Our first live broadcast on Google On Air
How to set up a Live Broadcast with YouTube and Google Hangouts
Process for setting up the Live Hangout with CountDown Clock
* It is important to note that you must have a verified YouTube account and “turn on” live broadcasts. YouTube will seek to verify the account holder either through text message or email.
- Sign Into YouTube, and go to your channel
- Click On Video Manager which is right above your channel art
- Click the Video Manager Button on the left
- Select Live Events from the drop down
- New Live Event from the far right
- Enter all the fields and select a date for the ever in the future
- Be Sure to Select the type as Google Hangout on Air
- Once you save the event, you’re all good! Count Down Starts!
Why Social Media – the Bigger Picture
During the Zone 28-29 Institute, I asked many participants to upload a photo to Facebook and tag it with #Rotary hashtag. The purpose of a “hashtag” is to create a tractable connection of all related posts ~ it’s similar to a Google keyword search. If you click on #Rotary in Facebook (or twitter and several other social networks) you will see all the posts in your network that relate to Rotary.
That’s all very well and good, but let’s think about why. Why do people like me go around teaching clubs and districts about Social Media? Why has Rotary International invested so much time in helping members to use Social Media?
I like to think of it like this…
When your club goes out into the community to do a project, it has a little impact. When you look at all the clubs in your district and their projects collectively, you can see the larger impact your district has in the community. Add in all the districts across the globe, and you can see the massive impact club projects have in our global community. Social Media is the same way. When you upload a photo to a social network, it creates a little awareness. When hundreds of us do it at the same time, it creates a larger awareness. Imagine millions of people sharing Rotary on the Social Networks! Now you are looking at a massive amount of awareness.
Each one of us shared a single Rotary experience during our week at Zone. In the days ahead, the experiences they will have in Rotary will differ from mine. From meetings, to projects and fundraisers, to community outreach, those Rotary experiences will be as diverse as our population. Sharing all of those experiences will help the people in your network understand Rotary. When thousands of us share our diverse experiences in Rotary, we create an over all picture of what life is like as a Rotarian. The goal is to have those experiences not only seen, but better understood, creating curiosity in others and eventually attracting new members.
We don’t always have a concise answer to “What is Rotary?” By utilizing the social networks, you give your connections a visual, simplified answer by defining what Rotary is to you. ~
Past District Governor Melissa Ward
Stay Connected to Melissa
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Chair Rotarians on Social Networks
Zone 29 Assistant Public Image Coordinator
Why Social Media Can’t Be Left to Your PR Director
I have often met Rotary leaders who have nodded thoughtfully when I have explained the benefits of social media and then said “I will get my PR Director to do that”. Although it is important to have division of labour and leaders with the right skills concentrating on the right tasks, social media doesn’t work if it is the sole responsibility of one person alone. In order for something to be social, more than one person has to participate. Of course, not everyone has the confidence to be the main content creator and it is important that the person responsible for managing the club or district pages is able to create the right tone and use their creativity to attract the public’s attention. It can be a very lonely task, however, if that creativity goes unnoticed and unsupported by fellow club members.
Social media works as a PR tool because likes, shares and comments spread the original message beyond the creators own immediate network and into the networks of friend’s friends . If I have 100 friends, and 20 friends like, share, comment on or retweet my post, that will have a greater impact than if only 2 friends did the same.
I often use the analogy of stone skimming or stone skipping, where the stone is a post or update and the world wide web is the pond. If a post doesn’t receive any likes, comments, retweets and shares then it drops straight to the bottom of the web, never to be seen again. Each like, comment, retweet and share helps the post to travel just that little bit further and each splash can attract the attention of new people as it makes it’s way across the web.
Rotary clubs and districts can make the most of the talents of their enthusiastic and creative marketing/PR Directors by empowering them to be the key content creator, while also ensuring that it is the responsibility of all members to be content sharers.
Another example is events. Have you ever walked past an empty restaurant and decided not to go in? The same thing happens for Facebook events- people don’t join events that look empty. If you receive an invitation from your club or district, respond to it. If you can’t attend, invite your other friends before you decline but also leave a short note expressing your regrets and encouraging others to join the fun.
To build your confidence in sharing content, log into the system and observe what other people do. Ask questions in the Rotarians on Social Networks member groups (make sure you join at http://rosnf.net first). Keep your comments positive and always apply the four way test. Set yourself a goal of logging in and responding to event invites and sharing club news at least once a week. Or invest in a smartphone so you can do it on the move. Your PR Director will be much happier, but more importantly your network is likely to become more aware of and engaged in your Rotary activities and over the medium to long term this will convert to new members, funds and support.