I am sitting in my hotel at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) 2010 Conference in Boulder Colorado, and in usual form, I'm prepping for a session a mere 12 hours in advance. I'm not a total slacker though, I've been writing papers and posters and blogs about my topic for months.

The title is "U can DIY! Using Social Media to Connect with Audiences." So I'm going to ask, do you feel connected? Have you been connected to by someone or something like NASA? What made you feel connected to? Did you like it?

I'm going to spend a few minutes talking about #SDOisGO's launch and first light tweetup, how we put effort into reaching those not able to be there in person which resulted in thousands of students and hundreds of individuals sharing the experience with us. I'm going to mention the many tweeps who commented that they felt like they were part of a family by the end, and how they got to see the human side of unmanned space flight: the blood, sweat and tears of countless scientists, engineers and support staff. I'm also going to victoriously mention that "Solar Dynamics Observatory" was a trending topic for first light.

The part of this session I'm a bit nervous about is the open forum Q&A. Sure I can talk about what we did, but can I offer new advice? Here are some of the topic options:

1. Road blocks - Every roadblock is an opportunity. Resistant employers might soften when they hear about the free publicity social media offers, or that customer service can be done effectively through twitter.

2. How do I build a strategy for my program? - Find the story and draw people in. SDO started with launch, continued through first light, and is sailing away on the amazing data. Not every day is going to be a circus, but you can find an entry point in your mission, program or research and invite people in.

3. How do I evaluate social media efforts? - No clue. We are just starting to do this ourselves. We've started by using surveys and twitter/facebook/youtube analytics. The next step might be designing specific programs to track interaction... but who knows!

4. I know my audience, now where are they? - I can answer this for twitter: Lists. I've been able to find teachers using simple searches that led to other teachers who have lists which have other teachers who have lists - click follow all and you are set. Say some interesting/useful things and they might follow you back!

5.How do I use this "outreach" tool in the classroom? One word: Accessibility. There are countless ways a teacher can use twitter in their classroom, and there are just as many ways for formal education providers to support teachers. Instant access to scientists, news and events being one category. Science becomes real and valid when you can talk to the people doing it whenever you want. Twitter is a two way communication mechanism between NASA and classrooms. Supporting teachers is another easily done use. We spend hours working to form relationships with just a few teachers at conferences, social media lets  you do the same thing for hundreds instead of just a few. And this support can be long term, not just done at the end of the day.

6. How do I build a presence? That one is harder. It helps when you have something cool behind you - like SDO. Otherwise it's through consistency and openness. A good web designer and some creative people to post doesn't hurt either.

I'm not an expert at this, I was just invited to give my two cents. I'd love to hear what you have to say, and see you tuning in to the conversation Wednesday August 4th at 1:30pm MDT. Follow @NASA_SDO_Edu and @NASA_SDO for links to the live broadcast.