Spreading the Word:

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Spreading the Word

• Online Tools and Techniques for
• Communicating Current Events
• Sara Mitchell Emilie Drobnes
• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Greenbelt, MD

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Extra! Extra! Read all about it!
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eNewsletters

• Email newsletters - email your latest news and
  updates to your audience.
• Mailing lists -
• email distribution and discussion of news and
  information.

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eNewsletters

• Resources needed
• Email and list management tools
• Concise, well-edited content
• Connections between eNewsletter and materials
• Subscribers (existing or registration)

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eNewsletters

• Pros
• Easy and inexpensive to implement and maintain
• Information directly into audience mailboxes
• Builds a relationship between audience and sender
• Generates current interest in websites and
  materials
• Cons
• Often viewed as thinly-veiled spam and unread
• Difficult to track readership and impact of
  mailings
• Subscribers can be difficult to find and retain

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Blogging

• A weblog or online journal offers informal and
  approachable communication.
• Link to newsworthy materials or share a new
  perspective on a topic.

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Blogging

• Content can be hosted on your site with blogging
  software or using a commercial blog service
• Entries are not expected to be lengthy or
  polished
• Creates a voice for the content
• Opens possibility of reader feedback to entries

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Blogging

• Pros
• Inexpensive to implement and maintain
• Informal and personable a voice for your
  content
• Comments and forums allow reader involvement
• Cons
• Often perceived as a less reliable source of info
• Successful blogs require very frequent posting
• Unmoderated reader comments can be inappropriate

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Podcasting

• Engage your audience with audio and video files
  for playback anywhere, anytime.
• Create a podcast or vodcast to provide an
  experience beyond words alone.

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Podcasting
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Podcasting

1. Record audio file
2. Convert to mp3
3. Post the mp3 online
4. Syndicate the link

Important considerations include
STYLE STRUCTURE CONTENT
QUALITY
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Podcasting

• Pros
• Multimedia content can be personable and engaging
• Format is highly portable (home, work, car, etc.)
• Popular, with many channels of distribution
• Cons
• Takes time and resources to create quality
  podcast
• Caters to tech-savvy audience accessibility
  issues
• Success from repeated podcasting, not one-time
  use

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Really Simple Syndication (RSS)

• A powerful and easy way to publicize all of your
  online methods of communication.
• Tell your audience that you just updated your
  blog, podcast, or news site.

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Really Simple Syndication (RSS)

• Single format used to syndicate different types
  of HTML or media content (sites, blogs, podcasts,
  etc.)
• Uses simple XML code in your site to create a
  news feed
• Readers use news aggregators to pick up the
  headlines from your news feed
• Headlines link to online content or media files

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Communication Choices

• AUDIENCE (who?)
• CONTENT (what?)
• RESOURCES (how?)

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blog
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What would you do?

• Family science night
• Communicating workshops and new materials
• Pre-launch information and events
• eNewsletter?
• News feed?
• Podcast?
• Blog?