Retweet, Share, and Like! Getting to Know ILA’s Social Media Channels
By Jill Schreider
1 June 2017
Jill Schreider is a marketing and communications intern at the International Leadership Association. She is a junior communications major at the University of Maryland College Park and looks forward to a future working in public relations.
In today’s digital world, social media is the ideal way to connect and engage with ILA members through accessible online platforms. Social media allows the association to share important association news, deadlines, and reminders and to celebrate the work of our members (#ILAMember) by spreading the word about their individual accomplishments as well as other relevant stories and resources. Over the past year, the ILA has boosted its social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. The result of this continual stream of tiny interactions is not only greater information sharing, but also the fostering of a feeling of online community amongst members.
Social media is constantly changing and it is crucial to be up-to-date on the latest trends. One of our strategies this year has been to start using the hashtag #ThrowbackThursday or #TBT to highlight some of the terrific content we have available online. As a trending social media hashtag on Thursdays, there is an increased chance that people who might not know about us will see our post and find their new leadership home. Some of the resources we’ve shared include videos of past keynote addresses, oral histories with our Lifetime Achievement Award winners, conference proceedings featuring James McGregor Burns and Warren Bennis, and many others. These are fantastic resources for members and it draws attention to former ILA news which, even though it’s archived on ILA’s website, may have been forgotten.
We invite you to join us in the cloud on:
We also offer members access to the ILA HubILA discussion board/listserv – a classic form of social media. With searchable threads, digest-mode, and the ability to upload documents to the list library, HubILA is the way that ILA members connect, converse, and collaborate on ILA Intersections.
Add Social Media to Your ILA Intersections Profile
We encourage members to enhance their global network by adding their personal social media pages to their ILA Intersections profile. Having multiple modes of contact allows members to connect in ways that make the most sense to them, individually. We’ve created a how-to video showing how to access and edit your Intersections profile, including adding social media pages. Login to view video.
Become an ILA Social Media Emissary
Are you passionate about leadership, the ILA, and its mission? By virtue of simply liking and sharing great leadership resources and opportunities posted by ILA, you can help spread the word about the association's work to your networks. Furthermore, we are currently seeking members to participate in an inaugural social media emissary program. Formal emissaries will receive special updates from ILA to share with their networks and a Social Media Emissary Badge on ILA Intersections. Formal emissaries are critical to amplifying ILA's presence in the social media sphere. If you are frequently on social media and are interested in becoming an emissary, please contact ILA's Communications Director Debra DeRuyver at dderuyver@ila-net.org.
ILA Member Community Social Media
In addition to association-wide social media pages, some of ILA’s member communities are also active on social media, sharing community specific resources and news of interest. As a benefit of membership, ILA members may participate in any and all of our 15 member communities. To affiliate with a member community, simply login to a profile update form, scroll down and edit your member community settings, and click submit at the bottom of the page.
The Peace Leadership Affinity Group (PLAG) is a community for those interested in leadership principles focused on creating peace that promotes the exchange of ideas, best practices, and action plans. They are growing a LinkedIn group and encourage members to join. They also ask that members tweet using the hashtag #peaceleadership when talking about all things peace leadership.
In addition to having a LinkedIn group for years, the Women and Leadership Affinity Group (WLAG) has recently created a Facebook page for people who prefer that tool for sharing information. Both are intended to bring together members who are passionate about the development of women and leadership and to create open discussions around this topic.
You may find a complete list of each community’s social media accounts by looking under the “Community Connections” tab on each member community home page.
The Future of ILA's Social Media
The social media landscape changes constantly. ILA's Flickr account was cutting edge at one point but as we contemplate moving onto Instagram, we wonder if we should just leap frog to Snapchat! But, that's what keeps life interesting. And, as our members move onto different platforms to receive their daily dose of leadership news, we will move along with them, maintaining two of our association's core values: Impact and Interconnection.
See you in the ether!