OT: LINKING THE ONLINE WORLD WITH THE REAL WORLD

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have revolutionized society over the past ten years. With many people now shopping, reading and even meeting people online than in the real world, companies and organizations are increasingly looking to harness the power of social media to support their operations, find customers and build relationships. The article was published Wednesday on the Oyu Tolgoi LLC’s website. The Mongolian population is one of the most active on social media amongst similar countries, particularly amongst the younger generation. Many Mongolian organizations now have their own social media sites, but increasingly there are other ways to use social media than just tweeting news or advertisements. One way to do this is to find ways of reaching out to social media followers face to face. OT, which has one of the most active social media communities in Mongolia, has found a new approach to this. Each month, the company organizes 'face to face' events with its Facebook fans, allowing them to find out more about different aspects of the business. Each month’s meeting has a different theme. In January, the meeting focused on explaining to people how the company’s procurement processes work, hopefully encouraging young people running businesses to consider becoming an OT supplier. Past topics have included how to apply for scholarships at Oyu Tolgoi and the company’s social investment activity. OT Superintendent for Social Media and Information Centres explains Chinzorig Enkhsetseg: “We have around 86,000 Facebook fans and 6,000 Twitter followers, and lots of people ask for information online. We thought there had to be a way to engage with these people face to face as well. We were not sure if it would work at first, and if people would be willing to come out from behind their computer screens to engage with us and each other. But actually the events have been a huge success. We normally get around 20 people attending and as well as finding out information, it’s a good chance for them to network and get to meet people that they normally chat with online. “It’s useful for us too. At one event, we talked about managing our environmental impact and brought the experts from within our business along to talk and answer questions. Not only did people have loads of questions, but they also gave our experts ideas and things to think about for the future. “The procurement event was also a great success, because hopefully some of those who came will go on to become OT suppliers. We’ll continue to use the events as an opportunity to engage with people and hear their views.” The next 'Facebook, Face to Face' meeting will take place later in February at the OT Information Centre in Ulaanbaatar and will explain how OT turns its mined material into copper concentrate.