October Update: Facebook Class, Land Stewardship and More

Thanks to everybody who came to our Pick of the Market dinner last month, everyone who helped to make the event a success – those of you who donated items to our silent and eBay auctions, you who bid on the items, and you who made tax-deductible contributions. And a big thanks to the folks at the Blackbird Cafe, for making it a memorable event with great food and service.

We have some exciting events coming up this month and next –  a Get Connected! meetings with the Land Stewardship Project tonight, a low-cost class next week on “Using Facebook to Promote Your Business,” plus a Social Media Clinic, and the final session of our three-part Step in Up Reporting Workshop on how to write the kinds of stories that attract readers. Plus a free Newsroom Cafe workshops. Scroll down for details, and our editors’ reports.

Get Connected! is the Twin Cities Media Alliance’s series of meetings highlighting organizations working for change in the areas ofEducation, Transportation, Work, Immigrant Communities, Health and the Environment. At each meeting, you’ll have a chance to find out about the organization, how you can get involved, and how you can use social media to work more effectivelyon the issues that you care about. Each meeting also includes an opportunity to socialize and network over food and drink. Get Connected events are free and open to the public, but registration is requested.

Tonight  - Wednesday, October 10 – our engagement team will join up with the Land Stewardship Project at the Gandhi Mahal restaurant, for a unique event about how to use new media to amplify the voice of Land Stewardship Project’s members and others who care about healthy food, stewardship of the land and family farms. Among the topics we’ll discuss:

• how new media is being used to amplify organizing in rural communities
• how the Land Stewardship Project promotes and fosters the development of rural economies and new farmers while taking care of the land
• ways that the Land Stewardship Project is using new media to make positive changes for people and the land.

There will also be a learning session on using Twitter to connect and engage. We will show attendees how they can use Twitter to connect with individuals and organizations, how hashtags can be used to find and engage on topics of interest and how to find groups and people on Twitter. To sign up, click here.

We also have several more Get Connected! meetings planned for this month, with Think Small on October 23 (Education and Early Childhood Development);  the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy on October 29 (the Environment and Food Justice); andEnvision Minnesota on October 30 (the Environment and Creative Placemaking.) Stay tuned for details.

Mark your calendars: ”After the Elections: Change Work, New Media and the Challenges Ahead” is the title of our eighth annual Fall Media Forum, to be held Saturday,  November 10 at UROC, the Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center of the University of Minnesota. We’re inviting all the groups and organizations that participated in our Get Connected! meetings to reunite for this event. It should be a great opportunity to find out more about how you can get connected with local organizations working for change, and how you can use media tools to engage more effectively. More details to follow.

Newsroom Cafes: 

Do you have a story or a question? Drop in and talk about the Daily Planet, our news coverage, and how you can contribute. Sometimes, the newsrooms cafes have a special focus,  but you can still come and workshop stories that you are working on regardless of the topic. Free.

 To find Mary, just look for the laptop with the sticker that says “I heart the First Amendment.” 

• Friday, October 19, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Health Care Beat.  If you are interested in reporting on health care, policy issues, public health … join us and help to build a health beat. Editor Mary Turck will talk about stories we are looking for, and story ideas that you bring. We’ll be meeting at People’s Organic Coffee in Edina – on 70th Street between France and York.

Classes: 

Using Facebook to Promote Your Business

Tuesday, October 16, 7:30 to 9 p.m. 

Daily Planet office, 2600 Franklin Avenue E, Suite #2 (enter from parking lot.)

You know that social media is a great way to market your business and share information about your brand, but where do you start? How do you find time to fit it all in? During this hour and a half workshop, learn how to set up a business Facebook page and engage your fans. Discover ways to curate and distribute consistent information and grow your fan base. This workshop will also offer suggestions for how to set up your own editorial calendars related to social media content, ways to maximize your Facebook efforts when your time is limited, and general best practices in social media. Time will be left at the end for open discussion and questions. Laptops suggested, but not required.
Who should attend? Small business owners, CEOs and entrepreneurs interested in learning how to use Facebook to create awareness and expand business reach. This workshop is intended for individuals who are looking for ways to increase their Facebook presence and/or who are new to Facebook business pages.

Instructor Melissa Harrison is founder of Allee, a marketing and creative services firm in Albertville, Minn. As a strategic marketing professional with more than a decade of experience in working with nonprofits, member-based organizations and smallbusinesses, Melissa integrates traditional marketing strategies with new media tools and concepts.

Tuition for this class is $10; scholarships are available upon request. Register at the DataBank.

Step It Up Reporting Workshop 3: Building Your Story

Wednesday, October 17, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Daily Planet office, 2600 Franklin Avenue E, Suite #2, Minneapolis (enter from the parking lot behind the Wells Fargo Bank building.

Opening strong, building strong

Photos, video, graphics, charts

Adding value, from links to promos

Workshops will be taught by Mary Turck, editor of the Twin Cities Daily Planet. Enrollment is limited, with preference for active Twin Cities Daily Planet contributors. There will be incentives for those who complete the workshop and four assigned stories. Cost is $10, with scholarships available on request.

To attend this workshop, please register at the DataBank.

Social Media Clinic

Thursday,  October 25, 4 to 6 p.m. at the Daily Planet office, 2600 Franklin Avenue E, Suite #2, Minneapolis (enter from the parking lot behind the Wells Fargo Bank building.)

Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Pinterest—wherever you are online, if you’re a little confused, you’re not alone! Come to our monthly social media clinics and get a hand from Twin Cities Media Alliance staff members and social media experts Marcos Lopez-Carlson and Jay Gabler—in addition to connecting with other community members and sharing your own best practices. Our social media clinics are meant to help you successfully navigate your way through the online forest of information, and to reach the communities you want to reach for your nonprofit, small business, or personal interests.

WHO: Marcos Lopez-Carlson and/or Jay Gabler (at least one will be present, both may be present), and up to ten registered participants.

WHY: As part of our nonprofit mission to help members of Twin Cities communities connect with one another and with our larger global communities using the power of new media.

HOW: We ask participants to pre-register so as to guarantee that space will be available. Registration fee is $10; scholarships are available on request. Click here to register.

Participation in the social media clinics is free for all Daily Planet advertisers (click here for more information about how to advertise with the Daily Planet). Bring your laptop—wi-fi is available. If you want to participate but don’t have a laptop, inquire with us; we may be able to provide you with a computer for the session.

Staff reports: 

Community Engagement Coordinator Bruce Johansen reports: 

Deferred action policy, mental health advocacy, and walkability along the Central Corridor were among the topics of September’s Get Connected! community meetings. Attendees learned how to connect with work being done by the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, NAVIGATE, NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness) Minnesota, and the District Councils Collaborative of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. They were also shown new media tools to make them more effective advocates for change. With seven New Normal 2012: Get Connected! community meetings coming up, October will be the busiest yet for our community engagement team: Bruce Johansen, Marcos Lopez-Carlson, and Clarence White. We’ll be partnering on events with Parents United for Public Schools, The Arc Greater Twin Cities, the Land Stewardship Project, Think Small, Envision Minnesota, and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

We’ll also be conducting the first of many neighborhood photo walks, part of a new community assets mapping project, and preparing for our annual Fall Media Forum, scheduled for November 10 at UROC, the University of Minnesota’s Urban Research-Engagement Outreach Center.

Arts Editor Jay Gabler reports:

The State Theatre recently hosted the annual Ivey Awards for local theater, and Sheila Regan and I attended to report for the Daily Planet. In writing my report, I was pleased to find that of the 10 productions honored this year, the Daily Planet had covered every single one. Among our coverage of this year’s awardees was Dwight Hobbes’s interview with the director of Walking Shadow Theatre Company’s Compleat Female Stage Beauty; Marie Cooney’s Free Speech Zone essay on the Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company’s Our Class; and reviews of shows like Pillsbury House Theatre’s Buzzer. As with 2011 Emerging Artist Ivey winner Anna Sundberg, 2012 Emerging Artist winner Isabel Nelson was someone who was already familiar to Daily Planet readers: we were praising those young artists’ work for years before they won Ivey recognition. I’m proud to say that, thanks to our tireless and talented citizen journalists, the Daily Planet continues to be an essential read for local theater lovers: a home for the kind of opinionated, dynamic, and always-surprising coverage you won’t find anywhere else.

Editor Mary Turck reports:

Global Groceries debuted this month with trips to Minsk Market and Adom African Grocery, and a promise of a tour of the world through excursions into ethnic grocery stores around the metro area.Check it out, and if you want even more food news, subscribe to our weekly TC Foodies newsletter. While the mainstream news media are filled with reports on polls and politicos, we have election coverage focused on Minnesota na dlocal opinions. Our main election page has links to local races, and we have featured local views including Minneapolis School Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson‘s memory of growing up in Selma, Alabama during the struggle for voting rights and similarities with Minnesota’s proposed Voter ID. From Voter ID and the Marriage Amendment to the St. Paul school referendum, we’ve got lots of interesting coverage of Minnesota and Twin Cities issues.

You can support our work by donating to the Twin Cities Media Alliance through the GiveMN.org donation website, (http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Twin-Cities-Media-Alliance).  If you prefer, you can send a check to TCMA, 2600 E. Franklin, suite #2, Minneapolis MN 55406.

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