1. Electronic Communication
and Social Networking
Best Practices
Al Kalter, Chairman
Rotary Youth Exchange Florida

2. Evolution of Technology - 1990

3. Evolution of Technology - 1990

4. Evolution of Technology - 1995

5. Evolution of Technology - 2000

6. Evolution of Technology - 2005

7. Evolution of Technology - 2010

8. Communication – E-mail
 Fast, easy, cheap
 Global sharing of ideas/resources
 Expectation of instant response
 Loss of “sleep on it” time
 Unintentional “Reply To All”
 “The way old people communicate”

9. Promoting our Programs
 Website – official channel

10. Promoting our Programs

11. Promoting our Programs

12. Promoting our Programs

13. Promoting our Programs
 Website – official channel
 Facebook/Twitter – official/unofficial
• YE Officers/Students/Parents
• Responsibility for content
• No filters
• Communication channel?
• Cannot be ignored!

14. Challenges
 Immersion impossible?
 Crowd sourcing / Group think
 Public vs. private – TMI?
 Comparisons and expectations
 Are you really there?
 Rules?
• A 5th “D” – No Digital Existences?
 Getting the students to buy in

15. The Student Buy-In
 Break the bonds (parents & friends)
 Use social media to be social in your
new home, not your old home
 Recognize the language crutch
 Can’t be in two places at once
 Can still have a good exchange, but
not a GREAT one

16. The YEO Buy-In
 Embrace new avenues of promotion
 Consider new avenues of support
 Welcome input/content from
• Students
• Parents
• Rotarians
 Enlist Rotex involvement
 Make this work for us!

17. Making it work:
A Facebook example
 “Being an exchange parent and household
will be the richest most amazing thing you
can do for your family. Hosting lets you
meet the best the brightest and the
bravest; you also get a son or daughter
you will love and who will redefine your
notion of family and borders. There are no
good excuses not to host if you have an
extra bed and an open mind. It will be the
BEST year of your life.”
– Katrina Hess, host mom