Not all failures are the same. Here are five kinds, from frequency = good all the way to please-don't!

FAIL OFTEN: Ideas that challenge the status quo. Proposals. Brainstorms. Concepts that open doors.

FAIL FREQUENTLY: Prototypes. Spreadsheets. Sample ads and copy.

FAIL OCCASIONALLY: Working mockups. Playtesting sessions. Board meetings.

FAIL RARELY: Interactions with small groups of actual users and customers.

FAIL NEVER: Keeping promises to your constituents.

The thing is, in their rush to play it safe and then their urgency to salvage everything in the face of an emergency, most organizations do precisely the opposite. They throw their customers or their people under the bus ("we had no choice") but rarely take the pro-active steps necessary to fail quietly, and often, in private, in advance, when there's still time to make things better.

Better to have a difficult conversation now than a failed customer interaction later.

Source: Seth's Blog

Most of the time, we think of our job as a set of tasks that take place in a ---> [box] <---.

It turns out, though, that if we go upstream and alter the stuff that comes to us, it's a lot easier to do great work. And if we go downstream and teach people how to work with what we created, the final product is better as well. Now, it's more of a --> [   box   ] <--.

A doctor can consider her work in the box of the examining room. But if she figures out how to get people to quit smoking before they come in, her results are better. If she figures out how to get people to take their meds after they leave, same thing.

A designer who receives a better project brief will deliver better work. A manufacturer who figures out how to teach users to use the object properly will get better word of mouth...

Marketers, of course, can have the biggest box of all. So the stuff we think of as 'marketing' can be altered long before the person ever sees an ad, and have an impact long after they've got the product.

The challenge lies in spending a lot of time and money on the upstream and downstream parts of the work, instead of always assuming that your [box] is just what happens inside your cubicle, or as a direct result of your actions.

Source: Seth's Blog

By Ari B. Adler

Facebook, Twitter and Flickr augment the live experience for animal enthusiasts

Zoos and aquariums across the country are joining the online jungle to attract visitors.

Of the 221 institutions that are members of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, at least two-thirds are using social media of some kind, and the number is growing continually, says Linda Cendes, a member of AZA’s communications team.

“It has provided a great way for zoos and aquariums to interact with their communities on a whole new level,” she said. “It’s not only to promote events and other activities, but a way to provide real-time updates to visitors, whether to announce a keeper talk or a closure due to inclement weather.”

For Potter Park Zoo in Lansing, Mich., outreach to visitors has been steadily increasing during the 17 months that Jake Pechtel has been on the job. Originally a producer and marketer of video games, Pechtel joined Potter Park Zoo when he got a job there updating its website.

“Potter Park had updated the zoo on the inside, then the project started to bring the website up to date,” said Pechtel, who has earned the designation “Swiss Army Knife” at the zoo. “Our thought behind social media is enhancing guests’ experience, something for them to take home and share with friends and make them want to be fans, too.”

The zoo started a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a Flickr feed in September 2009, but the accounts sat dormant until early 2010. Pechtel said the zoo just recently started using YouTube, as well, having to opt for the channel name “PotterParkTV” because they hadn’t secured their full name earlier.

“There’s definitely a lesson to be learned there,” he said.

Even with all the activity around social media, Pechtel said organizations need to remember to stay focused. The zoo’s newly updated website is still the core component; it’s what Pechtel refers to as a “discovery tool.”

“It’s a landing site for every piece of social media. It beckons to the way social media works,” Pechtel said. “Someone might love to converse with you on Twitter one day, then suddenly might find Flickr and, when they do, you need to be there.”

Better than 1,000 words

Pechtel said their Flickr account is “very interesting” for the zoo.

“Photos can be more emotional than words, and we try very hard to make our experience an emotional one for visitors,” he said. “When the Flickr pool was started, we made an effort to go find people who were already using Flickr to share pictures of their trips to the zoo and invited those folks to join our group.”

Pechtel said he tries to stay active within the group, posting behind the scenes photos as much as possible, which has gotten the zoo invited to join other Flickr groups.

“Flickr, as it turns out, has been as much about participation as any of its social media cousins,” Pechtel said.

The zoo has used Flickr to engage with visitors and make them feel a part of the zoo, in some cases even offering memberships in exchange for great photos to be used on the zoo website.

“I've since met a number of the photographers, as they stop by my office when they come to the zoo,” Pechtel said. “It’s a nice translation from online acquaintance to someone you share a chat with.”

Cendes said social media is allowing people to experience their zoo or aquarium in a way that isn’t possible even when visiting in person.

“People can see pictures of newborns even before they are picked up by the media, videos showing behind-the-scenes animal care or updates about current research or rehabilitation of a rescued animal,” she said. “People look to their zoo and aquarium to be leaders in conservation and education and you will often see conversations between an engaged public and the institution.”

For folks like Robin Miner-Swartz of Lansing, Potter Park’s engagement via social media got her to think about the hometown zoo she hadn’t visited in a long time.

“I guess I had begun to think of the zoo as a family place or a kid place, and I was neither. But once Jake started Potte Park’s social media efforts, I began to see the zoo in a whole new light,” she said. “I love Jake's enthusiasm for the zoo but also for the Lansing community in general.”

Pechtel gives people a view of what’s going on at the zoo with glimpses behind the scenes but he also shows them a lot of what they’re missing if they don’t visit.

Featured content on Facebook

For the zoo, Facebook is the biggest home base away from its website.

“It’s where we can post the most robust content beyond our website,” he said. “I look at the Facebook posts as tent poles. Twitter is used as a way to fill in the gaps between the tent poles.”

For example, when Pechtel was going to visit the bongo exhibit recently for a Facebook update, he used Twitter to alert folks that he was going to spend some time in the bongo yard and he’d have pictures on Facebook soon.

Its with his Facebook posts that Pechtel tries to tie the zoo into things the page fans might already be talking about. For example, a recent wall post read, “Our Golden Lion Tamarins are sad after watching their home team Brazil get eliminated from the World Cup. Did you know these guys are on loan from the Brazilian government?”

The Facebook page has more than 3,800 friends. Even when coupled with the Twitter followers, it’s a smaller online fan base when compared with some zoos. But Pechtel said the level of interaction is great, even when compared with much larger facilities.

“A lot of zoos have a lot more fans and followers. They might have 10,000 followers and get 30 retweets. I get the same with 800 followers,” he said. “It’s about quality not quantity.”

Of course, the bottom line is still the bottom line, and any outreach efforts are eventually going to be measured against the number of visitors walking in the front gate. Pechtel said the zoo has seen a 15 percent increase in foot traffic this year, which he attributes a lot to social networking.

“It’s tough to measure that though,” Pechtel said. “The end result of social networking is awareness. If you have a good, succinct marketing campaign in conjunction with a good effort in social networking, then the awareness level goes up. And having a user-centric focus has really driven our success. No one becomes friends with a logo.”

Pechtel said the zoo’s Twitter account, @PotterParkZoo, has “a bit of an attitude,” which makes it more personable for its more than 800 followers. It’s an attitude he tries to carry on throughout all of the zoo’s social networking activities.

“Other zoo employees mention that their friends say they feel like they’re talking to a person on Facebook rather than the zoo—and that’s the point,” he said.

Plus, without social media, Miner-Swartz probably wouldn’t have gotten to know some of the animals on a first-name basis.

“They have a pig named Kevin Bacon. How hilarious is that?”

Ari B. Adler is a professional communicator and strategist with experience as a newspaper reporter and editor, as well as a government and corporate spokesperson. In addition to freelance consulting, he serves as communications administrator for Delta Dental of Michigan and is an adjunct instructor at Michigan State University. You can follow him on Twitter at @aribadler.

By Lindsey Miller

‘Seattle Mama Doc’ delivers candid, timely info with a human touch

Health care systems run thousands of blogs—NPR estimates more than 120,000—but very few of them are written by doctors.

Between seeing patients and doing paperwork, doctors don’t have much time for writing. Plus, many view blogging as a job for communicators.

Pediatrician Wendy Sue Swanson sees things differently. Despite juggling a clinic job, a consulting position, and a family, last November she started a blog called “Seattle Mama Doc” in cooperation with Seattle Children’s Hospital. She feels it’s an essential part of her job to give her patients and their parents honest, unfiltered information about preventing illness and injury.

“How we can we really start leading some of the stories rather than being the talking heads or the sound bites?” Swanson says. “When something comes up, the blogosphere goes nuts; then about 10 days later, the medical expert has something to say.”

The views and recognition Swanson gets doesn’t hurt Seattle Children’s brand either. The blog draws an average of 12,000 unique visits per month and almost seven minutes on the site.

For communicators who have the will but not the way to persuade a doctor to blog, Swanson passes down three tips.

Find someone who’s passionate

Blogging is not every doctor’s dream side job. For the blog to have a chance at enduring success, it is essential that the physician is enthusiastic about the process. Every bit as important is the ability to write well.

“Trying to stretch doctors out of a place where they’re comfortable won’t work and won’t be authentic,” Swanson says. “They won’t be excited, and if it’s a labor, it won’t resonate with people.”

Seattle Children’s didn’t have to do much to persuade Swanson; she has been interested in the communications aspect of medicine her whole career. She spends a lot of time writing about her experiences with her own children (both under age 4) on the blog, but she often ties in a new study. Children’s is an academic hospital, and Swanson’s blog reflects that focus.

For example, a recent installment of a recurring post, “If It Were My Child,” talked about a study that confirms a risk of seizures in children who receive the combo MMRV (Measles-Mumps-Rubella-Varicella) shot between 1 and 2 years of age. Swanson comes to the conclusion, both as a mom and as a pediatrician, that the shot isn’t worth the risk and says she wouldn’t recommend it for her own kids or her patients.

It is also essential that the future blogger/doctor understands that blogging requires time. It takes Swanson many hours beyond her already 60- to 70-hour workweek to produce at least two posts weekly with photos or video.

“When you ask a physician to do this, and you want them to continue to be reputable and engaged in the community … it is no small commitment,” Swanson says. “I don’t know how to do this in less time and still write blogs that are lengthy and thorough enough.”

Keep your hands off

One thing that helps with time management: Swanson sets her own schedule. She works on the blog whenever she has time during the week or weekend. She chooses what she’s going to say, how many times she’s going to post, and whether she’s going to respond to comments. She edits and posts her own work.

“It’s important that I author this blog, that I decide what I want to write,” Swanson says. “I don’t want to sound like I’m promoting your hospital, because I’m not. I’m going to say what I feel.”

For example, during the H1N1 scare in fall 2009, one of the first cases in Washington State was in Swanson’s clinic with a physician who had been practicing in her exam rooms the day before. “I was terrified. We didn’t know what was going on.”

Rather than repeat the CDC pitch of “get your vaccine,” Swanson blogged about her concerns for her 6-month-old baby at home. She also said that the only way to protect her kids was to get the vaccine despite any possible dangers.

“I don’t let anyone touch what I write,” Swanson says. “There are probably spelling and grammatical errors, but it will ring true with fans if it is sincere.”

That philosophy extends beyond her blog. Using her iPhone, Swanson creates low-budget, lightly edited videos on subjects of interest. A recent video on creating disaster kits got 250 views.

Pick the right tools

Part of staying hands off and maximizing doctors’ time is choosing user-friendly tools and letting them pick the software.

Children’s wanted Swanson to use its own equipment, a plodding PC, when she started “Seattle Mama Doc.” She insisted, though, on Apple hardware and software—tools with which she’s comfortable. Now, she uses an iPhone for photos and videos, a Mac for writing, and iMovie software for video editing.

Children’s also set up its internal software initially as the framework for the blog. But posts often took her three to four hours to publish, with another hour to load, and yet another hour to get comments to show up. For greater efficiency, she now works in WordPress, and Swanson is much happier.

“I really like this blog. I so excited about doing this and telling my story,” Swanson says. “It’s a way I have found to communicate with far more people than the 25 to 30 families I see in the clinic every day.”