Contact: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Melissa Giovagnoli
President, Networlding, Inc.
312-421-4213

March 2, 2009 (CHICAGO) – Social media and networking guru, Melissa Giovagnoli, plans to add another book to her roster of 11 published works including four best-sellers, but this time she’s looking for your help. The “Could You Be The Third Author?“ contest seeks out the best and brightest among public relations experts and speakers to join Giovagnoli and visual design expert Kerry LaCoste in co-authoring what’s sure to be another best seller.

Giovagnoli’s twelfth book, “101 Ways to Better Social Networking,” focuses on the merging of media with the internet and social networking, as well as with other technologies and fields like television, music, and entertainment. The “Could You Be The Third Author?” contest seeks social media or online public relations experts with highly successful track records, and who may have spoken publicly on the topic of social networking and social media but have yet to publish their own book.

“I truly believe in the benefits of collaboration, and working with someone else who really understands social networking will only add more value for readers,” said Melissa Giovagnoli, president of Networlding. “Plus, it’s great for the person who co-authors the book. Being a published author really makes a difference for someone’s business, not just financially, but also socially and emotionally.”

For more than a decade, Giovagnoli has coached hundreds of successful professionals and executives helping them publish and market their own books. LaCoste, a sixteen-year creative director and designer specializing in corporate communications, has experience in all aspects of graphic design and production, including annual reports, branding and positioning, promotional campaigns, and more. He founded LaCoste Design, Inc., a communications design firm, in 2005.

If you are interested in achieving author status, email info@networlding.com no more than a one-page list of reasons why you think you should be the third author for “101 Ways to Better Social Networking.” All entries must be submitted by March 20. The winner will be announced on March 30, and will receive 30% of the book’s net revenues.

About Melissa Giovagnoli

Melissa Giovagnoli is a social networking guru, keynote speaker and bestselling author, who founded Networlding in 2000, based on her seventh book on the science and practice of social networking. Networlding is a marketing and management consulting firm helping individuals and organizations achieve a “network effect” in their marketing, communications or sales initiatives.

Networlding conducts extensive research on the best strategies for utilizing social media to reduce costs and increase top-line profits. Her team of both corporate and Entrepreneurial leaders delivers world-class solutions to companies large and small, including AT&T, Disney, UBS, Motorola and Hewitt as well as hundreds of entrepreneurial organizations.

Giovagnoli has published 11 books, including best-sellers Networlding: Building Relationships and Opportunities for Success, and The Power of Two: Rethinking and Reforming Strategic Alliances; The Chicago Entrepreneurs Sourcebook, rated one of the top 10 small business books in Chicago; 75 Cage Rattling Questions that Change the Way You Work; Another one of her books was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She is a frequently sought-after speaker on the topic of social media and social networking, and has appeared as a guest on WGN, CNBC, and the Today Show and was named “Outstanding Woman of the Decade Award” by The University of Chicago Women’s Business Advisory Council.

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If your job depends on making business decisions based on analysis of unstructured data, you probably thought immediately of SAS, the leader in business analytics. And once you connect with this company in one way or another–by visiting their web site or blogs, talking with them by phone or reading one of the many articles written about their award-winning corporate culture, the company and its employees will stand out in your memory.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing David B. Thomas, SAS’s new social media manager. I was connected to Dave by Steve Polilli (a cool 6 degrees story) when I put up a blog post a week or so ago on the organization. Within 3 minutes I received an email from Steve thanking me for showcasing the company’s socially responsible initiatives and asking if I would be interested in interviewing Dave. Of course I said yes and below you can find answers to several questions I had as to their online user experience. I hope you enjoy it as much as I had fun interviewing Dave.

What three things would you want people to have done to optimize their user experience on your site(s)?

First, take a look at our blogs at blogs.sas.com and see the collection of thought leaders we have writing about the big issues in healthcare, banking and risk, performance management, business intelligence and business analytics, and more.

Second, take a look at our customer success stories and videos and see how companies and organizations partner with SAS. No matter what industry or field someone is in, they will probably see a company with similar goals and challenges who has used SAS software to accomplish their goals.

Third, visit not only www.sas.com but some of our affiliated sites, like http://support.sas.com and www.sascommunity.org , a collaborative online community of SAS users worldwide. You’ll get an immediate understanding of how much our users love and value our software. They are our best brand ambassadors.

Let’s focus on the your users. What do they look like?

You’ll find SAS users and evangelists at all levels of an organization. They could be a CMO talking about how SAS software helps them meet their marketing goals, a CFO talking about how SAS helps them make money in a difficult economy or a CIO, IS or IT manager, a statistician or analyst or a programmer talking about how SAS software helps the people on their team get their jobs done faster or more efficiently.

What brought you to this position?

I’ve been in marketing communications in the technology industry for about 13 years, and a professional communicator for the past 20. I started with SAS in May 2007 in the corporate public relations group, supporting our overall corporate message and working with journalists who wanted to know more about our corporate culture and the company as a whole. If people don’t know anything else about SAS they know we are a great place to work.

We’ve been listed on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in America since the list began. We had onsite daycare beginning in 1981, for instance. We have an onsite health care center providing primary medical care free of charge to employees and covered dependents. We also have a 66,000 square-foot recreation and fitness center, miles of walking trails, onsite massage therapy and yoga, personal trainers and more.
Jim Goodnight, our founder, started the company in 1976. He has always said that if you treat employees as though they make a difference, they will make a difference. That philosophy permeates everything we do.
How does having a great workplace translate to growing a successful business? There is a feeling of dedication to the customer I have not seen anywhere else. It is a very positive working environment. People come in and write better software and treat customers better as a result.

What’s one thing you would like to see happen going forward?

I would like to see SAS employees contributing more than they already do in the many places on the web where the people are talking about SAS. I would like our employees to get involved in the conversation and provide insight and support. Some are doing that now. I would like to see it become even more widespread. Our employees are so passionate about the company and the software, and so knowledgeable, that the more they get out and communicate the more people we can reach and assist and impress.

What are you doing to get people more involved?

We’re working on a company-wide communications plan to let people know how they can – and should – be communicating in Web 2.0 and social media channels. We’ll be sharing our guidelines and recommendations and then encouraging them to get out and communicate.
If there is one thing–the 20% that a company can do to yield an 80% return to create a great online user experience, what would that be? Make sure you have great content and make it easy for people to get. It doesn’t do you any good to have a great white paper on your web site if no one can find it. Have a presence in the places on the web where your customers and prospects are already interacting.
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To me, the bottom line with SAS is that because they have taken time and have accomplished developing great people they created a wealth of human and social capital and now are mobilizing that capital, encouraging further investment through online communities and dynamic conversations. Stay tuned for Dave’s new external blog.

Jessica Kizorek is a founding partner of Two Parrot Productions. Two Parrot is an international video production company whose expertise lies in commercial HD video production and journalistic documentary coverage of charities around the world. Jessica has also just authored the industry-defining book, “Show Me: Marketing with Video on the Internet.”

Tell me a little bit about your work and your new book.

My background is in documentary filmmaking.  I’ve been doing that for almost ten years now.  I own a video production company where I produce video content for clients ranging from corporate clients like Bacardi to Moet Hennessy to Hyatt Hotels.  I also work for a lot of substantial, large non-profit corporations. 

About two years ago, I knew I was going to need to put my videos online for my clients. I started researching it purely from a business standpoint – how do I do this for my clients?  I was shocked at the lack of information out there on how to put something up on YouTube.  There was no good guide on how to compress it, how to shoot specifically for web, how to display videos effectively over the Internet and so on.  I started compiling all of my research, which then became the book. 

The book is called Show Me:  Marketing with Video on the Internet.  It covers a really wide range of topics, everything from planning to how to shoot a video and how it then incorporates with other more traditional media forms.  It answers questions about how to have your video sync up with your website, sync up with your business cards, sync up with your brand identity, sync up with your overall business objective.  We also address the issues of how you shoot the images that look best on the internet; how do you distribute have watch people watch it, interact and respond to the video.  It covers the whole breadth of the subject. 

The book was released in January.  You can find it on http://www.showmethebook.com.  You can find out more about the book, read what other people said about the book, and access the blog about the book. You can purchase copies there. 

Tell us about your non-profit work and how you got involved there.

My father and I are both involved in this organization called Landmark Education.  I lead the SELP (Self Expression in Leadership Program).  He did that program, and his project was to go over to Thailand and, while there, to videotape and do a short documentary for a non-profit organization.  He consequently was deeply moved by using his expertise with camera and video to communicate what these people were doing over there.  He was so moved by it, as was I, that we really saw an opportunity to create a business model that was primarily philanthropic in nature.  We donate a lot of our services to these on-going projects.  In Tanzania, for example, we’re working for an organization called Kids of Kilimanjaro.  The kids in this neck of the woods have to walk two hours to get to school.  Because it’s so poverty-ridden, they literally did not have the food it took to walk four hours a day.  This organization started a school lunch program. All the kids get fed at school, and the attendance rate is close to 100% now.  So we go over there and shoot these films and do it free of charge.  They pay for the editing on the post-production side.  We do about 8-12 jobs like that a year. 

How do you fund these projects?

We use the frequent flyer miles we’ve built up over the years.  We donate our time. 

We typically work with projects that are outside of the United States, but they have to be pretty significant sized.  They pay about $15,000 on the post-production side of things.  It requires that they have a marketing budget.  But a lot of these organizations would never be able to afford what we provide them.

Before, having a website used to be enough.  But now, people are so oriented around audio visual communications that when you can’t communicate that way with potential donors and potential givers, organizations are really missing out on an opportunity to pull people’s heartstrings. 

How does social networking and social networking technology tie in with both your business and your philanthropic contributions?

Social networking is really incredible, and I’ve explored it primarily through my own research and have just been amazed.  I was at a conference on Wednesday, and the analogy the speaker used was that in the past, people used to sign each other’s year books upon graduation in high school, “Good luck with the rest of your life! I loved knowing you!  Good luck!”  Now, people don’t sign one another’s year books any more – because they never lose touch with them!  They are all on Facebook or Myspace.  It’s a perpetual web.  There’s no longer very much distance between people.  The ability to stay in touch and remain connected to people over the course of time is what we’re really developing. 

The power of that in the business world is significant. Say I’m on Facebook, and I have a bunch of friends personally; I have business acquaintances; I have business leads.  I change my profile that says, “Jessica is delivering a presentation in New York City to the American Association of Advertising Agencies.”  It immediately goes on an update that goes to all the people on my contact list.  The ability to communicate rapidly with short-fire phrases has dramatically impacted how we do business.  It has provided access to information about what is going on with any one of your contacts at any given moment. 

You get that on LinkedIn.  I use LinkedIn, and it’s the same kind of thing.  I see my contacts and who they’re meeting every day.  On my home page on LinkedIn, I can see who’s active – some are more active than others.  Those are the people I want to be in contact with.  Last time I went to NY, I was hunting around for appointments.  I was going through all my contacts’ contact lists, asking who is it that would be a potential client or someone I want to talk to in New York.  There I was able to go through and look at the close connections.  Then I could immediately send an email and say, “I’d like you to introduce me to John, Rick and Jane in New York because I’d like to see them next week and see what I could provide them in the world of video.”  So I had access to meeting people.  I’m much less likely to do a cold call because social networking is facilitating people being connected and introducing one another in ways that I have never heard of before. 

What’s so intriguing to me is that people are more connected, meaning you keep in touch with more people, but the way that people relate to each other is on a more superficial level.  As people become more connected, they become less connected, paradoxically.  People are physically divided, not spending as much time previously as they did in person.  They don’t know the sound of one another’s voice any more.  They aren’t acutely aware of the facial expressions that people make. It used to be that kids would go to spend three hours at the park on the swing-set together.  Now they spend three hours on MySpace, instant messaging each other. 

In the business world, rather than having a business meeting, they send emails or instant message or communicate from afar. From a business standpoint, there’s a need to foster the depth of relatedness.  That’s why I think that video email and video communication are really going to change the nature of this game.  We’ve been emailing for years and years now, but when we’ve got video email, that becomes the methodology for communicating.  That’s going to be incredible.

You can find out more about Jessica, her book and her business by visiting her website at www.TwoParrot.com.