NACE Hawaii had its monthly meeting last Tuesday, July 14, at the Hale Koa Hotel, and it was a good one. Group discussions on Facebook, Twitter, and traditional marketing were the topic of the day, and many great ideas were shared and developed.

Dianna Shitanishi with Hawaii Weddings & Events shares an idea about using Facebook for marketing.

In addition, Susan O’Donnell, fundraising co-chair and the owner of Aloha Wedding Planners, talked about the recent Tasty Travels fundraiser, and how it helped to benefit NACE Hawaii educational initiatives, Hawaii Meals on Wheels, and local restaurants.

The meeting had its share of fun, as guests mingled and networked after the formal program ended, and as the delicious pupu (appetizer) dinner was served.

Special thanks to the following for helping to make this event a success:

• Dora Young, catering sales manager at the Hale Koa Hotel, for graciously hosting the meeting, providing the ono (delicious) meal, and taking care of us;
• David Louis (Dynamic Sounds) and Michael Rabe (Creations in Catering) for organizing the meeting;
• James Chun, Dianna Shitanishi, Kelly Sugano, and Marino M. Regalado for keeping the discussions on track;
• Ian Fernandez with IMF Visions for providing the projector; and most importantly

YOU

for attending and participating in Tuesday’s conversation. Your presence is very much appreciated!

Registration & networking starts at 6pm, with the formal program beginning at 6:30pm.

Get more information on the meeting by clicking here.

We’ll see you at the meeting.

On his Facebook page, he usually writes about his personal exploits, drinking, and sometimes work. A recent sampling of his updates:

These are taken word-for-word from his Facebook page, with only minor editing on the last one to censor the explicit language.

His commenters can be just as bad. In a recent update, one of his friends replied with a Filipino phrase meaning human excrement.

Now he’s a great guy. I know him personally, and that’s how he and his friends usually act in person. But if I were a Facebook user who had never heard of him and came upon his page, I would be horrified. My first impression of him would be that he is uncouth, a drunk, and I would certainly not want to have him at my wedding or special event, no matter how good or talented he is. After all, if this is how he acts online, will he be like this at my event? Will he talk to me like this and act like this during the planning process? Is he reliable?

Here’s another thing: in addition to running his own company, my friend also works as an audiovisual tech for one of the largest AV companies in Hawaii. If you were the owner of the AV company, would you tolerate such language and behavior from your employees? Even if my friend acts like this and does this on his own time, isn’t it still a reflection of you and your business?

Here’s the bottom line:

How you act online is a reflection of how you are seen in person.

Remember that perception is reality: if you present yourself as drunk and uncouth online, that’s what people are going to think of you (and your business) in person. If you present yourself as professional, that’s the impression your prospects will see. If you try to do both (as in a very professional homepage, but a very “ghetto” personal Facebook page), you simply create brand confusion among your potential clients.

Remember: People are watching you.

In a recent blogpost, Andy writes about ham sandwich marketing. This is where people post tweets and status updates that are interesting only to the person who wrote it and maybe a handful of people “in the know.”

For example, let’s say you tweet Had lunch with Herb and Josette at The Oceanarium Restaurant.

Who cares??

Your followers & FB friends are busy, busy people who don’t have time to really pay attention to you unless what you write is

• interesting to them,
• entertaining to them,
• relevant to them.

In this example, do I know who Herb & Josette are? Am I supposed to be impressed that you had lunch at the Oceanarium? Why don’t you just tell me you had a ham sandwich? That would be just as unimpressive and unneccessary.

As Mr. Ebon states, “If your lunch was incredible, take a picture of the ham sandwich. post about the incredible Dijon mustard, the soft fresh-baked roll, and what variety of ham was involved. That has the possibility of being entertaining. Otherwise, you’re just engaging in Ham Sandwich Marketing. In today’s fast and furious world of communications, being boring is a big crime. Being irrelevant is a felony offense.”

According to Mr. Ebon,Don’t waste people’s time. Be interesting or be gone.

Read his original post (and reader responses/comments) here.