With over eight years of experience in the niche space of moderation services I still face the same question: What is the difference between moderation and monitoring?

Traditionally if I wanted to hire a moderator I was likely holding a debate or a meeting of sorts. Today’s industry-speak and the evolution of social media has prompted the invention of a completely new vocabulary for many of us marketers, advertisers and publishers. Confusion is rampant and likely plays a big role in why so many of Google’s daily searches have never been done before. To end the madness I will make it simple - moderation is content you can control, while monitoring is content you can’t. (more…)

Question: What do you do for a living?

It’s a question that everyone asks, and in our case is sometimes one of the most difficult to explain. Moderation is a traditional word that has been blended into the digital world, and even still is being used as a tool, a service and an essence of time.

The recent release of Google Moderator into mainstream channels has brought up the complication of defining what it is I do for a living. This innovative platform melds the concept of traditional and new moderation together, once again blurring the line. (more…)

I have had a number of calls in the past few days asking for my advice and opinion with regards to brands under social media attack. Each time my phone rings the questions are always something like: “Keith, what do we do if this happens to us?” or “How do we plan for an attack?”

Now, if you haven’t taken Jeremiah Owyang’s advice and followed his steps: planning for a social media attack, you might want to read below for a list of tips and recommendations that one should consider when your brand is in the middle of a social media attack. (more…)

This note was received via email from Brandi Dupre, Community Manager at ICUC Moderation Services.

To: Keith Bilous, Jan Reischek, Maurice Gingras, and Emanuel Darlea

I just wanted to send a quick note expressing my gratitude for this opportunity as Community Manager with ICUC. I have a fiery passion for what I do, with both our clients and also as part of our team here within. I love my job, I love our company, I deeply believe in our goals and success, and I want you to know I appreciate so much this opportunity of a lifetime. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to be in my life right now - this is it, and I am so very thankful for all of you, for hiring me, constantly driving me, building and shaping the company to allow for all of us to be here in the first place. I’ve never been so happy with what I do, and never had this kind of outlook every day that I wake up. To think that it will get even better is simply beyond words

You guys have truly built something amazing, for your employees and your clients, and I just wanted to let you know this.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Brandi

P.S- I am still craving sushi. Wish I lived a bit closer, so I could partake in the physical  “meetings”

As I am sure you have noticed, branded pages on Facebook are becoming widely popular. It seems every day a new company is launching a Facebook page to communicate with and listen to their customers. What was once a platform for simply connecting college students, has evolved into a social platform for customers and brands to communicate and share. Unfortunately, the social media being contributed to the conversation is not always ‘friendly’ and requires moderation - and this is where ICUC Moderation Services can help. (more…)

To the regular readers of the Snoo.ws, I am sure you have already figured this out, but in case you haven’t, let me spill the beans. Our newest member of the Snoo.ws team - Alisha Paul, has joined ICUC Moderation Services as our Social Media & Marketing Manager, and man am I excited.

A little bit about Alisha..

She is a 2009 graduate of the Creative Communications program at Red River College, with a focus on public relations.

Alisha is an avid writer and as such is responsible for ICUC’s snoo.ws, a daily online blog that focuses on user generated content, and how it can help or effect brands, marketing and reputation. Alisha is also responsible for some of the marketing aspects at ICUC, including both external and internal communication efforts.

Alisha will wear many hats at ICUC, as most of us do, and will share some account management and moderation responsibilities with the team as well.

Alisha also holds a B.A. from the University of Manitoba in Fine Arts, Art History, where she graduated at the top of her class and received a gold medal for highest standing in 2005.

Prior to ICUC, Alisha worked several supervisory positions including the Managing Editor of the Manitoban, the University of Manitoba’s student newspaper. Here, Alisha gained experience and a unique skill set in the field of communications that have given her the foundation to perform both creatively and intelligently.

Please share with me in welcoming her aboard, I am sure you are going to enjoy her daily snoo.ws posts.

Oh, and if you have a snoo.ws tip for Alisha? Drop her a note: alisha-at-icucmoderation.com or alisha-at-snoo.ws

Happy New Year to all of our loyal Snoo.ws readers.

I am pleased to announce a new addition to the Snoo.ws blogging team with the addition of our first guest blogger Jayson Ambrose from File Mobile.

Jayson currently handles client and product management at Filemobile Inc., a social media platform company. Having worked on the underlying technology and dozens of web 2.0 campaigns, he has a unique perspective on social networking, user-generated content and broadband video. Jayson also leads his hockey team in penalty minutes.

Jayson will be contributing posts to the Snoo.ws on a monthly basis sharing his point of view and experiences with user-generated content and social media.

Please take a moment to welcome Jayson to the Snoo.ws.

Can I buy you a drink at Socialize?

Why do I ask?

Well - this is a snapshot of what the ICUC Moderation Services sponsorship advertisement looks like for the Pluck Socialize Conference starting today in Austin, Texas. It will be in the packages that attendees receive when they arrive as well as the ad will be part of the conference program.

Let’s try something….

The first person to bring me a copy of the ad and say “Hey I saw your Snoo.ws Post”  - I will buy you a drink (or two).

The second person to come to me and say “hey I saw your Snoo.ws post” will get a tip from me….

And hey - anyone that comes to me and says “hey let’s do business together” - hell - I will buy you dinner”

Which person will you be?

See you all soon in Austin!

Hey everyone, just a heads up that I am going to be at the Pluck “Socialize” Conference starting tomorrow in Austin, Texas. Bring your shorts, because it looks like it’s going to be hot! (+32 celsius!!)….

I will be staying at the Residence Inn, and I am arriving tomorrow afternoon. It is my first time in Austin, so I am looking forward to seeing the town, attending the conference and meeting up with the various people that have dropped me a note to say they will be attending as well.

I plan on doing some Snoo.ws blogging from Austin and will keep my Twitter account active as well. You can follow me on Twitter @k3ith.

We appear to have had some problems with our Twitter Snoo.ws feed.

The problem appears to be corrected and you can now follow us again on Twitter @Snoo.ws.