[Chapter-delegates] Chapters and Social Media

[Alejandro Pisanty]

Wendy,

in ISOC Mexico we have just had an extraordinary experience with the use 
of social media.

In a campaign that was driven mostly through Twitter we joined forces with 
other people and organizations and managed to partially repeal a tax law 
that would have taxed all telecommunications services with a 4% tax on 
transactions.

The campaign started as informational, pointing at the contradictions of 
immposing this tax, which would have fallen in a category reserved for 
luxury goods and things like alcohol and tobacco, and the government's own 
programs, plus society's needs. It started with a tweet by me pointing to 
an entry in my blog explaining this briefly on October 19, 2009, and an 
ISOC member retweeting this, under the hashtag #InternetNecesario (short 
for "The Internet is Necessary"), which made a trending topic that night 
due to its viral expansion.

Some f2f interactions with Senators, an original physical demonstration by 
getting 140 people in a park to spell the tweet with small placards (a 
letter each), almost 110,000 tweets and retweets later, and a couple smart 
tactics which caught the press's attention and created a small media 
phenomenon even internationally led to the repeal of the tax at least for 
Internet access (if not the whole package.)

More details and analysis are available for those interested (there are a 
lot of lessons learned.)

We also keep a Facebook group but it is not largely effective. Email, 
surprisingly for some, continues to be the backbone of our communications 
for regular operation.

I'd normally send this privately but the excitement and impact on creating 
awareness of the Internet (and telecoms in general too) and the need to 
foster its growth have been really so much beyond the usual that I thought 
this story worth sharing on the list.

Yours,

Alejandro Pisanty


.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . .  .  .  .  .  .
      Dr. Alejandro Pisanty
UNAM, Av. Universidad 3000, 04510 Mexico DF Mexico

Tels. +52-(1)-55-5105-6044, +52-(1)-55-5418-3732

* Mi blog/My blog: http://pisanty.blogspot.com
* LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/pisanty
* Twitter: http://twitter.com/apisanty
* Unete al grupo UNAM en LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/22285/4A106C0C8614

* Ven a ISOC Mexico, http://www.isoc.org.mx, ISOC http://www.isoc.org
*Participa en ICANN, http://www.icann.org
.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .


On Wed, 11 Nov 2009, Wendy Rickard wrote:

> Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:44:16 -0500
> From: Wendy Rickard <rickard at rickardgroup.com>
> To: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
> Cc: ISOC Chapter Support <chapter-support at isoc.org>
> Subject: [Chapter-delegates] Chapters and Social Media
> 
> Folks,
>
> As part of my research for the Chapter Handbook, I am looking at ways in 
> which Chapters use social media, such as Facebook, Linked-in, Twitter, and 
> others. I have noticed that many of you are integrating social media into 
> your Chapter work and I would like to know more about how you are using it. 
> Do you think these tools are useful? If so, how?
>
> If your Chapter is using social media, please send me a note and let me know 
> what works (and what does not seem to work) as well as if you have a specific 
> social media strategy. More specifically, it would be helpful to know how you 
> think social media can be used for best results in areas such as Chapter 
> communications, attracting new members, discussing relevant topics in a 
> timely fashion, and rallying members to participate in events, activities, 
> and projects. Examples of how your Chapter uses social media is the best way 
> for other Chapters to see how it is done, so please pass along lessons 
> learned, tips, and insights.
>
> Your feedback by Monday, 16 November, would be most appreciated.
>
> Anne has also commented that your input will be useful for staff as they 
> continue working on ways to support Chapters in areas of membership and 
> communications.
>
> Many thanks!
>
> Wendy Rickard
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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> intelligent marketing and publishing solutions
> 5 Snowden Rd. ~ Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
> Phone: 609-466-1700 ~ Fax: 610-410-2749
> Skype: wrrickard
> rickard at rickardgroup.com
> http://www.rickardgroup.com
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