Samantha Hughey spoke to our social media class today via Skype. She is the Social Media Audience Engagement Editor for the United States Olympic Committee. Her advice and input really were great and I found her to be pretty funny as well! One thing that she said that I took away from her talk was: You’re going to mess up and that is okay. The one thing you have to be careful about as a social media manager is making sure you post from the correct accounts and make sure what you’re posting is appropriate. She said that even if she did accidentally tweet from the Team USA Twitter as her @SamanthaHughey account then it won’t be something that puts her career in danger; it’s okay and it can be fixed.
Then a word came out of her mouth that I resonate with SO MUCH: Fangirl. Yes, I am one. But what she said about it made a lot of sense. You don’t have to be a hardcore fangirl about what you’re working in. For example, she works for the Olympics (I LOVE the Olympics) but she doesn’t have to be a fan of all the sports involved.
“Yeah, it’s cool to see Ryan Lochte, Cassidy Cook, and Gabby Douglas, but you have to remember that they are doing their job and you have to do your job.”
Truer words have never been spoken.
Some best practices Sam gave us when it comes to networking were:
- Networking on #SMSports on Twitter. It’s a tight-knit community of Social Media professionals who range from athletic directors, professors, people who work for Clemson, Under Armour — whatever facet of the sports industry. They are great resources.
- Listen to conversations! Reach out! Interact! Don’t be afraid to reach out to professionals for advice, help, or to pick their brains.
I really enjoyed her talk with us today and I love following her on Twitter! You should do so if you’re not, by the way, at @SamanthaHughey!
Thank you for talking to us, Sam! You’re awesome!
xo,
blondinthesaddle 