In WREG reporter Melissa Moon’s experience, news coverage and Twitter go together like peanut butter and jelly. Functioning on several levels, the social platform can spark interest to get people to tune into the broadcast, but it can also disseminate crucial up-to-the-minute information or fun human-interest stories. She even says that Twitter has been where a story first breaks, as in the case of Michael Jackson’s death. Tweets of condolence and loss for the King of Pop preceded the official reports of his death, Melissa reports, by no less than 20 minutes! After a brief explanation of how she uses Twitter, Melissa opened up the floor to questions. Mainly, our Social Expeditioners wanted to know why she opted for Twitter instead of Facebook. Her answers cited the openness of Twitter and the even faster updates. To receive her great news updates, follow Melissa at @melissamoon3.

Today’s Core Conversation was something a little different, but exceptionally cool.  We “Tribe Sourced.” For anyone who attended TribeCamp in April and sat in on Dave Barger’s roundtable discussion, this isn’t the first time you’ve heard the term, but to most people, the term and the whole concept will be unfamiliar. “Tribe Sourcing” is a new business model that turns the traditional ideas of competition on its head. For a detailed description, you can see the post “What is Tribe Sourcing?” at the LunaWeb blog.

To quickly break down the concept of Tribe Sourcing, though – it is the collaboration of many specialists on one problem to achieve a richer solution. Today, the Expeditioners joined forces for two non-profits, Women of Style, Spirit and Success, Inc. and  Forever Young Senior Wish Organization. This second charitable group works to grant wishes for senior citizens, 65 and older, with a special focus on WWII veterans. Most recently, they organized a trip to the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. for veterans who had never seen the monument erected in their honor. The group is now hoping to finance another trip. At the breakfast, Expeditioners brainstormed with the founder and president, Diane Hight, on how she might be able to use social media to gain sponsors and help bring more veterans to the memorial.

Not only did the group collaboration bring forth new ideas, but it also raised everyone’s spirits to be working together for two great causes. The Social Expedition certainly wishes both Women of Style, Spirit and Success and Forever Young the best of luck!

Tags | facebook, Melissa Moon, Twitter, WREG