by Scott M. Lindsay - Northwest Public Power Association

Cover Story
“Horse Whisperer” Steve Schauer describes the
Freeze Resistant Cattle Fountain in a popular
OTEC-TV video.
ever, it has become so much more.
With programs such as Photovoltaic
Education at area high schools (OTEC
donated PV equipment to five area
high schools for educational purposes),
high-voltage safety demonstrations,
$48,000 in scholarships, and the
NRECA Youth Tour (OTEC sends four
high school students to Washington,
D.C., each year), the OTEC Facebook
28 NWPPA Bulletin August 2009
page has become a place to share experiences
and information.
For example, Steven Crader represented
Oregon as part of the NRECA
Youth Leadership Council and has
shared his experience on Facebook and
posted pictures from his trips.
Samantha Fritz, one of the 2009 Youth
Tour participants shared her experiences
as well. On June 19, she posted:
“I absolutely loved the trip! Thank you
so much for giving me that opportunity!
I met some great people and saw
amazing sights that will probably
change me forever! Thank you!”
Facebook has also turned out to
be a great place to share certain podcasts
and links back to the OTEC
YouTube material. For the podcasts,
visitors can listen to several segments
of OTEC’s monthly radio program on
KBKR/KLBM out of La Grande and
Baker City. Referred to as OTEC-
Radio, there are podcasts featuring
multiple Youth Tour participants as
Top ten must-do items for your social
media measurement to-do list
1. Define measurable goals: they should include a business or
mission benefit.
2. Measure your market, not yourself. What other conversations
are happening in the utility space?
3. Make sure everyone agrees on your definition of positive and
negative.
4. Measure messages, not just tone.
5. Measure positioning on key issues, not just sentiment.
6. Look at comments for at least 4 days (but a maximum of 14).
7. Don’t forget to measure YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.
8. Measure what matters, not what is popular.
9. Tie results back to your goals.
10. Repeat on a regular basis.
The above information was provided by Desautel-Hege Communications as part
of NWPPA’s “Emerging Media” webinar, which will be offered next on
October 8, 2009.
well as podcasts of Peggi Timm, founding
member of OTEC, discussing
OTEC’s history.
Anyone can become a “fan” of the
OTEC Facebook page, and there is a
convenient link on the OTEC Web site
(www.otecc.com) to the Facebook
page. It is designed to be both educational
and fun, but mostly it is
intended to be one more place where
the OTEC social community can
thrive. With the coming of a new
school year and the efforts of the
Youth Tour participants, it is expected
that more fans will join.
What’s next
OTEC realizes that it is important
to always have an eye open for new
and innovative ways to communicate.
The Facebook and YouTube pages will
continue to be developed and will
become an even more important part
of the overall communications plan in
the future. “We strive to get better
each time we shoot a video, and
though I doubt any will ever be perfect,
I do see us developing that avenue
further for certain,” suggested Schauer.
“They do make for a good laugh at
times, too.”
With so many social network sites
on the Internet, it isn’t likely you will
see OTEC on all of them. With time
being a constraint for small utilities,
decision makers need to really choose
wisely where their utility needs to be
and how active they want to be.
MySpace, Twitter, Linkedin, Blogspot,
and more can consume many hours in
a day if not managed properly.
“The key is to manage your time
effectively, and with YouTube, Facebook,
and Twitter, I believe we are well
situated to be effective in our overall
communication efforts,” said Schauer.
NWPPA
Michael Howe is the communications
specialist at Oregon Trail Electric
Cooperative in Baker City, Ore. On
Tuesday, September 22, he will speak
about social media at the Northwest
Innovations Conference in Redmond,
Ore. He can be reached at either (541)
524-2858 or mhowe@otecc.com.