#DigitalDiplomacy, Twitter @GOV & Holland: the original cool
Yesterday we had our fourth Digital Diplomacy Meetup, with the highest turnout ever (close to 50 people)! It fills me with such joy to see the communications, digital & social media managers from the consulates in New York come together to share ideas, network and learn from one another. It was a special treat to have guest speaker Sean Evins from Twitter News & Government in DC. All of us had a lot to learn from him and we're grateful for the one-on-one consults, help gaining verified accounts, and his insights into how we can more effectively use Twitter for public diplomacy.
The Digital Diplomacy Meetup was initiated by the Swiss Consulate to help bring together social media practitioners at the consulates and UN missions in New York. The group aims to meet every other month to share best practices, learn from thought-leaders, and network with the international community. Meetups are scheduled in rotation, so each government has the opportunity to host an event at their consulate/residence and to invite guest speakers of their choice. We have about 15 governments represented at each meetup, in addition to UN agencies and partner institutions. If you or anyone you know from the diplomatic community is interested in attending, please send me a tweet @Jen_Charlton!
A special thanks to the Netherlands Consulate General for so generously hosting this month's meetup as a happy hour, complete with Heineken beer!
One of the great things about having rotating meetups is that we get a glimpse into how other foreign ministries operate and we get to learn about the cool stuff they're doing with social and digital. It was awesome to hear about Holland Tourism's recent campaign, which has gone viral in the past week. Have a look at this brilliant video:
Who doesn't want to visit the Netherlands after watching that 2 minute spot? Congrats to Holland on fantastic nation branding!