events this Weekend

I had so much fun covering a variety of events last week that I'm going to do the same this week!

Rose City Rollers Hometown Throwdown

Wheels of Justice vs. Rat City, Bay Area & Gotham Girls

Hanger at Oaks Park

August 13, 14 and 15

Three days and six matches will make for an action packed weekend of skating madness. The popularity of roller derby continues to grow across the United States with Portland as one of the leading cities. 

This weekend won't disappoint as the Wheels of Justice, Portland's national competition team, hosts and competes against 3 all-star teams from across the country in the Hometown Throwdown. 

General admission tickets for Friday & Saturday are $16 each, $22 for Rockstar guaranteed seating. Or you can go all in and buy a 3-day pass $35 for GA, $50 for Rockstar. 

Don't have a ticket? Not quite ready for live action viewing? Watch the live stream! Details here.

17th Annual Hawthorne Street Fair

Along Hawthorne, focused between 30th-43rd Aves.

Sunday, August 15

11am - 5pm

The Hawthorne neighborhood is home to hipsters, students and young families and is known for its propensity to party. And that is exactly what the people of Hawthorne and around Portland plan to do this Sunday! With over 80 merchants, food and craft vendors as well as free movies, kid-specific activities and local artists it's not to be missed.  

Visit here for a full list of music and events happening through out the day.

14th Official Adult Soapbox Derby

Mt. Tabor Park Map

Saturday, August 14th

10am - 4pm

As a child I remember watching shows like Leave it to Beaver and Lassie where the young stars bonded with their fathers or older brothers to construct a soapbox derby car. Trust me, this soapbox race is nothing like you saw on The Wonder Years.

While the event is family friendly, expect some raucous individuals. Pack a picnic and some beer and come out to Mt. Tabor to watch full grown men and women barrel down a very steep hill at very scary speeds in homemade vehicles.

Whatever you end up doing this weekend I hope you enjoy yourself and the amazing summer weather that we're having!

Business cards... that you plug into your computer?

Apparently USB business cards are all the rage for engineers and other techy-types who need to advertise their geek cred. But I hadn't see one until this spring, when I was handed this by a representative of Northwest Cherries at the International Association of Culinary Professionals convention in Portland:

I have to admit it - I didn't know what it was. I thought it was some sort of thing you plug into your iPhone and assumed I couldn't use it. But I recently realized the computer chippy thing on the end could be plugged into the USB port on my laptop.

Voila! The thing was actually a mini-press kit, featuring 512 MB of video, photo, charts and everything you could ever want to know about cherries:

Pretty cool. You can imagine the usefulness for a journalist who might repeatedly need to cover stories about agriculture or cherries - enough info and rich media to last at least a year. I knew you could get USB drives with logos on them and in custom shapes, but I never thought of using them this way.

This site appears to have the same kind of USB business card. They want you to email them for a quote. But I'll bet they're a lot more than the $20 you can spend for 500 paper business cards.

Seems pretty handy, but also expensive and potentially confusing. It might be worth it to have some on hand, but I'd want to have "PLUG ME INTO YOUR USB PORT" clearly printed on them.

Case Study: Cuppa Yo and Facebook

A client asked how the humble froyo shop in Bend known as Cuppa Yo got such a strong +2400 following on Facebook. I wrote this about how the owners did it, and how they use Facebook now.

How did Cuppa Yo get so many Facebook fans?

Read more »

Music, Food & Movement - Take Your Pick this Weekend in Portland

A colleague pointed out that I have only been covering 1 Portland event per week and I realized - how fair is that? So this week I am going to expand and cover a variety of Portland happenings!

Tunes

Pickathon

Friday, August 6 - Sunday, August 8, 2010

Okay, so it's not technically Portland, but Boring, Oregon isn't far to travel to hear 35 awesome Indie Rock bands on 5 stages nestled amongst towering doug firs on an 80 acre farm. The 12th annual Pickathon return for a 5th year to the Pendarvis Farm with headliners Bonnie Prince Billy & The Cairo Gang, Dr. Dog and Heartless Bastards among many others. 

Weekend ($155) and day pass ($85) tickets are still available to purchase online through midnight Thursday, otherwise you can purchase with check or cash at the door. Tent camping is free with the purchase of a weekend ticket!

Eats

Bite of Oregon

Friday, August 6 - 11am-10pm 

Saturday, August 7 - 11am-10pm

Sunday, August 8 - 10am-8pm

It's no secret that Portland loves to eat and Bite of Oregon is the perfect excuse to gorge ourselves on some of the best food, wine and craft beer from around the state. Held along the Portland waterfront, this truly is a celebration of all things Oregon. 

This year you can look forward to:

-Iron Chef Oregon competitions

-Portland Food Cart Cuisine

-Oregon Dessert Pavilion

-Brian Boitano will be hosting cooking demos and signings

-Dave Martin of Bravo's "Top Chef"

-Chef Cory Schreiber, James Beard Award winner will host demos and signings

Weekend passes are just $10, daily passes for will run you $8. Children 12 and under are free.

Movement

Providence Bridge Pedal 2010

Sunday, August 8 - 6:30am

Here is your chance to experience Portland's bridges from a new angle. The Providence Bridge Pedal aims to encourage healthy and active choices in the Portland population. There are a variety of routes to choose from - 10 bridges/36 miles, 7 bridges/23 miles, 5 bridges/11.5 miles, Kids Pedal/3 miles and Stride/6 miles. Start times, locations and registration information can be found on the Bridge Pedal route page.

This is a family friendly event and a great way to get out and enjoy the sunshine that is (currently) forecasted for Sunday!

Honorable mentions

Brunch on the Bridge - PDX Bridge Festival 

Elephant Garlic Festival 2010!