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Blogging & Social Mediafor Local Gov’t Leaders
Leveraging your influence in a hyper-connected worldGriff Wigley, Wigley & Assoc
League of Minnesota Cities2013 Leadership Conferences
Griff Wigley & Scott Neal
Scott Neal
• 1995 – Northfield City Administrator• 1996 – Online panel: State of the City• 2003 – Eden Prairie City Manager - Blog• 2010 – Edina City Manager - Blog
Blogging for Civic Leaders
Scott & Griff – UK connection
Scott & Griff – UK connection
Types of local gov’t blogs
• Leadership blog• News/Department blog• Project blog• City of Edina (leadership, dept, project blogs)• City of Northfield (
Downtown Parking Management project blog)
A tale of two blog posts:The good, the bad, the ugly
• City Manager Rick Cole, Ventura City, CAHonoring the ultimate sacrifice at Ivy Lawn on Memorial Day
• Mayor Mike McGinn, Seattle, WAWeekend in pictures
Why leaders avoid blogging & using social media in their jobs
Why leaders avoid blogging & using social media in their jobs
Fear and Loathing in the Executive Suite: Why Leaders Avoid Blogging and Other Social Media
Lack of time/Tyranny of the urgent
“My days are packed, and increasingly, work is encroaching on my evenings and weekends.
Why would I add regular blogging or tweeting to my to-do list?”
Fear of an increase in the flood of electronic messages
“My email inbox is overflowing. I’ve got umpteen voicemails piled up waiting for me. I’ve got no choice on dealing with the onslaught of text messages on my mobile phone. If I start blogging or tweeting, it will just encourage people I don’t know or care about to contact me.”
Social networking seems to require pointless socializing
“I don't see the value in constantly socializing with people I don't know. And I don't see how it would scale: the more I'd interact, then the more people would expect me to interact. And from what I’ve read, people are nasty online. Why would I subject myself to that?”
The literary skills required seem too demanding
“I can handle giving a speech and being interviewed. But writing isn’t one of my strong suits. I don’t need the aggravation of staring at a blank electronic page, wondering what to blog or tweet about. And trying to craft meaningful stuff all the time would take more time than I'd care to devote.”
The technical skills required seem too demanding
I’m fine with email and Microsoft Office apps. But I’m no techie and I don’t have the time to learn to blog and tweet and whatever else is the technology du jour, especially when one little screw up can get broadcast to the whole world.”
Fear that once you blog or tweet something, you can't
change your mind
“If I take a public position now on something that I may change my mind about later, I’ll look like I’ve flip-flopped.”
Blogging & tweeting seem narcissistic
“Too many people think they’ve got so many important things to say to the world so they decide to start blogging and tweeting. Most of it’s drivel. I’ve got no such delusions of grandeur. My musings aren't that important.”
Why a leadership blog?
Strategic, near real-time, short storytelling used to more effectively leverage
your influence
Why social media? Your audience has audiences & they use social media
Why use blogs and social media?Leverage your influence to get important things done
Interactive Circle of Influence graphic
Blogging and social media for leaders
Strategic, near real-time, short storytelling used to more effectively
leverage your influence with your audience who has audiences
What to blog & tweet?
Answer the question:
“What’s going on with my work this week that’s significant?”
What to blog & tweet: Your (mainstream) media diet
Leverage your media diet
Leverage your media diet (small group; print)
Leverage your media diet
Email attachments, small group
Leverage your media diet(email links, small group)
Leverage your media diet(disadvantages of using email for it)
• Viruses• Spam filters• Forwarding chaos• Comment chaos• Exacerbates your email overload• Others can’t link to it• Others can’t search for it
Leverage your media dietUse a blog post
Scott Neal
• DOING WHAT WE DO BEST
• “I DON’T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN TO HERE.”
Leverage your media dietUse Twitter
Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker Tweet, May 17, 2009
NY Times article on NJ Foreclosure: http://bit.ly/3KcSY8
Leverage your media dietUse Twitter
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinnRetweet Aug. 6, 2010
RT @Aaronpickus: Scary article in @nytimes today about deep cuts in gov't services around the country http://tinyurl.com/2g7s2wj #newseattle
Leverage your media dietUse Twitter & a blog post
Shakopee Mayor Brad TabkeTweet: Jan. 2, 2013Dog park moving forward for #Shakopee in 2013!! http://ow.ly/gtEVw
Blog post: Shakopee Dog Park (Dec. 21, 2012)(image link to Shakopee Valley News story)
Leverage your media diet(Advantages of a blog post/tweet)
• Linkable (permalinks don’t expire)• Social media-ready: Easy for others to link to,
retweet, ‘like’• Search engine-friendly• Appreciated by other sites (pings/trackbacks)• Comments optional; contained, archived,
linkable
Leverage your media dietSocial media sharing
Article sidebar, footer, pop-up
What to Blog: Provide recognition
Scott NealDeb Fields, roof damage Robert Lawton, volunteer photographerThree staffers
Paul Levy (CEO Hospital)Caller-outer of the month
What to blog: Illustrate your values, mission, goals
The mission of the Northfield Police Department is to enhance the quality of life in Northfield by developing a close partnership with our community to solve problems, preserve the peace and provide a safe environment for all…
What to blog: Illustrate your values, mission, goals
• Typical government (Scott Neal)
• Lights, cameras, silver paint (Rick Cole)• Vacant stores, where we shop, how we
support city services
What to blog: Illustrate your values, mission, goals
• Let’s have (urban) fun in 2012 (Northfield Councilor Betsey Buckheit)
• Tuesday Night’s Marriage Amendment Debate (Shakopee Mayor Brad Tabke)
What to blog: Teach the complexities of an issue
• Funding of a pedestrian bridge or not (Scott Neal)
• Public pay disconnect and the magic of dialogue (Rick Cole)
What to blog: Teach about services, programs, departments
• Hose testing (Scott Neal)• Edina PACE - Property
Assessed Clean Energy
What to blog: Explain a decision
• Fire Department Decisions (Brad Tabke)
• Financing the Public Safety Center-what and why (Betsey Buckheit)
What to blog: Chronicle the unresolved & undecided
• Chase the money (Scott Neal)• Golf dome decision• Passive enforcement • Meth problem (Ray Cox)– Blog post 1– Blog post 2– Blog post 3– Blog post 4
What to blog:Chronicle a slice of life
Putting a face on the faceless bureaucrat (Scott Neal)• Ultimate sunburn• Annual First Day of School• Turner’s heart birthday
How to blog effectively:Use a voice of authenticity
How to blog effectively:Use a voice of authenticity
People tune out:
• Memos• Press releases• Brochures• Reports, minutes
“A meeting was held with representatives from Xcel Energy. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce Xcel’s new Community Relations Representative and to explore what Xcel could do to advance numerous initiatives that are being explored in town. The more detailed review of the proposals for the business and industrial park continues. The review committee will meet again next Wednesday. Staff also attended several meetings related to the review process of the proposed Land Development Code.”
Use a voice of authenticity
• “I”• “Me”• “Mine”• “My”• Active vs passive voice
How to blog effectively:Frame it with near real-time words
• “Yesterday”• “Last week”• “On Monday”• “Tomorrow”• “Next week”
How to blog effectively:First-person, near real-time
How to blog effectively:Tell stories
(The Sunday sermon)
Why Sharing Stories Brings People Together: Our brains sync up when we tell stories
The Science of Storytelling: Why Telling a Story is the Most Powerful Way to Activate Our Brains
How to blog effectively:Introduce a post with very simple stories
• "I ran into a citizen in the hallway yesterday and she asked me…"
• "My colleague, John Smith, handed me the latest issue of Minnesota Today this morning and suggested I read the article on…."
• "On my way home from work last night, I passed the park near my house where…“
• Small Town (Scott Neal)
How to blog effectively:Link, link, link
• It allows your readers to easily go deeper and broader
• Search engine spiders come back more frequently when they see links in your posts, as their algorithms depend on them
• Those you link to generally appreciate it and are more likely to link back
How to blog effectively:Use images
• Draws reader attention• Breaks up the text• Another way to inform (infographics)
• Chase the money? (Scott Neal)• National Police Week
How to blog effectively:Take your own photos & insert them
• Edina heritage: Convention Grill (Scott Neal)• Good stuff from good staff
Taking photos is hard. Tips:
• Get close • “Fix your hair”• Allow for retakes
How to blog effectively: Use it to answer your email
“Can you repeat the question?”
How to blog effectively: Optional interaction via comments
• A blog is a bully pulpit, not a roundtable• A good speech is still a good speech without
Q&A• Contact Me form• Comments occasionally enabled• Time-limited comments• Your participation is optional
How to blog effectively: Create a culture of civility
Broken windows and a safer and cleaner Ventura (Rick Cole)
Griff Wigley’s civility guidelines
• Avoid sarcasm• Addressing a person directly by first
name when disagreeing with them • Public enforcement
How to blog effectively: Reference comments in a post
• Broken Windows II: Making a difference one neighborhood at a time (Rick Cole)
How to blog effectively: Alert people when it’s updated
• Email subscription• RSS Feed • Twitter feed– Scott Neal blog post example
• Facebook Page wall post– Scott Neal blog post example
Using Facebook
• Use a Page, not your Profile• Kenyon, MN Police Dept Facebook page with
Police Chief Lee Sjolander
The Problems with a Group Blog
• A leadership blog is a different tool than an information blog or a project blog
• A group blog undermines individual incentive to excel and be acknowledged for it
• If the group blog is neglected or done poorly, no one is accountable
Cautions
• A blog is not a journal; be selective with your truths; picture a reporter with a live mic
• Avoid deletion but make corrections and make them obvious
• Reveal conflicts of interest• Beware your own ego if your blog becomes
popular
Follow-up
• My business blog: WigleyAndAssociates.com• My online course: SocialMediaForLeaders.com
Blogging & Social Mediafor Local Gov’t Leaders
Leveraging your influence in a hyper-connected worldGriff Wigley, Wigley & Assoc
League of Minnesota Cities2013 Leadership Conferences
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