[Editors] MIT Editors' Club Minutes, October 2009

[Elizabeth Thomson]

MIT EDITORS' CLUB

*Meeting Notes from October 7, 2009*

It was a dark and stormy....afternoon, but over *20* Editors and their  
umbrellas attended this meeting. And, in what I think is a first for  
this club, the event was soon standing room only (even the radiators  
were occupied).

So what did we talk about?

*Upcoming Workshops*

Bara Blender of the Publishing Services Bureau kicked us off with a  
reminder that the PSB will be hosting three upcoming workshops on  
topics that they've received LOTS of queries about: email marketing,  
social media, and how-to's on email marketing and social media (the  
latter will be a kind of "demo day").

What's especially cool (to me) about these workshops is that the  
presenters will be our peers----MIT communications staff! For example,  
Josie Patterson of the Museums and Lisa Damtoft of MIT Medical will  
both be presenting at the workshop on social media. Both were also at  
this meeting of Editors' Club, which was quite useful when the  
principal topic of the meeting quickly became Twitter.

For more information on the workshops, and to register, go to:

http://web.mit.edu/commworkshops/

Also, PSB is evaluating the services and resources they offer through  
a survey that will be open until Friday, October 16. Go to: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=d_2fZgsF_2boxTthz5wmoFnAhQ_3d_3d

It occurs to me that a great way to thank PSB for organizing the  
upcoming communications workshops would be to take the survey.

*Twitter*

I *always* learn something useful at these meetings. This time, I was  
convinced by the folks present that Twitter is an important part of  
any communications package.

For example, Josie (of the Museums) told us that she uses Twitter  
regularly in her outreach efforts. She also finds it useful as a  
professional development tool. She can't get to other museums (her  
competitors) as often as she'd like, but following their tweets keeps  
her up to date on what they're up to. Overall, she said, Twitter is  
"like reading the newspaper to me---it informs who I am and how I go  
through my day."

Lisa (of Medical) is also a Twitter fan. "It's low-hanging fruit, and  
it's easy to do," she said. Lisa noted that tweets, though  
intentionally short, can often include links to more info. And if  
you'd like to include such links, you should probably get to know  
owlie, through hootsuite (I did not make this up). Owlie, like "tiny  
url," is a way to compress huge, whopper urls into a small little  
package suitable for tweeting. Plus, Lisa notes, owlie not only  
shortens your url, it also tracks hits to that url. (I think.)

Josie asked the group if anyone is posting questions to their Twitter  
followers. Apparently that's recommended, she said, since it turns  
Twitter into an interactive tool.

Josie also emphasized the value of following other MIT groups' Tweets.  
For example, she said, she follows the Tweet for the Alumni  
Association, often learning of different activities they're involved  
in that she in turn can link to from the Museums' site.

One final cool thing about Twitter: try doing a search through it for  
topics of interest. Lisa says you'll often find things that you  
wouldn't have found through a google search.

After my signature at the end of this note I've compiled all of the  
MIT Twitter accounts that have come in today through our listserv.  
Thought that might be helpful.

*THANK YOU*

A big Thank You to Terry Hill of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) for  
hosting this meeting at MITEI. Not only THAT, but she brought cookies!  
And retrieved them from her car, in the rain!

*Next Meetings*

The next meetings of MIT Editors' Club are as follows. Again, they're  
always from 12-1, and folks are encouraged to bring a lunch.

Tuesday, Nov. 17, 1-114
THANKS to Carol Sardo of the Deshpande Center for Technological
Innovation.

Monday, Dec. 14, N42-286
THANKS to Robyn Fizz of Information Services and Technology.


Elizabeth

=========================
Elizabeth A. Thomson
Associate Director of Communications
MIT Resource Development
Office of Communications
600 Memorial Dr., W98-300
617-258-5563, thomson at mit.edu
<giving.mit.edu>
=========================

MIT Twitter Accounts

http://twitter.com/microsystechlab/
http://twitter.com/MITAeroAstro
http://twitter.com/MIT_alumni
http://twitter.com/MITCareerOnline
http://twitter.com/medialab
http://twitter.com/mithomepage
http://twitter.com/mit_hst
http://twitter.com/MITlibraries
http://twitter.com/MITmedical
http://twitter.com/mitmuseum
http://twitter.com/MITNews
http://twitter.com/MITOCW
http://twitter.com/mitpress
http://twitter.com/mitsap
http://twitter.com/MITscience
http://twitter.com/mit_sciwrite
http://twitter.com/mitsloan
http://twitter.com/MITSloanAlumni
http://twitter.com/SloanEdServ
http://twitter.com/mitsmr
http://twitter.com/MIT_TechTV
http://twitter.com/MITWorld
http://twitter.com/mit100k