1ST thank you to the participants who attended my session and for those that contributed to the discussion. I will be adding the below tools and more to the socialmedia database in the category of productivity.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arianec/4892608156/

Photo by Ariane Colenbrander (on Twitter @arianecdesign)

I focused the discussion on 3 areas. Socialmeda time savers, Collaborations tools, and Photo organizing.

2. Collaboration

It takes time to prepare, proposals, media releases, reports. The written word is at its best when it is left in one place (an online one) and contributors like your volunteers, or committee are invited to edit it at its home. Collaborative tools are great because they eliminate the length of time and misunderstanding that comes from an email list a mile long of version attachments.

The best FREE tool I have found is Google documents which are accessed by signing in for a free email account and then located on the top left toolbar. This video explains the concept well.

Although Google Docs has a limit on what type of media you can include my favorite three strengths are:

• documents resemble and work like the readily used Microsoft Office=no to little learning curve
• you can upload documents that you are already working on or embed them into webpages/blogs
• AND that they connect in real time so updates in one document are reflected in all AND they are consistently being improved and updated.

“imagine a your year end report updating with the final accounting stats and the newest google news stories related to the report – AFTER you have handed it in.”

Once you have mastered the basics of Google documents, browse the optional tricks and uses can be found in THE LABS section. To see how versatile and easy it is to save your time.

Get imaginative like Todd Maffin- Email sorting tip.

http://todmaffin.com/waitingfor

There are alot of tools inside of Google docs- Take time to get to know the multi-layered Google Calendar.

• You can share Calendars with co-workers to track progress, or decide at a glance when is the best time for a group meeting.  NO MORE EMAIL CONFIRMATIONS.
• A favorite Computer hack is to use information from an excel sheet and add it to your google calander. How?  Goto this link for a template and instructions:  http://howtotechtips.blogspot.com/2008/06/import-list-of-events-into-google.html

Other online tools you NEED to know about:

Collaborative  Notepads

• Evernote Works on your mobile and computer.  Let the photo recognition software pre-sort your multimedia and find it again with the useful search engine.
• Zoho Notebook. This notebook sits on the web and just like google docs, you can share it.  Onlike google docs it can house interactive media like web cliping, videos and audio files…
• Springnote links pages and concepts together with a wiki- styled concept. It also promotes collaboration via notebook sharing as well.
• Diigo Is a notebook in the cloud with a reader and highlighter component to capture webpages in a screenshot to be stored in case they are deleted later.  It also offers a read later tool.

A Wiki (think of the famous Wikipedia) is a place where many re-write a single document.

• MediaWiki for a self-hosted solution (this is the software that powers Wikipedia),
• PBWorks for a hosted solution, collaborate videos, images, documents, search all, control access- 30 day trial, $20/user/mth
• Socialtext 30 day trial, $5000/yr, provides social network, group projects or people, documents, wikis, microblogging, mobile integration, rates contibuters…
• WikiMatrix wiki comparison site. Has a survey to help you choose soooo good
• Wikispaces is easy to use

Too much?  Try this Excellent comparison chart of wiki software

A mish-mash of more

• Skype- A video chat program also has a file share and desktop share cabilbility for showinga collaborator your desktop so you can demonstrate the concept.
• Google sites, Ning sites or Blogs  can be used as a place for a group to upload information and share it
• Mobile applications that link to your blog are easy ways of writing ideas and posting them immediately or as i prefer- saving them for the right moment to give them the details to get them noticed.

If you prefer to sharing Images and Videos:

• Slideshare is a place to post your presentation for all to see.
• Sliderocket- Is a presentation with professional templates for $$$, 30 day trial and  $12-24/ month
• Viddler- Is a site for video uploads with frame by frame comment collaberation and an option to add your logo.
• Vimeo- Also great for video posting and sharing.
• Youtube annotations – are a great way to highlight and click through to related material or just comment at a frame.  If you go the Youtube route remember to customize your account.  Goto the dropdown menu  over your account name and press ” My Channel”

For more tips, check  AND ADD TO out the Social media database