April 2011 | David B. Thomas

We’re having a lot of work done on our house, including turning our attic into my awesome home office/aerie/fortress of solitude. I like our contractor very much, but now that the work has stretched past two months, it’s starting to wear me down. Earlier this week we were talking about the schedule and without thinking, I said, “I’m really tired of having you guys here.” His very reasonable response was, “Yep, it’s not a convenience.”

I started thinking about the many little ways that this experience has been inconvenient, and some of them could be alleviated somewhat with freely available web tools. So, if you’re a contractor, here are some things you could do that I’m sure your customers would appreciate. They may not all involve social media per se, but the general principles are there.

1. I never know who’s going to be here when.

Once or twice a week, usually when one of us is on our way out the door, the contractor will tell me the upcoming schedule. I don’t write it down, so I certainly don’t remember it. How about putting the schedule in a Google Doc and updating it daily? Or a shared Google Calendar? That would require some extra time at the end of the day on the contractor’s part to update all the schedules for all jobs, but it would be well appreciated.

You could also create a Posterous blog just for this job, and the contractor, subs and homeowner could update that via email. Or a private Facebook group.

2. I don’t know who all these people are.

In the course of our various endeavors, there have been roughly 1,012 tool belt wearers in and out of the house. I have been introduced to all of them, but I’m afraid I’ve forgotten a lot of their names. “Although, given that this is the Chapel Hill area, I’ve known a few of them for 15+ years and one is a guitar player famous in the indie rock world”.

Take a picture of the folks who are going to be working on my house with your cell phone, and post them somewhere. They could go on the Posterous blog or the Facebook group, too.

3. I’m not always here to answer questions, and even when I am, they don’t always get asked.

I spent 20 minutes talking to the painting contractor on Monday about what colors went where. On Wednesday his guys showed up without him, and painted one “thankfully small” hallway the wrong color. Again, how about a Google Doc with all the information that anyone can refer to?

4. How can I recommend you to my network if you’re not online?

Again, I’ve been very happy overall with our contractor. I would happily recommend him to my friends. If he had a Facebook page for his business, I would go there and like it, and leave a positive comment. But he doesn’t. I know, like everybody, he’s busy running his business and trying to have a life. But the hour that it would take him to set up a basic page would be time well spent, especially in this tech-heavy, relationship-oriented community.

There are lots of other tools that Google makes available for small and local business, and I’m finding I search for a lot more than just restaurants on Yelp. Plus, small businesses benefit from the Google juice they get from having searchable content on a blog or videos on YouTube, just like big businesses. There’s an electrician in town with a white truck that says www.chapelhillelectrician.com on one side and www.carrboroelectrician.com on the other. That’s a guy who understands the value of SEO to a local business.

But we’ll leave it at that for now. What suggestions would you have for local service providers that would make you a happier customer?

image by geishaboy500

I’m joining Radian6 as Director of Social Strategy

neck deep in the zeitgeist

Dave14 April, 2011

These career-transition blog posts seem to have a certain structure to them:

High-minded statement about the industry, life, careers, challenges, fulfillment, etc.
Something about how much the author has always admired a person and/or a company.
The reveal: Hey! Guess what? I’m going to work for that company!
Job description that highlights all the awesome stuff and ignores the mundane, and generally gives a sense that this new job is not only the best job ever in the history of jobs, but ultimately preferable to being a rock star, racing car driver, astronaut or independently wealthy.
Brief statement about how the author’s current job is awesome and how he or she loves it and is of course highly successful there, but the new job is just that little bit awesomer.
Onward, to the future!

You’ve already seen the title, so I’m going to skip to #3:

Hey, guess what? I’m going to Radian6, as Director of Social Strategy. I’ll be working with Radian6 customers to understand how social media in general and Radian6 in particular integrate within the enterprise. It’s a natural evolution of the work I did as Social Media Manager for SAS, and what I’ve learned working with clients at New Marketing Labs. Plus, you know, I did write a book about enterprise social media strategy.

And, as a bonus, I’ll be working with Amber Naslund, who has been not only a friend but also an exemplar of the right way to walk the talk, social media-wise. I can’t count the number of times I have referred to her and the community team at Radian6 when seeking real-world examples of effective community engagement for business.

I’ve had the chance over the last few weeks to speak with and meet quite a few of my future colleagues, and have been universally impressed. I saw them in action last week in Boston, at Radian6’s first-ever user conference. Not only was there a great vibe among Radian6 staff and customers, plus a lot of buzz about the Salesforce.com acquisition and announcements of new Radian6 features, but it was just a really fun, informative, worthwhile conference. I’ve been to a lot of social media conferences and a lot of user group events, and this one set a new standard for integrating what the customer wants to learn with what the company wants to share. And I still hate that I missed the party.

I’ve had quite an experience at New Marketing Labs and learned a lot. There are some great folks there and I will miss them. It was a great opportunity and I wouldn’t have missed it.

And now…

Onward, to the future!

image by NASA

What do bears eat?

daddyblog

Dave9 April, 2011

The Boy: “Daddy, what do bears eat?”
Me: “Hmm. They eat fish. And honey. Oh, and berries.”
The Boy: “Blueberries?”
Me: “Sure. All kinds of berries: blueberries, blackberries, boysenberries…”
The Boy: “BEARS EAT BOYS AND BERRIES?!”

Our best chance yet to help bring Noor and Ramsay home

daddyblog

Dave1 April, 2011

If you know me, you know that my friend Colin Bower’s sons Noor and Ramsay were kidnapped more than a year ago and taken to Egypt by their mother, despite Colin having custody of the boys. There’s been a major new development in this heartbreaking case.

Rep. Barney Frank has introduced a resolution calling for Egypt to release Noor and Ramsay. This could finally be what brings Noor and Ramsay home. Please use this link to find your Congressional representative. Send an email and ask him or her to support the resolution. I’ll include some sample wording to make it as easy as possible:

Dear Rep. ____________

Please support Rep. Frank and Rep. Smith’s Resolution 193 to return Noor and Ramsay Bower and ensure Egypt and other countries join the Hague Convention. This is critical to protect the rights of American children in our district, nationally and abroad. Please co-sponsor this Resolution immediately.