EVENT: Trust and Authenticity in Social Media: The Case of the U.S. Military
WHEN: Thursday, November 12th at 3-4:30 p.m.
WHERE: Elliott School of International Affairs, 1957 E Street, NW, Room 505
The Association of Social Media and Higher Education (ASMH) invites you to a panel on the nature and role of social media in the military. The panelists, who include current and former U.S. military officers, will address the ways social media can be used effectively, efficiently and transparently to connect the military, civilian and veteran populations. The conversation will also address the ways Twitter, Facebook and blogs can:
- offer a more nuanced view of military life;
- generate public support for veterans;
- serve as a support system for wounded soldiers;
- increase transparency through social media;
- build authentic dialog about military issues and defense policy.
Panelists:
- Moderator: Scott Talan (Twitter: @talan), director of communications, National Association Schools of Public Affairs and Administration and adjunct faculty member, GW
- Lindy Kyzer (Twitter: @LindyKyzer, @USArmy), public affairs specialist at U.S. Army
- Steve Field (Twitter: @fieldsteven), former spokesman, Pentagon, blogger, The D-Ring: Where the Military and New Media Collide
- Nicole Schwegman (Twitter: @nicoleschwegman), former Navy Public Affairs Officer
The event is cosponsored by The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Graduate School of Political Management and Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet, and George Washington Today, GW's official online news source.
About the speakers
STEVE FIELD is a former Army spokesperson and an advocate for the use of social media by the military. While working at the Pentagon, he began one of the first blogs dedicated to the discussion of social media uses by the military. Currently, he is the head of marketing for the U.S. Combat Systems division of BAE Systems, responsible for the company’s marketing strategy, trade show presence, multimedia development and product positioning. He is also overseeing the integration of social media tools into public communication strategies for his line of business. Before joining BAE Systems, Steve was an account manager at Edelman public relations, where he counseled clients on how to use social media to achieve public affairs and corporate communications objectives. Some of his clients included: Shell Oil Company, Boeing, USAA, ViroPharma and the Consumer Healthcare Products Association. He also has worked the Brookings Institution, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Marlowe & Company. Among his awards and honors are PR News’ 15-to-Watch; U.S. Army Commanders Award for Civilian Service; Truman Scholarship national finalist; and a PRSA Bronze Anvil. Steve graduated magna cum laude and with University Honors from American University and is finishing a graduate degree in communications at Johns Hopkins University. He lives in Washington, D.C.
LINDY KYZER is the outreach lead in the Online and Social Media Division of the Office of the Chief of Public Affairs. Kyzer helped to launch the Army into the social media sphere in the spring of 2008 when she launched a blogger’s roundtable program and online media outreach from her desk in the Army’s Media Relations Division. Kyzer helped to harness the power of the Army’s extensive network of military bloggers, including Soldiers, veterans and Army supporters, and will always consider milbloggers to be one of her first loves in the online media world. With the founding of the Army’s Online and Social Media Division in January, Kyzer’s efforts have extended to extensive outreach via Facebook (now over 45,000 fans strong) and Twitter (where we’re still slightly short of beating Ashton Kutchers 1 million plus follower count…), as well as other social networking platforms. Kyzer provides online and social media training to the public affairs field, including regularly speaking to the Defense Information School’s Public Affairs Officer Qualification Course, and the U.S. Army Pre-Command Course at the Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kan. She lives in Arlington, Va. with her husband Jason and their cat, Patsy.
NICOLE SCHWEGMAN is a Naval Academy graduate with more than seven years of communications experience with high level, fast paced, international organizations. She got her start in communications as a collateral duty public relations officer on USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) and USS Frank Cable (AS 40). In 2006, she became an official U.S. Navy spokesperson and was selected to serve as the Chief of Naval Operations secondary spokesperson for two years. Following her time in the Navy she worked as a communications consultant for Deloitte, providing strategic communications counsel to a directorate in the Department of Defense and at SE10, an international public relations firm which specializes in technical and scientific communications. Currently she works for the Gallup Consulting as a strategic communications specialist.
SCOTT TALAN, MPA, has worked in media, PR, and communications in four distinct fields: TV News, Politics, Nonprofits and Higher Education. Scott has recently worked at the UN with UNICEF, Harvard University and the New Mexico Legislature. He currently is the Director of Communications for the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs (
www.NASPAA.org) and has successfully developed social networking platforms using YouTube, Facebook & Wikipedia. Scott was nominated in 2008 for the ‘Nonprofit Marketer of the Year’ award by the American Marketing Association. He also teaches a communications class at The George Washington University and a graduate level course on media relations at Johns Hopkins University. Talan has worked as a writer at ABC News Good Morning America for hosts Diane Sawyer and Charlie Gibson. He's also reported on-air for local TV news stations in several states (FL, NM, CA) covering politics including the 2000 Presidential Recount story in Florida. Before news, Talan served as an elected city council member and Mayor of Lafayette, California. His first career was in nonprofit communications working for the March of Dimes. Talan received his Master in Public Administration from Harvard's Kennedy School . He studied broadcast journalism at Stanford after getting his BA from the University of California at Davis studying Economics and Political Science. Talan has traveled to six of the seven continents and has written several stories on Cuba, Mongolia and Europe. Scott was born in NY City, raised in Northern California, and now lives in Washington DC.