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[10 on Tuesday] 10 Ways to Start Using Social Media to Save Places

Posted on: August 7th, 2012 by Sarah Heffern 1 Comment

It seems like everybody and their mother (well, not my mother) uses social media: babies arrive on Facebook within minutes of their birth, drool-worthy recipes are pinned and re-pinned endlessly on Pinterest, and news breaks on Twitter far faster than NBC can get around to showing it on television.

It’s no different for preservation activists and organizations. A social presence is close to a requirement -- potentially daunting for those of us who love all things historical more than all things technological.

The good news is, doing a little bit of planning now can pay dividends for your cause later. Over the coming months, we’ll have tips and tools for using a variety of different social sites to advance your preservation goals. But before we get into the nitty-gritty, here are 10 things to think about before you start using social media to help save places.

First, some questions to ask:

1. What are you trying to accomplish? Are you advocating to save a single building? Are you trying to raise awareness of a historic neighborhood? Are you trying to influence local (or national) policy? Knowing what you want to do will help you decide which social sites to use.

2. What does success look like? Having a clear, measurable goal from the outset will guide the choices you make and let you know when your social program is officially working. Not sure where to start? Here’s a handy primer.

3. Where is your audience? The old saying “different strokes for different folks” applies in social networking, just as it does in other areas of life. Knowing who uses what can steer you towards the right social channels to meet your goals. A great resource for demographics is the Pew Internet and American Life project.

4. What’s your budget? There’s a common misconception that social media is free. It’s not. While Facebook, Twitter, etc., are free sites, they come with options (such as Facebook ads) that are not. In addition, don’t forget the human resources cost, because having an effective social media program requires staff time.

5. How much time do you have? It’s possible to have an effective social media program with an hour a day or less, but it does require a consistent, daily commitment. And, of course, the bigger your goals, the bigger the time commitment required, so plan accordingly.

6. What kind of content -- and content creators -- do you have? If there’s one thing social media requires, it is content, so know what you have at your disposal before you start. This will help you select what social media sites to use as well as plan your posting schedule. Some questions to think about: Do you have a blog or website with stories you can share? Are you comfortable finding and sharing stories from local or national news outlets? Does your team have someone with a particular talent for photography or video? Play to your strengths!

7. Do you need a social media policy? If you’re working on your own to save a place, probably not, but if you’re part of an organization -- even a casual or ad hoc one -- having some ground rules can be helpful (so long as they’re not overly restrictive). Your colleagues who are using social media already can be the best ambassadors for your cause if you let them. Not sure how to get started? The Policy Tool for Social Media offers a step-by-step wizard to create a customized policy that meets your organization’s needs.

And now, a few things to think about:

8. Don’t default to the intern. But don’t disregard the intern, either. It’s a common cliché that interns handle social media, because as “digital natives” they understand it better. What many interns don’t know, however, is your organization and its culture, which can make it hard to find the right voice online -- or a consistent one, as internships tend to be finite. Social media can be an ideal opportunity for two-way mentoring, with newer and more experienced staff working together to build an online presence.

9. Don’t forget the offline world. It can be exciting to think of connecting with supporters online, but it’s unlikely that all your stakeholders will be online. Don’t use social media as an excuse to abandon your tried-and-true offline engagement.

10. Don’t feel like you have to be everywhere. With so many options available, it’s easy to feel like you need to have a presence everywhere, when in reality, it’s far better to have one or two vibrant social communities than a bunch of haphazard ones.

Are you using social media to save places? Tell us how it's working for you!

Sarah Heffern is the social media strategist for the National Trust’s Public Affairs team. While she embraces all things online and pixel-centric, she’s also a hard-core building hugger, having fallen for preservation in a fifth grade “Built Environment” class.

Main Streets Make for the Best Small Towns in America

Posted on: August 3rd, 2012 by Sarah Heffern 1 Comment

Bardstown, Kentucky -- the newly crowned most beautiful small town in America.

Those of us who are fans of historic preservation know that one of the things that make small towns great are the Main Streets that provide a vibrant -- and often historic -- backdrop for all manner of community activities.

This summer, participants in the Best of the Road contest learned that firsthand as they crisscrossed the United States visiting small towns to determine which were the best-of-the-best in five categories: friendliest, most patriotic, best for food, most beautiful, and most fun.

Coming as no surprise to us, three towns with active Main Street programs -- Murray, Kentucky (friendliest); Gainesville, Texas (most patriotic); and Bardstown, Kentucky (most beautiful) -- took away top honors.

If you're wondering just what it takes to be the friendliest small town in America, well ... let the citizens of Murray show you:

More videos of the winning communities can be found on the Best of the Road website.

Main Street communities also figured heavily among the finalists, including:

Friendliest:

San Luis Obispo, California

Most Patriotic:

Deland, Florida

Best for Food:

Bloomington, Indiana
Walla Walla, Washington

Most Beautiful:

Baker City, Oregon
Danville, Kentucky
Sedona, Arizona
Tybee Island, Georgia

Most Fun:

Denton, Texas

Congratulations to the winners and the finalists in our Main Street family! (By the way -- you can read more about these great communities on our Main Street website.)

Twitter Chat Update: July Recap, Save the Date for August

Posted on: July 23rd, 2012 by Sarah Heffern

This month's Twitter chat marked the first time we've ever invited guests, and I have to say, our friends at Habitat for Humanity assured that it won't be the last. In addition to our expected participants, Duane Bates (@habitat_org) and Shala Carlson (@HWEditor), several Habitat affiliates, including those from Buffalo, Charleston, Cincinnati, and Newburgh, NY. For an hour, longtime chat participants, newbies, and guests alike engaged in a lively conversation about the role of preservation in Habitat for Humanity's work. Here are some highlights:

Here are a few links from the conversation:

And of course, there's also a full transcript available for your reading pleasure.

Because the Independence Day holiday postponed the July chat by a week, and because August starts on a Wednesday, the turnaround between July and August chats is a particularly short one, so this blog post is going to do double-duty and announce our next date and topic:

On Wednesday, August 1, from 4:00-5:00 EDT, we'll be taking on a nice, summery topic: historic travel -- specifically, what kind of places preservation-minded folks like to go, and what we like to do once we get there. It'll be either a great opportunity to relive your summer vacation or crib ideas you can use for your next trip!

How to participate:

1. Sign in to Twitter, TweetDeck or TweetChat. We (the chat moderators) usually use TweetChat since it adds the hash tag automatically and allows for easy replies and re-tweets.

2. Follow and tweet with the hashtag #builtheritage.

3. Watch for the questions in the Q1 format. Provide answers using the A1 format, and interact with other participants using replies and retweets.

Oh, and what we mean by the Q1/A1 format is this: Questions (we usually have four per chat) are posed by the moderators as Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 about every 15 minutes. We ask that chatters reply with A1, A2, etc. to help everyone stay clear on what they’re responding to. A lot of side conversations and such still break out, but it helps keep things at least a little organized.

I hope you can join us!

Save the Date: Twitter Chat with Special Guest Habitat for Humanity on July 11

Posted on: June 20th, 2012 by Sarah Heffern 1 Comment

Habitat for Humanity's excellent work building homes in partnership with families that need them is well-known in many communities -- but their work as preservationists is a bit more under the radar. A growing realization that a good home requires a good neighborhood has led many of their affiliates to take a more holistic approach, one that involves rehabilitating buildings and revitalizing struggling communities.

One of four Victorian cottages relocated and restored by Habitat for Humanity of Teller County in Cripple Creek, Colorado. Read their story.

This is, of course, an idea near and dear to our preservationist hearts -- and a couple of years back, the National Trust partnered with Habitat for Humanity to develop resources to help Habitat affiliates become more active in preservation. (And Habitat World magazine returned the favor earlier this year with a gorgeous feature about some recent success stories.)

To help preservationists and Habitat affiliates continue to learn more about one another, we’ve invited Duane Bates (@habitat_org) and Shala Carlson (@HWEditor) to join us for the July #builtheritage Twitter chat. We’ll discuss why preservation is a good fit for some Habitat affiliates, the challenges -- and rewards -- of uniting home-making with preservation, and learn a bit about Habitat’s plans for future preservation-focused work.

The chat will take place on July 11, 2012 from 4:00-5:00 EDT. (Regular #builtheritage participants take note: this is one week later than our usual first-Wednesday-of-the-month chat date because of the July 4th holiday.) ... Read More →

Save the Date: Twitter Chat About Endangered Places Lists on June 6th

Posted on: May 31st, 2012 by Sarah Heffern

In 1992, the once-magnificent West Baden Springs Hotel was added to the National Trust’s list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Lauded as the largest glass and steel dome in the world when it was constructed in 1902, the hotel fell into disrepair in the early 1990s, and its future looked bleak. The listing, however, proved a turning point, and today -- after a full restoration -- it is once again one of America’s top resorts.

This is but one of many success stories that have resulted from the "11 Most" list over its 25 year history, but we at the National Trust are far from alone in developing and publicizing endangered lists for the places we love -- many organizations on the state and local level do, too.

What makes these lists successful? And how does the awareness created by a list translate into action?

We'll be discussing these questions and more in the June #builtheritage chat on Twitter, which just happens to be on the date of our annual 11 Most announcement. (Translation: We'll be sharing our list and chatting about it, too.)

The chat will take place on June 6, 2012 from 4:00 -5:00 EDT. Here's how to participate:

1. Sign in to Twitter, TweetDeck or TweetChat. We (the chat moderators) usually use TweetChat since it adds the hash tag automatically and allows for easy replies and re-tweets.

2. Follow and tweet with the hashtag #builtheritage.

3. Watch for the questions in the Q1 format. Provide answers using the A1 format, and interact with other participants using replies and retweets.

Hope you can join us -- but even if you can't, we'll share a transcript of the chat afterwards.

Speaking of which, sharing the transcript from this month's chat -- when we discussed jobs in preservation -- somehow fell through the cracks, so here it is. Better late than never, I hope.