Campaign Central

[Celeste Lindell]

This forum will serve as Campaign Central for the upcoming Social Media Club of Kansas City Board Elections. Campaigning will run June 1-17, 2012 and voting will be open June 18-25, 2012. Winners will be announced at the July breakfast meeting.

This will be the primary location for the Board nominees to share a little bit about themselves, their experience, and why they would like to serve on the SMCKC Board. We also encourage other SMCKC members to ask questions and/or provide supporting statements for their candidate(s) of choice.

Your nominees are as follows (in alphabetical order under each position):

President

• Aaron Deacon - @aarondeacon

Vice President

• Kris McDonald - @KrisMcDonald21
• Aaron Thacker - @yourdp
• Dave Winslow - @Buzzingmedia

Advocacy Chair

• Tonya Frank-Wadel - @tfwadel
• Jason Harper -  @jasonfharper
• Rebecca Roman - @BeccaRoman
• Alisha Templeton - @AlishaBethT

Technology Chair

• Carolyn Anderson - @hellocarolynj
• Tyler Hillsman - @thillsman
• Dee Sadler - @DeeSadler

Anyone who is an SMCKC member as of June 1, 2012 is allowed one vote during the election. Acceptance of new members will be suspended until the end of the voting period.

If you have any questions regarding the nomination and/or voting process please contact your President Joe Cox or Vice President Celeste Lindell.

Thank you for your support and participation during this very important process!

[Dee Sadler]

Hello, my name is Dee Sadler and I'm up for the Technology Chair position. A little about me, if you don't already know me:

Adobe Certified Instructor - Teaching Adobe technology since 1998.

Adobe Community Professional - About 300 of us worldwide. We are the content providers, speakers, general community driven folks. I have a new set of videos up at tv.adobe.com on creating a brand via web portfolios for the Education team at Adobe, I have articles I've written, almost wrote a book, but not enough time, but am currently, and have been Tech Editor for several books. I tweet Adobe stuff a lot.

Adobe Freelancer. There are about 60 of us worldwide. We do demos and such for Adobe. A lot of the time for AIGA's and other groups wanting to know more about workflow between Adobe products. We also do online seminars for Adobe.

Founder of KCCoreGroups. We have 5 Adobe user groups in KC, and I am the founder, creating 4 of the 5 personally. I took a dying user group, rebranded it and created an umbrella group that has been used as a template for user groups worldwide.

#D2WC organizer (d2wc.com). I run a designer, developer, mobile conference here in Kansas City. We just had our 3rd year in mid May. As a result, am now in a core team at my work, Sprint, to create and help startups, and other conferences, user groups etc., here in Kansas City.

Blogger/podcaster. We have a podcast around workflow, and I often blog about web/mobile technology.

I currently work for Sprint as a User Experience, User Interface designer, but I am also a hybrid, meaning I code as well. Web and mobile are my focus, but ya never know what is needed. I can under duress create a smoking power point.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Dee

[Jason Harper]

Dear SMCKC Member,

I'm Jason Harper, and I'd appreciate your vote for Advocacy Chair. Why vote for me June 18 rather than any of the other excellent candidates? Well, I'll do my best to lay out a few reasons...

As social media/community manager for the Kansas City Public Library (@KClibrary), I feel I have a good sense of how digital media impacts the nonprofit world, where it's all about making a difference in people's lives.

SMCKC has made a difference in my own life, and I'd like to give back. When I left my career in journalism 2&1/2 years ago for the new world of social media marketing, I found a tremendous educational resource in SMCKC. Through our stellar programs, networking events, and the personal relationships I've built with geniuses like you, I have taken back gobs of insight and wisdom to put to good use at my library home.

SMCKC represents the best our city has to offer this powerful new social arena. As advocacy chair, I would work not only to raise our group's profile locally and nationally but also to identify ways we can put our influence to use for good in our community.

Case in point: If you were at the June 1 breakfast, you saw some of best impulses at work. When Ken Miner of Front Flip gave an impassioned plea on behalf of his wife, Kris, who urgently needs a marrow transplant, many SMCKC-ers skipped the presentation to go through the steps to join the marrow registry. Many more sent out the call to join Team Kris Miner on social media. A look at the TweetReach report for #teamkrisminer over the weekend gives you a sense of the influence we have: http://tweetreach.com/reports/3966499?v=2

Whether or not you put stock in those exact numbers, there’s no denying our influence is broad.

And we've already been using that influence for good in a number of ways, whether that's to benefit projects like the March of Dimes or Sleepyhead Beds -- or through our own, SMCKC-grown Give Us a Gig! Google Fiber outreach project, which I've been proud to take part in. I think that each time we get together, in addition to maintaining high standards as a professional resource, we should be active in championing good causes in our community and beyond.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of people seeing "#SMCKC" in their feeds and thinking we're just chattering about ourselves. Let's go beyond the hashtag and get back to the real reason we're passionate about this social media stuff in the first place: because it empowers regular people like us to bring about positive change.

If you have any questions about my candidacy, hit me up on Twitter @jasonfharper or email me at [e-mail].

Thanks for your time!

Sincerely,

Jason F. Harper

[Dee Sadler]

Nice.
I really like your approach and apparent passion.

Dee

[Jason Harper]

Thanks, Dee! Back atcha!

Jason

Dee Sadler said:

Nice.
I really like your approach and apparent passion.

Dee

[Tyler Hillsman]

Hi everyone!

I'm Tyler Hillsman (@thillsman) and I'm running for SMCKC Technology Chair. Pull up a seat.

When I was a youngin' - well, sixth grader, I think - my dad sat me down in front of Netscape Composer and showed me how to make a little website. From there, I was hooked, and taught myself some HTML. It was a fun little hobby, and I put that skill in my back pocket. Then I was in high school and fell in love with my marketing classes. One thing lead to another and I got a degree in marketing at the fantastic Missouri State University. While all this was happening, so was social media. I (like many of you) jumped on some bandwagons pretty early: Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube took up a good chunk of my free time in college. Fast forward to today:

I currently work in Cerner's Ambulatory division, as the Online Marketing and Social Media Specialist. I love that I get to combine my skills: marketing knowledge, social media experience, video editing know-how, and even some web design. Which - conveniently - seems to be what the SMCKC Technology Chair should have!

I've been going to SMCKC meetings for almost a year now (though I joined the group online even before I graduated from college!) and I love everything I've seen. We have heard from some fantastic speakers, promoted some incredible causes, and I've met many fun and interesting people. It is a very knowledgeable and entertaining group, and I've loved making the breakfasts a first-Friday-of-the-month routine.

Since I've been involved with SMCKC, I have helped with the KC Cache Dash (serving on the commentator board and egging on the contestants), worked with presenters to upload slides to SlideShare, and look forward to contributing to the All-Star Game Social Media Command Center. And I can't wait to further my involvement with the organization.

So what would I do as Technology Chair? Here are a few things:

• Be active and helpful on the SMCKC Twitter and Facebook accounts: answering questions even freaky faster than Jimmy John's as well as getting the word out about breakfasts, happy hours, and news.
• Explore the power of the Ning site and other online tools to increase communication within the group.
• Work with the other board members to plan fun, educational, and exciting new events and activities.
• Introduce SMCKC to great social media users in the community who have unfortunately never checked us out.
• Constantly be willing to listen to ideas, take suggestions, and share your input with the board.

I am extremely open to being ask questions, so fire away. Ask me (@thillsman) anything on Twitter with #askthillsman. Crazy, serious, anything in between. Look, I've even made a button for you to press! You can also email me at [e-mail] or contact me through tylerhillsman.com.

Thanks for reading this and have a wonderful day!

[Alisha Templeton]

Hi! I’m Alisha Templeton and I’m running for Advocacy Chair. Some of you may know me on the interwebz as @AlishaBethT.

I’ve been an active member of The Social Media Club of Kansas City for nearly two years. Professionally, as the Social Media Manager for Ameristar Casinos Inc, I’ve been leading social media efforts for a year and love that I get to work at job connecting and communicating using social media for such a great company in a fun industry! Prior, I had the privilege of working with one of the best digital marketing teams I know – my buddies, @jpgardner and @shaneadams over at AMC Theatres. All together I’ve held careers in Marketing for five years after completing my MBA from UMKC (Go Roos!) and my BA from KU (an even BIGGER GO JAYHAWKS!).

I can honestly say that I’ve met some of my favorite people in the world at #smckc events and you are no doubt my favorite group of people in Kansas City! But you guys already know that. I love to see the group growing and look forward to meeting new members monthly at each breakfast.

I'm a regular attendee at social media conferences, @SocialIRL events, proud @KCcachedash participant (Team YMCA w/ @JGoldsborough - yeah, we were the ones wearing sweet headbands), Give us a Gig @GoogleinKC neighborhood ambassador, @KCITP member, future Command Center volunteer for the @AllStarGame and soon to be volunteer Big Sister - thanks to the dear influential heart of my friend, @GeneWillis. If there's a event going on in Kansas City, you'll probably see me there or at least Tweeting about while attending another event at the same time from my second phone.

As Advocacy Chair board member, I’d love to help #smckc get even more involved in our local community – both through social media efforts and IRL. There is tremendous potential for a dedicated and influential group like #smckc to make an impact in our local community through our involvement in non-profit, charity and other community related events. #ilovekansascity (thanks for the hashtag, @rm) and I’d be grateful for an opportunity to represent #smckc in our city of KC. I'm looking forward to identifying opportunities for us to really make a difference by becoming more engaged and involved while strengthening relationships with other organizations and to overall increase our positive impact on the city. 

All candidates for the Advocacy Chair (@jasonfharper, @BeccaRoman and @tfwadel) are not only quality candidates for this position, but also amazing people whom I call friends. In my book, any vote for Advocacy Chair is a win.

Find me at @AlishaBethT on LinkedIn or on the Facebook. Find me...follow, connect, Friend me!

 

[Sarah Wood]

I'm opening this space for supporting statements of candidates. Please know that my views are my own, and not representative of the SMCKC Board, nor have any candidates asked me to support them. Free will inspires me!

I support Jason for the Advocacy Chair opening on the SMCKC Board. I have seen Jason consistently produce excellent works in a timely fashion for a variety of tasks, whether for the KC Library, Give Us a Gig Initiative or for the SMCKC community. Jason's skill sets of writing, creative promotions and community building can be seen in the recent KC Library events using interactive promotions and community building social media, the copy of Give Us a Gig community documents and a variety of SMCKC pieces. 

With these inherent qualities of excellence and consistency, I believe Jason is the best SMCKC advocate for community and local business, which will help our Social Media Club chapter blossom into a strong KC local organization which is able to affect positive and lasting change in the Kansas City communities and businesses.

[Jason Harper]

Thanks for that, Sarah! I'm touched and honored to have the support of someone who's been so valuable and integral to the success of SMCKC.

- Jason

Sarah Wood said:

I'm opening this space for supporting statements of candidates. Please know that my views are my own, and not representative of the SMCKC Board, nor have any candidates asked me to support them. Free will inspires me!

I support Jason for the Advocacy Chair opening on the SMCKC Board. I have seen Jason consistently produce excellent works in a timely fashion for a variety of tasks, whether for the KC Library, Give Us a Gig Initiative or for the SMCKC community. Jason's skill sets of writing, creative promotions and community building can be seen in the recent KC Library events using interactive promotions and community building social media, the copy of Give Us a Gig community documents and a variety of SMCKC pieces. 

With these inherent qualities of excellence and consistency, I believe Jason is the best SMCKC advocate for community and local business, which will help our Social Media Club chapter blossom into a strong KC local organization which is able to affect positive and lasting change in the Kansas City communities and businesses.

[Aaron Deacon]

Greetings!

I'm honored to be nominated for SMCKC president and look forward to continuing to grow with this terrific organization. It has been a whirlwind of a last year since first joining the board, and I'm excited to continue to build on the momentum we've established.

Over the coming year, I hope to help keep us moving toward our strategic objectives established in our 2012 planning process, including:

• Providing greater value for our professional members
• Helping to build the new media community and reputation in Kansas City
• Advocating for digital literacy and inclusion through efforts like Give Us a Gig
• Better integrating our local programming with the national SMC organization
• Continuing to improve the way SMCKS uses social media to connect our group
• Developing an insights and data strategy for SMCKC

Thank you for your support!

Aaron

@aarondeacon

[Aundre Gray]

Very nice Tyler!!! 

Tyler Hillsman said:

Hi everyone!

I'm Tyler Hillsman (@thillsman) and I'm running for SMCKC Technology Chair. Pull up a seat.

When I was a youngin' - well, sixth grader, I think - my dad sat me down in front of Netscape Composer and showed me how to make a little website. From there, I was hooked, and taught myself some HTML. It was a fun little hobby, and I put that skill in my back pocket. Then I was in high school and fell in love with my marketing classes. One thing lead to another and I got a degree in marketing at the fantastic Missouri State University. While all this was happening, so was social media. I (like many of you) jumped on some bandwagons pretty early: Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube took up a good chunk of my free time in college. Fast forward to today:

I currently work in Cerner's Ambulatory division, as the Online Marketing and Social Media Specialist. I love that I get to combine my skills: marketing knowledge, social media experience, video editing know-how, and even some web design. Which - conveniently - seems to be what the SMCKC Technology Chair should have!

I've been going to SMCKC meetings for almost a year now (though I joined the group online even before I graduated from college!) and I love everything I've seen. We have heard from some fantastic speakers, promoted some incredible causes, and I've met many fun and interesting people. It is a very knowledgeable and entertaining group, and I've loved making the breakfasts a first-Friday-of-the-month routine.

Since I've been involved with SMCKC, I have helped with the KC Cache Dash (serving on the commentator board and egging on the contestants), worked with presenters to upload slides to SlideShare, and look forward to contributing to the All-Star Game Social Media Command Center. And I can't wait to further my involvement with the organization.

So what would I do as Technology Chair? Here are a few things:

• Be active and helpful on the SMCKC Twitter and Facebook accounts: answering questions even freaky faster than Jimmy John's as well as getting the word out about breakfasts, happy hours, and news.
• Explore the power of the Ning site and other online tools to increase communication within the group.
• Work with the other board members to plan fun, educational, and exciting new events and activities.
• Introduce SMCKC to great social media users in the community who have unfortunately never checked us out.
• Constantly be willing to listen to ideas, take suggestions, and share your input with the board.

I am extremely open to being ask questions, so fire away. Ask me (@thillsman) anything on Twitter with #askthillsman. Crazy, serious, anything in between. Look, I've even made a button for you to press! You can also email me at [e-mail] or contact me through tylerhillsman.com.

Thanks for reading this and have a wonderful day!

[Tyler Hillsman]

Thanks, Aundre! I appreciate it!

[Dave Winslow]

Hi, my name is Dave Winslow and I’m up for Vice President. I will tell you a little about me and my background and welcome your questions. But first I will tell you about what I want to accomplish in the role should I be fortunate enough to get the nod. I believe I will be a great choice for vice president and I would appreciate your vote to make me  prove it! It really is that simple.

My first priority will be to support Aaron as President. Being the president of a club or organization can sometimes be a thankless job and other times, an exciting and exhilarating experience. I will work hard to ensure the latter occurs more often for Aaron and the rest of the board. Because, supporting the other board members as they work to accomplish their goals will be my second priority.  I know I will be a good support person and a great sounding board and I sum up this statement in one word: Experience.

In addition to the above, I also have some goals and with the support and approval of Aaron and the rest of the board, I will work to accomplish them. The SMCKC is in a great position to rise above the many shouting voices I feel are dominating the social and civic airwaves. If elected I will work to leverage my experience and relationships to the betterment of the SMCKC. This is the time and I believe the SMCKC is the right group to get er done!

Let me make one point really clear: My experience and accomplishments below have always been as part of a team. Sometimes as a leader some times in support. I know I am not the right person to lead the club at this time and believe Aaron is. I’m ready to help him prove it too!

So, my experience: Two terms as President of the River Market Business Association. First term we accomplished the opening of Berkley Park and the Berkley Bridge.  Second term was the redevelopment of second street, connecting The Riverfront Station complex with Grand Blvd. (Number of other boards so please ask me if you want more detail on any of this). I also had a family BBQ joint in the City Market that I sold in 2009 (Still has my name on the door in case you were wondering). I also designed, built and operated Club 427 a 4-Star, Zagat rated Jazz Diner Club that won the EDC’s Cornerstone Award for the top real estate development in KC. Enough on that –

On to Marketing: Owner of Buzz New Media, a marketing firm that focuses on a consultative and coaching approach to helping successful companies grow incorporating social into the marketing mix. Also, a board member of the Downtown Marketing Group in KC. Was a guest blogger during the Film Festival and am part of the give us a gig neighborhood initiative. Started my career in Dallas where I was also involved in the community. I was elected Ad2 President and later Dallas Ad League President. I then served two terms on the Board of the AAF in Washington DC and was a founding member of the 100 of Dallas, a 501c3 that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to aid at-risk children’s charities.

Again, I want to stress that all of the above was done as part of a team and to highlight why my experience might help the club. I am asking for your vote to allow me the opportunity to put that experience to work as part of the SMCKC team.  Contact me with questions at: [e-mail] or text (or even call me) at: 816-582-1398 And, BTW, thanks for taking the time to be involved and that goes for all the great candidates here as well!

Thanks - Dave