• “You make a living doing that?”
• “Oh, you just play on Facebook and Twitter all day?”
• “So you’re like Mark Zuckerberg.”

Yes, no, and I wish… The position of social media coordinator didn’t really exist when I started college five years ago. I think the best way I can describe my job is to explain many of the other jobs that make up my position. Every social media coordinator has different responsibilities, but these are some of the hats that I wear every day:

1. The writer – A social media coordinator regularly writes content for blogs, promotional posts for social networks, and copy for websites as necessary. I’ve crafted everything from articles and interviews to polls and influencer outreach. Being able to create different kinds of content for different platforms is a critical part of the job.

2. The developer – Believe it or not, there’s more to understanding social platforms than knowing how to post a tweet or update a Facebook status. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and WordPress release several major updates and layout changes every year, and most of them are rolled out without any advanced notice. It’s my job to stay up to date on those changes and make sure we’re always using the platforms in the best way possible. I feel like I know more about social media than is even cool to know, like the dimensions of profile pictures on most social networks and the character limitations for more things than I’d like to admit.

3. The teacher – Even in today’s digital age, many people aren’t familiar with the science/art/existence of social media or how to use it to market products and services. Part of my job is to teach my coworkers and clients about current social trends and explain how they impact our industry in particular. I work exclusively with pharmaceutical clients, so I need to understand if and how we can use emerging platforms like Pinterest or Google+ with our clients’ goals and FDA regulations in mind.

4. The community manager – A good social media coordinator is, well, social. They’re able to facilitate conversations among people online and interact with others to answer any questions they may have and provide support. You might be surprised at how many people share their personal stories and problems online, and how many others rally around them to provide encouragement. We help as much as possible when people reach out to us through social media, by either directing them to someone who can help or giving them as much information as we can. Even when we answer only small questions people have about their health, I feel like we’re able to really make a difference in their lives. That’s a great feeling.

5. The analyst – There are dozens, if not hundreds, of metrics one can use to measure engagement in social media. As an analyst, I create reports based on those metrics to draw insights from the previous month’s interactions. What kinds of content performed the best on our Facebook Timeline? What were our most popular blog posts for the previous month? How can we adjust our posting schedule to maximize our reach? We sort through tons of data generated from tools like Radian6, Brandwatch, Facebook Insights, and Omniture to build the reports. In the end, we use all of this information and insights to determine how we can best serve our clients and consumers and maximize the value of those social media channels.

Hopefully next time someone tells you they work in the social media field, you won’t have to ask if they have a real job or simply smile and nod. I really enjoy my job and the fact that I’m able to wear so many hats every day. All in a day’s work for a social media coordinator.

The post What is a Social Media Coordinator? appeared first on Andrew Grojean.

I got some great feedback on defining some common social media terms last year, and since I’m officially a working man, I thought I’d start off this year by defining some corporate jargon that I hear every day around the office. Since no one taught me these phrases in college, it took a few weeks to get used to the lingo. If you are entering the workforce soon, expect to hear these gems all the time. If you’ve already been in the workforce for years, you’ve probably heard these words and phrases ad nauseum.

Full disclosure: I use many of these buzzwords daily.

10 Office Buzzwords Every Employee Should Know

1. Bandwidth – How much time and resources you have in a period of time. Be prepared to hear, “What does your bandwidth look like today?” Inappropriate answer: “My download speeds are at 10Mb/s.” Appropriate answer: “Busy this morning, but free this afternoon, boss!”

2. COB/EOD – The time when most people stop working, also known as Close of Business or End of Day. EOD is popular for project deadlines, because 6 a.m. deadlines are just silly. Not to be confused with the common “At the end of the day…” which, confusingly, mostly just means “finally” or “in the end.”

3. Deck – A staple in any modern business meeting: the PowerPoint slideshow. “There are 50 slides in this deck and we have 30 minutes to get through it. Let’s get started!”

4. Take it offline – When a meeting or conference call starts to deviate from the set agenda or a topic is too big to address in the set meeting time, you do this to discuss it later. “Let’s take this conversation offline so we can do a deep dive into this later.”

5. Deep dive – To explore an issue or subject in depth. “Let’s take this conversation offline so we can do a deep dive into this later.”

6. Action items – Action items sounds way cooler than it actually is. They are important things that need to be done after leaving a meeting. It’s like a professional to-do list.

7. OOO – Acronym for Out of Office. You set an OOO email to let people know when you’ll be back and who to contact when you are enjoying a day off, out on the golf course for vacation, out on the golf course for “work,” or just generally not in the office while everyone else is.

8. Leverage – To use a resource. You can leverage a team member’s skillset to accomplish a task. Also, the name of a great TV show.

9. Value-add – This is a classic case of the “reverse order of ordinary phrase to make it trendy” trend. Value-add means added value. “We need to look at the value-add of the project before we move forward with it.”

10. Touch base – Much like “Google,” touch base is used as both a noun and a verb. A touch base is a meeting that is used to catch one party up on another party’s work or talk about random things. See also: Status.

Hopefully you’ll be prepared the next time your boss asks you, “What does your bandwidth look like for today? Our client is OOO tomorrow so we need a deck by EOD. We’ll have a status to touch base by COB.”

Feel free to share any buzzwords that you think people should know–or stop using.

The post Corporate Buzzwords: The Foreign Language They Don’t Teach You in College appeared first on Andrew Grojean.

Professional sports teams have been using social media to really engage with their fans the last few years, and though several teams have held Social Media Nights before, this was a first time event for the Royals.

It was a lot of fun to see social media integrated into the classic ballpark experience. Since the Royals dedicated an entire night to it, I wanted to highlight the best parts of the night and suggest ideas to make next year’s Social Media Night even more social and even more of an experience.

The Game

The Royals sold a Social Media Night ticket package for $35 that included:

• A pre-game social hour on the Budweiser Party Deck
• A Q&A session with Royals pitcher Danny Duffy via Twitter
• A ticket in the Outfield Box seating section
• A @Royals t-shirt
• $10 voucher for concession or merchandise purchases

The package was a pretty great deal, and attendance at the game offered chances to win contests and compete for prizes through the @Royals Twitter account.

One of the neatest features of the night was the chance to get a tweet that included the #SocialMediaNight hashtag featured on the scoreboards throughout the stadium. I felt pretty cool when I saw my name, my Twitter handle (@andrewgrojean), and my tweet beside Billy Butler’s name in Kauffman Stadium.

There were a lot of contests run through Twitter as well, including a seat upgrade contest, trivia contests, entries into an ice cream eating contest and chances to win signed gear. Here’s an example of one of the giveaways.

First prize up for grabs! Tweet your seat location at tonight’s game using #SocialMediaNight for a chance to win a seat upgrade! #Royals

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) August 2, 2012

I missed out on some of the contests because I was watching the game, but there were enough that I didn’t feel like I missed out on too many while I was enjoying it. I found that in between innings and during pitching changes were the best times to refresh the feeds, enter the contests, and tweet super clever Royals commentary.

How Social Was Social Media Night?

The Royals have active Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Google+ accounts, but only Twitter was used for the night’s contests and giveaways. The team should have called it Royals Twitter Night, but it’s not as appealing or marketable as Social Media Night. Twitter was used well, but there was a lot more the team could have done to engage with fans at the game with other social networks.

How Else Can Social Media Be Used?

1. Let fans submit photos for the Jumbotron. People like to see massive versions of themselves on big screens. That’s a scientific fact. If the team monitored for pictures on Instagram or Twitter with the #SocialMediaNight tag, they could display the best ones on the big screen in between innings. The pictures could be anything from fans’ views from their seats to fans in their jerseys to creative poses with Royals bobbleheads.
2. Organize a scavenger hunt using multiple social networks. If the team already has people monitoring and posting to other social platforms, why not use them on the big night? Organize a scavenger hunt with clues from a board on Pinterest, an album from Google+, or from milestones from a Facebook Timeline. People interested in social media will be familiar with the platforms and will enjoy the challenge.
   

   A scavenger hunt could use all of the Royals’ social properties.

3. Check in for prizes. I’ve never been a huge fan of checking in on Foursquare or other location-based services because I haven’t found a platform yet that’s offered enough incentive for me to do so. The only reason I use Foursquare now is to maintain the title of Mayor of my office in case my boss ever lets me put the title on my business card. It makes sense for the Royals to want their fans to check in, because it increases their brand awareness and reach to their fans’ friends. Offering a free t-shirt or $5 concession voucher to the first 50 people to check in to the Royals’ app of choice would do the trick.
4. Be social for the entire season. Don’t only utilize social media on Social Media Night. I know the team briefly flashes a tweet or two on the scoreboard for normal games, but that seems like the only time it is involved. If by chance the Royals marketing team is reading this now, think about keeping the rotating tweets feature and occasional in-game Twitter contests. Those of us passionate about social media at the game really enjoyed both.

I’m glad the Royals decided to organize Social Media Night because it was a lot of fun. I’ll be looking to see some of these suggestions become a reality soon, and you can bet that I’ll be tweeting from the seats again during next year’s event.

Go Royals!

Andrew

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These videos made me laugh, feel uncomfortable, and got me thinking. Instead of thinking about something normal, I thought about how social networks are a lot like crazy girlfriends (or boyfriends) also. There are a shocking number of similarities between the two and I’ve shared some below.

Similarities Between Social Networks and Crazy Girlfriends

1. They always want to know what you are doing, where you are, and who you are with.
   
2. They want to be “liked”… but they prefer “engagement.”
   • Engagement is the end goal for both of these parties, but of course it means two different things. For one, engagement means communicating with others in meaningful ways online. For the other, engagement means never communicating with anyone else ever again.
3. They remember everything.
   • Remember that one thing you said to your girlfriend two years ago that she still brings up in arguments from time to time? Social media also has a way of resurfacing old content because anything put online never goes away completely.
4. They can feed your ego.
   • Nothing like an arbitrary and artificially high friend count or excessive compliments from the crazy girlfriend to make one feel better about life.
5. They pressure you to make your relationship status public—as soon as possible.
   • The “Facebook official” stage is now a legitimate stage in relationships. Both parties want you to embrace that stage as soon as possible for their own reasons.
6. Spending too much time with them can feel overwhelming.
   • Too much of anything can be overwhelming. Combine that with dozens of platforms in social networks and dozens of personalities in a girlfriend and both can get overpowering quickly.
7. Anything you say to them can (and will) be repeated to everyone you know.
   • Privacy settings are great when used correctly. In the same way that any email message can get forwarded, any content you post online can get retweeted or shared, and anything you tell a girlfriend becomes potential gossip.
8. They both have people “follow” you.
   • Social networks have people follow you to give you a platform to speak your mind to those followers. Crazy girlfriends follow you because… they are crazy.
9. Even if you sever ties with them, you’ll still see them everywhere.
   • If you delete your account on a social network, you’ll still see social icons on advertisements and hear people talking about them. Overly Attached Girlfriend tells us that she’d still be attached even after a “break up.”
10. If you treat them wrong, it can cost you.
    • Take on both at your own risk. (See numbers 1 through 9).

I’m sure there are a lot more similarities, so if you can think of any more feel free to share them below. Engage with social media (and Overly Attached Girlfriends) carefully!

Andrew

The post 10 Reasons Why Social Media is Like a Crazy Girlfriend appeared first on Andrew Grojean.

It is entirely possible to visit all four Disney parks—Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Magic Kingdom—in one day.

My family and I recently visited the Orlando resort and packed in quality time at all four parks, riding at least three rides at every park, including each one’s signature ride. In order to visit all of our chosen attractions, we sacrificed visiting a few of the kids shows, parades, and children’s rides, but the experience was definitely worth it.

If you’ve already visited Walt Disney World once, or are up for an extreme adventure, I’d recommend trying for the Disney Grand Slam (DGS). I thought I’d share some best practices and our itinerary for others who’d like to try it. Be aware: the adventure is not for the faint of heart!

Things to Bring on the Big Day

• Maps – Maps are essential to navigate the parks quickly. Since all the park maps are available online, you can check them out ahead of time and plan the most efficient route for you. We took four separate maps with our planned paths, but also grabbed maps at the beginning of each park so we could make sure we had the most up-to-date attraction and show times.
• Teenagers – Due to the nature of the activities, visiting all four parks would be difficult with younger kids. A family needs to be able to walk fast (and around slower traffic like families with strollers) and be patient while waiting in lines. Additionally, nixing the character appearances, like meeting Cinderella, made more time for rides like Space Mountain and the Tower of Terror.
• Walking shoes – Walking through acres and acres of Disney World can wear on you. Since one can easily walk 10 or more miles that day, pick something comfortable with good support to walk in. We found out the hard way that sandals can get uncomfortable quick, so plan ahead.
• Tickets – You can save a lot of time buying your Park Hopper tickets online and having them shipped to your house weeks before the vacation. This helps you avoid the long lines in the morning at will call and lets you go straight into the parks.

The Itinerary

Check out the park hours online, so you can visit the parks in the order that lets you get the most out of the experience. Then park your car where you plan to finish your day so when your DGS is complete you won’t have to use the transportation system to get back.

Animal Kingdom – 10:00 am – We started our day with the animals. The signature ride at this park is the Kilimanjaro Safaris Expedition and according to our safari guide, the animals are most active in the morning. The wait here was over an hour and a half, so we used a FastPass and saw the 3D movie It’s Tough To Be A Bug during the wait.

After going on the amazing safari, we headed to the Dinosaur ride, which is surprisingly exciting. We finished this park by walking through the Tree of Life. The resort transportation buses run every 15 minutes or so, so we hopped on a bus to Epcot because it closed earlier than the other parks.

Epcot – 2:30 pm – We knew we wanted to eat lunch at one of the pavilions in Epcot. There are 11 different countries represented at the World Showcase, and the architecture at each pavilion is incredible. Disney has a way of making you feel like you are really visiting the countries the pavilions represent.

After lunch at the Liberty Inn, we went to Spaceship Earth, Epcot’s signature ride. It’s located inside of the structure that looks like a huge golf ball and it’s a slow, high-tech ride about the history of human communication.

Since Soarin’ was down and we’d already done Mission: SPACE, we gave Ellen’s Energy Adventure a try. This attraction is all about the science of energy, narrated by Ellen DeGeneres (the 90’s version) and Bill Nye the Science Guy. The intro was packed full of information, but unless you are really missing your college lectures during the summer, I’d recommend avoiding it for more thrilling attractions.

We rode the Three Caballeros boat ride on the way out and hopped on the buses again for Hollywood Studios because Magic Kingdom was open two hours longer.

Hollywood Studios – 6:15 pm – As soon as we got in to the park, we headed to the Tower of Terror (my favorite) where we got lucky with lines. I rode that ride as a kid 12 years ago, and it’s just as fun as I remembered.

We walked around and visited the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and then waited in line for Toy Story Mania. Though the line is normally always long there (we waited over an hour), the waiting area is pretty cool with a giant talking Mr. Potato Head to keep you company.

We wanted to spend the rest of our time at our favorite park, Magic Kingdom, so we took our last bus to the transportation center and took the monorail over.

Magic Kingdom – 8:45 pm – We arrived at Magic Kingdom the same time as hundreds of other families because they all flocked to the park for the Main Street Electrical Parade and the fireworks show. Since so many people were watching the parade, lines were really short and we got to hit most of the main rides very quickly.

After getting a FastPass for Space Mountain, we ate dinner, went to the Haunted Mansion, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Pirates of the Caribbean, and all of Tomorrowland. Definitely visit Mickey’s PhilharMagic—a short movie about Donald and the most realistic 3D experience I’ve ever had.

We watched the fireworks display right above Cinderella Castle and finished our day at Space Mountain. Though it was very exhausting, we got to do more than I ever thought was possible in one day and it was an experience I will always remember.

If you plan to visit all four parks or have any Disney tips to share for our next adventure, I’d love to hear it!

–Andrew

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Clearly I’m a fan of designing things to look like Facebook profiles. I particularly enjoyed the faux comments and updates of Mark Zuckerberg and Warren Buffett, and wanted to share. It is worth noting that since this infographic was created, Facebook has updated its filing to increase its IPO price range to $34-$38 per share, not $28-$35 as depicted.

Enjoy!

Will you buy shares of Facebook when it goes public?

The post [Infographic] An Amusing Look At Facebook’s IPO appeared first on Andrew Grojean.

Clearly this new feature is an attempt to increase Spotify’s user base to take on other music services like Pandora. I’ve been an avid fan of Spotify for some time now, and highly recommend the free service to others.

Spotify allows users to listen to a radio station featuring artists similar to your favorites, share your music socially via Facebook integration, and select individual tracks to play when you want control of your music (a feature Pandora lacks). What’s better, none of the music from Spotify needs to be physically downloaded to your computer–it’s all in the cloud.

Including the Spotify Play Button on your website or blog is as simple as copying and pasting a link. Visit Spotify’s Developer Page for more information.

I’ve included a playlist below, “Study Jams” by Andrew Grojean. These songs get me relaxed, “in the zone,” and ready to study for my last final exams of college this week. Enjoy!

Let me know if you have any other great study music that I can add to the playlist, and check out this great playlist too.

See you after finals!

Andrew

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In the online world, the term “Easter egg” has a different meaning—it is any hidden, entertaining gem that is left by a programmer for people to discover by doing a series of reproducible actions.

I’ve compiled a list of my favorite Easter eggs and where to find them so you can access them too. Enjoy!

Facebook

Facebook included some neat features in their most recent Facebook Chat update this January. Users can now include thumbnails, or tiny pictures, of user, event, and brand pages in messages.

1. Go to any profile, brand page, or event that you want to use as an emoticon.
2. Look at the URL. Find the username or profile ID at the end of the URL such as “JustinBieber” from http://www.facebook.com/JustinBieber, “andrewgrojean,” “TheHungerGamesMovie,” or “6281148998″
3. Place that name or number in double brackets like [[JustinBieber]]
4. Enter that string into a Facebook Chat or Message field. When you send it, the bracketed number or letters will appear as that person, brand, or event’s current profile picture.

Facebook also has some fun language options. By selecting Account Settings, and then Language, you can change your language to Pirate.

• Friends become “Mateys”
• Comment becomes “Scrawl a message…”
• Like becomes “This be pleasin’ to my eye.”

I won’t spoil all the terms, so change your language to Pirate or another bonus Upside Down for a day to see the fun options. This may be my favorite Easter egg (or as a pirate would say, Eastarrrr egg.)

The last Facebook Easter egg is a hidden profile. Everyone should visit this Facebook page and Subscribe to this person—they have some really neat statuses! Check it out: http://facebook.com/profile.php?=73322363.

If you haven’t noticed, everyone views that profile as his or her own.

Google

The Chuck Norris meme may have died, but the Chuck Norris Easter egg is alive and well. When you enter “Find Chuck Norris” on Google and click “I’m Feeling Lucky,” you are taken to third-party results that read:

Google won’t search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don’t find Chuck Norris, he finds you.

This Easter egg is updated for 2012, even including Chuck Norris’ Google+ page in the upper right hand corner.

Google also has some neat search results. Searching “askew” tilts the results page, making it askew. There is another neat third-party egg accessed by searching “Google Gravity” and clicking “I’m Feeling Lucky.” You may need to turn off Instant search by changing your search settings, but it enables gravity on the home page dropping the search bar.

YouTube

Play the classic arcade game Snake on any YouTube video! Click any video a few times to select it, hold the left button, followed by the up button. Then play Snake by using the arrow keys to collect dots and avoiding the walls. Try it with the video below.

AndrewGrojean.com

What kind of post would this be if I didn’t have a few Easter eggs of my own? (Hint: You can access one using the most popular video game code of all time, and then pressing Enter.)

I’m always looking for new Easter eggs and neat tricks online. Do you have any favorite Easter eggs?

Happy Easter!

Andrew

The post Digital Easter Eggs: The Internet’s Coolest Hidden Treasures appeared first on Andrew Grojean.

In the last year, I’ve entered numerous contests in order to win fantastic prizes, including tee shirts, high-end backpacks, VIP concert tickets, gift cards, cash, and a $5,000 scholarship. The purpose of this post is not to gloat, but to assure the world that anyone can win with the right techniques and mindset.

While most attribute my contest success to luck (and it is a big factor), I do have a method that I use to increase my chances of winning these contests. I’ve shared some tips below.

1. Choose a contest

Since most contests have at least some form of online presence nowadays, contests are easier to find and enter than ever. A simple Google search will turn up hundreds of contests, but you can select the contests that increase your chances of winning. Just because odds of winning a contest aren’t great, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enter—especially if the prize is big enough.

If you find a site that makes entering even easier, like a collection of sweepstakes, bookmark it. For college students, check out CampusLIVE. I’ve won some pretty awesome prizes for playing a few games on the site…

2. Read the rules

All contests have rules, it is your job to read the fine print.** Most people don’t pay attention to these rules, but they provide several useful pieces of information, including eligibility, odds of winning, and alternate methods of entry.

Sometimes you don’t even have to do the task associated with the contest. For example, if a contest makes you play a game before submitting your entry form, it may be possible to bypass the game and simply submit the form. This saves time and effort that you can use to do other things—like enter more contests.

3. Enter

After you determine what kind of contest it is (skill contest, sweepstakes, voting contest) you can develop a strategy to enter.

• Skill contests — These are by far my favorite kinds of contests. They include design contests, sending in recipes, and video submissions, to name a few. Because they require creativity and a bit of effort, the number of entries can be much smaller than normal sweepstakes. Increase your chances by making your entry stand out, since humans determine the winner. For example, when the contest calls for crafting a tweet, include a visual component (like TwitPic) to make the judge stop as they are scrolling through submissions and look at your entry.
• Sweepstakes — I would recommend having a separate email account that is dedicated solely to entering contests in case you get spammed, but I know that is simply impractical for most. In that case, be wary of sites that ask for this information, and only give it if you trust the site. Reading the rules and privacy policy will help you understand which sites don’t give information to third parties. For sweepstakes… enter, enter, enter.
• Voting contests — These are a kind of skill contest that also requires creativity and effort, but the winners are determined by the voting public. Making entries stand out is crucial here too, and can be achieved by tailoring your submission to the voting audience. When college students are the judge of a contest, put yourself in the mind of a college student—as scary as that may be—to enter appropriately. Additionally, use your social networks to get friends and family to vote for you if possible. Be aware that spamming the link is frowned upon and can do harm to your cause, but providing a story or specific reason why your close friends and family should vote for you will help—and they can share that story with their networks too, getting you more votes.

4. Keep a positive attitude

You are not going to win every contest or sweepstakes you enter. If you do, buy a lottery ticket for me, would you? It is important to not get discouraged while entering and to keep entering away.

Finally, to quote the great Wayne Gretzky, “You miss 100% of the shots you never take.” You can’t win if you don’t play! Best of luck to you in your contest-entering ventures!

Have you ever won something from a contest? What tips would you add? I look forward to reading your comments below!

Until next time,

Andrew

**If you can’t read the fine print (or find it anywhere) be very cautious! That may be a sign the contest isn’t the most legitimate. Now go back up and read the rest of this post!

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For college students there is a lot of pressure to know what you want to do in life and how you are going to make it happen. After all, you are paying thousands of dollars to study your interests full-time. The reality is that many students still don’t know the answer to that question. If that is the case for you, do not panic!

Until last year, I still wasn’t completely sure what I wanted to do with my life. This made planning for the future extremely difficult. Then, I had a “Eureka!” moment. I was doing PR for an organization and learned about engagement through social media, combining two of my interests into one super-interest. An internship confirmed that I finally knew what my new dream job was.

If you are still deciding on a career path, continue to become involved in campus organizations and help plan events. The variety of positions on executive boards means you can experiment and try new things in your field of interest. My moment of clarity came late into my junior year of college—the moment will eventually come to you too.

For people that are already on a career path, realize how lucky you are to know what you want to do. As spring break approaches, many of us college students are applying to jobs and internships all over the place. Having a clue about at least your field of interest greatly helps in the job search process.

I’m curious—have you had a “Eureka!” moment of your own? If so, at what point in your life did it happen? Make sure to leave a comment below to let me know!

All the best,
Andrew

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