Supporting Education With Social Media

As a product of both private and public education, and an alum of a state school (Go Cougs), I feel very strongly about access to a quality education.

So when I was given the opportunity to help out with a new education initiative with the Wenatchee School District I jumped at the chance.

The project is called Wenatchee Learns and I'm providing new media strategy and administration support to the project. It's basically a city-wide focus group aimed at gathering information from current and past Wenatchee learners to help shape

the future of local education.

Here's an amazing video about the project by the very talented North Central Washington director and film maker Charley Voorhis.

Wenatchee Learns from Voortex Productions on Vimeo.

Recently we embarked upon a like drive/scholarship fundraising project, partnering up with the global fruit magnate Stemilt Growers. The folks from Stemilt pledged to donate $1 per like to the Wenatchee Learns Facebook page (up to $1,500).

In about two weeks we've gathered about 700 new likes but we're only halfway from our ultimate goal. So I came up with this poster campaign so people can show their support in a unique and personal way – with a photo.

My hope is that the idea will catch on and become a popular way to show support for local education through social media. If you'd like to be totally awesome and show your support, here's a downloadable PDF version of the poster you can print and share!

Wenatchee Learns iSupport Poster

Twitter Tact – Social Media Manners

My momma always said, "Manners matter."

And that's true for the new media frontier too.

Being polite is just as important (if not more) in digital communication as it is in real life.

In fact with the lack of voice intonation and body language it's even more important to practice good manners online than when communicating face to face.

Much of building online relationships rests on manners – whether you're writing as a brand or a company or as a single entity.

Just like real life – no one wants to talk to a jerk.

So with that in mind I jotted down three simple things that help foster relationships online (and in person for that matter):

1) Listen

A no-brainer. But there's nowhere else to begin. Like ALL communication, people mostly want to talk about themselves. That's not a slight anyone in particular it's just a plain fact about people.

A conversation is like a tennis game – the ball (a topic) is served, volleyed and returned. One of the players can't grab the ball and run, that's called keep-away and it defeats the point of playing tennis in the first place. It's important to return the ball.

Unfortunately some approach communication, whether online or in person, to be a game a keep-away in which you hold onto the attention for as long as you can. But it costs them the game. It costs them the game because no one wants to play with them.

2) Respond

Always tweet back. Promptly respond to blog comments. "Like" people's Facebook links comments and retweet with abandon. Show thankfulness for people's interest in your content and show interest in theirs. Validate others by validating their thoughts.

Whether or not you agree with everything everyone says, legitimize others by responding with legitimacy.

And always, always, always remember:

Social media is a communications medium – so communicate.

Twitter is one of those platforms where people seem to completely disregard normal rules of communication and instead operate by some sort of hybrid sense of social hierarchy. Some only respond to those with a greater or equal number of followers, which I find to be petty and shallow.

3) Engage

Social media is not a broadcast medium. It's a two-way street. Communication flows back and forth between communicator and audience. Writing a blog post or creating original content is merely the first step in what ideally becomes a conversation.

As much as we may try to pretend that digital communication is different and new, it's not. It's still communication, plain and simple. Being polite, being a good listener and being considerate still hold as much (or even more) merit as they once did.

The only thing the Internet does is make it easier to have MORE communication. Think about that...

Wenatchee's History In 2 Minutes

A short video on Wenatchee's history that I produced for the Wenatchee Museum and Cultural Center.

Halloween In A Small Town

Halloween in small towns like Wenatchee, Washington have an old-timey feel. Like you stepped into the 50s and you're experiencing that little slice of Americana when communities were close-knit and people celebrated the changing of the seasons together.

On Halloween night in Wenatchee everyone's out on the streets, taking a turn about the neighborhood so the kids can get their candy.

Although Wenatchee's not perfect, not by a long shot, it's night's like these that I really feel thankful to live in a real American town like Wenatchee.

Tearing Through Paper: The Future Of Communication

Bands Battle At Taste Of The Harvest

Wenatchee, Washington is a quaint little slice of Americana.

With a population just over 30,000, it's a centennial city with a nationally registered historic downtown and an economy reliant on the summer and fall cherry, apple and pear harvests.

It's large enough to have traffic at 5, a vibrant arts and culture scene and a few homeless people but small enough you can walk downtown, get a cup of coffee in the morning and see your dentist, a couple from your gym and that girl from that party who's name you can't recall.

Because the economy is so heavily invested in the agricultural crop the two biggest events in town are the spring "Apple Blossom Parade" and the fall "Taste of the Harvest" festival.

Last year, I helped judged the "Improv Chef Cook Off" – Wenatchee's equivalent of "The Iron Chef" and it was a great time. Though I didn't adhere to customary cooking competition rules...

I cleaned my plate, smacked my lips in appreciation and asked for seconds.

Check out this video I made:

So naturally this young squire was not invited back to sup this year – though I think that mainly due to the fact that they didn't have a cook off...

So this year I took pictures!

Mainly because one of my clients, Caffe Mela, organized and sponsored the Battle of the Bands and since I work for them it's kinda my job to help promote it...

But it was a great show!

The Pacific Northwest is a region with a rich and vibrant arts community. Great musicians, painters and writers live here and I really think that a lot of people who live here are spoiled. They take it for granted and pass by great music and great bands just because their poster isn't above a urinal or on a billboard.

Nevertheless, we here in Washington state enjoy great music and THIS year I had mine eyes opened to a luminescent young star by the name of Pickwick.

Everyone knows the Seattle music scene is blowing up right now – The Head And The Heart, Macklemore and more. But what I'm telling you right now is that this band, Pickwick, is going to be big, huge!

They headlined tonight after the Battle of the Bands wrapped up and all I can say is wow, wowy, wowzers!

As Brian from Poor Folks put it, "I thought R&B was dead, but it's not!"

I agree. This band, comprised of a bunch of super-white-looking, flanneled hipsters but they make beautiful, soulful music that would make Reggie Young break down and cry.

Check out this little tune from them:

It's not from tonight but you get an idea of what I'm talking about.

Yikesy-maroo!

I Interview The Town's Salty Old Man

I've been working on a blog series for the local Chevy/Subaru/Cadillac dealership, Cascade Auto Center, and my first interview was with Wenatchee's resident "dirty old man" Harold Schroder.

Harold's a mostly-to-semi-retired, self-proclaimed "hustler" and he's not one to mince words.

He's been a bail bondsman, a real estate magnate and just about everything else one does when one buys low and sells high. We already knew each other because we haunt the same morning hotspot, Caffe Mela (another client of mine).

Now I've always been one of those people who gets along with older people famously – the "straight-shootin'" mentality and antiquated idioms intrigue me and older people usually like me because I love a good story.

So Harold and I get along.

Usually we sit at the bar and make small talk about life, love and ALWAYS, ALWAYS women. I'll cackle embarrassedly like a schoolgirl as Harold makes off-color remarks to the attractive baristas. He gets a kick out of harrying them like a fox gets a kick out of terrorizing the hen house. And I must admit – I live vicariously through him at those moments because a man my age would NEVER, EVER get away with saying the things he does (it's quite cathartic).

But the fact is – Harold's a really sweet guy. And if you take a moment to talk to him you realize it.

One thing many people don't know about him is how much he loved his late wife, Cathy. She died about six years ago and you can tell he misses her. It's kind of heartbreaking.

While preparing for this interview I was setting up the camera and chairs and such while Harold was talking to another old man, a friend of his who just happened to be at the dealership. They were talking about their recently deceased wives and I was struck by the intimacy of their conversation.

"How long ago did yours pass?"

"Oh, about six years now."

"Yeah, it's hard without 'em."

"Hell. It's hard with 'em! But there's not much to do without a good woman..."

Perhaps it was because of that pre-interview conversation that Harold wanted to inquire about my own love life. Which is bleak – to say the least.

But he persisted in asking about the details of my situation and so I told him. My last girlfriend was a smart but obstinate (part of the appeal really) lawyer and alas, she moved back to Seattle.

Thus, letting me off the hook in my mind. But Harold saw things differently.

He advised me to go find her, get her and marry her post-haste. In fact, his theory on marriage goes a little something like this: "Quick! Before she notices!"

In fact, he married his wife after the first date. He told me that he stole his beloved from, "Some dumbshit that didn't know what was happening." He took her on a date, she wouldn't sleep with him, so he asked her to marry him.

50-odd years, two kids, a family and a life later...

Here, watch our conversation for yourself:

"Is she smart?"

"Yeah."

"Why's she going with you?"

Haha.