As the first decade of the 21st century draws to a close, I won't be the first to put down some thoughts on the changes we've all gone through, but I'll try to keep them somewhat on-topic.

Personally, when the decade began, I'd never participated in an online community full stop. As the decade ends, my post tally on one site alone is edging (worryingly?) close to 10,000. Not so many years ago, if someone had told me that soon enough I would be able to go online, find friends, poke them, give them a flower and flick through their photos, I might have raised an eyebrow. If someone had told me that by the end of the decade people would be making money by sending 140-character messages to their followers, I'd probably have laughed at them. And the less said about my decline in to middle age spread the better.

But all these things have indeed happened, and as we roll into the second decade of the century, the opportunities to engage, communicate and network with each other, whether that's based on our interests, our profession or simply in the interests of keeping in touch with old friends, have never been more plentiful.

In business, there's also a great opportunity to use this emerging technology to increase revenues, bring people together, build advocacy and improve brand perception, and in 2010 we will be introducing more and more consultancy and technology offers to help you make the most of all the benefits that social media can bring.

I wish you the very best for the Christmas season, and look forward to meeting many of you in 2010.

James Skinner
MD SiftGroups

Twitter Masterclass

The Wellcome Collection proved to be a great venue for our inaugural Twitter Masterclass, featuring a keynote presentation from Sift Media’s Dan Martin and valuable insight into the opportunities that the micro-blogging service can present from Twestival organiser Claire Thompson and our own Head of Consultancy, Lawrence Clarke. Amongst the audience were Publishers, membership organisations and corporate, all keen to take away new techniques for turning a simple piece of technology into a valuable business tool.

Over the coming weeks, we'll share some of the tips and tricks via our blog and, of course, Twitter itself. If you're not already following us, we can be found here twitter.com/SiftGroups. The next Masterclass will be in Bristol early in the New Year. If you'd like to join us, Polly will be pleased to hear from you.

SiftGroups News

Leroy Kirby Has joined us to fill the role of Head of Technology. He has come to us from a digital agency in Bristol called Nameless and has lots of experience working on Drupal. For more info on Leroy, see his Linkedin profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/leroykirby

Charlotte Stirling has joined us from our sister company PracticeWeb to fill the position of Project Manager. Charlotte comes to us with experience of working in a number of digital agencies in Bristol prior to PracticeWeb, as well as experience in working on projects with the not-for-profit sector, and within the publishing industry. For more info on Charlotte, see her Linkedin profile:www.linkedin.com/in/charlottestirling

Naomi Morton has also started this month as our new Account Executive to help the Client Services team and to further improve client relationships and improve communication.

Finally, we are delighted to announce that James Skinner has been appointed as the Managing Director of SiftGroups. Since his appointment as COO a year ago, James has been managing the bulk of the team, so taking on responsibility for sales activities is a logical next step.

A 4-Part Guide to Using Facebook & Twitter
by Elena Goodrum

Part 1: Getting into the social media scene

Part 2: Your online presence and information overload

Part 3: Facebook and a month in the life of a part-time community manager

Part 4: Twitter and a month in the life of a part-time community manager

part four coming soon...

Read more and comment on these blog posts.

Case study - Homebuilding & Renovating Magazine

Facts

Homebuilding & Renovating magazine is the UK's best-selling title for anyone interested in creating their dream home through self-build, renovation or conversion. The previous website had been in place for a number of years; functionally and from a design perspective was quite dated.

The Challenge

The challenge was to create an online environment that was seen by the audience as the 'first port of call' for anyone interested in self-build, renovation or conversion. The site needed to engage the audience and encourage user generated content. The online offering also had to reflect the strong design element that comes through in the printed product.

Read more at SiftGroups.com

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