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14
23
rd
SEPTEMBER 2010 Day Three
world of imaging
2010
Utilising Social Media
to your advantage
Jennifer Cisney, who has been with Eastman Kodak for 12 years, is very knowledgeable about Kodak’s
various business units and has in depth experience with the corporate website, kodak.com. She helped
create, and now manages the corporate blogs. After launching Kodak’s Social Media initiatives, she now
oversees Kodak’s presence on interactive sites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr.
Why should companies get involved in
Social Media?
Companies can no longer rely on customers
coming to them. In order to reach their
customers, companies need to go to them, by
interacting with them wherever they spend their
time, whether that is Facebook, Twitter or any
other social media site.
How did Kodak get involved in Social
Media?
As Kodak was making the transition to
digital we realised that in order to stay relevant,
the brand needed to be present in online
conversation. And so, the rst corporate blog
was launched in September 2006 to start that
conversation. Today we operate blogs, Facebook
pages, Twitter accounts etc. You can nd all of
Kodak’s social media accounts at http://www.
kodak.com/go/followus.
How do you evaluate the effectiveness of
your Social Media efforts? Do you use a
monetary approach, or something else?
We believe that what social media tool you
are using is not as important as the way you use
it. Different tools require different approaches
as the reach of each of them may vary. For
example, Orkut is more popular in Brazil than
Facebook. We what we continuously emphasize
is adding value, being transparent and listening.
This spring we hired a Chief Listener who uses
a tool called Radian6 to monitor our online
mentions. This helps us to track our impressions
and reach after every campaign.
How many people in your company are
involved in Social Media efforts? What
groups are/should typically be involved?
We don’t have a huge team dedicated to
social media, but we have lots of support and
participation from people across all groups at
Kodak. For almost four years it was just one
person, the Chief Blogger. Today that role has
grown to Chief Blogger and Social Media
Manager and we have added a Social Media
Manager in Europe and a Chief Listener as well.
We manage to cover a lot of ground in social
media with just three people because Kodak
employees from across the company contribute
to the blogs, and there are many people that
tweet as part of their primary job.
Within a company organisation, who directs
(or should direct) the Social Media effort?
Someone who has a good overall knowledge
of the company and has a passion for social
media should be given the responsibility. They
should also have a direct access to contacts in
public relations, marketing, product groups and
support.
What role do mobile devices play in Social
Media efforts? Are different Social Media
efforts used for mobile devices and desktop
computers?
Mobile is simply another method of sharing
and listening. It should be used to help amplify
the traditional campaign you may have in place.
You just have to take into consideration the
features that a mobile device offers, like GPS
etc.
Is Social Media likely to be a passing fad,
will it remain the same over time, or will it
transform into something else?
There is no way to tell what is next although
it seems unlikely that social media will go away
soon. The important thing is that no matter what
the next big thing is, you approach it thinking
- how are we adding value, are we being
transparent and are we listening?
What tip you would give to a business
interested in getting started in the Social
Media?
Before you start, have a plan. Before you
jump in, you should decide on your big strategy
like your goals and audience, and work out the
details like how will you moderate responses
and how often will you post.
Fred Shippey
Jennifer Cisney
Fully automatic flash photography for easy operation
S
igma Corporation has launched the new
ELECTRONIC FLASH EF-610 DG ST. The EF-610
DG ST features a powerful Guide Number of 61 and
is designed to work with the latest TTL auto exposure
systems of all popular digital and lm SLR cameras.
It features TTL automatic ash exposure control for
easy operation. The auto zoom function automatically
sets the optimum illumination angle in accordance with
the lens’ focal length in a range of 24mm to 105mm.
When the built-in Wide Panel is used, the ash can cover
the angle of 17mm. For bounce ash, the ashgun head
can be tilted up by 90
0
, to the left by 180
0
, or to the right
by 90
0
. It can also be tilted down by 7
0
, allowing ease of
use for close-up photography.
In addition to automatic mode, the ashgun also
features a manual ash mode, making it possible to set
the ash power to full or 1/16. When the ashgun is fully
charged, a conrmation ‘ready’ light will be emitted
and the ash exposure level can be checked through the
camera’s viewnder. Other features incorporated into
this ashgun include the Auto Power-Off function to help
save battery power.