While perusing the Consumerist yesterday afternoon, I stumbled upon an example of brand ambassadors in action and thought it might make for interesting discussion.

A Consumerist reader wrote about an experience she had with Trader Joe’s. If you’re not familiar with Trader Joe’s, it’s a specialty grocery chain in a handful of states across the country. The reader wrote a letter about how her local store replaced a 20-lb turkey she’d purchased there … for circumstances that were not their fault … at no charge. As you can imagine, the reader was overjoyed.

This in itself is a good example of a brand ambassador. The reader wasn’t just calling her best friend, talking about it at lunch to coworkers or chatting to one random stranger about it. In fact, with this one letter, she was telling the tens of thousands of people (maybe even more) who read the Consumerist every day about her positive experience. Talk about word-of-mouth.

While this in itself is good – especially for Trader Joe’s, which doesn’t do much with social media – it gets even better. In the article’s comments, people are talking about how much they enjoy shopping at the store. When comments questioning the brand surface, people respond, defending Trader Joe’s. In fact, there are some comments where individuals are worrying that the store will be ripped off if people decide to dishonestly copy the writer of the original letter to Consumerist.

One of the questions that frequently arises when companies get into social media is, “How do we deal with negativity?” It’s smart to have a company policy for responding to negative comments. But, if you’ve built a strong relationship with your brand ambassadors, they may address the issues before you get a chance.

Any other instances of strong brand ambassadorship? How would you encourage someone to build brand ambassadors?

The other day, Heather Whaling (@PRtini) and I were developing a presentation on social media she was to deliver at an IABC event. Instead of your run-of-the-mill Microsoft PowerPoint slideshow, we were venturing into unfamiliar territory with Prezi, a unique presentation tool we’d seen Sarah Evans use at IzeaFest last month.

If you’ve never used Prezi, it bills itself as “zooming sketches on a digital napkin.” It provides you with a digital canvas, where you can place images, videos and text wherever you want, and string together a presentation. Cool, right?

I didn’t realize how badly I was set in my PowerPoint ways until both Heather and I were staring at her Prezi digital canvas … and neither of us could figure out where to go from there. We had content bouncing around our brains, but for the life of us, we couldn’t figure out the best way to get it on that screen without the familiar headline/bullet point/photo framework.

At that point, it struck me that this is probably how many people feel when they first experience social media. They have an idea, company, product or cause (even if it’s themselves), but they can’t figure out how to translate it into an unfamiliar medium. How do you tackle something when the rules you’ve come to depend on no longer apply?

Is this how you feel/felt about social media? What advice would you give someone who feels this way? Speak up in the comments!

P.S. The presentation turned out nicely. What do you think?

The divide between media outlets continues to grow over social media policies and guidelines. Understandably so. It is difficult for many to navigate the ever-changing and chaotic social networking waters. And, it isn’t getting easier anytime soon.

On September 25, The Washington Post distributed its new social networking guidelines to its staffers, which included restrictions on the use of Facebook and Twitter. The Post’s underlying concern was that the opinion-saturated nature of social media does not mix well with the intended neutrality of a reporter’s job.

While reactions to The Post’s new policies were mixed, many wondered whether this was another traditional newspaper being overly stressed about staffers expressing personal opinions.

On one hand, employees need rules and guidelines. On the other, why not proactively conduct social media workshops and training sessions, helping reporters use readily available tools to engage readers and take their reporting to new, heightened levels – especially when covering breaking news? Maybe it’s fear. The fear of not knowing … not being able to fully manage the ambiguity associated with communicating via social media mechanisms. Many of us are thinking along these lines. It would be interesting to know how media outlets, companies and professionals in various industries are dealing with this sort of apprehension. And, with what sort of outcomes?

On October 15, NPR took a different route from The Post when distributing a set of tailored social media guidelines to members of their News Division. The company indicated that social networking sites are valuable newsgathering and reporting tools when a common-sense approach is applied. Additionally, NPR encouraged staffers to get out there and connect with audiences via social media. NPR’s new rules were more flexible than The Post’s, but only time will tell which outlet has a better strategy. What do you predict?

Regardless of the outcome, it might be a good idea for media outlets to provide ongoing guidance about how to use social media sites, especially considering their pivotal role as information gatekeepers. Many members of the media appreciated the guidelines, indicating that navigating the personal and professional blending that occurs through social media isn’t always easy.

We’re all starting to think more about the potential ramifications of what we say, write, publish, print, Tweet, post, blog or e-mail, and that’s a good thing. We’ll have to wait and see how this plays out in the media world, but in the meantime: What employee policies and practices do you think companies should institute when it comes to social media?

We recently surveyed the team to find out their top five favorite TV shows of all time. As you can tell from the responses, here at Costa DeVault, we appreciate a good laugh. The picks range from favorites like Friends and Seinfeld, to more suspense-filled shows like CSI… with even the occasional soap opera.

Linda: Seinfeld, Battlestar Galactica, The Sopranos, Lost, and Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Nathan: Seinfeld, Arrested Development, Wonder Years and The Cosby Show (tie), The Dukes of Hazard, and The Office (first 4 seasons).

Deborah: Friends, Sex in the City, The Sopranos, I Love Lucy, and Saturday Night Live.

Kristina: Family Guy, Sex and the City, Seinfeld, Friends, and Lost.

Doreen: Arrested Development, The Cosby Show, The Brady Bunch, Cheers, and The Sopranos.

Simone: Friends, Grey’s Anatomy, CSI, Scrubs, and Law & Order.

Summer: Arrested Development, The Cosby Show, 24, Family Ties, and Sex and the City.

Christian: The Sopranos, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Family Guy, and Everybody Loves Raymond.

Alexis: The Twilight Zone (black and white), Wonder Years, The Sopranos, South Park, and Arrested Development.

Jenni: Friends, Sex and the City, The Office, Chopped, and CSI.

Ashley: Wheel of Fortune, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Friends, I Love Lucy, and Seinfeld.