Blogging from the #140Conf (Part 2)

By Abby Draper

The lineup for Day 2 of the 140 Character Conference (#140conf) is just as exciting as it was for Day 1. One of the early panels today was a group of four social media professionals all under the age of 23, speaking about “growing up with real time internet.”

During their discussion, Sarah Cooley, Communications Manager for Postling.com, had strong opinions on securing the perfect job or employee through your social media platforms. As a current undergrad, she explains that her friends ask questions of her like “What if your future employer sees the pictures of you on Facebook?” Or “Remember when you tweeted after a few glasses of wine? What if they read that?”

During my last years of college, I had the same reservations, and restructured my personal pages with hopes that doing so would help me in my job search. I deleted my hobbies, interests and favorite movies and replaced them with professional organizations I am a part of and links to my LinkedIn account, Twitter handle and my blog.

Sutton went on to explain that as it becomes more instinctual for companies to rely on social media platforms as resumes, you should be conscious of how you present yourself online. Adding photos of yourself during a long night out on the town or tweeting about how much you hate a certain brand could hurt your chances of being hired at some companies.

I also came across a great article from CNNMoney.com that explains how big groups like Accenture will be approaching their hiring in the future.


[Accenture Head of Global Recruiting Joe] Campagnino plans to make as many as 40% of his hires in the next few years through social media. Says he: "This is the future of recruiting for our company."


As Maroon PR continues to add clients, we will continue to grow our team as well. With so many great clients having such a strong presence online, I look forward to adding to their social media team. I am certain that through this process, we will rely heavily on social media personalities in making our final decisions.

Accenture and other companies are continuing to prove that social media is not only growing in popularity, but becoming essential for professionals.

Abby Draper is the Manager of Social Media. Contact her at abby@maroonpr.com.

Blogging from the #140Conf

By Abby Draper

It comes as no surprise that the most popular “tweeters” to follow are celebrities. I am fortunate to be in New York today, at the "140 Characters Conference," (#140conf) where I just heard Ivanka Trump discuss how and why she tweets. During her presentation, there was a particular part that really stood out to me.

When asked what the most important part of twitter is as a celebrity, Ivanka answered “Remaining consistent in your messages.”

Although I am not a celebrity, a key part of what defines my role as a social media public relations professional is to develop and manage several different types of clients’ social media platforms. In doing so, it has become apparent that a consistent message is key to engaging friends, followers and fans. With each client I strive to achieve a specific goal: to combine news, relevant trends, and a unique perspective into each account.

We become friends, fans and followers of things that we are interested in knowing and learning more about. If the message becomes distorted and dishonest, the audience becomes disengaged. If the audience becomes disengaged, the message cannot be shared.

While the accounts I manage may not be as exciting to follow as certain celebrity’s tweets are, I understand that without a consistent message, the potential to connect to an audience and provoke conversation through social media is lost.

Abby Draper is the Manager of Social Media. Contact her at abby@maroonpr.com.