I am the Social Network Engineer for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). I manage the School’s presence on social networks throughout the web. Here is a current list of networks I administer:
Facebook - 10,000 members across different fan pages and groups
Twitter – 1000 followers across 3 accounts
Flickr – 50,000 photos tagged with NOLS, 30 groups separated into geographic regions
YouTube – 100 videos tagged with NOLS, 20 NOLS made videos
Vimeo – 20 NOLS videos now made in HD quality
LinkedIn – Alumni and Employee Groups
Myspace – 1000 friends in NOLS and WMI accounts
The most important part of my job is to nurture these communities by encouraging participation, posting relevant information and media, and staying current with social trends. Finding NOLS media and articles around the web is another large part of my job.
Someone posts a great picture from a course, or a local newspaper interviews a NOLS grad, and I am in a position to see these in near real-time, ready to aggregate them out to our blog and/or different networks, both internally and externally. I also make sure stay current with emerging technologies to realize the potential use for NOLS and it’s mission.
Every week I put together an e-newsletter for prospective students, or alumni (alternating each week). I concept, write, and edit each e-newsletter from the perspective of an alumni and employee. Each e-mail contains an introduction and 3-6 stories.
I work closely with the Webmaster to keep nols.edu current, editing and creating pages/sections of the site regularly. I Mainly work in HTML using Dreamweaver, but I have had opportunities to create dynamic content using Javascript and JQuery.
Like many jobs at NOLS, I am able to get involved in projects loosely related to my title and I have been involved in brainstorming sessions and projects with Marketing, Publications, Information Systems, NOLS Professional Training, WMI, Video Production, and the Online Store.
My History With NOLS
I came to find out about NOLS like 90% of their students, through word-of-mouth. After taking a semester course in 2001, working for this school became a dream. I learned of an opening with the Wilderness Medicine Institute soon while finishing school in Atlanta, and jumped at the chance to apply. I got the Job of Data & Logistics Assistant for WMI, entering student data, and managing gear sets for wilderness medicine courses. Not a requirement of the job, but something I willingly inherited is the job of getting patients together for W-EMT night rescue scenarios. About 10 times a year I help gather participants to put on old clothes and fake bruises/blood and act out a scene of an accident. It’s really too much fun.
In late 2008, I learned that the position of Social Network Engineer was opening. Knowing that the position was something I am passionate and knowledgeable about, I immediately began a campaign to get the position. In Febuary, 2009, I did! I am now working under the Webmaster to manage and nurture NOLS presence on the web.
