One more Rock Star to THANK!

We mustn't forget to thank Ben Strong for his leadership and inspiration. Whether it was from Russia, China, Denmark, or his car - he never let the team down and played a big part in making sure the event was a success. For those who do not know him - he is a gem - an idea machine! As quickly as the ideas come - it is swiftly followed by action! Thank you Ben!!!

Thank You Rockstars!

PodcampUSCG would never have gotten off the ground without the help of Katie Hood, Peter Stinson, Paul Roszkowski, and Ryan Erickson.

Daren Lewis, an Auxiliary member from Portland, provided the recording and technical blog support as well as presenting. Barbara Patton created the rockin' podcampUSCG logo.

Peter Mello from Sea Fever Consulting and Curtis "Blogger Bob" Burns from the TSA provided excellent presentations while Dan Taylor set up the podcamUSCG wiki.

Hugh Griffiths, from the United States Coast Guard Innovation Council, provided guidance and encouraged us.

The most important people to recognize, however, are the participants of the first military podcamp, the first podcampUSCG. You are plank owners in something very special. You are rockstars! Without your participation this event would not have been possible.

Thank you for helping make this unconventional way of sharing information a success. We have proven uniform and civilian, contractor and government employee, auxiliary and active duty, security and social can coexist, collaborate, and use these new tools to share the Coast Guard story.

Thank you, Benjamin Strong- co-founder of podcampUSCG


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thank You Verizon

Image via Wikipedia

One of the important features of any podcamp is the ability of the participants to tweet, blog, and access the internet to share the story of podcamp. Fortunately Verizon Wireless lent us several new mifi devices. These handy little boxes, no bigger than the size of several credit cards stacked on top of each other, provide mobile broadband service for up to 5 wireless devices.

PodcampUSCG used 6 of these gadgets to ensure each participant had mobile broadband service. They were easy to use, provided almost interrupted service (during the 8 hour podcast only two people were "bumped" off), and did not interfere with each other. Were they any drawbacks to the devices? Battery life. The devices lasted about 2 1/2 hours before they needed to be charged.

Ms. Nieama Booker, Federal Government Accounts Manager, lent us the devices which helped podcampUSCG be successful. Thanks Nieama and thank you Verizon.

Weekly Leader Podcast 27 – US Coast Guard PodCamp

Following the podcamp - a few of the participants stayed back and were given the opportunity to record a roundtable discussion on social media in relation to leadership in the Coast Guard. Peter Mello, founder of Sea-fever Consulting and the Weekly Leader blog lead the discussion. It is featured on the Weekly Leader blog.

After listening to it - this blogger was mighty proud to be a part the team that put this together. Thanks to all that participated!!!

....more podcamp USCG Rock Stars

...thanks to these Rock Star Presenters!

...How to Post a blog

In this afternoon's session, podcamp attendees are discussing the ease of and reasons to create a blog.

Ben Strong, aka @amver, is demonstrating by posting to his blog.

Daren Lewis aka. @veryuseful also posted some very useful links on Twitter on posting pictures and creating blogs. Here are the links that were posted.

• How To: Add Photos
  
• How To: First Post
  
• How To: Create a blog
  

For those who are interested in creating a blog, but are not sure where to start - these are some great resources.

...more about podcasting from Peter Mello

By the way - Peter was gracious enough to upload a copy of his presentation ahead of time via slideshare.

Thanks again, Peter!!!

Peter Mello from Sea Fever Consulting shares about podcasting

Personally, this blogger is thrilled that Peter Mello came out to join us. He is the founder of Sea Fever Consulting, LLC and the Weekly Leader Blog.

He has extensive experience with podcasting and he's using an awesome example in his presentation! A few months ago - he presented a podcast with Admiral Allen (you can find it here). He is going through, step by step - the work involved (not really that much!!!) and the tools he uses to put together podcasts that can be shared via webpages, blogs, and even published to iTunes!

I've seen a few great examples of the use of podcasts in the Coast Guard community...perhaps more of us will be inspired to take podcasting to another level after seeing how really do-able it really is!!

...more from Inside Podcamp USCG

Blogger Bob's Secret Sauce - recipe revealed!

So you think you want to engage the public through an Agency Blog? TSA Blogger Bob's recommends:

• Thick Skin and Humor a must
• Don't be a robot
• Keep it real! No press releases
• Refrain from tooting your own horn
• Capitalize on little victories
• Write to the reader
• Be responsive and establish a relationship w/the reader
• Recruit guest bloggers in the agency
• Take the negative comments in stride and you can learn something
• Allow anonymous commentors

Thanks for all the insight Blogger Bob!

Inside podcamp USCG!

Second Session - Blogger Bob!

Our Second Session is in progress....BloggerBob from DHS TSA is here - talking about Engaging the Public through an Agency Blog.

He said one of their challenges they wanted to address via a blog - was to educate passengers. During the first three days after the TSA blog was launched they received over 2000 comments!

TSA started their blog to engage with the public, debunk myths and defend their "brand", explain the "why" of security and to also humanize their workforce....the less you tell people - the more they are going to make up!

...we are off to a great start. Lots of engaged participants! What more could we ask for???

Podcamp USCG - First Session

Ben Strong - the Director of Marketing for Amver is our first presenter. He is facilitating a discussion about the various Social Media tools being used in the Coast Guard as well as amongst some the attendees outside of the CG organization. Very popular is the use of Twitter, Blogs, Podcasts, You-Tube, Flickr, Linked in, Facebook and RSS Feeds.

The takeaway from this discussion, however, is that regardless of what tool you use to manage your social media or communicate your message - Content is King. Lol - and "old school" face to face conversations and handshakes will never get old.

Everyone here really is a rockstar - as described in what makes a podcamp!

Stay tuned.

Podcamp is here!

We hope everyone is ready for a day of learning and sharing. Many thanks to Verizon Wireless for providing wireless mifi devices for Internet access.

podcampUSCG will be in room 3 D E of the Virginia Beach Convention Center. See you there!

What Do You Think Of Blog Posts?

Struggling with what or how to blog? Check out this great post by Chris Brogan about how to think of blog posts. It may help spur you on.

How do you inspire your writing and develop content?

Photo credit: Gonzalo Barrientos

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Will You Be Heard At podcampUSCG?

We are only a few days away from podcampUSCG! Do you have your questions ready? Perhaps you have something you want to share. Remember, we will have a projector and screen available. If there is something you want to share you can prepare your presentation before you come and have it ready to go the day of the event. You are a rockstar, remember?

We really want some good ideas. Nothing is too far off the mark. Have you discovered a hack to accessing new media tools within the Coast Guard network? Have you found a way to manage your brand that you want to share? Tell us!

Nothing is off limits. Do you want o learn how to Tweet? What's a hashtag? Should I include lots of links in my blog? What about comments-moderate or don't moderate? Should I answer all my comments on my blog? Any tricks to exploit Blogger (you know, the Coast Guard approved blogging platform)? What is podcasting and can we do it?

Tell us what you want to learn or share!

Photo credit: Brett L.

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podcampUSCG on Twitter!

If you are even the least bit interested in social (or new as it is sometimes called) you are probably using Twitter. Did you know podcampUSCG is on Twitter? Why not follow us?

Have you thought about what you want to share or learn at podcampUSCG? Its coming up in a few weeks! If you have a formal presentation to give there will be a projector and screen available. Contact us directly if you want to propose a formal presentation.

In the meantime consider your questions or hone your presentation skills and we will see you in Virginia Beach.

Photo credit: 7son75

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