If you are now wondering what this foursquare thing is all about, here’s the pitch. More info at http://foursquare.com/businesses/

If you were watching twitter this week, you would have been inundated with tweets on the Youth Engagement Summit 2009 (#YES2009), Barcamp Melaka and Singapore, a statement from the Deputy Education Minister saying English at work is weird and Cadraver’s story on “Malaysian Telcos to bear Code-of-Arms”.

I caught Mahyuni’s tweet on  Cadraver’s story which was particularly interesting. He wrote a parody on the Malaysian government who’s now requiring telcos to develop their coat-of-arms and they must be prominently displayed everywhere their brands have a presence. Brand logo? What’s that? Coat-of-arms or else. Read Cadraver’s piece here.

When the news started spreading on twitter this week, DiGi was quick to pick up on it, launching a “request-for-proposal” or a contest for DiGi’s code-of-arms. They will be giving away 5 musical mugs to the top 5 designs. I thought they were joking and I went to ask @digi_telco for the contest rules and was told there were none – not even a deadline. It’s anything goes. LOL. So here are my submissions.

Fantastic move on DiGi’s part. Here’s one brand that is not only paying attention to what’s going on in social media but participating and having some fun with the community as well.

Note: I’m not paid or have been paid by DiGi in any way or form to say this.

Personally, I see twitter lists as another ego stroker. You know it is when people start thanking each other for adding them to a list or getting upset when they have been left out of a list and proceed to block, unfollow or both, the list curator.

I curated a list of Malaysians in Social Media for Listorious.com yesterday which I deleted today because it’s just not worth the emotional hassle. Some names are obviously left out because I don’t have every social media person on my follow list. Even if I did, I don’t count having 18K followers or someone who does not engage with others as being in or having a huge influence in social media.

Ego “twisting” aside for personal lists, there are great reasons for brands to curate their own lists.

Here’s my short list:
1. A brand can show what’s important to them with a list of tweeps they follow. It’s like Tony Hsieh’s alltop page where you’ll find blogs on customer service, lifestyle, fashion, shoes and tech. Knowing what Tony has accomplished in zappos, I want to read what he reads too.

2. I agree with point #5 on this list. Gives brands an opportunity to aggregate multiple accounts. Some brands have different names for different departments. Sometimes I wonder why. Customers want one website, one phone number and one email to reach a company.

Sometimes it works. If different twitter accounts are already established, a twitter list with all the brand’s accounts will help a lot. A great example is how AMC promotes the tv series Mad Men on twitter. Twitter accounts are set up for some of the main characters. One to check out is Betty Draper’s (a character in that show) twitter account. On her profile is a list of the other Mad Men characters which she has listed in her rolodex. It’s incredibly fun to read if you’re a fan of Mad Men like me. Betty also has a list of other people she finds interesting and she has them listed in Mad Men of the future (today’s mad men and women).

3. A brand’s staff/member list can also tell others who work or belong to that organization. Especially useful when someone in your organization deals with other people representing your company. When @xyz representing a publication asks me for an interview for example, I’d like to know if they are legit. Seeing their name listed on the staff list of the publication’s (account verified) twitter account gives me some confidence that he or she isn’t a competitor who just wants to get information on a new product I’ve released to the press that’s under embargo. Good example is the New York Times staff list.

Only three from me. There’s more from the many articles written by twitter pundits which you can do a search on. Final note, if you manage a brand or an organization on twitter, do get your list up soon.

I met up with Derrick recently before the Lenovo media+blogger event to catch up on the things Lenovo is doing with social media.

In this video, hear Derrick speak about Lenovo’s views on social media, their last social media campaign, how he measures success, who in the organization should own the medium, reaching bloggers in the community and Facebook in the work place.

While companies are blocking Facebook, Lenovo is encouraging its staff to get on it. I sometimes wonder why companies are afraid of social media. Reminds me of the 90s when the internet became widespread and companies forbid access or limit the access to only a few. I am glad I saw internet happen while in JWT. We set up the first digital agency in the country and we were pitching new media before any agencies did and most clients didn’t want to touch it. LOL. I learned then what I’m seeing happen again today. When companies don’t understand what to do with something new, best thing to do would be block first then wait and see or hope it goes away. Here’s an article I think companies blocking social media sites should read “How to Extend Your Customer Experience Through Social Media” from Harvard Business Publishing. Also check out the link in that article for Intel’s Social Media Guidelines for their staff.

24-Hour Singapore Bloggerthon. Pre Event:

24-Hour Singapore Bloggerthon. Post Event:

A friend disagrees that social media is just another channel and what I would like to know is, how different is it from direct mails, tv, radio etc.? A channel is a platform used to either deliver and or receive a message. It can be one way or interactive. A channel is not a message, which can take the form of text alone, images alone, sound alone or all of the above.

Everyone seems to think twitter is social media and social media is twitter. *Facepalm* right? Then again, it’s also not limited to Facebook, Plurk, Digg, YouTube etc. Social media existed way before that buzz word came along. Chris Pirillo had a good example. He said even dogs are into social media. When they are taken to the park to mingle with other dogs, the park is their social media. Closer to home, a game of mahjong is social media. That is because it is another channel of communication.

Have you got a different point of view? I’d love to hear it.

New to social media? Even if you’re a seasoned user, Jeremiah Owyang’s Social Media FAQ is worth a read. Jeremiah’s list focuses a lot on twitter probably because it is driving a lot of the conversations we hear online today. The one question I get a lot of is FAQ #5 and I found Jeremiah’s answers make a lot of sense. Here’s an excerpt.

Social Media FAQ #5: How Do I Talk to my Executives about Social Media?

I enjoy feedback, but was surprised to see a few votes come into my uservoice page, one suggesting I help convince management on how to deal with social media.

Your job: To convince your peers, stakeholders and executives that don’t use social media (or don’t believe in) on why social media may be important to your business.

I’ve actually written about this before, so I’ll highlight some of the previous posts that I feel are helpful:

Start with Technographics
First, obtain the technographics of your market segment (we’ve made a sample free), if your customers are using social media tools, then you’ve a strong business case. Secondly, we’ve already concluded that decisions are based on trust, and trust is highest among peers, not from marketers. This disruptive change is enough to kick start the thinking gears of your executive.

Ascertain if this is right for your company
It’s important to note that social media may NOT be the best for your market or company, if the inactives are a significant amount of your technographics, or you’re in a very conservative industry, you may be ready to deploy a listening program, but may not want to participate. I really believe that social media isn’t for every company, and you’ll have to do an internal reality check to see if this is the case for you.

Focus on value, not technology
Next, don’t focus on tools, instead focus on the end result: value. How To: Effectively Talk to Execs and Clients about Social Media. This post teaches you how to talk about the end results of what’s expected, ever lead with “we want to start a blog”

Learn how to talk to immigrants about natives
Getting Your Digital Immigrant Executives to Understand the World of Digital Natives Frequently, the decision makers, are my parents age, and often their technographics usage is very low. I’ve found talking about Generation X and Y as the new workforce a quick way to open their eyes about the changes in communication.

Be prepared for the business questions
Lastly, before you go to your execs, be prepared to answer the tough questions, the one Legal, the CFO, the COO will ask. Be prepared.

This reminds me of a recent statement made by a self-confessed “non-expert in social media” consultant in a huge PR firm. He said, “If you sell to a human being, you should be in social media.” Well, I agree that he’s not an expert. Social media isn’t for every company. While you can do it, does it make sense?

Enjoy the read and have you yourself gotten any FAQ on social media and a POV to share on it?