The SQUARED Root

Posts Tagged ‘Austin American Statesman’

David J. Neff: A Social Media Natural

Posted by Mike Chapman on July 28th, 2009

I wasn’t at all surprised when I heard that my friend, David J. Neff, had been named as one of the top three non-profit marketers in the country for 2009 by the American Marketing Association and its foundation.  It’s not that I think it’s an easy accomplishment or that I take it lightly in any way. It’s a major and very prestigious award. It’s just that I’ve spent a good amount of time around David and I know he’s an extremely talented person and him winning seemed obvious.

What was nice about the award being given to David, from my perspective, was that a national organization with a great history and reputation would recognize the new kind of marketing that David is a leading innovator of. It was proof that the AMA appreciates the concepts of community that are the real value of social media marketing when done the way they should be done.
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The words that describe social media are familiar to most of us by now. Transparency, authenticity, real and long-term relationship development through conversational communications models are the ideals we strive for. What I love about David is that he intellectually understands all of this and actually conducts his business and his life in the same way and along the lines of the adjectives that fit the ideals listed. He doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk, to use phrase I rarely use because of its tremendous importance and the reverence I hold for the man who used it most famously.

What this means is that when you engage in conversation with David Neff online, you’re meeting the real person, not just an online version. When you see one of his now award-winning social media programs being implemented, you’re looking at an idea that is sincerely important to David. I know from being his friend that his work for the American Cancer Society is motivated by a sincere concern for the people the organization represents.

David J. Neff is not only the Director of Web, Film and Interactive Strategy for the American Cancer Society’s High Plains division, he is also the Executive Director of Lights. Camera. Help.

In his capacity at the American Cancer Society, David directs all web and interactive strategies and online properties for six states in addition to managing the division’s eRevenue strategy, social networking/media strategy, and online community strategy. As the executive director of Lights. Camera. Help., he is working to start the world’s first nonprofit-focused film festival.

David is a two-time recipient of a Futuring and Innovations grant, which he used to create C-Tools and SharingHope.TV. C-Tools was the first PDA software tool for the prevention of cancer developed by the American Cancer Society, and SharingHope.TV is the nonprofit world’s first totally user-generated content Web site. In 2009, the Austin American-Statesman recognized David as one of the top 25 Social Media People in the state of Texas.

I’ve been involved in efforts with David around helping the homeless, the hungry and those in need of special medical attention. He has a seemingly endless amount of energy and a heart the size of the internet. We’re lucky David calls Austin home and I’m fortunate to have him as a friend.

This weekend is the first Non-Profit Film Festival hosted by Lights.Camera.Help. Tickets are still available. See you there.

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Wesley Faulkner: Social Media Engineer

Posted by Mike Chapman on June 28th, 2009

Can you think of someone in your business or social circle that you’ve seen around for months, you’re not sure who they are, but you feel like you need to know them? Maybe you’re not sure if they are necessarily a future business contact, but you sense you need to introduce yourself just to find out who they are? Wesley Faulkner is that person you see everywhere where there is a gathering of techies or social media enthusiasts. He’s exactly the kind of talented individual who embodies the best of the Austin interactive community and someone I made sure that I got to know.

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In my view, Wesley Faulkner stands out in the Austin community as one our most valued members. He’s an engineer for a major technology company in the city and he’s also a vital member of the group of creatives and techies that make Austin the great community that it is.

You’ll run into Wesley at meetings of the Social Media Club, the Social Media Breakfast, at the Kickball Tweetup, the Austin American Statesman tweetup and just about anywhere you’d find active members of the interactive community. Wesley is literally everywhere. We’ve teased each other that we are stalking each other because we cross paths so often.

Wesley’s bio on Twitter really captures what I think makes him a very important member of the Austin interactive community: “Tech enthusiast and social chameleon. I’m looking for friends not followers. Let’s chat and get to know each other. Search #GTKWW for more.”

Like a lot of us in the social media and interactive community, I have a host of favorite groups I participate in and places online and off where I tend to congregate with people who have similar interests to mine.  It seems that I run into Wesley Faulkner almost everywhere I go; which makes me think I’m attending and joining the right groups. Mainly, though, I’m glad I made the effort to meet Wesley online and in person and to become his friend.

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Michelle Greer: More Than Just a Geek

Posted by Mike Chapman on June 12th, 2009

When I think of the people who exemplify the best of the best of the interactive community of Austin, Texas; Michelle Greer always comes to mind. Michelle is easily one of the most recognizable people in the Austin creative and tech circles and has been justifiably recognized for her acheivements in bringing people together to use the tools of social media for the good of the community.

Recently, Michelle was selected from among her peers as the overall winner of the first Texas Social Media Awards given by the Austin American Statesman. Personally, I don’t think there could have been a better choice for the honor, which included nominations and input from across the interactive and social media communities throughout the nation.

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The Statesman article on the TSMA winners, which described Michelle’s contributions to the Texas social media scene, gave a good glimpse into who she is. Michelle is a web strategist by profession, a geek’s geek by reputation, and one of the most sincere and caring people you could ever meet in real life.

She works to help refugees, to raise money for clean drinking water for poor people in underdeveloped countries, to increase donations to the blood and tissue center, to increase awareness for the hungry and the homeless, and, no doubt, for a number of other causes that even her closest friends can’t keep up with.

I consider Michelle to be the kind of person you want as a friend, an ally and as a member of Austin’s burgeoning interactive community. She’s fiercely loyal, she’s smart, she’ll tell you what she thinks and then listen to your ideas and opinions too. When she talks about “community” in the context of the online world, she absolutely does so with the belief that we’re here to look out for each other and not just to locate new markets and customers for our products and services.

From Michelle’s point of view, a view I share, those companies, organizations and individuals who present themselves in an honest and open manner - in other words, they’re authentic and appropriately transparent - will succeed well beyond those who try to simply sell to the online communities.

As we work to establish Austin as an important hub for economic activity on the socially engaged web, we will do very well to use Michelle Greer’s approach to life and business as a model for our overall efforts for Aii and beyond.

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