Marketing Monster

Quiz: When I talk about an organization that uses blogging, a visitor forum, Twitter, video, Flickr, Facebook and FriendFeed for an integrated social media communications outreach program, where would you think they are located? The United States? Canada? Europe? Asia?

What about a place that sees the migration of tens of thousands of wildebeest every year, where lions, leopards, giraffes, elephants and zebra roam? In a remote corner of Kenya, on the border of Tanzania, in a place with spotty cellular service and little technology infrastructure, social media tools are helping to protect the African wilderness for future generations.

Joseph Kimojino is the Assistant Warden of Anti-Poaching at Ngiro-are Outpost in the Mara Triangle located in the Masai Mara game reserve. I discovered him last May on Twitter  tweeting as @MaraTriangle when I saw this message:

Thankfully, it’s not everyday that you see details of a shooting on Twitter. Despite the grim event, I was immediately drawn in by the way @MaraTriangle communicated the daily life of people as far removed from my city life one can get, while using the same tools that I do.

The wildlife conservancy at the Mara Triangle does many things including arresting poachers, removing wire snares and ensuring that the animals aren’t harassed. There is a team of about 50 rangers, a road team of 10 and support staff operating in the vast reserve. In their work, great things are happening. The lion population is up, they’ve arrested more than 1,100 poachers, they collect hundreds of wire snares weekly, they’ve instituted transparent fee collections and are they working together with the local people. It’s dangerous work that sees them travel into the most remote parts of the reserve and keeps them away from their families for extended periods.

Recently, I rediscovered the Mara Triangle blog and was so impressed with their multimedia approach that I asked Joseph some questions about how he and his team make social media work for them, especially in the face of an unstable political climate and a very limited technology infrastructure. Here is what he had to say:
1. Can you briefly describe your funding crisis?

Our funding crisis started in February when the post-election violence in Kenya scared away large number of tourists – which we are dependent upon for the upkeep of the Mara Triangle. Sadly it looks like the global economic crisis is now the next thing to keep tourists away so it looks like our funding crisis may continue for many months to come.

Here was the appeal we put out in February.

We do like to think that people will support us because we are doing good work, not because we are in a crisis, and so we have also provided this page on our website.

2. Why did you start the blog and social media outreach, and who’s on your communications team?

I first heard about blogging when William Deed helped set up our blog at the end of last year. My CEO told me about the work that he did in Congo to help raise awareness and funds for the rangers protecting the Mountain Gorillas and that he could also help us here in the Mara. He then came to work for the Mara Conservancy full-time in February and since then has been teaching us about blogs and other websites.

3. What is the technology infrastructure where you are based at Iseyia Station?

When I was at Iseiya Station I was able to blog more regularly because we have a satellite connection there which works very well in good weather. I am now based at Ngiro-are on the Tanzanian border where there is no internet and often no phone network. This means that I am unable to go online as often as I used to.

4. How did you come to use Twitter as one of your communication tools, how long have you been using it and what challenges or successes have you had with it?

I have been using Twitter for a few months after William introduced us to the site and explained what it can do. One of the biggest problems we have with Twitter is that we often don’t have phone network where we patrol. Most of the time we don’t have radio contact either, but when we do we use the radio to send updates to Iseiya Station which are then put online.

It is a shame we cannot use Twitter more as I do enjoy being able to be in contact with so many people, and also to read what all these people are doing in all places of the world, but for my job I have to spend as much as time as possible out in the field.

5. Your blog has many contributors. Have your other team members embraced or resisted blogging?

It was not understood for a long time what a blog is or can do, but we now have an old computer in our radio room where rangers read the blog daily. It is since then, and since my move to Ngiro-are, that more of the rangers want to also blog and help out.

6. Explain how you are using video in your communications?

We record video using our digital cameras and then upload to a website called Vimeo. We have tried using YouTube but it doesn’t seem to work on our connection. Sadly, Vimeo has also stopped working so well which is a shame as almost every day we have videos to upload. If anyone has any tips or suggestions to make this work better we would appreciate it if they got in touch. We think that videos help people from all around the world understand our work better, and would like this to appear more regularly on our website.

7. You have a Facebook Cause page. How is that working for you?

The Facebook Cause has helped us raise over $1,500 and it seems that a large number of people are interested in what we do.

8. You are using many social media tools in addition to your blog – Twitter, Facebook, Vimeo, Flickr, FriendFeed – which one has been the most powerful in terms of achieving your communications goals?

I think that they have all worked together in helping spread our message. I can’t say that I understand Facebook and FriendFeed, but I do like using Flickr.

9. What are your plans for future digital communications or social media outreach?

We would like it if our website became more useful to people in terms of information for those interested in the Mara, or potential visitors to the area. We also hope people will just keep visiting our site because they like to read our updates.

10. Aside from cash donations, do you have other needs to help you continue your work? Do you have any technical/gear needs that would enhance your digital communications efforts?

The list is endless, but the most useful thing to our work both online and in the real world, is digital cameras. Many people from around the world have donated their second hand cameras which we use for photographic evidence of incidences in and outside the park. This helps us spread our message through the website, but is also very important as tour drivers can no longer deny breaking park rules as the incidents are captured. This has completely changed the behaviour of tour drivers for the better, and we see a greater respect now for our animals and to not offroad in delicate areas.

Digital cameras do not always survive going out on patrol, or sometimes are so old they just give up, so any extras are always welcomed and we would like it if every one of our teams had a camera.

4 ways to help the Mara Triangle Rangers:

1. Cash. Contribute using the ChipIn widget or through the Facebook Cause page. Help them to reach their goal of raising $5000 by November 30th.

2. Equipment. Donate your old digital camera. Better yet, donate a NEW digital camera.

3. Expertise. Help Joseph & William de-bug their Vimeo and YouTube problems.

4. Tweet/Blog. Spread the word and talk about the work that Joseph and his team are doing in the Mara Triangle.

To make a non-cash donation, or help in other ways, please contact Joseph Kimojino.

Have Joseph and the Mara Triangle team altered your perceptions of how, and where, social media can be used?  Let me know what you think.