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When I started working for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with the first role with the title “social” in it (see my sum-up here), I came in with a desire to serve, but only planning to be there for 6 months. I had been on my own for several years at that point and really enjoyed my independence. I had no idea I’d end up there for 3 years, but thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent there and was able to help organize and shape the organization of social media within the Church. I learned of the Spirit there that guides the Church and its employees, and the wonderful things the organization works to accomplish. After that I moved on to Deseret Digital Media, a for-profit, top-25 digital news organization owned by the Church to manage social media.

While at Deseret Digital Media a short but very productive 6 months, we were able to double our social referrals in the short time I was there through means of a combination of integrating social more into our websites and building perhaps one of the largest social presences in the world with over 20 million fans worldwide and over 200 social media properties on a very limited budget. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and hope to continue advising them in their progress.

It’s with excitement that after working for 3 and a half years for the Church and Church-owned entities I’m now moving on again, this time on my own full time to pursue building my own brand and publishing, speaking and some consulting efforts. Yes, I’m back in the saddle again and stronger than ever! I have no regrets and appreciate the experience the last 3 and a half years have given me.

What will I be focusing on now? My primary focus to start will be speeding up the number of courses I’ve been producing on Social Media for the the developer-focused curriculum company, Pluralsight. They’re a great organization to work with, and it allows me to keep up my software-development chops. Make sure you subscribe now and check out my courses with them! I’ll probably use this to get down and code a few things – maybe something cool for my new Google Glass (just ordered yesterday!)?

With that as my focus, I’m sure I’ll have lots of spare time. Here are the things I’d love to work on:

Speaking! I’m hoping to bump up my number of speaking engagements and turning that much more into a business. Contact me if you’re looking to hire a good speaker with real-world experience and true understanding of both the technical and marketing side of social media.
My next book. I have secured a wonderful agent with Waterside Literary Agents to represent what I hope will be a best-selling book on the paradigm change caused by social media and the things I’ve learned leading social media for major organizations as well as understanding the software behind them. Stay tuned for that (and any interested publishers please contact me!)
Youtube. I have 3 channels I’m focusing on currently, but will likely help out a few locals here in Utah on some more. My first is more of a vlog format chronicling my entertaining family of 8 – go subscribe to STAYTube here! Second, I’ll be focusing on my more techy-focused Youtube channel at TheSocialGeek – don’t forget to subscribe if you like tech! Lastly, I really want to chronicle what I’m learning in Gardening on my GeekGreens Youtube channel. Make sure to subscribe if you’re looking for geeky ways to learn gardening.
Blogging! I miss updating this blog regularly! I used to update almost daily – I hope to do it again. Stay tuned for more updates here, and maybe every so often I can scoop MG Siegler on a Techmeme headline or two 😉 I’d also love to do more reviews here and through my Youtube channel – if you’re a tech company looking to reach tens of thousands of people send me your stuff to review. I’d love to share my thoughts and opinions with my audience.
Consulting. I’m going to be picky in my consulting due to the time it takes – this will not be my primary income source so I want to help companies that really need me. However, I’d still love to give it a try – reach out if you need some help and maybe we can figure something out.

I’m so excited to have a little more time to focus again on what I love most – building, writing, and producing really cool stuff that can change the world! I’m excited to get back to writing and coding. I’m excited to share my real-world experience with more people. I’m excited to focus again on building this audience.

So if you get a chance, stick around and say hi. Let me know how we can work together. Come join my various communities and be a part of something big. You’re all part of the Staymates/Social Geek community (join us on Facebook!) so let’s make the most out of this!

As some of you may be aware, I have spent the last, almost 3 years, helping to grow Social Media in what some have perceived as very much a pioneering role for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Consulting for them for years before, I started just over a year after Barack Obama was elected and Mitt Romney had lost the Primaries to John McCain, myself being perhaps the first person at the Church with the word “Social” in their title. My, thanks to the work of many, have we accomplished a lot since then! It is with sadness and a sense of completion and accomplishment that I now move on from that role, to now serve as Director of Social Media for Deseret Digital Media.

When I first met with the Church, back around 2007, the beginning of Twitter and Facebook, social media was new, and foreign. In many ways, in a time that pre-dates Romney’s run for President, the Church was too. I still remember when Venturebeat “scooped” that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was trying to purchase Facebook (which, in case for any reason you were wondering, was completely and as far from the truth as you could come). What was funny was I had been on contract with Facebook shortly before that (writing tech docs for the company), and had been consulting directly with the Church at the time the article was written. I smiled as I saw the news, but mostly kept my mouth shut. These were 2 foreign organizations that people were very curious about!

Since that time, I remember the vision of a technology that could, just as in the Bible, and just as in The Book of Mormon (as Mormons believe complements the Bible), allow a religion’s message to reach “every nation, kindred, and tongue”, without the need for door-knocking, street preaching, or soapboxing. With these new technologies, one could truly reach the people that were actually interested in and seeking a message, rather than finding a needle in a haystack. The “small villages” of scriptural times were back with the advent of social media.

Within that time we were able to go from just a single Twitter account at Twitter.com/LDSNewsroom (now Twitter.com/MormonNewsroom), to now hundreds of Facebook Pages, Twitter accounts, and Google+ Pages, as well as Youtube channels with views in the millions. We worked on growing the strength and understanding of social media within the organization. I remember at the beginning much of my work was just in training people the value of what social media could do. Now that’s no longer a question, but rather a point of “how has it helped us?”

We achieved Facebook “like” buttons on all articles on LDS.org and began to grow shares of our message. We built numerous campaigns. We were able to expand our advertising efforts. We built community. All of this was the work of many, and I appreciated every person I was able to work with and help in these efforts. I also appreciate the amazing trust people put in me as I helped each of those that needed it.

What I appreciated most during this period though were the individuals I was able to touch, both directly, and indirectly. From training individuals at the Church, to working with ecclesiastical leaders and those at the local congregational level. I appreciated the opportunity to reach out to people during the New Zealand and Japan earthquakes, and especially my dear friends in South Asia who so sincerely want to use these tools to spread a beautiful message to the people of India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Hong Kong, some of Social Media’s largest audiences. I hope these relationships will continue as I move onto other professional pursuits. I feel the momentum is finally in place to where I can move on and help in my next pursuit.

What will I be doing next? As I mentioned, I have accepted a position as Director of Social Media for Deseret Digital Media. As some of my friends may know, I previously worked in publishing, and love the publishing industry. Deseret Digital Media, actually still owned by the Church (but keeps itself at a distance to an extent), owns the digital presence of KSL.com, DeseretNews.com, OK.com (a crowd-sourced movie and TV ratings site), and many other digital presences that span from Salt Lake only, to an entire global presence targeting wholesome, family valued content for its viewers and readers. It is a for-profit company of which I’m excited to begin work on finding ways to increase those profits, find new and better ad products for their advertisers, and to grow their presence to an even greater capacity globally and help families around the world connect better. It is a fun and exciting challenge for the next phase in my life, and one where I think I can again, just like I feel I did at the Church, make a dent for the good of the world. I’m excited to learn from, lead and grow with those I’ll work with there.

I debated strongly in this move of going back to an entrepreneurial effort (where I was before the Church). For varying reasons including a family of 8, I felt I could accomplish more in this role, and could still on the side keep the efforts I have with SocialToo, this blog, my books, and my training courses on Pluralsight. I anticipate all those efforts, and perhaps more, to continue to grow and prosper as I push forward in this new role.

I will miss all those I worked with at the Church – from Church Ecclesiastical Leaders, to Managing Directors, to the employees getting things done and helping move the work forward. They were some of the most talented people I’ve ever worked with – former Novell execs, successful entrepreneurs, and Microsoft execs to name a few, to successful scientists, businessmen, and doctors. It has been one of the most amazing, rewarding, and fulfilling jobs I’ve ever had.

Lastly, on a personal note as a member of the Church, which I am still an active part of, my testimony of this Church, after working “in the trenches” and seeing it from the inside, remains stronger than ever. I have seen our Leaders – the President and Prophet himself (Thomas S. Monson), to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, to the members of the Quorum of the 70 that aid those with the keys, truly lead this Church through God. They are certainly not perfect, but what they have to say is important, and their callings and the mantle they hold is divine. They have my full support and love moving forward.

I can’t wait to see where the foundation that has been laid for social media in the Church takes us. The future is bright, and full of opportunity – while “the Mormon Moment” may be over for me at least as an employee, the best of “the Mormon Moment” for the Church I think is yet to come.