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Sarah is constantly connected!

Today I’m networking with Sarah Evans.  Not the singer Sara Evans – this Sarah is a rock star in the world of social media. She was at Fox Chicago earlier this month to talk to anchors, reporters and any interested employees on how broadcast journalists can better utilitize social media.  I’m glad she was able to jump off the internet long enough for us to visit over lunch.

I met Sarah on the web long before her visit to the station.   She somehow found me when I first joined twitter over a year ago. I think she was intrigued that a “traditional” broadcast journalist was on the scene.  Sarah has nearly 30,000 twitter followers and is the founder of the site’s popular #journchat series – a weekly live chat between PR professionals, journalists and bloggers.  She’s also a guest writer for Mashable and just launched her own PR and new media agency.

“What’s stopping people from using ustream?” Sarah asks.  She predicts the internet and technology will soon change the world of traditional broadcast journalism even more.  Like many other social media strategists, Sarah believes a tidal shift is happening. Journalists need to catch the wave, jump out or risk washing ashore.  Hang ten, baby!

Post-newscast Geek Girl

I’ve always loved technology.  Good thing – it’s ever-changing in the TV news biz which combines my love for technology with my love for words.

My appreciation for computers and gizmos stems from my parents.  They seem to be spending their retirement attached to their laptops.  Just recently, my father was among the first to get an iPhone 3Gs.

Both of my brothers are engineers in the computer industry.  My older brother is a systems engineer for a software company and my younger brother works for a company that programs video poker machines.  (Don’t ask. He’s not allowed to talk about the programs.)  I’m the black sheep who went into journalism.

Over the past few years, I’ve helped a lot of my colleagues at Fox Chicago to dive into social media.  There is immeasurable value in using sites like facebook and twitter to interact with viewers.

ad : tech chicago

So maybe it won’t surprise you that I spent my afternoon at a tech conference today.  Some of the country’s savviest internet marketers are here for ad:tech chicago.  At a session called “The Twitter Effect”, we heard from companies leveraging Twitter to drive brand engagement and sales.   It’s enlightening but I’m surprised by how much I already know.

A Geek + A Nerd = 2 Nerds : Cam Balzer of Threadless.com (A super cool company!)

I remark to my pals, “Hey, terms like SEO, ROI and bit.ly don’t phase me anymore!”   Without missing a beat, social media strategist Beth Rosen replies, “You are a geek!  Why are we hanging with you?  Where are the cool people?”