Social Media

Facebook
If you don’t already have a Facebook account, go to www.facebook.com and sign up. Use your real name so that you can find people and be found by your friends easily. Upload your custom optimized profile picture to promote you and your team and spread the word about the ride. You probably have a ton of friends on Facebook already that you didn’t even know about, so once you’ve set up your profile use Facebook’s e-mail contacts importer to find them: http://www.facebook.com/find-friends/?ref=sb

Depending on your recruitment and fundraising goals, it could also be beneficial for you to create your own team fan page on Facebook. Pages allow other Facebook users to ?become a fan? of your team without having to be your friend on Facebook. To create your page, go to www.facebook.com/advertising/?pages and click the green button to ?Create a Page.? Select the ?Non-Profit? category under ?Brand, Product, or Organization,? and fill in your page name. We suggest a title that includes both your team name and the name of your bike ride, as well as one without a date so your fans will stay with you year after year (ex: The Long G’Island Express –Twin Forks Ride, Bike MS). Fill out the information tab and upload your custom optimized profile picture, and you’re ready to go!

LinkedIn
If you haven’t already, go to www.LinkedIn.com to set up a LinkedIn account. Follow LinkedIn’s tips for profile com-pleteness and aim to get your profile as close to 100% complete as possible. It’s especially important that you have a profile picture that clearly shows your face so that everyone can see who you are.

Click to ?Add Connections? on the top right of your page to use LinkedIn’s e-mail contacts importer and start building your network. You should also search for and request to join groups related to cycling, charity bike rides, MS, your local chapter, and your local community.

Twitter
If you haven’t already done so, sign up for a Twitter account at www.twitter.com. Provide the link to join or donate to you or your team on the ?website? section and mention your participation in your Bike MS ride in your 160-character bio. After you’ve filled in your profile information, select a photo of you or your team to upload for your profile picture (also called an avatar). Once uploaded, go to www.twibbon.com, login with your Twitter account information, search for Bike MS and select our Bike MS Twibbon (a virtual ribbon for your Twitter account photo) to attach to your picture.

Go to http://twitter.com/invitations/find_on_twitter to find out if any of your friends or your local MS Society chapter are already on Twitter and start following them. You can also follow us at http://twitter.com/MSsociety. You’re now ready to start tweeting!

Meetup
Register for a free account at www.MeetUp.com. Fill in your profile information, then create a Meet Up for your local Bike MS ride. Be sure to list keywords like multiple sclerosis, MS, MS Society, cycling, bike rides, etc. in your event description so that other cyclists searching for events in your area can easily find yours. Include links to your team page so that those who find your Meet Up can sign up to join or donate to your team right away.

My Participant Center (Convio)
www.nationalMSsociety.org—If you’ve officially registered for your team for this year’s Bike MS ride, you already have an account on our Convio platform. Log on to your account on your event’s website and get started using the tools provided.