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If you’re a Snapchat aficionado, you’ve probably heard of Julieanna (“Julz”) Goddard, better known as YesJulz to her followers. The agency founder and philanthropist has earned her social media stripes by growing a sizable Snapchat and Instagram following, and covering live music and events. We talked to Julz to find out more about her approach to social media, how brands can work with their ambassadors to merge philanthropy with influencer marketing and how her childhood camcorder sparked a life of digital influence.

Did you experience a sudden and sharp sense of FOMO last week? Then you should’ve been in San Francisco with PR News. An all-star lineup of speakers presented on topics ranging from SEO and Google Analytics to influencer marketing and Snapchat at the Big 4 Social Media Conference and Google for Communicators Boot Camp held at the San Francisco Grand Hyatt Aug. 9-10. Here’s a wrap-up of the two-day event, which showcased compelling video, top-notch speakers and networking opportunities galore.

Many brands still struggle with how best to build up a presence on Snapchat. The nature of Snapchat’s short-lived content can trick some communicators into thinking the planning they put into each snap should be just as brief. But a detailed strategy can be the key to making your snaps burn bright before they fade away.

Snapchat introduced a new tracking feature called Snap Map last week, allowing users to share their location as well as see where their friends are and, in some cases, what they’re doing. While the new tool has raised some privacy concerns, it also has some implications for brand communicators— it could become a great tool for event-based promotion and local businesses, says Andrea Limas, social media strategist for the University of San Francisco, and Kristy Gillentine, vice president of public engagement at Drive West Communications.

Kristy Gillentine spends a lot of time chatting about Snapchat. Host of the popular “ChatSnap—The Twitter Chat All About Snapchat,” Gillentine interviews such social superstars as Shonduras, Brian Fanzo and Madelyn Sklar once a week to share cutting-edge tips and tricks about the platform. But for those brand communicators just looking to establish their presence on Snapchat, she offered the following tips.

It’s official: Snap Inc. has gone public. Today, the parent company of Snapchat began trading under the ticker symbol SNAP, a day after pricing its eagerly anticipated IPO at $17 a share. That might’ve been a conservative estimate: When shares began trading this morning, they opened at $24 a share, which would value the company at more than $30 billion. But the real question hanging over Snap isn’t about its short-term luster, but its long-term prospects.

It looks like WhatsApp is taking a page out of Snapchat’s book, just as Instagram did before it. On Monday, WhatsApp unveiled a new wrinkle to its “Status” feature, adding the ability for users to share videos, GIFs and pictures with their friends for just 24 hours before disappearing. Those visuals can be customized with emojis, written upon and captioned as well. In the past, users could only update their status with text—now you can show, rather than just tell, your friends what you’re up to.

What happens when you gather more than 400 of the best communicators in a room and ask them to share best advice? It’s no surprise that you get really smart answers worthy of a blog.… Continued