Nestle's twitstorm

The Nestle Company recently purchased a very small percentage of their oil from a vendor that was not being responsible in their harvesting methods. Allegedly, the harvesting method was reducing the rainforest and Greenpeace was all over Nestle with a U-tube video. Nestle ceased purchasing from this vedor, but before they knew what was going on, their facebook fanpage grew exponentially and consumers without all the facts started berating Nestle. Whoever runs the fanpage at Nestle did the worst thing possible and started getting into spats with the fans. That’s when the problem gets out of control. Now Nestle is considering scrapping the page and starting over when the incident is old news. Here is a link to the story, note how the oil consumption from the disreputable source is only 1.25% of their overall use according to this post.

It certainly seems that Greenpeace went a little overboard considering the actual usage of oil was so small, and Nestle quickly ceased purchasing form the vendor. On the other hand, it is Greenpeace’s right to speak their mind, and social media has made it very easy. Really, it was Nestle who dropped the ball with their reaction to the whole thing. I’m not a big Greenpeace fan, I’ve always found their methods too rash. I do like Nestle and this stunt will not stop me from purchasing their product. I just think they need to re-think their social media campaign.

Facebook and Linkedin

Last Tuesday, March 9th, UWW hosted Katie Felton from MKE Live and Emily Lenard from Wired Wisconsin. The seminar involved safe and effective use of Likedin and Facebook as viable social media outlets. The focus of the speakers was to optimize student’s Linked in experiences and to show how Facebook can be customized in order to strictly regulate what different visitors can see on individual’s sites.
Katie began the evening by stating that the idea behind deciding who can see what on Facebook is being driven by potential employers who want to search for their new hires to find the “real” them. By utilizing some of the safety features on Facebook, people can target different photos and albums and decide if they can be viewed by only friends, or anyone. Emily stressed that students should make their sites completely void of any information available to everyone, but to choose carefully. Employers searching for their interviewees should be able to find some general information that show them in the best light possible.
She concluded by repeating that people must be genuine and sincere when posting things online. However, everyone should consider how their boss or even their grandmother would feel if they saw what was being posted. If it’s not appropriate enough for work or grandma, it probably shouldn’t go up. She also recommended that students check out pipl.com and search themselves, promising that all who did so would be impressed and shocked at what they found (I searched my wife and myself, but only found my address: I guess my web-presence isn’t too strong).
The second speaker was Kati Felton from MKE Live. Several times she stated that while many people are leery to post a lot of information on Facebook, Linkedin should be info-heavy and use strategy to convey one’s employment or networking agenda. She offered some helpful hints, such as filling out the Specialties portion with searchable terms and tags so that individuals looking for someone with those qualifications will easily find the student. She also suggested importing your address book (something I have not yet done) and that this practice will not automatically send out invitations.
The seminar was relatively beneficial. It seems that college students in a program that is prone to information technology wouldn’t need a seminar such as this. Most in attendance probably didn’t learn anything new. If they did, it was probably because they haven’t spent enough time on Facebook or Linkedin. Students and professionals who are in fields not related to info tech would have benefited more from the program.

Making a bad situation worse.

I checked out the facebook pages for Payne and Sarah, the angry patron. It is really a one-sided argument. Twitter is all abuzz with it too. It is difficult for anyone to get behind the management of an industry that must rely on consumer support when they berate their customers like that. Even if it was after a rude, complaining letter, there really is no excuse for it. When I read the “support Payne” page, there are a couple of kids saying something stupid like “he yells at customers, that’s cool.” Now I’ve lost even more respect for his supporters. Most of his supports admit that he lost his cool when faced with a particularly visceral complaint. They don’t remove his blame completely, but rather try to show that the customer shares it. I’m not sure this approach is working, aren’t they continuing to remind everyone how inappropriate his action was? As far as facebbok itself, and the execs are concerned, they should be the happiest of everyone. Both Sarah and Payne are receiving less than favorable attention for their actions, but facebook is the champion, free-speech medium! I bet facebook's advertisers are happy too.
Here's another piece on the story. It's interesting to note that this story has a link to the movie's website where an apology is supposed to be posted. I think they're having technical difficulties, because the apology is missing.
I guess a person can forgive the movie VP for being human and making a bad, rushed mistake, but I think it’s foolish and irresponsible to try and support the guy. A better approach may be to let it pass. Time heals all wounds, and if he is released from his employment, he would do well to let the world forget about his folly, otherwise he will be hard pressed to find future employment. He issued his apology; now leave it alone. I don’t think anyone is doing him favors by trying to stand up for him. In the world of customer support, a “big” business owner is not going to win a popularity contest against a wrongfully berated consumer.
I guess my advice is “let it die, and movie on with life.”

I met with John Mader from Mader Communications Group, www.madercom.com and Erica Conway from G2 Graphics, www.c2gps.com and Bill Sheahan from Blue Horse Marketing, www.bluehorseinc.com.
I appreciated the Eisner setting and Historic Downtown, Third Ward. For the actual event, I thought it was well put together and very beneficial for anyone entering the workforce or feeling like they need to brush up their interview or resume skills. Not all the old rules to resumes and interviewing still apply. Erica told me I was over dressed for some of the creative, design positions that they would hire, while Bill quickly remarked to me that I was not properly dressed for an interview (I came in slacks and a burgundy button-down shirt, it’s what I wore to work) that I needed the full suite and tie to apply to an advertising agency. Incidentally, when I looked at the Blue Horse website, Bill’s profile describes him as old-school and “Button Down.” Had I actually been applying to Blue Horse, I like to think I would have reviewed the site and realized that suite and tie was an absolute must.
John Mader was my first stop. I got to describe to him my current work, how I have to know the application that all my customers use our parts for and be able to talk knowledgeably to them about revising, updating or replacing. John commented that rather than Sales, Account Management for a firm like his would be a logical next step. I really appreciated his comments and have thinking a lot about that since the event.
I wouldn’t mind attending future events through the BMA, their website development event looked interesting. http://www.bma-milwaukee.org/events/2010/03/global-branding.aspx Everyone is looking to maximize their website potential.