Lavish parties, high-profile celebrities, an outdoor zip line – the city of Indianapolis is transforming in front of our eyes and I, for one, couldn’t be more excited. I look forward to enjoying the ultimate fan experience in Indy and want to be able to share that with others, both in Indy and around the country. So how do all of the fans come together to do this? They buzzfunnel.me!

Here at Borshoff, we wanted to create a buzz and serve as a grassroots “hub” for a behind-the-scenes look at Indianapolis and Super Bowl XLVI. We wanted to allow everyone, no matter where they’re located, the opportunity to enjoy the “every day” fan experience.

So we created buzzfunnel.me, a fun and dynamic, mobile-optimized website that will connect people now until  the Super Bowl by capturing people’s interests, experiences and comments about the event via video. We’ll be out in Street Teams all week, capturing videos and interviewing fans, so be on the lookout. The site will also feature Twitter feeds and variety of Quipol polls.

Whether or not you’re going to the Big Game, buzzfunnel.me will provide the ultimate fan experience this Super Bowl. And if you’re out and about in Indianapolis and/or the surrounding Super Cities over the next week, upload videos to YouTube or Vimeo and tag with “buzzfunnel” or find a member of the Borshoff buzzfunnel street team out and about around the city. And follow us on Twitter: @buzzfunnelme. We’d love to feature you on buzzfunnel!

#Wisconsin born, Northern #IN raised, #Indy resident, #Eastcoast enthusiast. I absolutely love eating here every year: http://www.auntcarriesri.com/

Spent 4 yrs @uindy. Participated on @UIndyCPB #speechteam @UIndyTopDog @UIndyPRSSA and @UIndyMinute. BS in Communication, minor in Poli Sci.

My interest in govt communication led me to intern @Indianasos #FF to #teamoutreach @melanie_woods @burtonjeremy and of course @ToddRokita

I am a huge @Packers fan. I might live tweet during a game #GoPackers, #Win or even #Superbowl2012. Definitely a #Cheesehead4life

Eager to connect with other #PR pros. Now transitioning to membership in @prsahoosier. Find me, @timcoxey, & I’ll send you my #twitbizcard.

Looking forward to learning & growing professionally with #Borshoff. Excited to work on many #publicaffairs projects with a skilled #team.

• Do thank your new followers personally. People decide to follow for a reason; they think your tweets are interesting. Manners shouldn’t stop at your computer screen.
• Don’t use Twitter to take out personal anger or frustrations. You are always being watched. Case in point: http://yhoo.it/p8mzGs.
• Do use shortening tools. For example, to share pictures, try twitpic.com. To compress long URLS, bit.ly and tinyurl.com  are useful. Long URLS may activate Deck.ly, causing users to go over their character limit, which leads to my next don’t…
• Don’t go over your character limit. Long ago, I blogged about Dabbling in Deck.ly. Now, after seeing tweets go over the 140-character limit, I’m not a fan. Don’t make your followers open a webpage to finish off a couple words. Keep it concise. In fact, it’s best to keep them at 80-100 characters so others can RT and not have to cut down your tweet.
• Do have a personality. Humans are not robots.  Keep it real.
• Don’t use Twitter (or any social media platform) to pitch, blog or tweet fluffy stuff following a tragedy. Respect what happened, and give it a few days.
• Do update your profile bio. It is the first thing people see about you and makes an impression on you or your company. Make sure it is accurate and appropriate.
• Don’t fall off the face of the Earth. If you create an account, use it! What’s the point in having an inactive account? Deactivate it.
• Do interact and engage with others. Respond to mentions and RT others. You lose a major benefit of Twitter if you don’t engage in conversation. Open doors for dialogue, ask questions and follow up with people to build relationships and network.
• Don’t overload. No one wants to see one Twitter account taking up the entire feed. Remember, tweet responsibly.
• Do use social media in your client strategy. Have a plan, and convert fans and followers into customers.
• Don’t tweet the same content over and over. You will bore your followers. Mix up those tweets to gain followers and increase engagement.
• Do measure your social media analytics, and I don’t just mean followers. How do you know if you are growing if you don’t have a benchmark? How many Twitter referrals are bringing unique visitors to your company’s website?
• Don’t use corporate rhetoric. Avoid confusing jargon that makes it difficult for followers to learn more about your company.
• Do set social media objectives. What do you ultimately want your business to achieve from social media? Brand awareness, networking opportunities, SEO benefits? Pick one and stick with it.

I recently returned from the annual IPREX meeting in Washington, D.C., where I enjoyed the collegiality of our partners from around the world and picked up plenty of good information along the way. IPREX is an international network of independent public relations and communications agencies, so meetings always offer great discussions about creative ideas on how to run our companies.

During the D.C. meeting, we also heard from several presenters ranging from a Reuters deputy bureau chief to a social media pro to a political columnist. Below are some interesting data points and insights.

David All, chief creative officer, David All Group:

“Never let an intern run Twitter.” You want to put a senior person on it: one who understands the strategy, can deliver the right messages and will watch grammar.

George  Vrandenburg, chairman, Alzheimer’s Action PAC; William Rebeck, Ph.D., professor of neuroscience, Georgetown University; Michael Hodin, Ph.D., executive director, The Global Coalition on Aging:

Alzheimer’s disease is bigger than HIV/AIDS. We don’t need to find a cure for it; we need to delay its onset. Half of the 85+ population has Alzheimer’s . This has huge economic and quality of life implications as our population ages.

Kristin Roberts, Washington news editor and deputy bureau chief, Reuters:

Journalists are nasty, cranky and don’t want to talk to you. Reporters spend their time trying to build relationships [to get sources]; you [PR people] should do that too.

On Reuters: If we’re not exclusive, we have to be distinctive.  This means being smarter, doing critical analysis, being more sophisticated.

The Honorable Joao Vale de Almeida, European Union ambassador to the United States:

Common values are the real foundation of the relationship between the European Union and the United States. The economy drives the relationship.

Ron Brownstein, editorial director and columnist, National Journal Group:

Today 80 percent of seniors in the United States are white, while 47 percent of Americans under 18 are non-white. They are the two fastest growing groups, and this has significant implications for our society.

“Information overload” is the subject of a recent article in The Telegraph, a UK newspaper.  The article discusses the findings of a USC research team that set forth to amass all forms of media stored and sent in the world – from movies and books to e-mails and text messages.

The study concluded that in 1986 the average person received roughly 40 newspapers’ worth of information each day; in 2007, this figure leapt to 174.

For those of us who are active participants in the digital age of smartphones and social media, “overload” may be an understatement. How do our minds process it all? Reading with purpose and filtering information for significance becomes critical.

Reading with purpose is particularly relevant for one aspect of client service in which I engage on a daily basis: media monitoring.  We scan print, online, TV and radio media for content with relevance to our client’s products, brand and industry. On any given day, our team receives hundreds of articles via search engines that seek out specific key words.

Searching for key words is a good place to start, but I’ve learned that developing your own filters is important in preventing information overload. Here is what I look for when reading for work or pleasure:

• Reliable source – Do I trust the outlet/ author to provide factual information?
• Relevance – When the content hits home I’m more likely to be engaged in reading and sharing the information.
• Powerful statistics – Study data, sales numbers, rankings and the like can pack quite a punch.
• Striking visuals – Images with impact, informational charts/tables, videos and great design tell stories on their own.
• Creative phrasing – Inventive language catches the ear the same way striking images catch the eye. For example, during the recent Midwest winter storm, my Twitter feed featured a multitude of creative synonyms for “winter storm.” My favorites: “Winter Wallop” (from INside Indiana Business) and “Snowmageddon” (from ChicagoNow.com).
• Out of the blue – A fresh perspective can spark interesting conversation.

I’m interested in hearing your insights – How do you process all 174 newspapers’ worth of information?

As a member of Borshoff’s social media team, I try to stay up to speed on the latest and greatest offered on social networks. Recently I downloaded the newest edition of TweetDeck and was informed that I had the chance to break the microblogging barrier by going over the 140 character limit. “Hmm…” I thought. As much as I like the idea of being clear and concise in tweets, TweetDeck now encourages me to forget all that. Introducing Deck.ly.

Sometimes it’s hard to say everything you want in a short space. Deck.ly allows you to complete that thought. The Twitter Team at Borshoff wasn’t too sure if we should embrace or reject the new benefit. So we decided to see what it has to offer and/or what issues we would run in to.

Here’s how it works: If you keep typing past the character limit, instead of a – #, you see a + #. For example, the last tweet from Borshoff was +6 over the character count. When I went to RT it from @jkoumpouras, this is what displayed:

RT @borshoff: @borshoff‘s @bschultzie, @erikcajohnson & @myrabcook were honored as @HoosierPRSA past presidents at yesterday… (cont) http://deck.ly/~0pE7i

The “…(cont)” is new. If you click on the Deck.ly link, it brings up the whole tweet again in a web browser, picture and all.

No issues appeared when using Deck.ly. In fact, it’s nice to know that I can use at least +1 or +2 characters when I need to. Still, I will try to stay within the 140 character limit going forward. After all, as PR professionals, we like to keep our writing crisp and clear.

If you haven’t yet upgraded, here’s a link to download the newest version of TweetDeck (including Deck.ly).

Mark Suster, an expert I follow on Twitter, recently posted a blog about how startups can best use PR firms, which got my attention because I’m passionate about both PR and startup companies. Most of his advice was spot on, especially from the entrepreneur’s perspective. Relationships are the hinge on which all things work. Not only is it necessary to develop relationships with journalists whom you hope will cover your new venture, but also develop relationships with the person promoting your company on your behalf, whether that person is in-house or an extension of your team.

Along with building relationships with the media comes preparation for interacting with them:

• Do you understand their beat? Do they typically cover startups, or do they prefer a more established business, something that has been tried and tested?
• Are you ready for them to investigate your company? Is your website current? Do you look like you’re operating on a shoestring, or have you put some thought behind your website, making it easy for journalists to do their job?
• And once the media is ready to talk about you, have you done the necessary preparation so your executives are on message and can answer tough questions?

While Mark Suster leans toward in-house PR help, he recommends going with a small local firm if outside help is needed. Our agency has found our size to be our strength. We’re small enough to be flexible and responsive to our client’s needs, yet large enough to have a deep bench of talent from which to pull creative ideas and solutions.

2010 marked my first year as a full-time professional at Borshoff. I learned something new every day, developed my communications and business skills, and discovered personal and professional strengths—as well as areas of improvement.

With a year under my belt and 2011 upon us, I know exactly what my 5 PR resolutions are for the new year:

1. Meet my professional network. As an active Twitter user, I wish I could put names and faces together more frequently. On occasion, like at Hoosier PRSA luncheons or social media breakfasts, I see someone’s nametag and put two and two together. The relationship grows once you have both online and face-to-face interactions. This year, I plan to be more intentional about meeting my growing professional network in person and further developing these important relationships.
2. Speak up. Although I’m a young professional among many accomplished veterans, I plan to be more proactive in sharing my thoughts, concerns and ideas. It’s important for my colleagues and clients to know I’m thinking proactively and outside the box. And who knows? Perhaps my idea may be one that others have never considered.
3. Get involved. Borshoff is big on community involvement, and it’s important to me too. Whether I decide to join a not-for-profit board or committee, volunteer or attend events, I want to be active in my community.
4. Become an expert.  It’s vital to be excellent at a lot of things in our field: writing, proofreading, project and time management, and problem solving. In 2011, I resolve to dig into something I know little about or don’t know how to do. I might just master the flip cam or learn a software program that I can teach my coworkers.
5. Find balance. As many full-time employees have already discovered, often the workday goes well beyond 5 p.m. While it’s essential to keep promises and maintain responsibilities, it’s also important to do something for me outside of work — whether it’s exercising, trying a new Starbucks drink or taking a 20-minute power nap (outside of office hours, of course). When you take care of yourself, you’ll be better able to serve  your clients.

If I accomplish these 5 resolutions, I know that 2011 will be just as great as 2010. Now you know my goals for the new year, what are yours?

Short bursts of news are gaining traction, especially in the Twitter realm. The Journalistics blog recently ranked the top 25 newspapers by Twitter followers. At the top of the list is The New York Times, with 2,668,948 Twitter followers – nearly three times the daily circulation of 950,000 readers.

Other publications aren’t showing quite the same gains over circulation as The New York Times, but the number of Twitter followers is growing. While true journalism is still important to people, we see a trend toward quick hits of news.

Top 5 newspapers, by Twitter followers

(For the complete list, see the Journalistics blog.)

1. @nytimes – 2,668,948
2. @wsj – 464,591
3. @washingtonpost – 204,514
4. @latimes – 83,335
5. @usatoday – 72,929

All you tweeters out there probably know that your Twitter homepage has sponsored definitions that link to Twitter-related services. Sometimes the names of these sponsors are rather clever, building a new, focused lexicon – or should we say twexicon?

In the spirit of the ever-growing World of Tweetisms, I’d like to suggest a few of my own:

• A twypo is an old-fashioned misspelling, not to be confused with a tword, which is missing vowels (as in “… bd mbrs shld arrive before 5 pm”).
• A twiggle is a tweet that makes you laugh, so of course a twad makes you sad – or is that mad?
• What’s a twudget? It’s the limit of 140 characters, as in “it’s extra hard to keep to your twudget in a retweet.”
• A twoops is when you hit “post” before you want to. I do that every now and then when I’m shortening a link via bit.ly. And I hate it.
• Tweet meat, my personal favorite, is something meaningful and substantial to say via Twitter. Some people would say tweet meat is an oxymoron, and that there’s nothing to be gained by Twitter.

But I beg to differ. We now have another tool in our communications tool box. And while there’s a lot of babble and boring information filling the Twitter waves, this new social media tool gives us a chance to make new connections, access focused information, and instantly communicate with those who choose to follow us.

Plus, we are in total control of whom we follow and who we allow to follow us. So if you don’t want to engage, or if you simply don’t care – then it’s probably time to twign-off. For the rest of you, I’ll see you on Twitter.

Have your own favorite Twitter words? Share them here or @borshoff.

- Follow @Susan_Matthews if you’re interested in just a few tweets a day, generally relating to branding and communications.