All Best Living - Community Manager's blog posts

Best Buy Mobile Communtiy

Gina-BBY — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:53:55 GMT

Last week we expanded our community engagements by launching a forum on the new Best Buy® Mobile website at www.bestbuymobile.com! The new website is a valuable resource loaded with news, reviews and conversations about the latest smart phones and mobile technology.

The new forum is a place where you can talk to us — and to each other — about the latest mobile phones, apps, accessories and more. It's a place to ask questions and to exchange ideas, information, opinions and tips with other technology users and mobile phone fans. We want to hear from you!

We’re excited to grow our mobile community on this innovative new website. The hope is to share all we know about the world of mobile phones and to learn from you. So, please, feel free to leave comments or suggestions about the new forum. We’ll see you there!

DMA's Marketer of the Year

Gina-BBY — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:49:23 GMT

Each year at their Conference & Exhibition, the Direct Marketing Association awards companies or individuals for outstanding achievements in the multichannel direct marketing process. We are pleased to announce that Best Buy has been named the 2009 Marketer of the Year!

The award praises Best Buy for our commitment to new ideas and for our focus on enhancing customers' enjoyment of technology which has been instrumental in making us a leader in the retail and marketing communities.

The award specifically called out our strength in the social media space, including the widely known Twelpforce. In fact, several of our Twelpforce champions attended the event to be recognized.

Last year when I began helping Best Buy journey into the blogosphere, I never expected to grow those concepts into paradigm shift within the company. So many local Best Buy stores and senior leaders have embraced the possibilities of social media. It has been an exciting journey and I am glad to have played a part in it. Having Best Buy's efforts in the social media realm be honored by the DMA is both humbling and inspiring. Our Best Buy Communities team will continue to help Best Buy be successful by supporting our customers on our Best Buy Community forum as well as our many other social media engagements.

Re: A new way of support

Dorothy-BBY — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:43:24 GMT

Hello Carol!

As a Wolf Alumni, I have a very strong passion around the Wolf Movement. I will do my utmost to ensure Liz and Mary are given your contact information. You can also visit us at www.BestBuy.com/wolf

Take care, and thank you for visiting our Community Forum!

Dorothy

Community Connector

Best Buy® Corporate

Wolf #127 :)

Re: A new way of support

carolcampbell — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:22:36 GMT

Hi, I was hoping you could put me in touch with Mary Stoddart and Liz Haesler. We launched a www.womenince.org website this year and would love to establish a relationship with Wolf. One of our Advisory Board members is a member of Wolf and I am so very impressed with the progress your organization is making. We aspire to the same things. I was thrilled to see the ad section in yesterday's Sunday New York Times! Thanks in advance for your reply.

Carol Campbell

Founder

Women in CE

A new way of support

Gina-BBY — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:05:12 GMT

I am happy to announce the expansion of our Best Buy Communities' team's capabilities. In addition to our team of Community Connectors, we are launching a new team of Retail Marketing Advisors who will assist our Best Buy retail locations with their local marketing initiatives, leveraging the Retail Marketing Tool. This tool has been in place for over a year and provides access to pre-approved, brand appropriate and legally compliant marketing collateral to help grow their local business. Our new Advisors will not be participating in the Community Forum in the same way the Connectors do, but they do welcome your input about how local Best Buy stores can connect better with customers through both traditional and new marketing means.

What can your local Best Buy store do to reach your specific community?

What we do

Gina-BBY — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:51:58 GMT

John created a graphic that visually displays what our team does. The Community will have its one year anniversary on Sept 18. We are very excited. Our Community, Best Buy Unboxed, as grown tremendously over the last year. I am happy that we can facilitate connections and support customers. Comments on the graphic are invited.

Chairman Innovation Award, Honorable Mention

Gina-BBY — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:53:32 GMT

Great News!

My team I were honored by receiving Best Buy's Chairman Innovation Award, Honorable Mention. This is Best Buy highest accolade and I am pleased and delighted to have received it. I would like to thank my team for helping make this possible. Through their tireless efforts, we have been able to expand the Best Buy brand in the blogosphere in ways unlike any other company. This award gives our team and the entire Consumer Relations department great exposure within the company, showcasing the valuable work we do every day to support our customers.

Our Journey

When I started two years ago combing the Internet on behalf of Best Buy in search of customers crying out for help, I did so not as an alternative to our other contact channels, but rather as a supplement. My initial strategy was to locate situations that involved either a customer service issue or a technical issue and included the customer's contact information. I would then contact the customer privately, resolve their situation and hope they would update their online posting. While I was able to resolve several customer issues, customers did not update their initial online posting. Therefore, the online public never knew the ending to the story.

So I shifted my strategy shifted to not only help Best Buy customers, but also show the online public that Best Buy is a concerned and connected retailer who wants to have a relationship with our customers. I began by publicly and transparently responding to customers on behalf of the company. I reached out and offered to investigate the situation they posted online. This quickly resulted in both an online and offline dialogue with customers. When issues were resolved, customers updated their followers with the resolution we had worked together to achieve.

I expanded my efforts to helping customers on Twitter in April 2008, and we launched this Community Forum in September 2008. I now have a dedicated team who helps resolve customer service issues and technical support questions for our customers publicly on our Community Forum and Twitter as well as customers' personal blogs. Our goal is to support customers using the medium they are most comfortable using to communicate with us - although, I remember some time ago, a customer mailed their issue to our corporate office on a 2'x4' poster. We did our best to resolve this customer's issue; however, we did not mail back our response in the same manner!

Growth of Social Media

As more companies start using social media to support customers, I have seen some concerns regarding the level of support customers receive using this online channel to broadcast an issue versus a traditional contact such as phone, email or letter. It is not necessarily a difference in the level of tools or authority a traditional contact agent has; rather it is the difference in the number of voices that are invited to the conversation.

A traditional contact is a closed, two-way communication. Forums, blogs, Twitter, etc. open the conversation to a larger audience allowing anyone to participate. No single employee for a company has all the answers. By opening up the dialogue to both employees and the online public, customers gain access to both a company's expertise and the online public's knowledge. Our Community Forum is an excellent example of the mixture of Best Buy BlueShirt and Geek Squad Agent skills blending with the online public's knowledge. The Community Forum is a platform that facilitates conversations between employees and customers. It is a highly engaged community with the majority of the conversation generated by the community members.

TwelpForce, Best Buy's newest social media engagement, continues to facilitate the opening of access to the knowledge of our Best Buy BlueShirts and Geek Squad Agents. Technology is by nature complex. It is implausible to assume every time one of our customers has a technology question, they will drive to one of our stores. Twitter and our Community Forum allow Best Buy to be with customers on their technology journey as a trusted adviser, there to help support making their technology dreams materialize as the need arises. Social media tools enable a more connected relationship with companies and customers.

The Future

Many customers are still turning to traditional means to contact companies. I would postulate that none of the mainstream, commercially used social media tools convey as much as a telephone conversation or store visit. Someday in the future, video conferencing may eclipse the telephone conversations. My team and I will now strive to be pioneers in the use of video support for customers. We will do so with the same careful, measured diligence that has made us successful in the blogosphere.

The dawn of a new era in customer service is looming. The future comprises advanced technology that allows for the rapid and immediate connection of customers with both a company's employees, its customers and the online public. It is a bold step for a company to grasp this concept: to grow we must acknowledge we are a facilitator and an aggregator, not a beacon or panacea. While there are solutions Best Buy can provide, it is the facilitation of conversation from a multitude of sources and its aggregation into easily accessible locations that will continue to ensure that Best Buy is a leader in the field of consumer electronics and social media.

Re: A New Look for the Forum and Perhaps a New Name?

Miranda — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:40:46 GMT

Nope, you're right. It's just in the blog posts that I don't have the smileys, but do in the rest of the forums. Okay...now I don't feel nearly as crazy.

Re: A New Look for the Forum and Perhaps a New Name?

Miranda — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:32:17 GMT

Maybe it is just the blog comments where I don't have the smileys. I've not paid that close attention...I'll let you know!

TwelpForce: A New Means of Connecting with Customers

Gina-BBY — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:10:09 GMT

Today, Best Buy launched a new way for Blueshirt and Geek Squad Agents to connect with customers: TwelpForce. Customers can Tweet to TwelpForce and Best Buy employees will respond.

Providing support to customers on Twitter is not new to Best Buy. My team and I have been Twittering to customers in English, Spanish and French for quite some time know. I launched my Twitter, Gina_BestBuy, in April 2008. We expanded to other languages a few months later and eventually other programs including support for the Reward Zone program, Best Buy Outlet Center, Geek Squad and our Insignia exclusive brand. In addition to my team at corporate, some stores have also joined Twitter to support customers. One of the first was Bianca at store 221 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

We have had many successes through these engagements on Twitter. For example: http://tinyurl.com/BBY-Harte.

Twitter is an interesting social phenomenon. It cleaves thoughts into a Spartan 140-character piece. For me the mixture of grammar and syntax, the use of the lexicon, is an art. Therefore, Twitter's appeal remains a bit elusive to me. The concoction of words that take on meaning is powerful...the pen is mightier than the sword. Words form phrases which make up sentences that then comprise treatises - this changes lives. Only a few weeks ago, we in the US were celebrating the Declaration of Independence. It is hard to image our founding fathers putting that masterful document into less than 140 characters.

I do not doubt that Twitter has a place in our new world of rapid communication. The recent events in Iran attest to Twitter's utilitarian applications. Our team has seen the countless power of using Twitter to serve Best Buy's customers, and I am excited to see our Blueshirt and Geek Squad Agents enthusiastically jumping on TwelpForce to assist our customers. However, with the amplification of a voice into the chorus of the conversation on Twitter comes responsibility to live the Best Buy values and philosophies. These are the foundation for the culture of service at Best Buy. Each Tweet is an opportunity for us all to show how we live the Best Buy values and philosophies. I rise to the occasion as I know many will also. I hope that in the coming weeks and months, Twitter connects our impassioned employees with our customers in new and novel ways that we have not yet imagined. In the words of Buzz Lightyear, "To infinity and beyond"... a call to action in less than 140 characters.

Re: A New Look for the Forum and Perhaps a New Name?

Gina-BBY — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:44:25 GMT

Hi, I checked in IE. In a new message I have the option for smileys, but in blog comments there doesn't appear to be smileys in either IE or FireFox. I will have Matthew investigate. Thanks, Gina

Re: A New Look for the Forum and Perhaps a New Name?

Miranda — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:50:41 GMT

On my reply options, I have 3 tabs, Rich Text, HTML and Preview....default pulls the Rich Text.

From the left, I only have 5 options: B (Bold) I(Italics) ~~S(Strikethrough)~~ and then a grayed out option to add in a link, and a picture of a tree to add in an image. That's it.

I'm on a computer that's got Windows XP (in the Windows 98 theme...I didn't pick it), and I'm on IE at the moment.

Re: A New Look for the Forum and Perhaps a New Name?

Gina-BBY — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:21:22 GMT

Hi Miranda, the new look and feel for the Forum is still evolving. In a new message the smileys are seven options from the left -- I'm using Firefox. I hope you find the smileys. Gina

Re: A New Look for the Forum and Perhaps a New Name?

Miranda — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:11:32 GMT

I personally am not sure I like the new layout of the forums...I'm getting used to it, but...reserving judgement for the time being. I had more constructive things to say about it, but now, I've forgotten! Wait...why can't I ever find the little option for the smileys? I hope it's just the computer I'm on (not my normal one), but I haven't been able to find the option for the smiley faces for sometime...

A New Look for the Forum and Perhaps a New Name?

Gina-BBY — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:24:22 GMT

Community user interface upgrade

You may have noticed some changes to our Community Forum. Last night our forum platform was upgraded to a new user interface. Here are some of the changes:

New layout for user profiles. Now has the user's recent posts featured conveniently at the top.
New terms used around the site. For example, topics replace threads and avatar instead of icon.
Removal of the user dashboard.
Users now have the option to change their date style to relative. This friendly format is "about an hour ago" which is cleaner than the standard "7/17/2009".
Kudos is now built into the small user info at the left of a post. You now give post's kudos by clicking the star under the user's avatar. To the immediate left of the star is the posts total kudos.
With the cleaner post design, more posts are viewable at once. This allows for quicker reading through a topic.
Search has been completely overhauled. There is now just one search with a drop down for the scope of your search. From the home page your choices are for a community or user search. While looking at a board or topic the search options are for community, category, topic or user.
The introduction of confirmation and feedback messages for selected actions.

We hope you find the changes pleasant as having the new interface will allow for more functionality with our community in the future.

We're thinking about a new name for the Community Forums

We think it is time to ignite the community conversation for ideas on a new name. Currently, our official name is "Best Buy® Community Forums." We have been itching to come up with a new name for a while now. We really would like some input from our community. Have any ideas on a new name?

We're dabbling with the name "Technology Unboxed." What do you think? We could have the icons for boards be open boxes. Thoughts?

We're still learning

We also want to point out that we are still growing and learning. Although, we're rapidly approaching our one year with the forums, it is still new to us. We're open to your feedback. In fact, we encourage it. This is a community after all.

Re: A Few Wii Moments of Fun

jack_brandon — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 17:12:47 GMT

Yeah Wii is so much fun, i game lots on pc, my uncle has a wii, when we go over to his place, we have lots of fun with the whole family. Although real gaming is still best on computer :D

guild wars 2 gold

Best Buy Ideax

Gina-BBY — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:20:51 GMT

How can Best Buy improve its product offers, services and customer experience? From our online community engagements such as this Forum, we are hoping to learn the ever-changing answers to these questions. A great example of how Best Buy is co-creating with our customer is our Next Class laptops. "You Spoke. We listened." Best Buy asked students what type of laptop they needed to be successful. Their input provided direction for our newest laptops.

An exciting new way to join the conversation and participate in this co-creating process is to use our new Best Buy Ideax website. Ideax allows customers and employees to share, discuss and rate ideas. Individuals can post ideas that they think will enhance the Best Buy experience. Others can then comment on their idea, and if they think it's a good one, they can vote for it. The Ideax team also has a bi-weekly blog which they use to provide feedback about the idea submission to the community. My team and I will be helping moderate the Ideax, so you may see our comments on the website.

I believe that infusing the creativity of our customers with that of our Blueshirts and Geek Squad Agents will result in powerfully innovative ideas that will unleash a new horizon for Best Buy.

Re: Fourth of July Film Recommendations?

Miranda — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:33:05 GMT

While I know it's not historically acurrate, I always end watching "The Patriot" at some point around the 4th of July. It's one of those movies that makes you wonder if that's what it was really like during the war that gave us independence.

Then there's also Independence Day. Bill Pullman's monolouge before they go out fighting the ailens has been ranked as one of the top film monolouges of all time (my sister, the film major, informed me of this). And it's always on somewhere during the week before or after the holiday.

So, those are just a couple that I always end up watching. Happy 4th of July! Hope you have fun and be safe!

Fourth of July Film Recommendations?

Gina-BBY — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:43:19 GMT

This week is the country’s 233^rd birthday. As a former history major, I love America’s rich, passion filled history. I am planning on celebrating our Independence Day by watching a few movies that highlight America’s historical triumphs.

When I was a kid my mother and I would watch James Cagney perform as George M. Cohen in Yankee Doodle Dandy every Fourth of July. We would sit on the couch together and eat popcorn and sing-a-long to the patriotic tunes while we watched the classic black and white movie. When Cagney would tap dance up the wall, I would try to do the same. I, of course, fell down every time.

Any other recommendations for great films about American history?

When not watching movies, I will stop by Best Buy’s one day dale. We are having a few deals on Friday, July 3, 2009 only. If you are looking for a good deal on a tv, we have a Dynex 32” LCD for $299.99. I’m thinking about putting a tv in my basement and this might just work in that room.

And in between all that I will squeeze in sometime to go watch fireworks. It wouldn’t be the Fourth without them.

Message Edited by Gina-BBY on 07-03-2009 07:41 AM

Message Edited by Gina-BBY on 07-03-2009 07:43 AM

Dad's Day Sale

Gina-BBY — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:03:04 GMT

June 21^st is Dad’s Day. Although my grandfather is no longer with us, every year my mom and I would get him a new electronic gadget. My grandfather was the genesis of my love for technology. All his life he struggled with vision problems. In his later years it was difficult for him to read his favorite electronics magazines and technical journals, so I would read them to him. He loved his big television and his reel-to-reel audio player. Together we would watch my two favorite movies, The Sound of Music and the Wizard of Oz, over and over again. I never grew tired of watching the same movies with him and he was happy spending time with me. We wore out several VHS tapes! Fortunately, today we have blu-ray DVDs which are far more durable.

For Dad’s day this year Best Buy is having a special sale that starts today and runs through Monday. There are several great televisions ranging from about 37” to 52” inches on sale and a couple blu-ray players. When I was growing up in South Florida, Best Buy didn’t have any store down there. Due to his failing eyesight, my grandfather was always looking for bigger televisions with sharp pictures for both himself and he was paranoid that poor picture quality would hurt my eyes. I know of no medical information that would support that, but those were his fears.

I wish he were here today to see the successful woman I have become and to see all the awesome technology advances that have occurred in the last two decades. If he was here today I know he would have a 50”+ HD television, blu-ray player and slick sound system. But tucked away in a corner, I know he would still have his old reel-to-reel audio player…at least I still do.

Message Edited by Gina-BBY on 06-11-2009 11:03 AM