In college, I was part of a sorority, Alpha Phi at Bentley, Zeta Rho to be exact. It made my college years very enjoyable and I still am best friends with many of the sorority sisters. Since graduation, I’ve received direct mail from Alpha Phi International executive offices as well as attended my own chapter alumnae events.

As a member of the organization, I have joined their Facebook page and now follow them on Twitter. The well-organized Alpha Phi website features RSS feeds, monthly podcasts, online newsletters, a travel blog, a Facebook page and now Twitter (@AlphaPhiIntl). They are able to connect alumnae, collegians, and potential new members using social media. Whether it’s sending out an event reminder for National Wear Red Day, posting job opportunities or uploading pictures, they are connecting all Alpha Phi’s.  They are reaching their demographics using all different methods.

This will help with many of Alpha Phi’s causes. The Alpha Phi Foundation will now have many resources to use for donations and support. This was a great extension for the organization. Many other charity organizations can learn from the footsteps Alpha Phi is making.

Joining a sorority meant that you had sisters all over the world (trust me, you ask when you see someone wearing Alpha Phi letters). Sororities’ use of social media is now making it even easier to connect to others outside your chapter or region.

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Social Media, Twitter

When it comes to marketing and branding, the conventional wisdom is that the “elevator pitch” is a must-have. It’s practically unquestioned that you should be able to boil down what your company does in 30 seconds, the length of an average elevator ride.

Marketing consultant Steven Melanson says the elevator pitch is seriously misguided. Steven says that 30 seconds is in fact too long and overlooks perhaps the key objective of any successful branding effort: differentiating you from your competition.

Steven is President of Melanson Consulting, which according to his website is a “verbal branding development and instruction company.” He’s also the author of Jaw Branding™, a book and audio CD “that describes the verbal gap in the branding services marketplace, Jaw Branding™ philosophies for verbal interactions, the relationship to memory and psychology, its superiority to traditional sales or communications approaches for revenue generation, and the implications of verbal branding for organizational culture.”

Steven joined Topazers Glen Zimmerman, Anne Dalrymple and Wendie Larkin for a special episode of PRobecast, which you can listen to here:

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PRobecast’s opening music is “Junk In A” by Pat Zelenka, available on the Podsafe Music Network. Our closing music was composed by Rob Capra.

Technorati Tags: Branding, Marketing, Melanson+Consulting, PRobecast, Steven+Melanson, Topaz+Partners

In this long-awaited episode of PRobecast, Tim Allik, Anne Dalrymple, and Glen Zimmerman manage to completely avoid what may be the most historic presidential election in history and talk PR, journalism and social media, pure and simple:

1. The Christian Science Monitor goes to a web-centric delivery and distribution model and we like it. Private ownership has distinct advantages in the media world.

2. WBUR, Boston’s NPR news station, uses Twitter to set up live meetings in the studio with its listeners, and we like that too!

3. This tech economy isn’t like the one we experienced in 2001, thank goodness. We talk about how it’s different this time.

4. Social media and productivity are once again on the agenda. How we’ve already been faced with a “distraction challenge” with email, and what we should have learned from it.

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PRobecast’s opening music is “Junk In A” by Pat Zelenka, available on the Podsafe Music Network. Our closing music is by Boston area band Blizzard of ‘78.

Technorati Tags: Christian Science Monitor, Events, Journalism, PRobecast, Social Media, Tech, Twitter, WBUR