We received this email from someone who came to one of our first social media surgeries:

I work as volunteer artworker for a mental health resource centre.  My job is to run activities groups and oversee the art room for the people who use our service.  Recently the management mentioned using social media and by coincedence I had just heard about the Social Media Surgery via my friend Andrew Brightwell.

I attended two Surgeries with Andrew and Susie and was initially given advice on which applications to use.  I went back for further in-depth advice on Twitter and reported back to my managers.  I  was asked to present to the full staff and then also to our Directors.

As a result of these presentations the social media project was approved and since then I’ve been producing and moderating content for Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Tumblr.  As an aside, the Directors and Management have advised me that they are applying for funding to make me a paid member of staff with responsibility for social media to promote our business, particularly to young people.

Thanks so much to the Surgery for your time and sound advice.  Not only has it made a huge difference to our business and our profile, it may have helped me get a paid position after a long period of unemployment, something I’d not anticipated. I’m very grateful.