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Latest News
Topsarge Chief Consultant awarded Master KM Professional
   April 8, 2011 WASHINGTON, DC Master Certified Knowledge Management Professional (MKMP): The Knowledge Management Professional Society (KMPro) has announced the name of its member who has completed KMPro Master Certified Knowledge Management Professional (MKMP) certification after completing MKMP qualifications. The MKMP designation is awarded by KMPro to experienced practitioners in the field of Knowledge Management (KM) based upon demonstration of practical application… Read More »Topsarge Chief Consultant awarded Master KM Professional
Generation Y, the Social Generation
Generation Y: Socially Connected View more presentations from Dan Elder Hello fellow Social Media enthusiasts! I just wanted to introduce myself to everyone! My name is Dani Elder and I presented a powerpoint on Generation Y at the Topsarge Social Media seminar last month. I can tell you from real world experiences that Generation Y makes up the majority of social media users. The more interesting information that… Read More »Generation Y, the Social Generation
Social Media is a paradigm shift for Business
Social Media is a paradigm shift, originally uploaded by dandotelder. Here I am, Dan Elder, owner and Chief Consultant of Topsarge Business Solutions, conducting the opening session at one of our Social Media seminars held in Temple, TX. During my overview of the Social Media Landscape to set the foundation for the rest of the morning events, I pause to describe the changing nature of… Read More »Social Media is a paradigm shift for Business
When your bad news goes viral
Last week I was leading a training session to an eclectic group on damage control in the social sphere where I was talking to the attendees about the importance of formulating a plan and getting management buy-in before troubles happen. If not, the risk of a knee-jerk response, especially by non-internet savvy types, or a heavy handed approach on open, 3rd party social media platforms could lead to some embarrassing repercussions. Like what happened with Nestle where they got in a shouting match with the internet, and lost. It happened last spring, but it was covered a bit this month over on the Perception People blog.
A good example of a  series of pre-planned responses is in the form of a triage flow chart prepared by the American Society of Civil Engineers, which was highlighted in a post on SOCIALFish blog. Author Maddie Grant also listed 5 valid points she gleaned from the chart, but I suggest you add get buy in from the highest levels so when you have to put it in action folks don’t lose their nerve. This is a good write up on a timely topic, “what do I do when….” discussions always come up when I am addressing management about to undertake a concentrated social media effort. As Maddie mentions, this is a good visual, and is useful if tailored for each organization.
Read More »When your bad news goes viral
Social Media Overlap
While doing some research for my upcoming seminar I was looking for a catchy graphic that really summarizes the “why” a company needs a Social Media policy, or at least publish some employee guidelines that clarify a company’s position on Social Media. I was fresh off reading a blog post by Mike Volpe on one of my fav sites Hubspot, where he passionately explains last July why he believes “A Social Medial Policy is Stupid.”
I was still mulling over Marks thought about governance and I was thinking of Ford’s Policy…well, more guidelines than policy. It was also July when Lydia Dishman of Fast Company noted in her blog post on policy that Scott Monty, their Social media guru listed 10 guidelines. You can check them out at: Fastcompany, but they are:
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This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.
List of Social Media policies
Whether your company is active on social media or not, your customers and employees most likely are. In this era companies with more than a few employees need to seriously investigate the importance of establish a social media policy. So, where is one to start you ask? TBS is all about sharing best practices across industry and private practice, so below is a listing of a number of policies that may meet your organizations needs.
Maturing Businesses use of Social Media
As a knowledge management professional I am often reviewing an organization against a maturity model (KMMM), it is a tool to learn how groups improve. Applying social media tools in marketing efforts can also be modeled, something that has been talked about for a few years, like CRM Magazine’s June 2009 article Social Media Maturity Model: 30 Posts, 30 People, 30 Days. John Hernandez VP… Read More »Maturing Businesses use of Social Media
Facebook Changes to affect Business Pages
Facebook is fast becoming the de-facto standard for internet marketing and as a customer relations platform for companies and brands. However, changes announced by Facebook in August 2010 will go in to affect this month and those changes will likely affect the current and future Fan pages that most businesses use.
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A common technique for improving style and design of a Facebook business page has been the use of branding and special coding internal to Facebook called Facebook Markup Language (FBML). Facebook announced FBML would be phased out in the First Quarter of this year, and that date has been set as March 11, 2011.
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In its place will be the recently released IFRAMES method of using a Facebook branded “canvas” to pull in pre-existing pages or images on servers outside of the Facebook domain. This upcoming change is fast approaching and some businesses may not yet be prepared, or even know much about this sweeping change to customization.