Anything is Possible...Just Ask Debbie Gibson

OK, by now, those of you who follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or this blog are hopefully figuring out how much fun you can have connecting with just about anyone these days thanks to social media. From my first days on Twitter when I had a close encounter with Conan O'Brien to the amazing birthday surprise that Outback Steakhouse threw me virtually for my 40th birthday, I have experienced firsthand that anything really is possible.

Two weeks ago while traveling to Florida with the Mount Vernon Nazarene University baseball team to cover their annual spring trip, I had the opportunity one night to meet up with Dan Holm and Becky Maree, the two people who manage the Twitter and Facebook accounts for Outback. We met up fittingly at the Outback by the hotel I was staying at in Lakeland and spent the next couple hours chatting about all things Outback. It was fun to finally meet them in person, to hear what all is involved in their jobs, to find out what went on behind the scenes when they did my birthday surprise, and to even get to visit the kitchen of the Outback we were at and watch Bloomin' Onions be made. They are great people and they have been so kind to me.

As part of our conversation that night, I told them that the only thing missing from the whole 40th birthday surprise celebration was the fact that I had not been able to connect with Debbie Gibson, the 80's pop singer and then Broadway star who is now on this season's Celebrity Apprentice, to get her involved. I really felt like if she read the story that she would jump on board, but with over 56,000 followers on Twitter and a busy schedule I knew that she could easily miss my tweet about it. I did say that if Outback sent a tweet that maybe that would help her notice it.

Well, little did I know that Becky took that comment and ran with it as she tweeted Debbie from the Outback account. By the time I got back to my hotel room less than half an hour later, I started seeing messages that got me excited as I realized that Debbie was now paying attention. In fact, before I knew it, she was following me on Twitter and now I knew that I had a chance to pull this off!

Debbie and I exchanged a few direct messages as I worked out the details of getting a mailing address to send her Outback Surprise to her. She had me mail it to her PR firm in Beverly Hills, so that she could pick it up the day that she filmed the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I decided to make a brief video for her to give her instructions just as Outback had done for me when this started. I also included five extra Bloomin' Onion gift cards with the package so she could enjoy giving things away just like I had. I mailed the package off and waited to see what would happen.

Well, fast forward one week. I'm checking my e-mail this morning and a message pops up from her PR person. Inside is the link to this video:


OK, needless to say, I was speechless! I mean...I've been a fan of Debbie's for over 20 years and to have her collaborate with me on a project like this is just beyond cool. To top it all off, it probably comes during one of her busiest weeks as she's on a whirlwind PR tour that has included the Tonight Show, the Today Show, and various other shows.

Thanks Debbie and Outback for making all of this possible! You guys sure know how to help a guy celebrate his birthday!

Lowe's and Behold...Christmas and Social Media

Like most people out there, I love a good giveaway or contest. Thanks to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, there are lots of opportunities these days for fans and followers of companies or organizations to grab some great swag.

The latest social media marketing frenzy began on Friday at 10 a.m. ET when Lowe's began their three-day Gift-A-Thon through their Facebook fan page with roughly 380,000 followers at the time. I 'liked' their page and RSVP'd for the event in order to be eligible if I happened to be one of the lucky ones to be fast enough each time they gave away coupons for 90 percent off some great items.

There was an initial glitch when the first item posted as the response was so great with so many people logging into the site that it shut down the contest server. After a little while, Lowe's got things back up and running and despite a hiccup here and there things have been pretty much smooth sailing ever since. I've managed to get through on a couple of the items, but haven't been fast enough to get one of the coveted 90 percent off coupons. However, the only thing I really need is 90 percent off a new stove since our oven went kaput on Friday night. Oh well, it's probably keeping me from gaining weight since it's kept my wife from making Christmas cookies.

As someone who is intrigued by the dynamics of social media, I've been interested to watch several different aspects. First, there are two types of followers on Lowe's page. There are the complainers who don't win, the ones who think the contest is bogus and that the winners don't really exist, and the ones who get mad at Lowe's when there are technical difficulties. I feel sorry for them. It's not like we are entitled to anything from Lowe's. They are being generous by giving us the opportunity to get some amazing deals. Sure, it's a marketing strategy, but that doesn't mean we deserve anything other than a chance to try. We are the ones who have chosen to spend our time trying to win.

The second group of followers is the one that I've enjoyed. The people who are grateful to participate and the people who have used this as their own personal stand-up comedy audition. I have to admit that I've been one of the latter. When the first item went up and the problems happened, I took that opportunity to try my hand at humor. I was pleasantly surprised to see the 'likes' from total strangers start pouring in. I then went back and started reading other comments and was cracking up. I ended up sending a tweet to Conan O'Brien - well, we do have a history - and telling him to check out the site for some good laughs.

I didn't really think any more about it because I know that Conan probably gets thousands of tweets mentioning him each day. What was funny was that all of a sudden I ended up in a conversation with the Lowe's Twitter account. They retweeted my Conan tweet and then followed up with several other tweets. It sparked one of my friends, Nate Okuley, to tweet about this and Lowe's quickly responded. The was the start of about five or six messages back and forth with Lowe's despite the fact that the manager of that account was probably in the midst of one of the busiest days of his or her job. Since then, we've exchanged a couple of other tweets and I'm hoping that the mystery person shoots me a message from their personal account once the promotion is all over. I'm amazed at the way they have handled what could have been a stressful situation with just as much humor as Conan and his team of writers. (Yep, I just threw down the gauntlet, Conan.)

On a serious note, one of the reasons that I like social media and especially Twitter is the ability to connect with a brand on a more personal level. As people who follow me on Twitter or Facebook can attest, I am always quick to incorporate brands into my tweets and I believe in acknowledging the ones that I like. What is important to me, though, is feeling some kind of interaction with those brands and it is amazing how much a simple tweet back from one of them can have on customer loyalty. Along those regards, I have to give Subway and Staples a shoutout, too, as I've heard back from both of them this week as well.

As for measuring Lowe's success for this weekend's promotion, it doesn't take a genius to realize that their marketing department was on to something by initiating this. Their Facebook fan page has been bombarded with visitors and over 100,000 people have 'liked' it since I did on Friday morning. A quick glance at the comments, likes, and links posted on the page shows that there have been well over 1,000,000 interactions on the site this weekend. Even though all of it hasn't been positive thanks to the first group I mentioned above, it HAS been a success. And, I take my hat off to the person (or persons) managing the social media accounts and all of those messages. Wow, talk about getting some overtime! However, as you can see from this recent tweet to me from Lowe's about the promotion, they love what's happening.

Be Careful What You Tweet

Hi, my name is Dave and I'm a social media addict. Yes, I am going to admit what my wife has been telling me for awhile now.

First, it was Facebook and reconnecting with old friends from high school and college or getting to know work associates better as well as adding all my every-day friends. It made picture-sharing of my kids so much easier and provided a way to keep up with what's happening in the lives of my friends.

Then, along came Twitter. I signed up, but was very skeptical at first. I liked Facebook so much that I felt that Twitter was basically just Facebook status updates. And, I really couldn't find very many of my Facebook friends on Twitter. It seemed like it was just total strangers and celebrities.

Fast forward a year later and I am now a huge Twitter fan. Those total strangers have become some great tweeps. Being in a PR-related field as a college sports information director, I have started following a lot of great PR people in all industries. This has become a great way to share ideas through discussions like #sportsPRchat and #SIDchat and also a great support network through initiatives like #HAPPO.

And, when it comes to celebrities, I have enjoyed following some of them and even interacting with a few of them. However, one set of interactions over the past week or so has been quite the case study in social media for me.

Just like over 600,000 other people, I started following @ConanOBrien when he joined Twitter after having the Tonight Show taken back from him by Jay Leno. I was amazed at the rate by which his followers grew, but not surprised because of the outcry after he was released. Obviously, his popularity is probably at an all-time high.

After a couple of days of Conan's once-per-day tweets, I realized that he was still not following anyone. For me, it intrigues me to see who celebrities follow. I'm not sure why, but it does. The fact that Conan wasn't following anyone yet seemed like an opportunity for maybe something special.

So, on March 2 at 11:46 p.m., I sent him a tweet that said "@ConanOBrien, I think you should follow someone random and anonymous like me for your first follow just to make people go 'Hmmmm....' :)" Yes, it was a shameless plug for myself, but I thought that it was a good idea.

Fast forward a couple of days and poof....Conan apparently took my suggestion and followed @LovelyButton. She instantly went from three followers to now over 20,000. She and Conan have now been all over the news and just today Conan announced that he'll be doing a multi-city tour. There have been several articles about all of this including my favorite one in the LA Times.

I say all of this not to toot my horn or draw attention to myself. As someone who by the very nature of my job is used to promoting other people, I chalk this one up to just that...promoting someone else. I just find it kind of cool to think that I actually started the ball rolling on it.

People who know me know that two of my favorite things are meeting new people and connecting people with like interests. I enjoy trying to help people find jobs that fit their skill set and desires, I enjoy introducing people with mutual interests, and I've even tried my hand a few times at match-making (although my wife strongly suggests that I just mind my own business and let things take their course there and she's probably right).

This is my first take at writing a blog and I'm not sure where it's even headed in days to come. One thought that I had was to introduce to the world some of the great people that I've gotten to know thanks to Twitter and also share some of the fun experiences that I have as they happen. It never ceases to amaze me just how small this world is...we are all connected. My goal is to make a positive difference in the lives of those I come in contact with.