It was my great pleasure to interview my long-time friend and former colleague, Leni Konstas. We worked together at Solid Cactus, an eCommerce firm in Northeast PA (NEPA) for several years, and during that time, she founded the food blog, Whiskey Bacon.
Just as many of my previous posts focus on informal learning that occurs outside of the classroom, Whiskey Bacon encompasses a growing community of online and offline followers, in hot pursuit of good food and good times.
To this day, Leni uses Web 2.0 tools as a means of marketing her site and interacting with her fanbase. Just as Jennifer Louden once said, “some of the world’s most masterful marketers are, first and foremost, master teachers” – we see several parallels emerge throughout the podcast.
During the course of the interview, Leni highlights the ability of the social web to connecting with people who have similar interests, and to expand beyond geographic limitations, effectively creating a Whiskey Beacon. The transparency that is provided, helps facilitate content creation that reaches multiple audiences over different channels demonstrating the social elements and informal group learning.
Recognizing successes from influencers such as Amanda Palmer, we realize the value in encouraging on-site interactions, as opposed to those that occur within Facebook, as such endeavors require a significant investment of time to maintain, as the Facebook algorithm has the ability to change the effectiveness of the platform.
Much like educators in this field, not every tool will be right for you, so it is important to evaluate your efforts, and realizing the limitations of your channels. Always be experimenting, not only with platforms, but also with the messaging.
By placing emphasis on legitimacy, Leni alludes to finding your voice in order to create a very personalized experience for your audience. In doing this, it is possible to lead the community through a shared, and already existing appreciation for the craft of food and drink.
While online interactions may be effective, events in real life still have a major place in spreading awareness and creating an increased sense of belonging. Through Whiskey Bacon’s Traveling Circus, groups of people have the opportunity to meet up and support local restaurants along the way, building something much bigger than any one member.
One of the greatest takeaways from this interview was that you should always be a student, and always keep absorbing from those you personally respond to. When you take this approach, you will be able to adapt what you learned and apply it in a way that works for you.
*This podcast was created through Audacity, by recording a Google Hangout. Though I was impressed with the functionality of the software and quality of the recording, my only complaint is that it is obvious the interview was conducted remotely. In the future, I would rather record a podcast in person, in order to eliminate any variance in the final cut.
Thanks @Zach!
Great analysis on prioritizing the community, especially as it pertains to the use of technology in education. There is always a struggle between building a community based on your interests vs. building your interests around an existing community.
I feel that in the case of Whiskey Bacon, they carved out a nice niche that allows the brand to traverse both realms, and this flexibility is a tactic that I would like to employ with my future endeavors.
I’ll definitely have to check out Untappd, it looks interesting!
Thanks @Joe!
The 20 hour time investment does seem quite daunting, and I think I will ask if it differs by content or post frequency.
Whiskey Bacon—that is such a sweet name! I will definitely be checking this blog out. This was a great podcast between you and Leni. She brings up some great points about the use of social media, especially about the amount of time it takes to deliver a successful blog or social media campaign. I really like how Leni says that they try to promote the community first and the blog second. This is an interesting idea and something that more people, schools, and businesses should understand. The people come first, and then the tools. You shouldn’t be focusing on the tools to engage the customers or people. Your main focus should be to engage the customers, and if that is best done using certain social media tools, then great! I also liked how Leni says they experiment with different apps and platforms, more specifically the niche apps that are food-specific or apps like Untapped to reach out to a more select and dedicated audience. I feel that you cannot succeed in this world if you are not willing to step out of your comfort zone and explore the unknown. By the way, the Untapped app is awesome! One of my favorites! (:
Aaron,
Your question about limitations prompted a very informative response, and I like what Leni mentioned about the time cost of Facebook and Twitter. The 20 hours for bloggers to work with social media is a remarkable number. The number is feasible for full-time bloggers, otherwise you need a social media team. I also really enjoyed how Leni talked about creating a voice on a blog and how the voice of Whisky Bacon changed based on expanding audiences. It was great insight for someone with little blog experience, like me.
and I agree about the takeaways all being very useful to different projects in education too! 🙂
Yes, please do! 🙂
I’m also glad to hear from individuals in all different settings to gain a unique perspective on how some of the same tools are being used in different ways/for different reasons and also to hear/learn about how to find the tools to reach the intended audience and how these also differ.
Thanks @Sam!
I’ll be sure to share this feedback with Leni. After listening to the other podcasts, it’s interesting to see how the different directions we took, still line up with the major takeaways of employing Web 2.0 tools in education.
“*This podcast was created through Audacity, by recording a Google Hangout. Though I was impressed with the functionality of the software and quality of the recording, my only complaint is that it is obvious the interview was conducted remotely. In the future, I would rather record a podcast in person, in order to eliminate any variance in the final cut.” I just noticed this, thanks for sharing!
Aaron,
I like how Leni Konstas mentioned collecting the demographics of followers, visitors, etc. as demonstration of the brand “learning from the consumer”. Her mention of the cost of time was also interesting with all of the social media options available and the importance of finding the most efficient for the brand and audience. Her recommendations and examples of why she prefers them, along with her mention of the importance of face to face communications/extension of online community in the real world , was also helpful. Thanks for sharing your podcast, i enjoyed listening to her enthusiasm and appreciate her wanting to share a genuine voice with her audience, enjoy food, and have a good time. 🙂