ShareWhat do refrigeration, air conditioning and social media have in common? A lot!
When refrigeration went viral
“An element of the poster campaign on social media was to show that anyone can make a difference.” Stephen Gill, President Elect at Institute of Refrigeration.
In 2014, an awareness raising social media campaign by Stephen Gill praising the too often overlooked virtues and benefits of refrigeration caused quite a stir, going viral.
The campaign, comprising a series of thought-provoking posters, began at the end of 2013 and received over 500,000 views, over 2,000 comments, and close to 10,000 ‘likes’ on LinkedIn in a few short months.
It went on to win several international awards and accolades including the Cooling Industry Awards 2014 in London, the Climate Control Awards in Dubai and most recently the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards in Shanghai.
These hugely popular social media posters promoting the benefits of refrigeration have been translated into Chinese, Thai, Malay, Korean, Japanese, and Arabic, with more languages to follow.
If you haven’t seen it already, check out this amazing promotion of the refrigeration world.
Read the full story “Refrigeration in a social whirl” at The Cooling Post
Refrigeration can be found on Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube to name but a few social networks.
These networks allow stakeholders to stay up to date on refrigeration news and events as well as join discussions, ask questions and give answers.
Twitter is a microblogging network made up of 140-character messages called a “Tweet”. Twitter is sometimes perceived as a vacuous pastime for celebrities and their fans, using arcane terms with a daunting interface. On the contrary! Major stakeholders from all refrigeration sectors are on Twitter sharing links to valuable research data, providing updates on global climate talks, and promoting the latest industry developments.
How to find information?
First you need to know three basic terms and two symbols: @Username, #hashtag and tweet. A hashtag is any word or phrase immediately preceded by the # symbol. When you click on a hashtag, you'll see other Tweets containing the same keyword or topic.
By searching with a hashtag, your results will show all the tweets with the same hashtag.
The IIR’s user name is @IIFIIR and our hashtag is #refrigeration.
Some other hastags related to #refrigeration:
#hvac
#airconditioning
#refrigerants
#magneticcooling
#coldchain
And don’t forget the very special hashtag #icr2015 for the upcoming International Congress of Refrigeration in Yokohama, Japan on 16 – 22 August.
Create an account, try tweeting
Try it out for yourselves, it costs nothing, just go to Twitter.com and they’ll guide you through the simple process.
If you want to share something, write a short message, use hashtags (3 maximum is best) and include a link to your story. The whole message, hashtags and link has to be 140-characters or less.
LinkedIn, join the discussion
Many refrigeration professionals already know the LinkedIn network which is designed specifically for the business community. The goal of the site is to allow registered members to establish and document networks of people they know and trust professionally. But did you know that LinkedIn boasts 345 refrigeration groups?
These groups offer a place for professionals in the same industry or with similar interests to share content, find answers, post and view jobs, make business contacts, and establish themselves as industry experts. Many of the groups are private and you must request to join, for examples the IIR Group which numbers over 4,000 is reserved for IIR members and stakeholders. However, the ELICiT Project group on magnetic refrigeration is open to all interested LinkedIn members.
YouTube, more than just kitten videos
As many know, YouTube is a video sharing website displaying a wide variety of user-generated and corporate media video. Again, using the keyword “refrigeration” produces 118,000 results on topics ranging from basic principles to refrigeration systems to ultra-low-temperature cascade refrigeration system repair to webinars on ammonia refrigeration training standards. IIR member Star Refrigeration’s YouTube Channel StarRefrigeration1 offers a video series on heat pumps.
3 Questions / 5 Minutes
In the framework of our partnership with LaSalle Beauvais and the SAGA 2015 programme, a series of videos “3 minutes/ 5 questions” was launched. Didier COULOMB, Director of the IIR, took part in this project explaining the major role the IIR plays in global food security. The complete 12- video series will be available in September 2015; produced in French it will have English sub-titles. Also, currently available in the series is Mrs Yacinthe Wodobodé, mayor of Bangui, Central Africa and former Minister of Trade and Justice, speaking about her vision for food security and development.
Join the conversation!
Not just a mindless pastime, social media can be used as a source of information from all refrigeration sectors, as well as a communication channel to reach specific audiences and influencers. Through this engagement, refrigeration stakeholders can be at the heart of the conversation, sharing their views and recommendations, learning about on the latest developments. Social media is for everyone, if you haven’t tried it already now’s the time to be cool and join the conversation!