Garritan Twitter Feed

[Steve Milward]

Hi,

Why is the Garritan Twitter feed so bare? Isn't there anything to keep up to date with? I get product updates and news from other companies and people and I think Garritan ought to make more use of their Twitter feed.

Any thoughts?

Steve

[Garritan]

Steve,

My bad. It's been started but I have been busy trying to get projects out. I am usually here on the forum and on chat twice a week. Adding Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, NING, etc to my hectic schedule will leave no time for work. Oh, what to do?

;) Gary

[Steve Milward]

Hi Gary,

Yep, there's plenty of comm channels out there now and you can spread yourself out too thin. I guess that Twitter is the premier channel for people at the moment though - even the British government uses it - the Foreign Secretary - a busy guy - has just Tweeted from Berlin.

If you don't have the time - delegate ;)
Regards,
Steve

[SeanHannifin]

I'm not sure Twitter is very useful for some businesses... I'm not sure Garritan really announces enough for Twitter to be updated more than every now and then. Not that that's bad of course, as when announcements do come, they're significant and exciting!

Twitter might be more interesting if Garritan updated with behind-the-scenes info, with what specifically is being worked on at a given moment, but that probably wouldn't be wise as it would give info to competition and the would-be "hurry up, I want it now" complainers.

[Garritan]

I'm not sure Twitter is very useful for some businesses... I'm not sure Garritan really announces enough for Twitter to be updated more than every now and then. Not that that's bad of course, as when announcements do come, they're significant and exciting!

Twitter might be more interesting if Garritan updated with behind-the-scenes info, with what specifically is being worked on at a given moment, but that probably wouldn't be wise as it would give info to competition and the would-be "hurry up, I want it now" complainers.Right Sean

We were giving periodic Updates and Updates to Updated Updates on this forum. I enjoyed these updates, but some did not appreciate the progress reports, behind-the-scenes info and transparency. So this prompted a change of policy.

Wise you are young Sean. The force is strong with you.

Gary

[Michael_uk]

Hi,

Why is the Garritan Twitter feed so bare? Isn't there anything to keep up to date with? I get product updates and news from other companies and people and I think Garritan ought to make more use of their Twitter feed.

Any thoughts?

SteveI just wonder how many of these 'other companies' have their CEO regularly in the forums, that's assuming they actually have forums at all. Also, how many companies have their CEO available for direct chat on a Friday and Sunday everning?

Also, I agree with Sean regarding giving info to the competition and the problems with the 'can't wait must have now' people as Gary confirmed.

I feel, again as Sean suggets, that if Gary has made any mistakes here it's using Twitter (and the others) for this purpose.

I believe that the greater majority of us here would prefer that Gary and his team spend their time actually working on the projects. If anyone has a problem with this, then they could use the opportunities to communicate with Gary himself here in our forums or directly on chat. Alternatively they are perfectly free to use the products of those 'other companies' who give out 'product updates and news' instead of Garritan products.

[etLux]

...the Foreign Secretary ... has just Tweeted from Berlin.




It's really a Brave New World, isn't it?

[Steve Milward]

I just wonder how many of these 'other companies' have their CEO regularly in the forums, that's assuming they actually have forums at all. Also, how many companies have their CEO available for direct chat on a Friday and Sunday everning?

Also, I agree with Sean regarding giving info to the competition and the problems with the 'can't wait must have now' people as Gary confirmed.

I feel, again as Sean suggets, that if Gary has made any mistakes here it's using Twitter (and the others) for this purpose.

I believe that the greater majority of us here would prefer that Gary and his team spend their time actually working on the projects. If anyone has a problem with this, then they could use the opportunities to communicate with Gary himself here in our forums or directly on chat. Alternatively they are perfectly free to use the products of those 'other companies' who give out 'product updates and news' instead of Garritan products.

I feel your reply is hostile when it didn't need to be.

I and millions of others use Twitter and other modes of communications - they aren't going away. I'm trying to help here - why are you having a stab at me? I come to this forum and contribute to it, but let's be honest, how many active users are there of this forum - less than a hundred I guess? There is already a Garritan Twitter account - I'm asking why have an account if you're not going to use it to promote the business, give out news etc. People don't just buy a product, they buy into a brand, but hey, what do I know?

[Steve Milward]

It's really a Brave New World, isn't it?

I expected better from a Senior Member. My poor judgement.

[Tony Monaghan]

Both Sean and Gary answered very well in my opinion. I also have a Twitter account but rarely use it since for me it's useless and time consuming, I have better things to do with my time.

There are many social networking sites and utilities, which you use or follow is a personal choice, most of the world sure isn't following tweets all day.

There's a garritan website which has all the information required, updates will be posted there or here on the forum.

Garritan Twitter account - 36 followers.
Garritan website - 2,804,225 hits for October.

[Steve Milward]

I have better things to do with my time.



So do I. Do you honestly think that all I do is look at Twitter? Read the opening post. I'm saying make more use of what you already have. That's all. If you aren't going to use the Twitter feed then delete it. Makes no difference to me.

[Tony Monaghan]

Makes no difference to me.

Really? Doesn't seem that way.

[Steve Milward]

Really? Doesn't seem that way.

Well it doesn't. Honestly.

[FLWrd]

Emotions run high here in this thread. Come on guys, it's only a web service. I know it has its devotees and its haters, but at the end of the day Twitter is just another (short) message stream.

Twitter however profiles itself rather aggressively, I guess to get as many users as they can (before they sell out?), but its general use profile doesn't match with small company like Garritan. It also doesn't befit a Secretary of State, IMHO, unless (s)he wants to put a spin on something.

I could imagine Garritan having a blog with an RSS feed, at most, to keep people informed. But given that the rate of updates to the feed or blog will be rather slow, followers will lose interest. Perhaps some people think Twitter fills this gap, but I think you can reach more people by sending an announcement to dedicated magazines. That will certainly have a greater reach.

[LFO]

Wow, I'm on the road for a few weeks and look at what happens!

I think there is some misunderstanding here. Steve has a valid question and point. He just wanted to know why the Garritan feed is not used much. From what I can tell he did not question the integrity of Gary or the company so why the over the top reaction? The last post from the Garritan Twitter account was from Sept 11 and reads:

Oh boy! Lots happening here...bet you can't wait! Will be elaborating soon!

So people, like Steve, would expect to be hearing something soon.

Twitter can be useful, especially if you are Paris Hilton or Lindsey Lohan. Some businesses find it useful, most don't. I don't see it being useful for Gary, he has plenty of other methods to communicate with the world. A neglected Twitter site, like a neglected website, can put a bad taste in a person's mouth. My recommendation would be to post a final, farewell Tweet saying the account is not going to be used and reference the user to the forum and be done with it. Closing the account could be an option, but Gary probably doesn't want anyone else opening an account with his company name.

I agree with what Sean. When he has announcements they are exciting, but the frequency of the announcements does not meet the expectations of Twitter users. That's not a bad thing, it just is what it is. Twitter is not for everyone!

-Kevin

[Garritan]

I think its a good thing that there are people that want to follow on Twitter.

Twitter is very popular and in vogue right now. In prior years it was MySpace, Compuserve communities, AOL. etc. We've used this forum for the past nine years or so as a sort of Twitter. One concern is having too many social networks may dilute and detract from the forum.

Perhaps we should use both - Twitter to give behind-the-scense stuff, updates to updates, etc. and the forum to discuss.

With Twitter I will have to constrain my loquaciousness to 140 characters? Can I even do that?

Twitter seems like a quicker way to do things, but people will have to sign up and follow. Pretty much like they register on the forum.

Maybe both can co-exist and work together.

What do you all think? Do you all want to tweet?

Best.

Gary

[easternsounds]

Honestly, nothing could replace the Northernsounds forum for Garritan. The whole Garritan community is here. I don't see any needs to change that.

But, there is certainly room for creating a "publishing" channel. Having only 140 characters makes posting quick and straight to the point. Which will probably makes Gary posting much more than by writing a full article on a blog or in the forum.

Twitter is a great medium for publishing official updates or for sharing links like news articles, reviews, youtube videos, etc.

Journalists and other non-hardcore users may be much more likely to follow Garritan on Twitter than by sorting out this forum.

An, Non-Twitter users dont have to sign up, they can simply subscribe to the Twitter RSS feeds. Which should makes it easier to stay updated on what Garritan have to say then by sorting out all the info in this forum.

In my opinion, both channel can coexist and are aimed at different purposes.

Max

[LFO]

I tried Twitter, but it just wasn't my thing. I followed a company, a football hall of famer, a Hollywood star. an indie music group and a few famous Internet business people. In my experience, some posted way too much. (Kevin Rose, John Riggins) and others not near enough (Pomplamoose). Most postings were fodder. I don't mean that in an insulting way, I mean it in the I could have easily lived without that way. So many posts are pointless its crazy.

Sweetwater only has 136 followers. They want their membership up so they are giving away a prize once they hit 150. EastWest has 197 followers. I joined both just to see what happens, but the content on both was both spotty and weak. Not what I would call a good marketing channel.

I think the question for you to ask yourself Gary is will becoming active with Twitter increase sales? Will it increase the community? Will it improve the brand? I think the answer to all three is no. I'm willing to bet that people who follow you on Twitter would already be forum members. Hence, there is potential to dilute the forum activity. I don't see Twitter improving anyone's brand, but maybe that is just me.

My 2 cents (worth 0 cents probably) is don't bother, it isn't worth the time or effort. I'd rather have you focusing on getting GOS 2 out and Choirs out than giving me constant updates on where you are with them.

-Kevin

[etLux]

I expected better from a Senior Member. My poor judgement.

To clarify, my comment had no derogatory intent.

Rather, a certain amount of befuddled amazement at the
convolutions and permutations of communications that have
arisen across the last decade or so.

If you think about it -- even a dozen years ago, much of
the conversation in this thread would have been
incomprehensible... Twitter (and so many other means)
did not exist.

Best,



David
-----
David Sosnowski
www.DavidSosnowski.com

[easternsounds]

In my experience, some posted way too much. (Kevin Rose, John Riggins) and others not near enough (Pomplamoose). Most postings were fodder. I don't mean that in an insulting way, I mean it in the I could have easily lived without that way. So many posts are pointless its crazy.

Agreed. I use Twitter daily and I see lots of people posting 30 tweets a day when they simply have nothing to say! This is pointless and it is a polution.



I think the question for you to ask yourself Gary is will becoming active with Twitter increase sales?

Twitter is now a primary tool for journalists and bloggers of all types. And what journalists and bloggers loves above all is having the freshest news.

Having fresh updates from Garritan will makes journalists much more likely to talk about it then hearing about it weeks later. So if journalists talks about it, it makes more exposure then it could translate into more sales.



Will it increase the community?

The users community is here. Apart from the bloggers and journalists, followers from Twitter may be those who are not YET using garritan and are sneaking around. But, I have to admit that in this case, increasing the community might not be the biggest reason for having a twitter account.



Will it improve the brand?

Definitely. If it is maitained. Even 1 tweet per month shows people that the company is in action.



I'm willing to bet that people who follow you on Twitter would already be forum members.

Users: Yes. Journalists/bloggers: No.

Some users might not log into the forum daily to see what is new from Gary. but if they are following Garritan on twitter, the news will come to them.


Hence, there is potential to dilute the forum activity.

I would more see it as a way for dragging new people into the forum for discussion.



My 2 cents (worth 0 cents probably) is don't bother, it isn't worth the time or effort. I'd rather have you focusing on getting GOS 2 out and Choirs out than giving me constant updates on where you are with them.

-Kevin

Trouble and time-wasting would be to offer customer support through Twitter. For me, this is a big no-no and it should be avoided by all means.

It should stay a publishing channel. But as I said previously, it could take as less as posting 1 or 2 tweets per month to show people that Garritan is alive and dynamic.

PR is crucial and communicating with people can only increase trust and attachment to a brand. Twitter is the preferred communication channel for many people whether we like it or not.

Max

[germancomponist]

If you want to be on all these new pages you will not have the time to get a nice evening with your wife and something else.

Hm, perhaps you must have promoters an all this new web pages to tell the people the hype... .;)

[Michael_uk]

.....
Garritan website - 2,804,225 hits for October.

Well, that is some audience. Very interesting.

[Houston Haynes]

I have a series of links from my blogs to Twitter - and then Twitter posts show up on my Facebook feed through another tool. That's the only way I'd be able to manage it.

[Sheridan]

I'm kinda surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet, but even if you don't update on Twitter, you could take advantage of Twitter's search functionality to keep track of the latest user trends, opinions and desires on a certain subject. Just define a few specific keywords (nothing vague or otherwise you'll get flooded with tweets) and subscribe to the search in your RSS reader.

[FLWrd]

Afterthought...

Perhaps Gary is not on Twitter, but David from Plogue is: http://twitter.com/plgDavid

[AlanPerkins]

I think one thing is missing in this - you don;t need to use Twitter just for product updates and the like.

Every now and then Gary, you could tweet something like the following:



Check out Dan Kury's new rendition of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue
Garritan regular IndianaMusic reports on the world premiere of Rivertown
Garritan community sponsors member to attend Premiere - way to go Garritan users!
Garritan Steinway gets rave reviews from XXX publication

etc etc.