Bruce will be attending SearchFest 2011, which will take place on February 23rd at the Governor Hotel in Portland, Oregon. Tickets are available now. To purchase, please click the following link.
1) Please give us your background and tell us what you do for a living.
I’m the Chief Meteorologist for the CBS-TV station in Portland, KOIN Local 6. I love weather in the northwest but I have to talk about rain way too often! I also have a blog: www.brucesussman.com – the KOIN page is www.koinlocal6.com
Facebook Weather Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bruce-Sussman/128320271100
2) How have you integrated social media with your role as a television weatherman?
I read relevant tweets & Facebook posts right on the air. It’s awesome to know what people are thinking and why. I share unique videos on my YouTube channel. And have a photo stream on Flickr. Also, I have a continuing conversation with my followers on twitter each day. @forecastupdates is where to find me. SEMPDX is going to help with Facebook, Twitter & SEO for my blog. I can’t wait for the conference!
3) How has social media changed / improved your connection with your audience?
One example: When a storm’s rolling through, I ask my followers and fans to let me know what they see. They post and tweet like crazy and I read some of the reports right on the air. It’s like the ultimate in ground truth for me because I’m in a studio with Live Doppler and can’t get out there myself. In the old days you’d rely on a couple of weather spotters or wait for someone to call info into the National Weather Service then wait for them to put out a statement. Then you’d hope the news was still on to share the storm reports. No more waiting anymore – for me…or for my viewers. So cool!
Todd Mintz knows PPC…knows Social Media…knows SEO…knows Blogging…knows Domaining…and knows them all real well. He runs growth marketing for )and is also a Director & Founding Member of SEMpdx: Portland, Oregon’s Search Engine Marketing Association, and he can be found here on Twitter and Facebook.