In a few months, it will be TechForum time in Texas, an event put on by Technology & Learning. One of the workshops I submitted was an article on Social Media in Schools. I simply advocate that we need to educate our staff and turn them loose. That’s the quickest way to get positive tweets and social media buzz about your school district.

(I suspect that few listen to me, a veteran edublogger because my certification is in education rather than public relations and communication).

Reading Dave Fleet, one of my favorite PR/Communications bloggers to read, I stumbled upon one of his points regarding transparency:

How do you achieve that level of involvement while maintaining integrity?

Disclosure.

We make a point of disclosing client relationships at every turn. That runs from disclosure in blog comments, to naming individuals in bios on blogs and Twitter accounts, to even naming who is writing individual tweets. By disclosing who you are, transparency is maintained.

Dave points out that this is all really short-term. The real solution is for much of the tactical execution to be taken in-house if appropriate staff with the right skillsets and framework within which to operate are available. And, this is exactly where school organizations are going to encounter the most obstacles. While we have talented “in-house” staff, we’re afraid to use them. And if we “use them,” is that the best approach? Better to create an environment that encourages sharing, transparency, and the freedom to share ideas and information about what’s going on.

What are the dilemmas in this type of situation:

Just tweeted some very exciting news about [DistrictName Removed] that employees have been waiting for since July 2006. Wouldn’t you like to retweet it to your 1800 followers???
Source: School District Communications Staff email forwarded to me

What if you edubloggers/twitterers were asked by your Communications office to tweet positive things about your school district? Which choice would you make of those available below?

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure