1. Social Media Branding For Computing
Professionals
Dr. Thomas Lancaster
Birmingham City University
http://thomaslancaster.co.uk

2. What Turns A Successful Academic To
The Dark Side?
http://www.wharfebankbrewery.co.uk/people/6/tony-jenkins/
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

3. http://www.fleece-otley.co.uk/
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

4. “Google It…”
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

5. These Are All Brands… (Sorry, Tony)
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

6. Actually, If You Want To Be Amused…
http://www.tony-jenkins.co.uk/project-commons/participants.html
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

7. www.tony-jenkins.co.uk
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

8. People Are Brands Too…
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

9. My Brand?
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

10. My Background?
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

11. But, Branding Is Useful For…
• Academics – own career management
• Academics – leading by example
• Academics – teaching for students
• IT Professionals – own career management
• Freelancers – bring customers to own business
• Freelancers – build an online showcase
• Marketers – provide branding services for other IT
professionals
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

12. “I don't think I am an actress. I think I've
created a brand and a business.”
Pamela Anderson (Actress?)
“A brand is what people say about you
when you’re not in the room.”
Jeff Bezos (CEO Of Amazon)
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

13. Protecting Your Brand…
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

14. Social Media Exists With Or Without
You…
The Conversation
Prism (v3.0)
http://www.theconversationprism.com
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

15. Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

16. Your Social Media Presence Is Part Of
Your Brand…
• Traditionally, employers of our students would be looking
for:
– Their CV and Application Form content
– Their degree results
– Their performance during the Job Selection process
• But how do students stand out?
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

17. A Degree Is A Degree…
I call this the “So What?” factor
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

18. Addressing The “So What” Factor…
• Some common methods with Computing include:
– Work Experience
– Industrial Sandwich Year Placement
– Taking Part In Student Competitions
– Portfolio Of Work
– Freelance Experience
– Interest In Computing Outside The Classroom
– Participation Towards Open Source Projects
– Evidence Of Entrepreneurship
– Project Tailored Towards Employment
http://www.go2web20.net
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

19. But The Most Important Method…
A visible online brand…
http://www.cvickers.co.uk/
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

20. Branding Gets Results…
“I've been recently offered a full-time place at a
startup over in San Francisco, they've recently
closed a big round of funding and are looking to
build a great team. They approached me and
asked if I could join them, fulfilling a design role.
This isn't the only startup this has happened with.
I've had a total of 5 offers over the last year.”
Birmingham City University
BSc (Hons) Computer Science student
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

21. The End Of CVs?
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

22. Jobs Through Social Media
• 1 in 6 American job seekers found their most recent job
through social media
– 40% attributed this to LinkedIn
– 78% to Facebook
– 42% to Twitter
“I wasn't scouted. I involved myself in a
brand's Facebook page and a company
which works with that brand took an
interest in me and offered me a job.”
Zachary Chastain
http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/16/social-recruiting
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

23. The Future Of Recruitment Is Through
Social Media?
http://www.rolepoint.com/
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

24. Employers Know This…
http://mashable.com/2011/10/23/how-recruiters-use-
social-networks-to-screen-candidates-infographic
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

25. What Does Google Think?
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

26. Better Search Terms…
• “thomas lancaster” bcu
• “thomas lancaster” “birmingham city university”
• “thomas lancaster” birmingham
• “contract cheating”
• And, direct searches on:
• Facebook
• YouTube
• etc
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

27. They Are Not All Me…
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

28. Search Engine Control Is Vital…
• What does Google say when you search for yourself?
• Can you be found?
• Can your Facebook profile be found?
(for people “of a certain age” not having a Facebook profile
is often suspect)
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

29. Taking Control…
• Computing professionals need
– A professional web site that they control
– A professional email address
– A professional social media presence
– High quality content
– It all comes down to personal marketing and branding
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

30. First Step – Preparation
• Identify a name to go by (for branding purposes)
• Prepare consistent material:
– Curriculum Vitae
– Profile text (aka Advert)
– Photos
– Portfolio content (videos, pictures, examples)
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

31. Second Step – A Domain
• Ideally:
• FirstnameLastname.co.uk
– or
• FirstnameLastname.com
• Second Resort – Initials, Suffix or Prefix:
• FirstInitialLastname.co.uk
• FirstnameLastnameComputing.com
• etc
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

32. Third Step – An Email Address
• Ideally, based around the domain name:
• john@jsmithcomputers.com
• Failing that, a Gmail address (or similar)
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

33. Fourth Step – Defining Accounts
• Google Account (Mail, YouTube, Google+)
• Facebook Account (clean this up)
• LinkedIn Account
• Twitter Account
• “Career Specific” Accounts
• Github (and other “social coding” sites)
• Online forums
• “Internal” Accounts?
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

34. Account Notes
• All accounts should have a public view with information
and a photo
– Facebook account should be cleaned
• Account details should be filled out completely and
sensibly
• Accounts should have some content to position the
student as interested in their preferred field
• “Friends” and “Contacts” should be added
• Groups and discussions should be joined
• “Vanity urls” should be registered
• Accounts should be linked together
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

35. Fifth Step – Professional Website
• Simple website to direct employers to (include on
CV)
• Recommend production of this using the WordPress
blogging platform
• Contains:
– Portfolio
– CV
– “Best” Content
• Again, crosslink to other Social Media presences(for
searchability purposes)
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

36. ThomasLancaster.co.uk
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

37. ThomasLancaster.co.uk/blog
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

38. Simple WordPress Control Panel
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

39. Social Media
http://www.linkedin.com/in/thomaslancaster
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

40. Post To The Sites (Not Onerous)
• Some ideas focused around students:
– Short blog posts and tweets
– Commentary on the technology news
– Observations
– Discussions
– Articles
– Examples of the work that they’re doing
– Videos
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

41. One Post Covers Multiple Sites…
• A new video =
– Show it as a blog post
– Tweet about it
– Comment on Facebook
– Comment on LinkedIn
• This can all be automated
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

42. Contribute Elsewhere
• Join professional forums and add to the discussions
– Can syndicate to blog
• Actively look for opportunities…
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

43. Guest Blog Posts…
http://blogs.heacademy.ac.uk/stem/author/thomaslancaster/
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

44. Relevant Web Sites…
http://www.contractcheating.com
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

45. The Gaming Dimension
@TheRyanGoodman
http://www.thegamingdimension.com
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

46. Or Be More Novel?
http://shouldidomywork.com/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/nov/0
4/data-recovery-deleted-coursework
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

47. For Computing Professionals
http://www.tubblog.co.uk/
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

48. For Computing Academics
http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lViA0GAAAAAJ&hl=en
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

49. And, Even Slides Can Have Value…
http://www.slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

50. But Also…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzneHOZTuX4
http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/blog/plagiarism-indicators-for-academics/
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

51. Other Resources
Enhancing The Employability Of Computing Students
Through An Online Professional Presence Workshop
http://www.bcu.ac.uk/tee/events/previous-events/employability-workshop
Teaching Materials For Students
http://www.bcu.ac.uk/tee/events/previous-events/employability-workshop
Upcoming HEA Workshop “Professional Presences For
Academics” (May 9 2013)
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/events/detail/2013/9-May-Birmingham-STEM
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013

52. Any Questions?
Social Media Branding - BCS 15/01/2013