What's in your tool box?

One of my recent interests is social media and how people, businesses and organizations are using it. I went to an event at UMass Dartmouth last night about careers in social media marketing. Yep, I found time to do something that I am interested in. Progress!

Prof. Steve White had 4 speakers talk about how they're using social media in their jobs, or in the case of the Dunkin Donuts guy, how they're not. While impressed by his approach (and the fact that Prof. White was able to find 50 DD's within a 10 mile radius of Dartmouth!), I was especially intrigued by the information that Matt Medeiros, Lauren Barber and Elizabeth Grenier had to share.

Lauren and Elizabeth are recent UMD grads that are using social media in their jobs for a marketing firm that, from what I understood, helps connect higher ed institutions with prospective students in order to meet enrollment goals. You might think, "wow, they get paid to play on facebook and twitter all day?" Eh, not exactly. While it sure seems that they are enjoying their jobs, they are doing some pretty impressive stuff.

Their presentations convinced me of one main thing: get back on Twitter! I've tried it a few times but never saw the appeal everyone was buzzing about, but they are absolutely right - it's not how many people you're following, it's who you're following. Yeah, everyone has their celebrities they like to keep tabs on, but there are plenty of intelligent, motivated people out there sharing information you're interested in and NOT just what they're having for breakfast - a nice break from some of the stuff that fills my feed on Facebook. It's a dream world as one of the students put it, filled with real-time thoughts.

The main thing I got out of Matt's presentation is that social media is not just Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs. Those are just outlets or tools that people use to "be social." He also spoke about the tools that help us organize all these tools. Sure, I get it - I'm already getting a little overwhelmed keeping track of my blog, FB, and Twitter accounts, all while keeping up with the news, other blogs and adding "complete my LinkedIn profile" to my to-do list for the week! *sigh* I need a way to keep it all together in an organized fashion.

Do you feel my pain? What's in your tool box? Any suggestions on how I can keep everything organized?

Stay connected. (now on Twitter!)
Much love.
-MC