AMA Tampa Bay Doesn’t Understand Twitter

by Robert Dempsey on November 24, 2009

I joined the Tampa Bay and Orlando chapters of the AMA in late October as I talk with a lot of marketers. I like to know what the latest marketing trends are, as I feel that as a business owner, my job is marketing. I received an email on November the 18th about an event on integrating mobile apps into business and marketing strategy. I was interested in this topic so decided to register. One of the benefits of being an AMA member is discounts on events such as this. However, when I tried to register as a member I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to. I consider myself somewhat web savvy, however I gave up after a few failed attempts. Knowing that the AMA in Tampa Bay has a Twitter account, I decided to ping them for help. Here is that tweet:

AMA Tampa Bay First Tweet

No response came for a few days, so I posted this tweet in the hopes that I could get their attention:

AMA Tampa Bay Second Tweet

Apparently that had no effect either, and I still remain unregistered for the event.

Now I will readily admit that I tweet a lot, and not all of it has value to anyone but me. However, if you @ reply me or one of our other 10 accounts, I’ll respond. I have RSS feeds set up for everything so we don’t miss it. Apparently though, whoever is behind the AMA Tampa Bay Twtiter account thinks that Twitter is to be used for push marketing – one way communication only. Need more evidence? Here’s a screenshot. Notice anything missing?

AMA Tampa Bay Twitter Account

Am I expecting too much from my marketing brethren? Let me know in the comments.

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Tagged as: marketing, social media, twitter

  • Ryan Teixeira
    I see this post as an attempt to get the Tampa AMA to improve it's use of Twitter. Admittedly, this was based on his (Robert's) expectation of how a Twitter account should be used. Anyone is welcome to use Twitter however they want. I see nothing wrong with a one way Twitter account. I've created a few for specific purposes. Try messaging @BarackObama or @Yahoo and see if you get a response. Probably won't.
    The question then is this. Should a group that has a Twitter account primarily used for outbound messaging monitor that account for inbound activity?
    The answer is that if the members or clients expect that, then do it. Otherwise, there are numerous other ways to handle inbound communications and Twitter isn't a requirement.
  • JC
    Having been an member of AMA Tampa Bay, I will also tell you that their committees and board work harder at it than anyone. This dedicated group of professionals do all of this while running their own businesses or maintaining their careers, so they may not be using Twitter the way YOU think it should be used. You'll have to forgive them for that little "sin" or better yet, volunteer to help them. Not tear them down. For the money, AMA Tampa Bay is far and away the best at what they do. I hope you recognize what an asset they are to professionals in the area.
  • I have gotten a lot of value from the AMA Tampa Bay events so I will definitely give them that.

    However, when it comes to Twitter, the generally accepted practice is to not use it as a one-way communication device, which they were. I can understand if people take a day to get back to someone when they initiate contact, but leaving someone who needs help for a few days without any contact is not good practice.

    I'm not the only one who expects two-way conversation on Twitter. HubSpot has a great post on how to use Twitter: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/403...
  • JC
    Again. Slamming the group via the Internet is a cowards way of positioning yourself an expert. If you are using the group for networking, it's definitely not a way to win anyone over. I say, that if you really wanted to help, you would have reach out to them . I'm sure they would appreciate it . Why would anyone want to use you as an expert if you published negative things about others? If you really wanted to do it right, you would have extended an helping hand - improved the situation, and then published the results.
  • Looks like they've taken down their Twitter account, or changed it. The one I reference in my post is no longer valid.
  • Point well taken. Next time I'll handle it differently as you suggest. Calling them too is a really good idea. I'll follow up on that one.

    Also, I don't purport to call myself a marketing expert. In fact, far from it. Marketing is something I've learned over the years - no formal training past what I've learned by doing. I don't think that makes me a marketing expert though.

    Speaking of taking a coward's way out, I notice that you aren't linking to your site and using only initials as you comment. Care to respond with more information about yourself?
  • They have failed all three I's of social media.

    Innovation, Interaction, and Influence. #fail to the third. word.
  • ryan teixeira
    There isn't anything wrong with having a silent Twitter account that only does push. However, it should be monitored to see if there is anything of interest or things that should be responded to.
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