The IPF is inviting proposals for online drama series at its application deadline of March 31, 2010. 

I like the concept of next space, it would be great to have something like that here in Toronto.

December 28, 2009

10 Crucial Roles of a Social Media Director in 2010

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 8:35 am

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What Sort of Expertise Does a Social Media Expert Need?

Social Media Marketing budgets are on the rise. It’s been said that as many as 86% of Companies are planning a Social Media Marketing Bump this year. And social media job listings aren’t so hard to find anymore.

In 2010, a new job role of Social Media Director — it has lots of names — has become quite the thing. Ask the companies who are hiring. Read the job descriptions. They’re all over the place. And though we’ve gotten good at being social, those in the new social media roles will need more than social media expertise now that business coming to the social web.

10 Crucial Roles of a Social Media Director in 2010

Macro and micro businesses get stuck in process models that they’ve outgrown, but keep using. Fear of change, love of past success, bias that interprets history in our favor leads us to repeat and re-imprint bad or outdated behaviors in our organizational brains.

To bring a new business to the web, the culture has to become a beginner again. The more the larger the business the harder that is … they have more past success, more to lose, more to fear, less to win.

A social media director needs to be role model, leader, learner, teacher, guide, friend, entrepreneur, but more even more than that. If you want a company to embrace the social web, champion these ten roles as an action plan …

1. be a role model … listen first; communicate authentically; don’t control the conversation (and choose wisely those you refer)
2. become a fan … fall in love with the brand and its customers to protect its heritage and legacy
3. be a follower … get to know the people who work there to find the champions and learn how the culture moves, learns, and thinks
4. be about ROI …. study the business to protect it financially
5. be a connector … work toward open silos so they communicate internally at light speed
6. be inclusive … enlist marketing and PR to help build a strong, consistently authentic voice between the business and its customers
7. be strategic … write a strategic plan of goals and measurements based on customers that naturally support growing product offers, strategic relationships, and the customer base
8. be focused … choose online tools, tests, and tactics after you have the goals
9. be innovative … integrate social business online and off
10. be a community builder … make it look easy, fun, and meaningful

If you look inside those ten points you’ll see that the job really calls for about ten roles — strategist, change manager, brand manager, a marketing manager, a community builder, a campaign manager, a cheerleader, a business developer, a corporate trainer, and a social media professional who can use quantifiable social media data, tools, and measurements.

Last night, 1700+ Retweeted a Mashable Post about the 15,740 social media experts on Twitter. I can’t help but wonder whether all 15,740 are up to all ten of them.

Bet you see even more roles and action steps that I’ve left out. I’d love you to add your additions here.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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27 Comments to “10 Crucial Roles of a Social Media Director in 2010”

1. December 28th, 2009 at 8:45 am
   Itamar Kestenbaum said

   Hey, Liz!
   Great post. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Not only is it important to hire the right Social Media Director/Consultant, but it’s also important to know what constitutes a good one to begin with!
   I found that 16000 social media experts number to be a bit off. I think that if you imposed the ten things a Social Media Expert needs to be on that number, it would decrease significantly. Great post!

2. December 28th, 2009 at 8:46 am
   John Soares said

   With social media and business, I focus on ROI. That’s the magic number — we just need to find good ways to measure it.

3. December 28th, 2009 at 9:14 am
   ME Liz Strauss said

   Hi Itamar!
   How wonderful to see you here!
   Obviously I was talking about a situation in which we might have a chance to do all of those things. Being social is a higher level skill that can’t be siloed and separated from the heart and mind of a company. Communication has to go every direction and keep on constantly.
   I. too, smiled at the number of experts … almost matches the number of Twitters apps I would guess.

   Like a good blogger, a great social media employee has to be a good hire to begin with. Then the rest will naturally follow.

4. December 28th, 2009 at 9:16 am
   ME Liz Strauss said

   Hi John,
   ROI is so important. If we don’t sell things, no one has a job. There is no need for social media to promote a company or its products. For years, we’ve known the value of conferences and trade shows, yet no one knows exactly how to measure their return. I’m thinking a certain similarity applies. Don’t you think so?

5. December 28th, 2009 at 10:10 am
   10 Crucial Roles of a Social Media Director in 2010 | Liz Strauss at Successful Blog « Translator Power said

   [...] in 2010 | Liz Strauss at Successful Blog December 28, 2009 — translatorpower via successful-blog.com Posted in Uncategorized. Leave a Comment [...]

6. December 28th, 2009 at 10:21 am
   Heidi said

   A good social media director still needs to be ‘gung ho’ about selling the products. We are, after all, building community around something we’re supposed to believe in - what we’re selling - and to engage our customers in product development or a feedback loop that makes our widgets more effective.

7. December 28th, 2009 at 10:33 am
   Ben Curnett said

   I’ve got a #11- Be Firm. Follows #10 well. Social can be easy, fun, and meaningful because you’re experienced. You have great ideas about how your client can operate in a digital space.

   Social is a delicate prospect- trust takes a long time to rebuild. If I’m doing #s 1-10 well, I guess #11 can be like the “sometimes y” of this list for me.

   Thanks. Good reading here.

8. December 28th, 2009 at 10:35 am
   Mike McClure said

   Thanks for the post Liz. As an agency Creative Director turned Social Media Director (and doing both jobs)- this will help me focus on what needs to be done. I knew most of it, but it’s good to see it all in one list. And I like your analogy of SM to the conference/trade show. I think I’ll use that!
   Mike

9. December 28th, 2009 at 11:15 am
   KatFrench said

   You know, the post about all the “Social Media Experts” on Twitter isn’t that interesting to me, but it has at least spawned some other posts that actually ARE interesting and useful, and this is one of them.

   It somewhat straddles your #1 and #10, but I’d also include “seed/inspire” which is to say, be in that 1-2% of people who produce the content that others springboard and grow into full-blown conversations.

   Speaking of which, this has me thinking about a post I’d like to write, myself.

   Good stuff.

10. December 28th, 2009 at 11:39 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Kat,
    I love your push to inspire others. That’s a true leadership trait. It’s way more than motivation and being social.

    Good thoughts push a conversation into ideas that grow. I’m delighted you said that. You inspired me too!!

    Can’t wait to see what you write!

11. December 28th, 2009 at 11:47 am
    Rick Morgan said

    While probably assumed - I would think that educator and mentor are also skills, roles, responsibilities of a social media director.

12. December 28th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
    Roy Povarchik said

    Just kodos for the post.
    I think it summs things up wonderfully. More important, I think it gives basic understanding about what makes someone “Active” on social media and what makes you an “expert - director” on social media.

13. December 28th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
    Jeff Hurt said

    Liz:
    Great list to start 2010. Thanks for getting us to think in that direction. I like them all and like what Kat added too.

    I’ll add a couple others to consider that straddle many you already mentioned:

    11. be a creator…a creator of great relationships, new ideas, fresh starts, conduits, content

    12. be a sharer…share information, insights, inspiration and enthusaism

14. December 28th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
    Zane Aveton said

    You are just so perfectly awesome. What a great post.

    Love You!

    Zaneology

15. December 28th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
    Top Social Media Strategy Books | I Think said

    [...] 10 Crucial Roles of a Social Media Director in 2010 (successful-blog.com) [...]

16. December 28th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
    Maria Reyes-McDavis said

    Great post Liz, these are really “roles to live by” for everyone, even the little guy in social media

17. December 28th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
    Katie Wynne said

    Great post! With all the noise about Social Media out there, it’s helpful to break it down in simple terms. I found your list of roles to be an accurate assessment of the efforts SM managers, directors and consultants have to master.
    Thanks for sharing!

18. December 28th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
    10 Crucial Roles of a Social Media Director in 2010 | Liz Strauss … | Seo Curacao said

    [...] here: 10 Crucial Roles of a Social Media Director in 2010 | Liz Strauss … Share and [...]

19. December 28th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Heidi,
    I agree “gung ho” is exactly how social media tolks need to feel about the products they represent. How else can we build (as you said) community around something we’re supposed to believe in ? Underneath all of the points here is trust: competence, care, integrity, and performance all wrapped up in giving customers something outstanding they can’t get anywhere else … our products and us. It’s a powerful combination!!

    You nailed it!

20. December 28th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Ben,
    I so like your observation. For me, that comes in a bit in the first one, but you’re right … we all need to test the waters and see what way works best for our individual personalities. Just like I can’t be you, I don’t do social media exactly like you would do.

    I like your choice of “sometimes y.” Sounds like you have a blog post in that idea.

21. December 28th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Mike,
    Do you ever get a chance to sleep? It must have been a decision to take on both roles … on the one hand, it’s great to have them integrated so seamlessly. On the other, whew!!

    Glad this will help in any way. Let me know if I can help you in any others.

    You’re not a stranger anymore.

22. December 28th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Rick,
    Always good to say what we need to be doing. Thank you!

23. December 28th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hey Roy!
    Thank you and Welcome!
    I appreciate your taking time to leave that heartfelt comment.

24. December 28th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Jeff!
    A little overlap is what social media work is always about. I love your choices and your wording.
    Brilliant additions.

25. December 28th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Zane!
    I attract amazing people … you are proof! Thank you for taking time to say that!

26. December 28th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hey Maria,
    I learned them all by doing them wrong. All of us “little guys” grow.

27. December 28th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Katie!
    Welcome!
    There sure is a lot of noise isn’t there? Personally, I find most talk of social media is becoming boring. A lot seems to be the same conversation over and over. I thought I might break up a little by taking a look at the larger picture.

Excellent post and a must read for the 15,840 Social Media "Experts" on Twitter I mentioned earlier today.

Toronto is still an amazing place to launch a start up.I didn't see the CNMA winner for "Hottest New Kid on the Block" Chick Advisor (http://www.chickadvisor.com) on the list.

Next year keep your eyes peeled for the hottest new start up - which I will be announcing in January ...

If you are involved in Social Media Marketing or Social Media Monitoring, this is an awesome site to bookmark and keep on your radar.

Kobo is getting a huge response. Congrats to all of the team at Kobo and Evoke Solutions.

This is an amazing story.

Learn How to Draw Hand-crafted Pixel Art in Photoshop

Nov 17th in Techniques by Russell Tate

In this tutorial, legendary Aussie illustrator Russel Tate teaches you how to draw with pixels. You'll learn how to create awesome artwork in the style of eBoy and Army of Trolls. This article was kindly shared with Psdtuts+ by iStockphoto as part of a knowledge exchange between the two sites. Read on and enjoy!

Author: Russell Tate

Russell Tate (RUSSELLTATEdotCOM) is an illustrator who believes there are no quicker ways to stop clients asking for endless artwork changes other than a well reasoned argument.

To celebrate this knowledge exchange, iStockphoto have created a special 15% discount for Psdtuts+ readers.

Introduction

Pixel illustrations are great for making computer icons, isometric images and even whole scenes. They can be made quickly and easily using Photoshop with a couple of quick tweaks to the preference settings.

The only drawback though, is that the pixel art looks best when each pixel has been placed by hand as opposed to using some Photoshop filter. That's right, placed by hand — I know this sounds a little crazy especially when some pixel scenes have thousands of pixels in them. But without the hand placement your pixel art can look like a bad Lo Res image, so beware!

I think a good rule of thumb before starting off is that you should be able to see your creation clearly as a group of different colored squared bricks, but then if you squint and blur your eyes you can make it out as an image. Imagine that you're making a tile mosaic, only you don't need any grout.

Below is a complete piece of pixel artwork, we'll be creating some of the more basic pieces in this work.

Software

OK let's set up for drawing. Just in case you don't have a copy of Photoshop, there are some free dedicated Pixel drawing programs available for free download:

• Pixen (Mac)
• Graphics Gale (Win)
• Find more apps here.

I've had a play around with both programs, but came back to Photoshop because I'm used to the keyboard commands.

Okay, Let's Set Up a Page

1. First open the preferences in Photoshop and set the Image interpolation to "Nearest Neighbor."
2. Create a new Page 300 px by 300 px at 72 dpi.
3. Select the Pencil tool at 1 pixel. The Pencil and Eraser tools are the only tools you will really need.
4. Occasionally you might use the magic wand to select an area to fill, just make sure Anti Alias is off.

If you did use the brush tool at a whopping 9 pixels instead of 1, you'll get anti-aliasing occurring and that will spoil the hard-edge pixel effect. So stick to 1 pixel. "Keep it lean keep it mean," as my Mother used to say.

When your pixel drawing is viewed at 100% (actual size) the pencil tool at 1 pixel wide is very small, so you might find it hard to see and manipulate. An idea is to enlarge the view to 800% so you can see what you are doing. I often have a 2nd window open in Photoshop with the same screen view at 200% so I can quickly see how my drawing looks up close and also from a little further away at the same time.

We can save our working doc as a PSD file and export for web use later as a GIF file. We can also enlarge the file afterwards and turn into a TIF for CMYK printing.

Lean & Mean

Let's Start Drawing

OK let's have a go at drawing something like this open book. With the Pen tool draw around the edge to create your black outline. Then fill in the flat colors of the page and book mark.

Create the idea of text on the page with some single pixel lines. See how we put a slight kink in the line to give the impression of a slight curve on the page.

Lastly add some highlights down the middle of the pages and side of the bookmark. A nice little touch is a single pixel highlight at the bottom outside corner of each page, it just gives a hint of a page edge instead of being a solid block.

Once you've got the basics of outlines, colors, highlights and shading, you can try your hand at building other simple shapes.

Angled Pixel Lines

Pixel icons like the ones above can be designed as a series of lines that are just 90º to each other and are very much squares and rectangles. Occasionally though, you might need a line at an angle.

Something to bear in mind is angled lines look best when they are a regular pattern. If they are irregular (like those shown below), they can appear lumpy and crude when viewed small. The second example below is much smoother Isometric angles, which look great with pixel drawings, but it's not the 30º "iso" angle you used in Technical drawing class — it's actually something closer to 26.5º. 30º unfortunately gives a lumpy line at 100%. If you make a line that regularly runs 2 points over and 1 point up, you'll get 26.5º. Shall we try drawing something else that's a little more Geometric and uses more of those line patterns?

The irregular line will look lumpy at 100%.

Smooth line patterns at different angles.

Let's Draw a Pixel Log

The lines down the length are easy we know how to do those now, but how about those round ends?

These two are regular patterns but are changing from wide horizontal lines down to squares and then to vertical lines. It does look a little jagged but if you blur your eyes it does look correct!

The curve on the top-right of the log end is also the reverse pattern of the bottom-left section. I often count the pixels or remember certain combinations. The pixel combo on the circle is...

• 3 squares (across)
• 2
• 111
• 222(down)
• 6
• 2
• 1

A little tricky to get the hang of at first like using bezier curves in Illustrator but you soon get a "feel" for it. The length of the log is easy: we just use the 2 along 1 up system and make the log as long or short as we want.

Smaller concentric circles on the end give a nice ring pattern and some areas of darker shading at the bottom of the log give it some depth. We'll give the log a flat fir color to start, then to create depth, we can create dithering by placing pixels of contrasting color either side of our high light/low light lines.

You can build up the patterns and make them more complex. Careful though — the more realistic and tricky you try and get the fuzzier the image may appear if it's destined to reproduce at small size.

I did throw in a few more random pixels on log #3 as I wanted it to have a rough look and contrast a little with the squirrel.

For the final log I worked in an area of stripped bark and a small branch. I found it best to complete one area or style first and then work more detail into it. I don't think I could have drawn the stripped bark log with dithering pattern from scratch — instead, I just kept adding layers over top of layers. Simple stages work best!

Irregular Pixel Drawing

Let's move onto something a little more irregular, like a Squirrel to sit on our log. For something complicated like this, it's best to start out with pencil and paper.

First I drew an isometric square on my page to get the right dimensions. Since we're using this particular example for editorial purposes, I used a photograph for reference. Remember that if you're planning to upload anything to iStockphoto, you need to include any reference material that you used. Then I start to sketch. I pay particular attention to the angle on both ears and feet as I want them to follow the isometric lines.

As you can see the detail is very minimal — I just want to get the basic shape and correct angles worked out first. We'll do the rest of the work in Photoshop.

Bring in the sketch, put on a new layer and ghost the opacity so you can see the pixels you are about to create clearly. It's not a hard and fast rule but I find pixel drawings look best when they have black outlines.

Here I am going around my Squirrel with the pencil tool creating the black outline. One thing to be avoided is clumping up where outline pixels touch each other on more than one side. If you draw an extra square just delete it with your eraser tool (also kept at 1 pixel width, see the red circle ) it will look neater and your audience will thank you for it.

It still looks a little messy but it will shape up! Keylines inside the illustration also help to give it a bold look, just make sure they are a darkish color that isn't black to make some contrast. Call me a radical but I went with brown on this one.

When the shape is complete fill the inner area with a nice mid tone color (soft brown) and maybe use a light color to bring out some highlights.

The black outline rule is not a hard and fast one, I did leave some black keylines below the front jaw and paw as it was getting hard to see what was going on.

Conclusion

The hand placing, removing, changing of pixels is where the skill comes in. Sometimes. But once you start to get the hang of it, you'll be able to draw just about anything — all you need is some patience. Hope this helps, and inspires you to create great work of your own!

Additional Resources

Here are some resources for further pixel reading:

• Mark's Pixel art tutorial (shows more detailed pixel shading and creating pixel characters called "Sprites")
• Creating Pixel Art Painting Pixel by Pixel — Tips and Tutorials. A good list of pixel sites to visit.
• 20+ Inspiring Pixel Artists, Tutorials, and Resources - a collection of pixel art resources here on Psdtuts+.
• Some pixel files I've drawn and animated as gif files. See the Squirrel in action!

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Note from the Editor: Psdtuts+ Thanks iStockPhoto!

• 

  This knowledge exchange was made possible by iStockphoto. Psdtuts+ regular author Alvaro Guzman has shared some of his best Photoshop tips for iStockphoto's newsletter subscribers, and iStockphoto have kindly shared this article in return. We know plenty of people who read Psdtuts+ would be interested in iStockphoto, and many iStockphoto users would be interested in Psdtuts+, so we hope this will be a great way to help our audiences to meet each other and cross-over.

  To celebrate the exchange, iStockphoto have created a special 15% discount for Psdtuts+ readers.

  If you haven't heard of iStockphoto before, here's a very quick intro: iStockphoto is the world’s largest royalty-free stock multimedia destination with a file downloaded every second. iStockphoto pioneered the micropayment phenomenon in this industry in 2000, enabling buyers to license images for as little as $1. Now the site is home to more than 5.6 million photos, illustrations, video, audio and Flash files.

Some very whimsical and entertaining pieces from a BC artist.