"I manage social media" she says...

"I manage social media," she says. The question is, does she manage social media? Does she know what that means? Do I really know what that means? This is a taste of a recent conversation I had with a prospective intern.

With my growing responsibilities and shrinking schedule, I have been looking for someone, perhaps an ambitious, energetic Gen Y'er to help execute our digital strategy. Those of you who share this responsibility know how time-consuming this can be. I sense that we are all in agreement that social media is a must in the nonprofit and social marketing world. Before we were posting on facebook and tweeting - we had very few ways of garnering some immediate feedback. Social networking allows us to reach new audiences and build armies of brand ambassadors. With that said, if you don't have the right person supporting these efforts you could be tweeting yourself into a dark, quiet corner where no one is talking about your brand or worse, your cause. Simply - you aren't recruiting anyone.

Trust. It all starts with trust. Perhaps a college co-ed may have wonderful ideas to grow your online presence, but maturity and discretion are not attributes that are boldly stated on one's resume. You must know that you are able to trust a new team member before imparting such responsibility, right? So the question is - what does it mean to manage social media? What do you think? Is it more about know-how or discretion?

Perhaps it's a fine blend of both.

Living united in our nation's capital

On December 19, 2008, two months before my wedding, I checked online to review the status of my vendors. My personalized wedding website told me that the photographer, florist, printer and the caterer all received their deposits and signed contracts. All things held equal, my husband-to-be and I would continue to save and pay the remainder of our enormous debt at the time of our wedding. Just moments after reviewing our wedding related debt, panic set in. That morning, I learned that I lost my job. My financial stability, my basic living expenses everything seemed overwhelming.

Along with thousands of Americans I was looking for work. I always had a strong sense of empathy for those people - you know the sad people you pass on the street. They are cold, they are hungry, they are homeless. I always wonder how life on the streets became their fate. I now understand that without education, income and health, we could all be moments away from desperation?

During my job search, I came across an opportunity to help people, people just like me, but without the resources to advance beyond their circumstances. Without families, without severance, without advanced degrees. In March 2009, I started working with United Way, an organization that believes education, income and health are the building blocks of a good life.

Within the first few months, I helped build a marketing and communications department. I established an online presence for the organization. In the midst of many other pressing priorities we had to find people where they were gathering. 

We recruited former Washington Post columnist and radio personality, Bob Levey, to jumpstart this effort. Within a few months, where there once was no presence now two blogs, an active facebook page, a twitter account and a you tube channel were quickly up and running. I tried to do it with some true focus and I continue to keep our channels full of interesting user generated content. I took pride in using my role to help area residents lead a better quality of life. In keeping with the national United Way brand, I infused the tone and feel of the LIVE UNITED campaign into our 2009-2010 campaign materials and in an advertorial featured in the Washington Post Express (visit December 16, 2009 issue (pages 16-24). I was fortunate enough to land in a stable place and now it was my turn to give back.