(Reprinted from Atlanta Day Book, 09.28.09, Become a Facebook Fan of IABC | Atlanta)

Facebook is part of our lives - in conversation, job applications, people searches and of course, our own personal pages. It’s in our conscience whether or not we participate. It’s a HUGE part of a new communications opportunity that is here to stay. Enjoy an interview with Eric Berrios, founder of the IABC | Atlanta Facebook page; hear our experiences and learn why it can make sense for your organization too.

So Eric, let’s talk about IABC | Atlanta’s Facebook page.

I know you’re Director of Strategic Planning at Realm Advertising. How did you get involved with social media? 
About a year and a half ago, EarthShare of Georgia was looking to Realm to find ways to expand their message without expanding their budget. Some friends of mine suggested making a Facebook group for the non-profit. I had an account, but certainly wasn’t that active. So some of the team and I explored it and thought it held a lot of promise. It ended up being the anchor for that year’s campaign. The side effect was a crash course in the new channel.

Why did it make sense for IABC | Atlanta to create a Facebook page?
Facebook provides a member experience that, until now had been unavailable. While the Web site offers a method to push information and insight to the membership, there wasn’t a means of making personal connections and sharing opinions in more meaningful ways. Facebook offers that sort of relationship. Our members (Fans) can now get to know more about each other, find connections and enjoy a more immersive experience from IABC | Atlanta.

What was the impetus for the page? When did it launch?
It is a product of multiple seminars and sessions extolling the benefits of social media – many of which were conducted by and for IABC members themselves. At one board meeting, I asked why we didn’t have our own Facebook presence as a group as we seem to have heard strong advocacy for adopting the communications tool. The page launched a few days afterwards in June and started to gather Fans.

Facebook provides another channel to communicate with members. Information is disseminated faster on Facebook through the wall and share features. Neither of which exist in the Web site model.

What does the Facebook page provide that the IABC | Atlanta Web site can't? 
Facebook provides an architectural platform designed for sharing of ideas and personalities. Recreating the experience would be expensive and difficult for a non-profit to do. Facebook is already a central gathering point for most of IABC member’s personally. Adding our presence to their Facebook experience is convenient and easy. Our updates go to the member’s walls rather than waiting for them on a Web site far away from their current online experience.

What makes it a good, working tool and page?
We need to seek to deliver an experience that our Fans value. If we can do that, we have a good page. Keeping it up-to-date, whether that means adding events, putting up video snippets of valuable information or sharing an interesting article, it can all be valuable. Any Fan can post, upload images and video and share links. The mission of the site is one of communication. Putting restrictions on what our members could communicate would be counter-intuitive.

How often is it updated on average?
Every few days. Depending on what is happening. Each event can generate several posts: the scheduled event, reminders, post-event recap, photos and, in some cases, video. So, each activity has the potential to generate several posts. It is one of the reasons I think Facebook is so important. It is a reminder of how active our organization really is. It shows value to our members and prospective members.

What does the page need to do in order to continue its success?
To work, a Facebook page needs to keep value in mind. The page is not for IABC, the page is for the Fans. It requires passion and commitment. If we lose interest in investing in the page, we lose the Fans and, in my opinion, lose the greatest communication potential we have seen in a long time. We will not lose the passion.

The video uploads are excellent. How did you decide to include them?
I have been attending presentations for years, and am shocked by the amount of valuable intelligence that is lost because nobody captured it on video. When I began thinking about what Facebook could offer us, a video asset library was one of my first ideas. Capture it and keep it forever. Let the members share it.

What's your favorite aspect of the page?
I like the photo galleries. I am a visual person and I enjoy putting faces to names. With the photo tagging system, members can make use of our uploaded photos in their own Profiles.

What are the plans for the future of the IABC | Atlanta Facebook page? 
There are two places I plan to add depth. Currently, we are seeking a professional video partner to be the scribe of IABC and capture the stories we tell. This will propel the value proposition of the page forward, I think.

The second push will be sharing content of interest. As professionals, we all read blogs and articles and share them among our coworkers. The push in the future will be to encourage Fans to share those blogs and articles on the Page so everyone benefits from it. Move out of email, and into the social circle.

Is there anything else we should know about the Facebook page?
The Page is yours! Become a Fan and start sharing what you think is interesting with IABC members.

Excellent information Eric, thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge with us. I hope our readers will join us on Facebook (keyword search “IABC Atlanta”) for the latest news and camaraderie that’s exclusive to our Facebook experience. We love our Fans and our Fans love us; get involved!


About IABC
IABC | Atlanta (www.iabcatlanta.com) is a local chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators, headquartered in San Francisco, Calif. IABC | Atlanta represents more than 300 professional communicators in the metro Atlanta area. Membership includes public relations and communications professionals from FORTUNE 500 companies, small businesses, communication agencies, nonprofit organizations and government agencies as well as freelance writers and associates.

Throughout October enjoy the Member-Get-A-Member promotion. For every new member who joins IABC | Atlanta attributing his or her sign up to a current member, that current member will get three free months of membership for next year (up to 12 months/four members). People who sign up will see an obvious place in the online enrollment that will show where they should put the referral name. The current member will not get credit if the new enrollee does not put his/her name in during the sign up. Contact Membership Director Audraine Jackson for more information at: membership@iabcatl.com.