Twitter Holds Exciting Possibilities At SHOT Show 2012

Let’s face it…if I was to poll my Facebook friends I would guess less than five percent own a Twitter account.   Of that dismal number, my guess is even a smaller percentage really understand the social media concept of “tweeting,” “following” and as far as “hashtags” go—let’s not even start that discussion.

But it’s such a shame.   Twitter is an awesome social media tool that has possibilities reaching far beyond our current imaginations.   And few places or events have the necessary ingredients to maximize the effectiveness of Twitter than at the annual SHOT Show where thousands of exhibitors, dealers, manufacturer reps and media converge.

Certainly the only event that comes to mind as having better exposure for Twitter than SHOT is the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) also held in Vegas.   Not only does this show attract the so-called geeks that would obviously have a stronger affinity to use this technology, but CES annually itself attracts nearly 150,000 people to the Las Vegas Convention Center.   In fact, just registered media alone typically attracts three times as many media individuals as does SHOT.  (side note: CES begins its annual show this week—one week before SHOT in 2012)

But my intent is not to compare numbers between SHOT and CES, per se.   Each event stands largely on its own.   Yet, if you look at a typical list of names who use Twitter at the CES it’s pretty impressive.   Consider this list of nearly 500 tweetin’ individuals compared to the overall attendance at CES and it still represents a number less than one percent of total attendance.   The point is there’s plenty of room to grow and for those people who have invested in learning, understanding and using Twitter, their pay-back potential can be huge.

Times Are A Changin’

Back during the fall of 2009 my very first tweet consisted of announcing what I was cooking the family for supper on the grill.   Yeah, I know, rather boring I agree.   But then several months later, and still a newbie at this Twitter game, I tried to connect with people at the 2010 SHOT Show on a more professional level.   As I recall, there might have been, at best, 30 or 40 of us tweetin’ fools talking about the show that year.IMG_0188

Then, in 2011, I saw the number increase substantially.   If I was to render a guess, I would say there were approximately 200 people talking about the 2011 SHOT Show and using the #SHOTshow hashtag.   Now, that’s not to say more people might not have talked about the show last year…but if the hashtag doesn’t get used within their tweets they have virtually no readership, but for their followers.

This year I can already tell things are going to be much different at SHOT…and I dare say exciting for those of us who thrive using Twitter.   The hype over this year’s show began several weeks ago on Twitter and I have to believe it will crescendo into raw excitement by the time the show finally opens its doors next week.

Honestly, if you are new to Twitter I can’t teach you how to be savvy using the social media forum within a single blog posting.   Yet, that’s one of the great things about Twitter.   People need to understand that you can learn and discover what people are saying on Twitter even if you don’t want to actively participate.

Over the next week or so readers with limited experience using Twitter should remember this link:  #SHOTShow (note: if this link doesn’t work on one browser, try a different one)  By clicking, it will provide you an opportunity to eavesdrop on what those of us are actively doing, saying and experiencing while at SHOT 2012.   By reading our tweets I hope it eventually inspires greater participation in this social media forum to discuss important matters about hunting, shooting, etc.   Seriously, the learning curve for using Twitter is not that great to overcome.

As always, if you want to follow just what I am saying on Twitter, or perhaps you want to connect and follow me, you can use the following link:   www.Twitter.com/jim7226   I promise, now 2 1/2 years into this Twitter experiment, occasionally my tweets get a bit more exciting than announcing what I’m planning to eat for supper.

©2012 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.

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Minnesota DNR Shuns My Media Access Request

Blog readers please excuse this brief rant. What it comes down to is my state’s DNR that holds an annual meeting to discuss fishing and hunting resources/management matters. Hundreds of the state’s most influential policymakers are INVITED to attend this 2-day conference to discuss concerns, management principles and essentially every aspect of the future of what us sportsmen enjoy in this state.

Several months back I mailed a handwritten note to the Minnesota DNR’s Chris Niskanen, Communications Director, Office of Communication and Outreach requesting to be included in these annual roundtable meetings. I shared with him my credentials along with my interest in reporting on the event through social media (Twitter, Facebook and blogging).

Well, you probably guessed it…Niskanen took NO ACTION on my request. Today, in fact, kicks off Day 2 of the event and once again a meeting which should be reported on by any means possible given the importance, was apparently only limited to selected “stakeholders” and traditional media outlets by invitation.Invite-Only

I guess what disappoints me the most is making an official request to a top official in the Office of Communication and Outreach and subsequently receiving NO COMMUNICATION in return. Perhaps they had some concerns such as space limitations, etc. which prevented the DNR extending me an invite…but to receive no response whatsoever is just plain rude, not to mention unprofessional.

On top of that, Niskanen came to the Minnesota DNR by leaving his outdoors writer job at the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper. During his tenure at the newspaper he even wrote occasional blog postings so you would think he would have some greater appreciation of the efforts I have been doing with this blog for nearly 8 years running.

What I have been talking about here details my frustrations with the Minnesota DNR. Yet, I suspect even in this quickly-evolving world where media is changing almost daily…there remains many in government—no matter what state—that just don’t get it. It’s not just happening in Minnesota, I’m sure.

And the problem is you can tell these DNR folks what they need to be doing and my experience has shown it usually falls on deaf ears. What a shame! For example, since 2010 I’ve been pushing for the state’s hunting and fishing regulations to be available in a smartphone friendly version…but again, you guessed it. They seem set in their ways to embrace the old and not to make changes that seem sensible on all levels.

In closing, I’m going to say this. I was willing to give up my time and make the effort necessary to learn more about my states’s DNR so I can better understand, for my communication endeavors, the dynamics of why they make the decisions they do. More importantly, I wanted to share with my network of social media readers all the important news that should be streaming from the 2012 Minnesota DNR Roundtable meetings.

Instead, I’m sitting home here on my birthday planning out how I will spend a much different day. And that’s okay…because my main goal of this posting is to expose just how out-of-touch the Minnesota DNR remains with those of us attempting to drive the social media communication effort.

©2012 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.

FRIDAY FUNNY: Ole And Lena On Thin Ice

Ole & Lena lived by a lake in Nordern Minnesota. It vas early vinter and da lake had yust froze over.

Ole asked Lena if she vould valk across da frozen lake to da yeneral store to get him some smokes. She asked him for some money, but he told her, “Nah, yust put it on our tab.”20120106-085330.jpg

So Lena valked across, got the smokes at da yeneral store, den walked back home across the lake. Ven she got home and gave Ole his smokes, she asked him, “Ole, you alvays tell me not to run up da tab at da store. Why didn’t you yust give me some money?”

Ole replied, “Vell, I didn’t vant to send you out dere vit some money ven I vasn’t sure how tick the ice vas yet.”

©2012 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.

Oh, by the way…this is how all of us Scandinavians up here in da nort country speak. Uffda!!