Now that I have officially graduated from college, it's time to get down to the nitty gritty and start focusing on what's happening in the "real world"—internet-wise, that is. Yes, I mean Social Media.

One college professor finds a way to combat the dreaded “classes cancelled due to inclement weather” scenario. After her experience with the Snowmageddon of Winter 2010 when the university shut down for a week, R.S. Zaharna, associate professor of communication American University, decided to find a way to make the current technology work for her and her students. She got the chance this past week when classes were cancelled.

Before I finished reading Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer’s book Open Community I was already raving about it. I passed it around the room of the leadership conference where I was speaking.

So a recent poster on an ASAE listserv ended his request for feedback with the directive “You are allowed 15 minutes to deliberate and respond to this test question.  Please do not tweet your answers.”

I chuckled at first and of course had the immediate need to tweet. But then I paused – you mean you’re going to tell me how to answer? Not to mention when to answer?

It surely seems odd that a public relations professional chapter wouldn’t be an early adopter of the new media. But we weren’t. Our members were – and are – curious though. It’s that curiosity that gave us the platform for entering into social media sphere.

Public Relations Society of America Maryland Chapter has tried it all – FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogging. Success happened when they focused these on a specific event.

International Special Events Society DC Chapter found success when it followed its members – rather than leading.

Maryland Recycling Network is on Plan B. Plan A, a wiki, fizzled. That was probably good news because it led to a different path that wasn’t even in our minds.

We’re all asking for the secret to building engagement in our social media initiatives.  The path to success is littered (quite literally if you consider the many “ghost communities”) with failures.  I see the failures as being the secret to success. Our missteps have actually driven Mariner and our association management clients to learn lessons about members, grow closer to members in that process, discover new technologies, and improve with each attempt.

Associations Now is offering an opportunity and a case study with its latest crowdsourcing option. By logging in you can submit content ideas, vote on others, add comments and throw your name in as a contributor. At least check it out as a sample of how you can engage members even if you don't allow yourself to be drawn in and engage.

PRSA Maryland launched their blog More Than PR Basics! It isn't their first foray into social media; they have a LinkedIn Group, Facebook Page and Twitter handle. It is however a big step for a small chapter. And it is an experiment. 

This past week’s #assnchat focused on social media and chapters. Well actually much of the conversation was social media in the general sense. But two posts stood out for me:

Well it’s the biggest thing since sliced bread (okay that’s maybe just a pithy quote that needs to be retired – love the ones Jamie Notter noted but that’s another topic)!

Buzz2009 is a full-day conference on Thursday, July 9 in Washington DC for associations who think incorporating social media and word of mouth tactics into their overall strategy in the way to go.