Online technology has the dubious honour of both connecting people globally and dehumanising the planet. It’s a tough gig. But ultimately it is our own approach to online behavior that ultimately determines what the outcome will be. That’s good news isn’t it? Absolutely.

One of the most time consuming parts of any online strategy is actually making the people part work.  From the ability for two teams to agree on a process, to preparing for what ‘two-way conversation’ really means for your approach to customer service; these are the things that take the longest to get right. Never fear, there is a sweet reward for those who spend the time to consider the people part, for there is yet to be a business that is not about people.

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We are very proud to announce the launch of Mepacs’ new website last month.

Mepacs stands for Mt Eliza Personal Assistance Call Service and is an emergency response personal alarm service, providing piece of mind for older Australians and their families.

Since 1989, Mepacs has been providing their high quality personal alarm service to thousands of clients. A division of Peninsula Health, Mepacs is the sole provider of the Victorian Government funded, Personal Alert Victoria (PAV) program. The service has access to Peninsula Health’s clinical support team and aged care and disability services, ensuring the provision of highest quality amenity.

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Gamification sounds like a made-up word that you’d be hard pressed to convince an opponent was worthy of a triple word score in a game of Scrabble. However, it is a word that is gaining increasing traction within the corporate lexicon as progressive businesses seek new ways to engage their audiences.

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‘Tis the season of proposal writing.

It is a time where I am more aware of my terrible typing posture (as my arms seize from the required 211 wpm needed to respond to everyone) and I reflect on the work I am doing.  Over the last few weeks the agency has worked on a number of fully integrated proposals for clients, as well as those focused on either our online or ‘offline/traditional’ work.  While the conduits between online and offline work may vary, its beginning and end are always the same.

We begin a project with the following type of question;

How do we encourage ‘insert activity’ from ‘insert target audience’?

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It’s funny how quickly the corporate lexicon changes. Remember the fascination and devotion to designing ‘corporate culture’; the zealous conversion of staff to corporate values, mission and vision?

It seems the evangelists have moved on, leaving those of level head and social awareness with the task of generating open and productive communication between employees.

So, what happened?

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Great story telling, in any context, is the most effective means of gripping many people and moving them to do something or behave in a certain way.

• Telling a story to my two year old is often about getting her to f$*&ing sleep (thanks Noni) but mostly about seeing her rapture and joy in make-believe.
• Telling a story at work is more about motivating staff, energising collaborators, beating a path to a known destination.
• I MC’d a wedding not so long ago. That piece of story-telling was designed to get 120 people laughing but a little teary too at well chosen moments. Mostly laughing. At the groom’s expense.

Thanks to YouTube and Vimeo, the short web video has become a dominant medium for story telling.

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Social media avenues such as Twitter and Facebook, are professional tools that any organisation with a pulse should have on their online toolbelt. We spend a lot of our time helping others foster their online presence and build their communities, but what about our online efforts?

Below is some information and links to help you find us out there.

We’ve been active on Twitter for the past year or so, tweeting and sharing under the @EllisJonesLive moniker about, well anything and everything to do with our specific areas of expertise. And as our health and ageing clients, practice and knowledge is expanding with each passing week, we’ve noticed our tweets have become increasingly crammed with health, aged care and ageing hashtags. So much so, we’ve found it necessary to launch a Twitter feed dedicated solely to the health and ageing sector.

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Even the staunchest social media advocate invariably stresses the importance of planning for the worst through the implementation of social media guidelines and issues management procedures.

As if by design, Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 exploded into the public consciousness and provided the perfect case study on the power and the pitfalls of social media.

Invisible children’s poignant video and call to action led to a collective cleansing of conscience as millions around the globe purchased bracelets and signed online petitions.

The documentary’s YouTube statistics alone are staggering. The video racked up approximately 50 million views in five days and, at the time of writing, has been viewed over 83 million times.

It is an extraordinary example of how quickly an idea can spread in a digital world where people from all corners of the globe are more closely connected than ever before.

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Last month, Rhod wrote a piece on fundraising within the aged care sector. Part 1 focused mainly on the organic, blood-sweat-tears approach to successful fundraising. Here in Part 2, I’ll be focusing on how to make the most of a range of online tools available.

The main message and overall moral of Part 1′s story is that people are more likely to donate – even in times of recession, if there’s a storytelling element. This key element also applies to healthy online fundraising practice.

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Right now, marketing and communication executives across Australia are scoping the year ahead. Government leaders are finely crafting their approaches to Treasury. Yes, it’s strategic planning and budgeting season!

We’ve been facilitating quite a few planning sessions with clients who are putting together budgets for the new financial year. In this article we share some of the process and some considerations specific to FY2013 .

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