The goal of this panel is to uncover new and exciting ways to use social media as a means for social change. This session will go beyond the basics—sending targeted action alerts and creating online petitions—and discover fresh and innovative virtual campaigning techniques for real results. When NASA public affairs specialist Stephanie Schierholz was speaking on a customer service panel at TWTRCON, PETA asked monkey-loving supporters to hijack the #TWTRCON hashtag with messages of about NASA's plan to fund cruel experiments in which dozens of squirrel monkeys would be blasted with harmful space radiation. Tweets about NASA's radiation experiments began appearing on the conference’s large projectors meant to display tweets about the event. In another example of a non-profit getting the upper-hand online, Greenpeace created a parody YouTube video, calling into question Nestlé’s methods for acquiring palm oil, which spread rapidly through online community channels and eventually caused Nestlé to meet their demands within just a few weeks of the campaign's start. Mainstream media covered the video and Nestles failure to manage dissent on their Facebook page. Using inventive tactics to leverage social media for good means creating the possibility for millions of passionate people to band together and create tangible change, wherever, whenever, whoever they are.
Andrew Blair, Social Media Manager, Comcast Entertainment Group.
Andrew is a web developer, social media evangelist, and accomplished musician. No stranger to the power of social networking, Blair's early work with MP3.com helped his first band sign to Columbia Records. Later, his work with MySpace helped Andrew and Liz, his wife, to sign a songwriting deal with Universal Music Publishing. After years of touring, Andrew settled down in Southern California to focus on web development and social media strategy. After a brief project with MC2 Marketing, he relocated to Miracle Mile to join the CEG family in 2007.
Based in Los Angeles, Comcast Entertainment Group operates E! Entertainment Television, the 24-hour network with programming dedicated to the world of entertainment, and E! Online; the Style Network, the destination for women 18-49 with a passion for the best in relatable and inspiring lifestyle programming; and G4, offering the last word on gaming, technology, animation, interactivity and "Internet culture" for the male 18-34 demo.
Chris Eaton is the Social Media Strategist for Greenpeace USA where he uses online tools to win victories for the planet. He specializes in recruiting grassroots activists to take action both online and on the ground. He also works to deploy real time media for direct action and to take on corporate polluters through creative and tactical online communications.
With Greenpeace, Chris has helped push several major brands into foreswearing environmental abuses and adopting meaningful sustainability policies. Through a mix of brand jamming and empowering thousands of activists, Chris has helped push Kimberly-Clark, the makers of Kleenex, Nestle and Burger King to adopt far reaching forest sustainability policies as well as make supermarkets such as Trader Joe’s and Target sell more sustainable seafood. By enabling peer to peer communication and organizing, Chris has helped bring together the biggest demonstrations on climate change in US history, expose the corporate funders of climate change denial such as the Koch Brothers, and convince the Obama Administrion to protect the moratorium on commercial whaling. Chris is also honored to have participated in other victories such as increasing protection for polar bears, implementing bans on off shore oil drilling and defending the Amazon.
Chris has a BA in Modern Culture and Media from Brown University and lives in Brooklyn.
Royale Ziegler is the social media coordinator at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Her passion for helping her furry friends, having given up eating animals more than 12 years ago, and her enthusiasm for technology led to her position as PETA's professional tweeter and Facebook extraordinaire—and part-time Lettuce Lady, of course. ;) She is a social media innovator with expertise in online activism, developing fresh and cutting edge virtual campaigning techniques for real world results. Royale has received considerable media attention for her work on PETA's Donna Karan Facebook campaign. Using social media to interact with PETA's supporters on a personal level, to share information, and as a tool for online advocacy has been an honor and a privilege for Royale, and it's something she looks forward to speaking about this year at SXSW.
Sean Bonner has been involved with media, online and off, for the better part of the last 16 years.
He has been featured in GOOD, Wired, Playboy, Salon, Forbes and others, been included in Yahoo!’s Best of the Web, and has spoken at conferences, events, and coffee shops around the world.
As co-founder and CEO of Bode Media Inc, Sean helped create Metblogs, the worlds largest network of local media blogs. As a consultant, he has helped The Groop, Jack In The Box, LAPD, Suicide Girls, Obey Giant, Shopzilla and others interact with their customers, clients, and fans online. He also speaks frequently at conferences covering blogs, media, networks and grassroots journalism. Recently he’s spoken at TEDxVienna, Ignite Toronto, SXSWi (Austin, TX), Roboexotica (Vienna, Austria) and Re:Publica (Berlin, Germany). As an event organizer, Sean brought BarCamp to Los Angeles, NSC1 to Singapore, co-organized Accelerate 2010 in Singapore and The New Context Conference in Tokyo, produced the first art exhibition comprised solely of phonecam images, ran art auctions and benefits for the West Memphis Three. Sean has also been a guest blogger/contributor for BoingBoing and hosted the iPhone game review show iPhun. He is also one of the founders of Crash Space, a Los Angeles hackerspace.
Prior to all this, Sean helped build the groundbreaking contemporary art gallery sixspace exhibiting artists such as Glen E. Friedman, Shepard Fairey, Coop, Chad Robertson and others. He also ran a record label and produced several records by Hot Water Music and Less Than Jake to name a few. He’s also managed a design firm, worked as Sr. Designer for Playboy.com and Creative Director for Victory Records. Way before that he was a dishwasher.
