Final Project-International Center of Worcester Social Media Solution

Social Media Monitoring Project -Fianl blog: Hostelling International Social Media Analysis

                                                          ---Way of Living

 

Goals on Social Media sites

 YouTube says, "Let us know if you have uploaded a new Hostelling International (HI hostels)video recently and we will add it as a favourite."

Pinterest says, "Say HI to the world with Hostelling International and be inspired by our hostelling community."

Hostelling International Boston says, "We'd Love to Hear from You."

So, Hostelling international is working on create an online community and expect for more interaction.

Customers participation & Online Dialogue

The most active social media site is, of course, Facebook. People post on different topic: advertisement for hostelling international from all over the world; expression of one's own experience in travel and with hostelling international; some ask help with online survey about cultural activity.
 I am not sure if this is normal that I never found a negative post on their Facebook page, maybe just because people are happy when they are traveling.

Hostelling international's respond is usually prompt, less than a day. People ask questions about discount, some even ask about the price, hostelling answered every of them. And once a girl asked help for a cultural activity, hostelling provide information for her and it seems the information is useful and she found the right person to turn to.





For Hostelling international twitter, interaction is less remarkable. The most useful function is to outreach.
What does TweetReach Report mean? 

Ongoing campaign- The Big Blog Exchange

The launch of the main competition site for the exchange will take place on 1st March 2013, where potential travellers can log on, create a profile and start encouraging others to vote for them. Selected bloggers will be flown across the globe by HI, to their exchange destination. There they can explore the area, experience new things and immerse themselves in local traditions and cultures.

Hostelling International uses different social media sites to promote this competition.The cover page of Facebook and Twitter is all The Big Blog Exchange. Facebook post latest status, Twitter promotes a lot in this campaign.

Google Trends

   What does Google Trends mean? 

As the pictures shown above, Hostelling International is not a hot topic to search, the trend is going down these years. I am surprised that there is no result for The Big Blog Exchange, what I expected was a surge.

More analysis for the Regional Interest, as a global brand, Hostelling International is a more popular search topic in Canada and United States. Higher place are California, which is a hot travel resort, and in Massachusetts, where a new hostelling is recently open. Although Asian is kind of quiet, big cities like Beijing and Shanghai stand high in the search.  

Social Mention

           

             

 As shown in the picture, The Big Blog Exchange is being discussed more often then Hostelling International and has a more wide rang of influence. When it comes to passion, Hostelling has 40%, The Big Blog Exchange has 24%, which is good for a new campaign.

H

 

IceRokcet

How to evaluate data on IceRocket?

That is information from the universe!

It shows that the percentage of post is much higher when it comes to The Big Blog Exchange and post per day is 61, which is much higher than 2 of Hostelling International.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Hostelling international did a good job on providing varies social media sites and keep them active.

• More dialogues should be created, not just on face book, but also other social media websites.
• Connect social media website with Hostelling international official website, especially the local ones.

           Hostelling International Chicago  
           Hostelling International New York
        One of the most attracting feature of the official website is that they provide event and activity, which is attracting to visitors. But this information is usually not available on social media website.

• Launch more campaigns like The Big Blog Exchange which can interest people, like photo contest, which is less time-consuming and can reach.
• Consistence connection with people who like travel, who like share experience.  Create a platform for people to upload pictures and write stories.
• Cooperate with other brands. Remember Sustainable Brand is the top contributor to tweet exposure. World Boston helps to promote activities of Hostelling International Boston. National Council of International Visitors accommodated Emerging Leaders in Hostelling Internatioanl Washington DC.

Once again, I would like to go back to Hostelling International Mission,"education,knowledge, love, culture,understanding". Hostelling International is not just for accommodation, it is a way of living. 

Groundswell embraces employee within the company

By understanding the power of groundswell and how it would contribute or threaten companies and brands(Chapter 1--3), Li and Bernoff created several strategies for tapping the groundswell(Chapter 4-9). Clear expectation can be met by using different approach: listening, talking, energizing, supporting, and embracing. It is easy to be overlooked but extremely important is what groundswell can empower employees in the company and the future platform of groundswell(Chapter 10-12).

 How leadership and employee engagement can affect a company? Let's see the video:

                                

According to Deloitte Consulting LLP principal Doug Palmer, "social media software can help employees build relationships with one another, share knowledge, and collaborate." 

As the CEO of Avenue A/Razorfish, Clark wrote blogs post addressing concerns, which is openness and things aren't happening in secret. As a results, employees felt more assured that the acquisition would be good for them. (P222)

There are several benefit of this new communication channel:

Transparency: It brings a open culture for a company. It is often said that, "how a company does things is more important today than what it does." Forming a Culture of Candor within its employee can really help a company build an open attitude towards public.

Promptness: Everything is just a click away when it comes to the explosion of Internet, which makes it easier and less time-consuming to get access to information. Everyone in the company can respond effectively when  instructions are send through social media websites.

                     

Less-bureaucracy: Instead of passing messages by a top-down method, the equal access and openness atmosphere on groundswell can create a more less-bureaucracy organizational culture, which is encouraging for employees to concentrate on company's bottom line.

Another benefit groundswell can offer is to embrace new employee stepping into the company and get to know the organizational culture.

Like Organic, whenever new employees join, they get a page on Organism and are expected to keep it up to date.(P224)

The big task for new employee is to learn and scientific research has shown that we learn best by experiencing , different social media tools and the involvement of groundswell can definitely sever this purpose. There are some useful social media tools for employee engagement. 

Facebook Groups: Groups help gather employees; within groups, shared updates, photos, documents and more under specific settings of choosing can be used effectively to transfer messages. Here is an example of Russian Women Entrepreneurs Facebook Group.

YouTube: Australian companies, such as Fosters (@FostersCareers), are building strong talent management teams, adept at using LinkedIn and other social media tools to attract top talent, inviting potential employees to learn more about a career with their business. Recruiters are often online for a period, with “Ask and Expert” segment, to answer any questions that applicants may have. They have also done a good job with attracting and explaining expectations for new employees by a serious of video on YouTube.

There are other aspects need to be taken into consideration when it comes to how to embrace employee within the company.

Skepticism vs. Brave:

Readers responded with comments like "It will never happen" and on engineer specializing wrote, "Give me a server and I'll get it run in a day" (P223)

Innovation is always going with skepticism and obstacle, it requires visionary and courage. Having high social media intelligence is a power tool to be brave. Companies have the responsibility to lead and encourage employees.
 

Cost vs. Impact:

Some post that this wasn't possible because it would cost Best Buy close to $1 million to implement.
 (P218)

In a company, people are willing to see low cost and high impact; at lease a certain level of cost and relevant impact. It is understanding when people set back when they estimate the impact is not promising. Social media community do provide a platform to expand impact with a low price when it is used wisely.


   
Short term vs. Long term:

Strategically, you will need that connection to the groundswell. Companies need connections to their markets to create long-term loyalty. (P238)


The explosion of information on social media makes it more approachable, and in some way, makes it invaluable. It is easy to get people's attention in a short time, and the more important task is to keep the connection and concentrate on long-term impact.

Social Media Monitoring Project -Midterm Blog: Hostelling International Social Media Dispaly

--- More than accommodation 

A brief History of Hostelling International

• There had been a need for economic accommodation among the young since the 16the century in Europe. 

• The youth hostel movement was start in 1909 by a German schoolteacher Richard Schirrmann.

• 1912 the first real youth hostel opened in the old castle of Altena.

On one of these excursions, on 26 August 1909, the group was caught in a thunderstorm.They finally found shelter in a school building in the Bröl Valley.The headmaster let them use a classroom and a farmer gave them some straw to sleep on andsome milk for their evening meal. The storm raged the whole night. While the boys slept,Schirrmann lay awake. That was when he had an idea… 

• The youth hostel movement grew rapidly. 

• This all changed on October 20, 1932 when the first international conference was held at a hotel in Amsterdam.

All reports agree that it was a friendly and harmonious meeting, devoted entirely to the practical problems of preparing the way for the development of international youth travel. The conference accepted the following principles:
- Hostels must basically be open to the entire youth of the country and on the most favorable conditions possible;
- young people should pay lower membership and overnight fees than adults;
- young people should also have priority over other guests in the allocation of beds.

There are six chapters in the history of Hostelling International:

• 1909-1934: Origins
• 1935-1945: Shadows of War
• 1946-1965: Rebuilding and Renewal
• 1966-1980: An Explosion of Global Travel
• 1981-2000: Growth and Transformation
• 2001-Present: Tragedy and Renewal

Brandraising: Smart Communication in nonprofit

In the world of nonprofits, there are some problems with communication. How to ensure all speaking with one voice, as expanding tools to communicate online and offline and staff's roles change? Why do nonprofits struggle to communicate clearly? How to to attract customers? With a wide variety of handout?

Why can't customers remember you?

You have worked hard at promotion materials, and tried to use every interesting element to capture people's attention.

Looking at all these handouts with a wide variety of difference in styles, colors and pictures; these are indeed well-designed, but there is no consistent element, people would think these are from 10 organizations.

Nonprofits worry that if using the same element, it would be seen as a sign of uncreative and customers would get tired of it. While it is exactly what the goal is in attracting customers. When they see the element, they will immediately think of your organization and "get bored". In this case, nonprofit promotion is successful.

Brandraising

Branding nonprofits

 

Brandraising is a model to be developed to help nonprofits build a strong, strategic framework for communications. These are three levels:

Organizational Level

The most important thing is to know what you want to say as a organization and how you want to say it. 

• Vision:  is an expression of what your organization would like to see as a possibility and a future for the community and stakeholders you serve.
• Values: are powerful tools for defining and guiding your organization's ability to create the future.
• Objectives: help nonprofit companies measure success not in dollars, but in how well the organization addresses the cause(s) it champions.
• Audiences: are the people you want to attract and sever as a nonprofit organization. 
• Positioning: the big differentiating idea you strive to own in the minds of your target audiences. 
• Personality: ｔhe overarching feeling you want people to associate with your organization. Define your nonprofit's personality to keep your tone and style consistent.

These are the core elements to structure the nonprofit and also the messages to be delivered to the public. These are not so often changed and should be kept the same, although there are constant staff changing.

Identity Level

 In this level, it defines how people think of your brand. Through visual and messaging platform, nonprofit talk to the groundswell.

• Visual Identities Contain: Logo Colors Typography Use of imagery / graphics

 

• Messaging Platforms Contain: Name, abbreviation, Tagline, External vision, mission, values statements, Key messages, Elevator pitch,Lexicon

Example of Elevator pitch.

In order to keep consistency in a nonprofit, it is important to create a style guide. Whether it is for marketing outreach or for networking with existing customers, the organization should use the same kind of visual identities and messaging platforms. Trying to avoid improvised materials, such we people tend to use blue for winter and green for spring.

Experiential Level

 There are many channels for nonprofit organization to communicate with their audience. Social media tools are useful and powerful.

 Thought and Actions

In an existing nonprofit organization, there are some of the unfavorable communication management habits. But these should be seen as motivations to start, not the obstacle to hesitate.
Some will start with understanding what they have been doing these years.
Some will gather all the promotion materials and make a style guide.
Some will investigate organization's personality and positioning.

As long as they hit the road with right direction, smart communication in nonprofit can bring the magnificent impact.

Social Media power in NCIV

          The National Council for International Visitors (NCIV) is a nonprofit membership association with 50 years of leadership in citizen diplomacy.

NCIV serves the international exchange community and helps build person-to-person relationships "one handshake at a time."  NCIV membership includes a nationwide network of Community Member Organizations, National Program Agencies, Associate Member Organizations, and individuals.  NCIV members design and implement professional programs, provide cultural activities, and offer home hospitality for foreign leaders, specialists, and scholars participating in the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and other exchanges.  With leadership and training provided by NCIV, member organizations are expert at matching the resources of their communities with the needs of International Visitors.

I have attended the 2012 national annual meeting and experienced the different social media power to promote the meeting. NCIV not only did a good job in planning the sessions, but also played a leading role to energize, support and embrace the groundswell.

Energizing: NCIV encouraged enthusiastic members to post and comment.
Supporting: NCIV provide instruction sheets on Twitter.
Embracing: NCIV create Emerging Leading Program and use young students' social media                 competence to reach out more young people and promote citizen diplomacy.

 

Official Website

 

When logging in NCIV official website, there are some rolling new of upcoming activities. Living Our Story: The 2013 NCIV National Meeting is on the first. And there are corresponding description of each session and documentation for Pre-Meeting Workshops and some of the sessions. 

Although all social media tools are available for both business and nonprofit, there are difference in the ways to approach them. Business are more likely to put more resource and energy to the tools which will have a direct impact on customers and have the potential benefit of increasing sales. While in the nonprofit, more members are driven by the personal attachment with organizational mission instead of advertisement. Lack of staff is often seen in the nonprofit sector, more human labor would be put into more effective committees, such as programming, strategic plan and finance. The mostly used and update social media tool would be the office website. 

 It is also true for the organization where I started work 5 month ago, the International Center of Worcester. Although we have Facebook and Twitter, it was not usually updated until I took the initiative to post on Facebook. The only social media tool that can contain most of organizational information is the official website which has the record of all the programs throughout the years and hasn't updated recently. I have been working as a Program Coordinator for 3 month and you still could not see my picture in the organizational structure. It is understandable that our webmaster is a volunteer. Since we have been busy with all the programs and reports, there would not be such a problem if the website is not keep pace up with the recent activities.

 

Videos

Sound and image are always good format for promotion.

Michelle Kwan, the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history and the first U.S. Public Diplomacy Envoy, shared her experience and influenced people with her athlete charm. Michelle Kwan gave two speeches in the meeting and this video played twice. The celebrity effect has always played an important role, especially in the nonprofit sector. 

 

Mr. Michael Mabwe, the National Coordinator, Zimbabwe United States of America Alumni Association (ZUSAA), as an international visitor who attended the “Promoting Tolerance through Arts” IVLP in 2008, he applied the best practices that he saw in the United States to his organization, Zimbabwe Poets for Human Rights. NCIV planning committee recorded Mr. Micheal's opening poem in the meeting.

 

 

Twitter

On the Opening Plenary Session, there were twitter sheet instructions that let people tweet after Michelle Kwan for #ExpandYourWorld. And the Planning Committee offered  follow up instructions for the IVLP Network in the coming days as well.

During breakfast and lunch sessions, the host would read more of the tweets and encouraged people to tweets #LivingNCIV.

 

 Emerging Leaders

Besides senior and experienced staff members, there were some young student interns attending the annual meeting as Emerging Leaders. These young students are more familiar with social media sites and had smart phones which can keep up with the latest activities. Some of them post pictures on their Facebook and transfer Citizen Diplomacy to a younger generation which has a more profound meaning. I am honored to be one of them and here are some of the pictures.

 

After the conference, we create NCIV Emerging Leaders Alumni on Facebook. 

It is our pleasure to meet friend who share the same interest and we all wish each other a bright future. Although we know that there might be no chance for us to meet, but thanks to the social network, we can be friends during our whole life.

Live in the Social Media World

 It is always a profound question of who am I. This is a clip from the latest film - Les Misérables

Society Identities

We live in the human society which is consist of different social statuses, sometimes we are students who concentrate themselves on academic studies; sometimes we are individuals who have certain kind of interest; there are also times we are labeled with personal relationships: friend, sister, daughter; more often we are distinctive because we live in different cities.




These are all the social identities which make us unique as an individual and also bring people who share the same characteristic together. Living in the social media world can strengthen people's identity, because different social media has its own user group and corresponding features. People’s trust, personal relationships, and civic and political involvement are connected to their use of social networking sites. A recent study shows, as of December 2012, 67% of online adults use social networking sites.

On Renren: I am a friend 

The Renren Network ( Chinese: 人人网; pinyin : Rénrénwǎng; literally "Everyone's Website"), formerly known as Xiaonei Network (Chinese: 校内网; literally "on-campus network") is a Chinese social networking service that exists as the Chinese remake of   Facebook. It has been called the Facebook of China, popular amongst college students.

I have been using this social sites since I graduated from high school, I have most of my college friends and some of high school and junior school friend on this site. Although Renren has been called the Facebook of China, it has some distinction. Facebook has a more board user group with the number of 140 million and the age range is approximately from 13 to 65. But for Renren, it is most popular among college students. After graduation, some of my college friend work for IT companies. It shocked me when someone told me that their company had blocked Renren for a more effective working environment. These has been a tendency that some are leaving Renren. For those who stayed in Renren networking, some only like or comment or even only view others' post.

I stay and keep update my Renren page and view others' share and post although I am already in the Unites States. The different timezones and lifestyles sometimes confuse me with their posting. Once many of them complained about the train tickets, I didn't realize that the National Day is around the corner.(Many people travel during the National Day break and it is not easy to buy a train ticket, these pictures will help you understand) I don't want to feel isolated from my Chinese friends and let them know my life through picture posting and blog writing.

My Renren entry:  http://www.renren.com/249845270

On QQ: I am a granddaughter, daughter, niece, sister

QQ provides customers with a popular instant messaging software service.Due to popularity of the instant messaging software service, by 10 September 2012, there were 784 million active user accounts with approximately 100 million online at a time. According to Alexa Internet rankings, the website of QQ ranked 8th which moved ahead of the 10th most popular, Twitter . QQ also offers customers a variety of services, including online social games, online music, micro blogging, group chat, QQ voice, QQ-zone(search for new friends), QQ virtual pet ( foster virtual penguin, bear, pig), and QQ paipai (online shopping website).

As I said, Renren is not so popular among the seniors. My family members, especially my parents and Aunt will use QQ to contact me. Not born as a digital native, it is not easy for them learn the high-technology and it is still interesting for my grandparents to see me on the screen when we use video chatting.

Different user group decide how you act on social networking sites. Avoid making my family members worried about me, I always try to be happy and positive on qq by posting and commenting with satisfaction of life. Sometimes I comment in English on Renren, because almost everyone on Renren understands it, but it doesn't apply to qq. As a way to communication which my family, I will continue update on qq.

Here is a promotion of qq which tells a story of an Chinese international student. I found this on qq video. Although the narration is Chinese, it is not hard to get the basic idea of love.
  http://play.v.qq.com/play?vid=71QwbZCPHgs
I updated the post with a YouTube video!(3/23/3013)

My qqzone entry: http://user.qzone.qq.com/498521608/infocenter

 On Facebook: I am an international student

 There is no need to describe the popularity of Facebook. It is an indispensable personal asset of Americans. Starting a Facebook networking site is one of the first steps of American life and it is convenient to friend those who you meet but can't see each other often. Likes and comments make us feel closer when there is physical distance between us.

Learning that Facebook does not only have the influence on friends but also can be investigate as a resource by potential employer, I am very careful with what I post.

My Facebook entry: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004262051992

Reach out customers on the groundswell by listening

Two old friends met on the street, one carried the fishing gear on hand,  and started to chat.

A: Are you going fishing?
B: No, I am going fishing.
A: Aha, I thought you were going fishing.

Interesting and meaningless to hear this ridiculous conversation, right? Because the two men are to old to hear each other clearly and they are reluctant to admit their listening disability. The joke also evokes the importance of listening in a conversation.

What can we learn from the joke?

Doing business is launching a conversation with customers. Without careful listening and fully understand what customers have said and what they need, it is impossible to achieve ultimate business goal. Before social media came into the equation, people do share their thoughts and ideas among friends, colleagues and sometimes directly to the company as well. This kind of interaction is more personal related and have a certain kind of influence among customers. Nowadays, with the explosion of social media sites, listening has a more profound meaning and played a more important role in business activities.

 

Why is listening important?

"Your brand is whatever your customers say it is. And in the groundswell where they communicate with each other, they decide."
                                                                                                              --- Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff
                                                                                                                               Groundswell

Your brand resides within the hearts and minds of customers. It is the sum total of their experiences and perceptions, some of which you can influence, and some that you cannot. A strong brand is invaluable as the battle for customers intensifies day by day. It's important to spend time investing in researching, defining, and building your brand. After all your brand is the source of a promise to your consumer. It's a foundational piece in your marketing communication and one you do not want to be without. 

This short video also illustrates the importance of listening to customers.
                                --- Smarter Marketing: Having Public Conversations

How to listen to the groundswell?

Everyone has the experience of being buried in the massive information online, it might be interesting for individuals to generate their knowledge by clicking the mouse all the way. But when it comes to business plan, efficiency has been put under spotlight. It is necessary to define what the goals are and what to get out of it. There is difference between reaching out for new customers and keep track of existing ones.  This is important as you want to identify keywords and phrases that you will use when searching for conversations.

Free social media monitoring tools can extremely helpful. Such as Twilerts,  Backtype, Social Mention and so on.

There are other small aspects need to be taken into consideration when listening on the groundswell. As the old saying goes, Success depends on details.

• Involve Others

With the speed of a tweet, how to tap the right person in the organization to either answer the query or help toanswer it?

• Build Relationships

When developing a voice and become a resource for others, people will listen  and spread message on the merits of the message.


What influences it might have when listening to the groundswell?  

By paying more attention to the best customers, the biggest advantages, and the power of the business’s story, it has the potential to build upon the strong points and achieve outstanding results.
While there may be exceptions, the vast majority of businesses rely on current customers to introduce them to new customers. Whether it’s through personal recommendations, posts on social media, or even online reviews—there are a number of ways current customers can help you reach a wider audience.

Consistency in listening to the groundswell will give business agency a more comprehensive idea of what customers think of them and will lead to a better policy making in the future. In the end, this short video provide more optimistic ideas of social media marketing.                      

Social Media Marketing in 3 minutes

More information available to help with listening on the groundswell:

Guide to monitoring social media conversations

The Future of Search Marketing for Small Business

Travel with Social Media

When is comes to travel, tons of quotes approach your heart with the touch of consonance.Of course for those who like travel.


The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.  ~St. Augustine

Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.  ~Anatole France

The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience.  The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him.  He goes "sight-seeing."  ~Daniel J. Boorstin
 

Travel is not an easy task, which drags you into a place of unknown and uncertainty. To get the travel information is critical. Traditional paper-version is welcomed for decades.

part of my travel guide collections

In big cities, visitors can easily find Official travel guide or brochure at the airport or Visitors Center. The travel guide can provide all the information of city map & transportation, attractions, dinning, shopping and accommodation, etc. More attracting feature is multilingual which is effective for non-English speakers. 




With the development of digital communication, traveling resource is more approachable and easy to carry. E-version travel guide is available.  Hawaiian Islands Visitors' Guide  The bright color and interaction paging makes it more attracting and brings a lot of fun.

When you are on the trip with a smart phone, congratulations, you are in the next level of convenience of travel. Because you experience more with these magical apps. Here are some of the useful apps. These apps are always easy to find if you search best apps for travel in Google, you will find everything to meet all you needs.

• Tripadvisor can help you find the nearest hotel, restaurant with GPS.

• In this app, you can view people's rating and comments, which is powerful in the groundswell.

  





 




When you have enough information about the place you are going to visit, the main question would be how to get there. Smart app Transit will help you with the public navigation: arrival time for a specific bus, each bus stop on the route. It happens in a trip that you want to arrive at a specific time. This app will help you set up departure time and even email the information to a friend.








I never stopped traveling and have been experiencing the benefit for social media. Join the digital communication and enjoy the trip.

recent trip to San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge