VisualCV

Creative Communications Professional with strong background in organizational development, Internet marketing and social media, public relations and operations management.

Elza Hayen is the owner of Hayen Company, an internet marketing and public relations company specializing in internet identification creation and is the social media director of Catalyst Advertising.  Elza continuously researches latest trends and new applications being introduced in the social media marketing world in order to build internet identity and give a client exposure.

Elza serves as the State Representative in SC for the National Association of Women Highway Safety Leaders, a member of the SC General Assembly Women’s Caucus and a Leadership Columbia (’08) graduate. She is the former VP for Communications and Marketing, chairperson of Communications Council and served on the Board of Directors for the Junior League of Columbia. Elza is on the Board of Directors for Families of Highway Fatalities and also serves on the Steering Committee of Social Media Club Columbia. Elza is quoted in Twitter Marketing For Dummies, to be released November 2009.

Inspired by the series from *Danny Brown, here’s Elza and “Five Questions about Social Media.”

These are my preferred bookmarks:                 

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/Hayen

Facebook Company Page http://www.facebook.com/erawilderrealty1                                                     

Twitter http://twitter.com/EHayen

Twitter http://twitter.com/ERAWilderrealty

LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/elzahayen                                                           

Blogger http://hayencompany.blogspot.com       

FriendFeed http://friendfeed.com/auburngirl                                                   

12 Seconds.tv  http://12seconds.tv/channel/hayencompany

Veoh  http://www.veoh.com/users/hayencompany

Online Profiles http://www.retaggr.com/Page/Hayen

• Published in Twitter Marketing For Dummies, to be released November 2009
• Featured in TOP 5 Branding Sample Pages on Twitterface by its creator/developer (listed as "Catalyst"). 
• Featured in Danny Brown’s series of interviews (related information in next bullet point)
• Profiled by Social Media Club Columbia
• Strong Social Media presence in over 50 networks. 
• Ranked in the TOP 99th percentile (#292 overall as of Sept '09) among more than 30,000 Facebook users (consistent top placement and footprint).
• Ranked in the TOP 99th percentile (99.8) (#12,282 overall as of Sept '09) among more than 4.8 million Twitter users (consistent top placement and footprint). 
• Ranked in TOP 15 (#12 as of Sept '09) among more than 2,200 Columbia, SC (capital city) Twitter users (consistent top placement and footprint). 
• Speaker: State Insurance Trade Associations (SITA) 2009 Annual Conference - Oct. 7, 2009. Topics: Social Media Strategy, Evaluation and Measurement.

Greater Columbia Association of Realtors (GCAR) - 2003 – 2004

South Carolina Board of Realtors

Home Builders Association - Sales and Marketing Council

National Association of Realtors

National Association of Home Builders

Business Networking International (BNI)

Consolidated Multiple Listings Service (CMLS)

Social Media Club (Columbia Chapter) - 2009 – Current

Board of Directors – (Charter Member, Columbia)

South Carolina General Assembly Women’s Caucus - 2008 – Current

National Association of Women Highway Safety Leaders (NAWHSL)                                                    

State Representative in South Carolina- 2008 – Current

South Carolina Impaired Driving Prevention Council - 2008 – Current

South Carolina Department of Transportation Emphasis Area Action Teams – 2008 - Current

(Run-off-Road Crashes Team, Data Access and Availability Team)

Leadership Columbia - Class of 2008

Columbia Children’s Theatre – 2009 – Current

Steering Committee

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (Birmingham, AL Chapter) - 2008 - Current

Walk For a Cure - Will's Warriors

Palmetto Center for Women - 2007 - Current

Families of Highway Fatalities (FHF) - 2006 - Current

Board of Directors 2007 – Current

Compassionate Guide - Board Member

Columbia Opportunity Resource (COR) - 2006 – Current

Leadership Development Committee                                                                                                                     

Policy and Issues Committee

Gamma Phi Beta Sorority Alumni Association - 2006 – Current

American Cancer Society

(Cattle Baron’s Ball, 2004 On-Site Entertainment and Revenue Committee)

Junior League of Columbia, Inc. (JLC)

Clean Sweep 2003-2004-2005-2006-2007

(Advertising & PR Committee Member, Vice Chair of Advertising & PR, Chair of Advertising & PR)

Leadership JLC 2004-2005

Community Council Board 2004 – 2007                                                                                                                             

Association of Junior Leagues International (Area III Conference Representative – 2006)

Fund Development Committee 2007 - 2008

Leadership Columbia 2008 (JLC Delegate)                                                                                                           

Board of Directors 2008 - 2009

Vice President for Communications 2008 – 2009 (JLC Spokesperson)

Communications Council (Council Chair) 2008 – 2009

Provisional Committee 2009 - 2010

Inspired by the series from *Danny Brown, here’s Elza and “Five Questions about Social Media.”

1) How do you define social media?

Social media are internet-based tools that allow users to connect, create and communicate with others. It allows users to generate content thereby creating their own internet identity.

2) Which social media tools or applications do you use, and why these in particular?

This question is hard for me to answer. Being a person that consistently looks for a better product, the application that will “do it all,” I make a point to try multiple new tools daily.  Basically, I have profiles/accounts with the majority of applications out.

As of this moment, I must say that I have a longstanding relationship with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogger and Retaggr. I feel these tools will stay in my bag for a while. I’ve grown fond of 12seconds.tv and LaterLoop as well.

Facebook is great for revisiting friends (old and new) and creating new relationships like my relationship with Social Media Club. This neat link happened because Facebook gave users a platform on which to generate exposure for the Club. I have really seen the business side of Facebook pop lately. I love having a Fan page for my company. It allows me to feed my Blogger posts to my FB Notes for Fans to read. FB also allows for groups and events to be advertised. It also allows sharing of multimedia. 

Blogger is a great personal favorite. I have about six or seven blogs running on Blogger. They stem from my company blog to shopping tips, blog tips, technology news and voluntarism. I post top links I’ve found, post my “Daily Tips” videos, post my profiles for others to connect and build relationships, share information I deem useful and newsworthy. Blogger is user-friendly and allows a person to be as creative as they’d like. WordPress is wonderful also, but is a little more difficult to create and maintain. 12Seconds.tv is a tool that allows users to create a TV channel and record 12 seconds (maximum) of footage. It will also generate 2 formats of video for you to download (FLV, MP4), it creates a tiny URL and will post to Twitter and Facebook automatically if you so desire. Users may subscribe, comment, bump and tag your content as a fan favorite.

Twitter is great for getting answers to your questions fast. Need advice? Toss out a question by way of a status update and ask for help and you’ll be surprised by those willing to lend a hand. Twitter also allows those in similar industries to share and exchange content. Brainstorming happens here.. of all kinds.  A user can link to social icons and many others with one click. You can learn  more about them throughout the day if they choose to “tweet” (post a status update). Retaggr is an application that allows a user to link EVERY online profile they have, add affiliations, blogs and then create a page with this information for your selected viewers to see (where they will see an option to “Connect” with you on every profile you have in common or allow you to create one you don’t have already). It also creates an online business card for you to embed on your blog and numerous other communities. This is one tool I don’t think I could do without.

LinkedIn is a great community to post your resume, connect with other professionals and see who they are linked to and what content they’ve posted. Basically, you’re visiting a bio and multiple social media tools, posting or looking for a job, joining/creating groups, sharing content and subscribing to updates. LaterLoop is a great application that allows a user to copy a link and save it for later. These links can be shared and/or posted or kept private. Nifty tool.

3) With increasingly busy schedules, Where do you find time for social media?

Social media is my business so I eat, sleep, breathe and dream it. It’s at the core of almost everything I do.

4) What advice would you give to local businesses wishing to effectively embrace social media?

Go, see and do … NOW! Most of the tools out are FREE and waiting for you to scoop up and utilize. The possibilities are endless really. Social media allows you to build new relationships and strengthen current ones.  Why wouldn’t you take advantage?

5) Where do you see the future of social media?

Snailmail to E-mail!! What does that tell you?  Social media is progressing rapidly and I don’t foresee this train stopping. I only see it growing and evolving in a way that all people will need to take the next step if they want to stay in the loop and communicate. For those of us familiar with social media, it’s not hard getting acclimated when we’re posed with another step forward. Those people who have yet to engage might find it extremely difficult to navigate the waters later if they don’t take the plunge now.