DETROIT – Organizers of the 2009 Selfridge Air Show & Open House are using social media tools to help spread the word about the Air Show and, by extension, to take the Air Force message out into the community. For the past couple of weeks, Air Show staff have been adding daily comments on the Air Show fan page on Facebook and have offered a few Tweets on Twitter.

During the Air Show itself, a member of the Selfridge Public Affairs team will be Tweeting throughout the day. The Air Show & Open House is Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 22-23.

Over the past couple of years, military leaders have been adding social

media efforts to their communications programs, seeking new ways to reach

out and communicate key messages.

While the Air Show is perhaps the best example of these efforts on a local

level, American military leaders around the globe are using the new social

media tools, including those at the very top of the command structure:

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has his own Facebook page; Joint Chiefs

Chairman Navy Adm. Mike Mullen has around 3,500 followers to his Twitter

entries; and Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of U.S. Central

Command which has responsibility for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan,

has been a long-time Facebook member — more than 6,250 fans have signed up

for his page.

“While we will continue to utilize traditional media channels to keep our

community informed of base activities, these social media tools give us

another avenue to tell our story – and to receive feedback from people,”

said Capt. Penny Carroll, public affairs officer at Selfridge’s 127th Wing.

“A key interest for the Air Force is reaching out to the nation’s

‘millennial generation,’ 18-to-25-year-olds, many of whom don’t read

newspapers, but are an important target audience for us.”

The 127th Wing has also expanded the information offerings on its web site

in recent years. The site, www.127wg.ang.af.mil,

features news and feature

stories, photos of base aircraft and activities, and several video clips

featuring Wing activities.

“The web site has become the best first-stop avenue for information about

Selfridge and local activities of the Michigan Air National Guard,” Carroll

said.

The Selfridge Air Show Facebook page is at Selfridge ANGB Airshow. The Wing

is on Twitter at 127 WING. The Air Show also has its own web site that

features information on the various aircraft that will be at the base,

restrictions on items that can be brought on the base during the show and

related information at www.selfridgeairshow.org

The Selfridge Air Show & Open House will be Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 22-23. The

gates will open both days at 8 a.m., with the flying starting both days

around 10 a.m. Among the highlights of the show will be a aerial

demonstration by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.

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