This is Number 100

by Nancy Turnage

Member Services Coordinator

VRPS Central Office

I was hired in 2012 to promote VRPS on the social media front:  connecting VRPS to the world of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and the like, but more importantly tying in the VRPS membership with their organization on a more personal level.  The first thing I did was create this - the blog.  Blogs are great for a number of reasons, but on behalf of VRPS, they could help give members a snapshot of the personality of the Society, because the organization is much more than memberships, conferences, and education sessions - but is a collection of people, skill sets, networking, and common goals.

It has been a long, slow process to engage the membership in the blog.  I can't really say that it's terribly measurable even now.  What I can say with certainty is that (1) the VRPS membership is dynamic and has loads (and loads) of great stories to share, and (2) VRPS has some really talented writers out there.  In the past year, we have had blog post submissions from around the state, and each of them is unique and refreshing.  I must admit that I've not been shy about asking for posts - some comply and send me one, and some don't.  But either way, it's a tally mark in the win column.

This is post #100.  Since 2012, much has changed in the world, and in the VRPS world.  My position no longer allows for me to dedicate the time to social media that I once did, but the membership has "picked up the slack".  Posts are getting liked and shared, blogs are rolling in, and VRPS is projecting a personality.  It's your society; it's your stage.

The "Face" of VRPS

by Nancy Turnage, VRPS Central Office

Everybody's heard of Facebook ... but are you using it?  More importantly, are you using it to stay connected to your network of professionals?

• Virginia Recreation and Park Society
• Virginia Senior Games
• VRPS Central Service Area
• Virginia Recreation & Park Society - Northern Service Area
• Virginia Recreation and Park Society - Therapeutic Recreation Resource Group
• VRPS Annual Conference
• Vrps-Lti

2014 VRPS Leadership Meeting: Tech Share

by Nancy Turnage, VRPS Central Office

Sadly, Mother Nature did not cooperate with the 2014 Leadership Meeting - twice.  Here's what I had planned to share.  To view the full interactive presentation, click HERE.

What's New for 2014

by Nancy Turnage, VRPS Central Office

Calendar:
The new user-friendly electronic calendar allows for more details, including locations with maps, web links, and contacts.

Blog Series:
"VRPS Members in the Community".  See what your peers are doing - as hobbies, as service to their communities, as above-and-beyond professionals.  Be inspired.

Social Channels:
VRPS is on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Blogger, Google+, and Pinterest.  Are you?

       


Board:
They're here:  Art Thatcher is your new President.  Rita Miller is your new Lay Member.  Vice President and Treasurer will be elected Thursday, January 16, 2014.

Therapeutic Recreation Resource Group:
It's back!  Julie Saum, CTRS, Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center, is working to revive the TR group.  The first meeting took place January 7, 2014 in Fishersville, Virginia.  Contact Julie to get involved.

Legislation:
Virginia's 72nd Governor, Terry McAuliffe, was sworn into office on Saturday, January 11, 2014, following commencement of the 2014 General Assembly session which commenced on Wednesday, January 8 for a 60-day session, including the development of a new biennial budget.

Theme Park Tickets:
As of the 2014 summer season, all Busch Gardens discount tickets will be sold via the electronic EZ Ticket program.  EZ Ticket is an electronic ticket system that allows vendors to book ticket sales and print their own tickets.  Certain VRPS ticket partners participated in a Beta-run of the EZ Ticket program for the summer 2013 season, and subsequently, all Christmas Town park tickets were sold via EZ Ticket in November and December 2013.

LTI:
2014 is the year for the VRPS Leadership Training Institute.  Both LTI and VRPS Management Conference are held in alternating years.  LTI will be held at Wintergreen, April 27-29, 2014.

Conference:
Trade your shorts for your ski pants.  VRPS Annual Conference is moving from September to December, to lovely Omni Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia.

Leadership Orientation: Social Media

By Nancy Turnage, VRPS Central Office

Did you know ...

• Social networking now accounts for 22% of all time spent online in the US.
• A total of 234 million people age 13 and older in the U.S. used mobile devices in December 2009.
• Twitter processed more than one billion tweets in December 2009 and averages almost 40 million tweets per day.
• The number of social media users age 65 and older grew 100 percent throughout 2010, so that one in four people in that age group are now part of a social networking site.
• As of May 2012 Facebook has 901 million users.  In June 2011, it was reported that iPhone applications hit one billion in nine months, and Facebook added 100 million users in less than nine months.
• If Facebook were a country it would be the world's third largest in terms of population, larger even than the US.
• In June 2011, it was also reported that U.S. Department of Education study revealed that online students out-performed those receiving face-to-face instruction.
• YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world.
• One in six higher education students are enrolled in an online curriculum.

What is Social Media?

* a group of internet-based applications that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.  Social software mediates human communication via consumer-generated media (CGM).

There are 6 different types of social media:

1. Collaborative Projects (e.g. Wikipedia)
2. Blogs and Microblogs (e.g. Blogger, Twitter)
3. Content Communities (e.g. YouTube)
4. Social Networking Sites (e.g. Facebook)
5. Virtual Game Worlds (e.g. World of Warcraft)
6. Virtual Social Worlds (e.g. Second Life)

What is the purpose of Social Media?

Social media provides an environment where users and professionals can converse, and where professionals can promote their brand and improve their organization's image by listening and responding to what the public is saying about them.  One of the founding concepts in social media has become that you cannot completely control your message but rather you can simply begin to participate in the "conversation", expecting that you can achieve a significant influence in that conversation.

Why is Social Media good for non-profits like VRPS?

• It is easily accessible to everyone who has internet technology available.
• It is free!
• It is "social", and we humans are social animals.  We don't want to miss out.
• It requires minimal resources to publicly publish information - in regards to both people and time.
• Variety is the spice of life, and the availability of various platforms and mediums satisfies users with varying levels of time and preference.
• Marketing, impressions, and "the voice" of an organization is generated by the user community, not simply the organization itself.

All that being said, in the VRPS world, there are presently three main components in which you, the user community, may be "heard" (or "herd" if you prefer ... :)

Website

vrps.com is maintained by Central Office.  Some Resource Groups and Service Areas, as well as committees, are maintaining their own pages with occasional guidance from the Central Office.  We are working to evolve to a less textual, more graphical and user-friendly structure, which will be the central location for VRPS business at hand.

Publications (magazine, newsletter, E-update, blasts)

Society input is compiled and distributed by Central Office, with the exception of Service Area newsletters. Again, some committees manage their own email blasts.  We are working to evolve to a shorter, more concise E-Update that can be read quickly, with the option of delving deeper, via links, at the discretion of the reader.

Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, LinkedIn, YouTube) Central Office manages the different venues. Some Service Areas and Resource Groups have established and manage their own as well. We are working to evolve to a much greater presence, with far more input of value both from and for you, our community.

What can you do?

1. Encourage online registration and payment.  This frees Central Office resources considerably, so that efforts can be redirected elsewhere, on your behalf.
2. Submit E-update content with at least one week notice.  Our goal is to reduce the size of the weekly Wednesday E-update so that it contains mostly new content, is more concise, and thereby appreciated more!
3. Identify individuals within your organization to manage your web pages, communication blasts, and social media.  We will be happy to provide guidance and/or collaborative effort as well.
4. Like, Follow, Subscribe, Connect, and Share us!  As you have learned, social media is promoted from the ground-up.  We need your input; you are in the trenches, where the action is.  In order to promote VRPS and its membership community, we want to encourage personal networking and experiences, which you bring to the table.
5. Blog:  we are tired of hearing ourselves!  Did someone in your organization write an interesting piece or put together a great video or collection of photos?  Send them to us and we can promote their work.
6. Send us your feedback!  What do you want to see or learn about that we are not currently addressing?  Let us know, via our social media platforms or email.
7. Let us in:  WE ARE BOUNCING!  Several organizations "filter" our emails and blasts when they are generated by our Association Management Software (sent from "vrps@vrps.com") or our marketing email software (sent from "vrps@vrps.ccsend.com" ).  We spend a considerable amount of time processing the "bounces" by notifying users when their confirmations fail to reach them.  Please contact your IT department to see if your ISP is filtering us!

We appreciate your time and interest in keeping our Society strong, relevant, and engaged with its members!