Meet Dogs Trust: Abbie Smith

Having recently joined the Dogs Trust Digital Team, I will be spending my days communicating with all of our great supporters out there - so I thought I would take a moment to introduce myself to you all...

Name: Abbie Smith

Location: Dogs Trust HQ, London

Job: Digital Marketing Officer

You what...? Yes that’s right – I’m the new Digital Marketing Officer! And I’m thrilled. I’ve been working here 7 years in June so I’m no stranger to the brilliance of all things Dogs Trust. However moving to the Digital Team is totally new to me, and just a couple of days in – I love it! So far I’ve been getting to grips with the website content, doing my usual scribbled notes that make little sense… before neatly transferring into my notebook to be highlighted / colour coded - oh yeahhh,  I’m one of ‘those’ people!

I’m surrounded by digital gurus... Literally - Jacqui to my left and Lo to my right. Therefore I’m confident I will be learning lots along the way, and  I’ll most probably ramble in future blogs too –  there’s something to look forward to.

Best thing about my job: The people! Having been here a fair few years I’ve seen  people come and go, but the majority are ‘long timers’ and (hopefully)  aren’t going anywhere anytime soon – you can’t blame them. I was 17 when I started here, my first real job in the ‘big wide world’… so in all honesty – my colleagues could be rubbish…but I have no comparison - so to me they are great! This goes for my new team too; the best thing about working in the Digital Team so far has been instantly feeling comfortable enough to ask questions and being shown the ropes by Jacqui and Lo! Of course, having Twitter and Facebook open on my screen 24/7 will be an added bonus!

Pets: I have a gorgeous little 9 month old Kitten called Kenny. He is mischievous and a little crazy! He’s often casually hanging over my shoulder while I’m walking around the house – I always fail to tell visitors about this trait so they are a little alarmed when he springs up and does his best impression of a parrot.

Favourite websites: I’m a self-confessed Twitter addict, scrolling through the tweets of the rich and semi/not-at-all famous makes my journey to the office in Angel from my home in Essex much more entertaining!

What I'm reading now: I am half way through a book called Before I Go to Sleep written by S J Watson. It's a good read, It takes a bit of brain power to keep up – which is ironic since it’s all about a lady who has lost her mind!

Weekend plans: I will most probably go for drinks after work on Friday with the girls and for a meal of some kind on Saturday with my boyfriend and our friends. I always make time to see my Nan for a cup of tea too!

Meet Dogs Trust: Laurier 'Lo' Nicas

It seems that it is time for my official introduction! I started work on September 1st as the new member of the digital team here and I won’t lie to you, I love it. One month in has reaffirmed what I already knew— great people, great job, great cause.

Name: Laurier Nicas (let’s face it, that’s a mouthful. Feel free to just call me Lo)

Location: Dogs Trust HQ, London

Job: Digital Marketing Assistant

You what...? I work with fellow digi-nerds, Jacqui Darlow and Alex Goldstein on all the web fun! My main duties at the moment include working on the new, highly anticipated site and using my crafty design background to jazz everything up a bit. I’m very excited to delve into more of the social networking soon.

Best thing about my job: Playing. I get to fiddle around in Photoshop, experiment on Twitter, and just jostle things up a bit. Coming in with a digital PR background and a communication/design education, I like to think I have a fresh outlook on the whole shebang! Plus working with Jacqui and Alex isn't half bad... ;)

Pets: I wish. Flatmates say no. Landlord says no. Some day soon, I hope (and as I am moving in with my boyfriend in January, this might happen sooner than he thinks).

Favourite websites: Not including the good old standbys, Google and BBC News, lately I have been reading many light-hearted and humorous blogs such as Awkward Family Photos, Not Always Right, and Scanwiches. These blogs keep things amusing and fun while I test my brain power with mental_floss and get emotional with PostSecret.

What I'm reading now: I am currently on page 425 of The Time Traveler’s Wife. I cannot put it down. Less than 100 pages to go and I’m dreading that feeling of loss that occurs when a good book ends.

Weekend plans: First, I'll Skype with my parents in the States— it is a weekly tradition! Then both the flatmates are away, so I think I will secretly tidy the entire flat. It’ll be a lovely surprise when they come back. This is not entirely selfless though, as there is nothing quite like blasting the radio in an empty house while you vacuum. I think I'll pull some Risky Business moves...

It was great to introduce myself to you— the first of many, I hope! Feel free to catch my daily ramblings on Twitter. I'm not nearly as amusing as I think I am, but you could humour me...

Charity Web 2.0: The Social Media Exchange

I don't generally say much on this blog about Dogs Trust and our social media work because if you're reading it, you generally have the idea that online = good are here, and we're going to work our (obviously, svelte) behinds off making sure that you can find us online, talk to us and get a conversation going.

However, today was one of those days where I get immersed in explaining to other charities why we do what we do and how they could do their own version of it too. This was courtesy of the Social Media Exchange.

The day was created to support charities by Sound Delivery, a communications agency that devotes itself to working with the 'third sector'. As such the guest list covered a range of social media evangelists and consultants like Steve Bridger and Rachel Beer and representatives of a host of diverse charities. Some - like us - were there to present, others - also like us, if we'd been able to stay! - were there to listen. The format wasn't the usual keynote-and-speeches, variety, though, but small, more informal and to my mind more useful masterclass sessions.

These were 40 minutes which roughly broke into half-presentation, half Q&A. We were presenting a case study to talk about the reasons why we use Facebook, MySpace, bebo, Twitter, DoggySnaps and, of course, Blogger; we also touched on how we use these sites to ensure that it's the supporters doing at least 50% of the talking whilst respecting the online space (e.g. not spamming supporters constantly with Facebook updates). Finally we covered what we've learned from being online: what worked, what didn't, and what our most satisfying achievements have been so far. Why the Royal We? Because I was lucky enough to have Digital Marketing Manager Jacqui by my side for moral support and because no-one know Dogs Trust online like she does.

I had a brief presentation prepared with some notes on each site, but we had a projector malfunction so I ditched the PPP and spoke straight to the audience. I explained why I was so passionate about social media; in a quick podcast vox pop taken by Sound Delivery afterwards, I was asked to finish the sentence "for me social media is..." and simply replied "a conversation". Asked to elaborate, I continued "with our supporters, with each other... with the world!". It sounds a bit trite put into one sentence, but for me communication is what makes social media important. We're not on Facebook because it's just the place to be, we're there because 32,000 people now have the chance to start discussions, share photos and videos, ask questions, give their opinion and generally feel like there's an online corner where they and Dogs Trust can meet and have a virtual cuppa (maybe a biscuit too). We like to return the goodwill our supporters show us, partly because we want you to continue to support us and encourage your friends to do so too, but also because you deserve a voice and a listening ear, so we're working on giving you that!

It was very useful to have a number of interesting questions put to us from the likes of Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme. A lot were to do with community management - moderation, frequency and nature of updates, whose job it is to actually do it. Some were to do with measuring the success of what's happening; that, of course, depends how you define success. I hope we were able to give useful, considered answers to these, and was glad they gave us something more to think about. The best thing about my job is the variety, and always looking forward; listening to the way other charities work gives us ideas, too!

It was a pleasure and an honour to be asked to present, and we both felt productive and relieved at the way things panned out. A few people nodded, though no-one nodded off and we didn't have to dodge any tomatoes! I look forward to seeing all the blog posts, Twitter chatter and more that will have come out of today.

If you didn't have a chance to attend the Social Media Exchange and would like to know more about what happened in our session or would like to see the (very simple!) presentation, please feel free to email me.

Meet Dogs Trust: Jacqui Darlow

Our supporters like to contact us to tell us about them and their dogs; we'd like to return the favour. Over the coming weeks we'll be introducing you to some of the team at the HQ and Centres around the country. First up: web guru Jacqui!

Name: Jacqui Darlow (not spelled 'Jackie'!)

Location: Dogs Trust HQ, London

Job: Digital Marketing Manager

You what...? Being a Digital Marketing Manager, my day job entails looking after Dogs Trust's many websites as well as thinking about what exciting things we can do next online. I've been at Dogs Trust for 10 years now; I started out in the PR department.

Best thing about my job: Getting to surf the net for a living! :)

Pets: At my house, none; my two cats live with my mum, though as soon as I can get a house with a garden they're coming back home to me.

Favourite websites: I can't live without BBC News for information, but have to read the List of the Day blog at least once a week as it's brilliant!

What I'm reading now: I've just finished Theresa Rebeck's Three Girls and Their Brother, an interesting insight into the real world of being a model, the pitfalls of immediate fame and what happens when it goes to your head...

Weekend plans: My partner and I are house sitting, so it's the usual weekend stuff in a different location - like a mini holiday, but I'll still find time to be checking in on those DoggySnappers!