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Be Part of the Networking Vanguard

Executive Update

Advance

Your

Program

Using

Social

Media

By Wesley Delbridge, R.D., Chandler Unified School District, Chandler, AZ

Shar

ed In

sigh

ts

In the summer issue of the CN Executive Update™ (“Taking the Digital Plunge,” page 5), I wrote about ways you could use social media in your school nutrition program. But there’s another chapter in this story. In addition to the “wow” factor that accompanies these networking capabilities, there are realities that must be addressed before you’ll feel completely comfortable using them.

Benefits 2.0

First, the “wow” factor. Let’s review what social media can do for you and your foodservice operation.

1. Social media is everywhere. Increasingly, students, teach-ers, parents and community members are connecting through social networking. It has become the most popular way for people to communicate. In fact, many people say social media has moved from being optional to being compulsory if you want to interact with your many constituencies.

2. Social media builds relationships. Engagement is at the heart of social networking, and engagement is what leads to customer loyalty. With social media, you gain the means for instant, two-way communication. It lets you promote all the wonderful things you are doing in your program, and provides

a channel through which you can learn how customers are feeling, all in real time. This is particu-larly valuable in light of the new meal regulations that have been introduced this year.

4. Social media is free. Yes, there is an initial investment in some “hardware.” And it takes time to learn about all the available platforms.

But once you have done this, you can communicate to your heart’s content at no extra cost to your program. Just think, free publicity and quick communication through a direct medium. The more you use social media, the better you get at it, and the greater the impact you will have.

Addressing the Challenges

As with anything new, it’s natural that you’ll go through a period of adjustment as you develop your social media

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presence. But as you get more involved with networking, you’ll find the learning curve isn’t that steep. Here are a few sugges-tions to help make your climb a bit easier.

1. Find the right person to manage things. One of the biggest challenges you’ll face when hooking up with social media is to find the talent to take the project on. The Los Angeles Unified School District went as far as hiring a full-time social media director. However, not everyone is in a position to do that.

Consider who on your staff is best qualified to handle the project. It could be a kitchen manager, a supervisor, or even a college intern. The key is to find someone who is passion-ate about your program, and who is willing and able to put in the time that’s needed to develop and maintain the process. Survey your staff to test for interest. Keep in mind, with social media, you need to be fully committed to the task. Otherwise, you may not succeed.

2. Insure broad access to available resources. Your district may have a policy in place that blocks selected social media sites from your computer. If so, schedule a meeting with your boss, and perhaps a representative from I.T., to talk about opening up these sites to you. Discuss the numerous education-specific networking sites that have been developed to protect users from unsafe practices.

Review the benefits of social media with them, and share success stories from other districts. If they are still reluctant, ask the administration to allow you to implement your program on a trial basis to see if participation goes up. Numbers and facts will generally strengthen your case.

3. Get good at using social media. Directors are sometimes intimidated getting started with social media. However, as with everything, practice makes perfect. Don’t be afraid to try. Facebook and Twitter have great tutorials as part of their “Help” sections, and YouTube has great tutorial videos on their site, too. It will be time well invested.

4. Create social media policies and guidelines. Directors and their administrators are often concerned about what users might post. They fear that parents and students may be negative, and criticize the foodservice program. Remember, however, that you can always remove offensive or negative comments.

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Paula Pohlkamp, Supervisor of Nutrition Services, North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale, Minnesota

Paula is deeply involved in promoting the value of school foodservice. Throughout her 13 years at her district, she has been an ardent cheerleader for her department.

Kevin Ponce, Child Nutrition Director, Mid-Del Public Schools, Oklahoma

Kevin, a U.S. Air Force veteran, today brings his enthusiasm to managing 25 school cafeteria sites and 130 staff employees. Previ-ously, he supervised and managed two other Oklahoma districts.

Paul Schmid, Food Services Director, East Stroudsburg Area School District, Pennsylvania

Paul is a strong advocate for local buying, nutrition advancement, summer feeding and Chefs in the Classroom. As a former foodservice broker/consultant, he understands how to build good connections.

CN Editorial Advisory BoardContinued from page 5

Executive Update

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Be Part of the Networking VanguardContinued from page 12

Wesley Delbridge, R.D., is Food and Nutrition Supervisor with Chandler Unified Schools, Arizona. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Arizona State University, and serves on Carroll Services CN Editorial Advisory Board.

There is another way to view negative feedback. People who say unflat-tering things about your program can become potential customers. Consider the man I described in my previous article. He had nothing but bad things to say, but once we sat down to talk, and he understood our goals, he became a strong advocate for our program. So don’t be too quick to censor. With time, effort, and a little TLC, you can get these users on your side.

One more point. To protect yourselves from unfortunate incidents, it is important to have clear-cut, widely publicized social media guidelines in place. The Web site, Edutopia.org, in collaboration with Facebook, has developed a very useful document that describes how to compose such protocols. You can download a PDF file of “How to Create Social Media Guidelines for Your School” from their site.

Social media can be a compelling tool to promote your program. Find the right people to manage it, invest time in training everyone, and create a strong partnership with your administration. Promote your program as much as possible, and become your most enthusiastic cheerleader. Before long, you’ll be able to brag about how many new “friends” you have.

[Be sure to follow CUSD Nutrition on Facebook at www.face-book/cusdnutrition and follow us on Twitter @cusdnutrition.]