This week we asked the staff “What was the spookiest (or kookiest) costume you’ve ever worn?”

Carmen: I dressed as bacon and eggs as a child (Thanks Mom!).  Now I find pleasure it subjecting my own kids to embarrassing costumes.  My personal favorite was when they were both skunks.

Adam: I’ve been random zombies, ghouls and hobos throughout my trick-or-treat days. Nothing really jumps out as all that “Kooky” or “Spooky” – guess I’d be pretty lame at a costume party now a days.

Sandy: Like Adam, I’m lame about dressing in costume. I remember being various witches and ghosts as a kid. Nothing particularly spooky or kooky.

Charlie: One time I put Elmer's glue all over myself and rolled in a leaf pile.  I told everybody I was Leaf Man, I got in trouble that night.  I miss my twenties some times.

Salli: The most recent costume I tried was Steve from "Blue's Clues".  The kooky part was that I thought kids would know who I was at first glance.  Not so much.  And I disagree with Charlie...he dressed up as 'House' a couple years ago, and it was spooky how much he looked like him!

Debbie: I was never really a spooky costume person.  My favorite as a kid was a stewardess (dating myself - now "flight attendant")  As an adult  - probably Betty Rubble from the Flintstones!

Bonny: I love Halloween because I have small children and we host an annual chili party but I personally have never been a fan of dress up.  I have a no face paint rule.  I usually pull out the black cat ears and call it a day.

photo credit

This is the seventh installment in our on-going series on Social Media for Manufacturing.  This is an extension of a recent seminar Web Marketing Manager Carmen Fontana gave on the topic for the Cleveland manufacturing association, WIRE-net. While geared towards industrial companies, many of the principles can be applied to businesses of all types.

It’s time to get our hands dirty!  Well, in the Social Media sense of the word that is.  After you have spent a fair amount of time Listening and Learning and feel comfortable with the terminology, platforms and protocol, it’s time to Engage.

There are numerous ways to get directly involved in Social Media and it really depends on which channel you are exploring.  Here are a few ways to begin engaging in Social Media:

• Blogging – Start writing blog entries.  Shoot for 2-4 articles per month, 200-400 words in length.  Make sure to cover a variety of topics and, if possible, have a variety of authors.
• LinkedIn – Fill out your personal and company profiles.  Participate in group discussions.  Read Questions and answer the ones you can.  Update your (and you company’s) status updates.  Comment on others’ status updates.
• YouTube – Create and upload videos.  These do not need to be Hollywood quality feature length films.  A well-light two minute production with your personal video camera will probably be sufficient.  Make sure to integrate YouTube with your company Facebook page.
• Twitter – Tweet 3-5 times per week on a variety of topics.  Retweet interesting messages of others.  Don’t forget to respond to direct messages and directed tweets.
• Facebook – Update your company’s status 3-5 times per week.  Upload pictures.  Respond to comments on your page.  Comment on other people/company’s pages.

That’s a lot to do!  Don’t fret!  The next installment in the series, Step 4: Schedule and Streamline, will help you simplify your Social Media tasks.