POWER Gets Social

Do you have professional insights to share with others in the industry—or questions for those with a particular expertise? Do you want to get news and information from POWER more than monthly or weekly? Then join POWER on these social media platforms.

The tagline for POWER is “Business and technology for the global generation industry.” These days, technologies in our industry are becoming increasingly digital. In the plant, you see digital tools everywhere, from handheld monitoring devices to complete digital control systems. Beyond the plant, the entire electric system is slowly adding digital information and communication technologies all along the chain, from production through transmission and distribution to consumption—an updating process commonly referred to by the shorthand term “smart grid.”

1. Add POWER magazine to your circles. Source: POWER

Social Media

Communication, even social interaction, has also gone digital, so POWER has entered the social media realm. It’s just one more way we provide valuable information to, and hear from, our audience. If you use one or more of the popular social media platforms, here’s how you can join the POWER community.

Twitter. “Tweets,” as posts to this public platform are known, are limited to 140 characters. Anyone can see anyone else’s tweets, but most users select a number of other users to “follow” so those posts automatically show up on their home page. It’s a good way to see what others in a niche market or a broad industry are announcing and talking about. The main POWER handle is @POWERmagazine. You can also follow our gas technology editor, Tom Overton, @thomas_overton. If we tweet about something you like or find interesting, retweet. We post from events we attend as well as timely news items and reminders.

Facebook. Because Facebook allows longer posts than Twitter, it’s an easier place to comment on stories or videos we link to, from our own publications and other sources. When you “Like” our Facebook fan page (facebook.com/POWERmagazine), you can comment on posts. However, unlike personal Facebook pages, you cannot post directly to our wall.

Google+. This is one of the newest social media platforms, but it shows some real promise for both individuals and businesses. The Hangouts feature, for example, is a handy and free videoconferencing tool. Add “POWER magazine” (see Figure 1 screenshot) to your Google+ circles and follow our posts so you hear about any future Hangouts. We’re also using Google+ for industry updates and requests for information, but our use of this platform is sure to evolve.

LinkedIn. This professional networking site is home to thousands of groups for every industry and interest imaginable. POWER sponsors two: “POWER magazine” and “Women in Power Generation.” These are “closed” groups, so you must be a LinkedIn member to join. Colleagues in our media company who cover the chemical engineering industry demonstrated that a LinkedIn group can be a great way for members to ask for advice, share best practices, and generally develop a sense of a professional community. (Remember to post job openings to the Jobs tab and event promotions to the Promotions tab rather than in the Discussions area.)

Though we try to cover the full spectrum of issues in the global generation marketplace, we can’t cover it all, and we realize that our audience is full of experts. These LinkedIn groups are a great way for you to contribute your expertise (but no sales pitches, please). We hope you will join one or both of our groups and use them to share your experience, insights, and sound advice.

Virtually Social

Our fleet of publications— POWER, POWERnews, COAL POWER, MANAGING POWER, and GAS POWER —is produced by a busy staff of just five full-time editorial staff members. That means we don’t have the bandwidth to respond to or comment on all posts; however, we do keep an eye and an ear on the social buzz. When necessary, we will moderate and block inappropriate posts, so please, keep all comments professional; save anything else for your personal social media pages.

Remember that you can still comment on individual stories by using the “Comment” feature on all our stories online or by sending email to [email protected]. That address reaches all of the editors and is also the best address to use for industry press announcements. Given the volume of messages we receive daily, we cannot respond to them individually. If something is of interest for a feature story, an editor will follow up, and our marketing staff periodically posts selected press releases to that section of powermag.com.

Social media can be a useful way to broaden your professional network and share lessons learned. It’s also faster and cheaper than real-world interactions. However, there are some in-person events you don’t want to miss. The most important for our industry is the ELECTRIC POWER Conference & Exhibition (presented by POWER’ s parent company, TradeFair Group, an Access Intelligence Company). This year, ELECTRIC POWER will be held May 15–17 in Baltimore. We hope to see you there. Until then, we’ll see you online!

— Dr. Gail Reitenbach is POWER’s managing editor.