Need more knowledge in social media? BurrellsLuce is offering a freebie Webinar on January 29. Go here to register.
Next..."Word-of-Mouse" - the future of word-of-mouth communication:
An exciting encounter last night in Salt Lake City (thanks to the Summit Group). The room was packed as the inaugural meeting of the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City took place. Turnout was fantastic - people lined up in the hallway outside the meeting room. Some came from Sandy, some came from as far as Ogden. Pizza was offered...few ate it...all too excited.
This is the first local social media gathering (that I know of) that attempted to focus on business applications and strategies for social media. Ideas flew fast and furious. There were discussion groups for HR, marketing, non-profit, newbies to social media...and others I don't recall.
** blink **
I met one guy who has created a way for bands to track where their biggest fans live and thus can book more live events in those geographical areas - to be more profitable. After all, he says, everyone expects music to be free. Bands now must make their money off of live concerts.
** blink **
Met Sarah Buhr, who just launched her own Utah News Source online. You provide the info about your company, or even your invention or own newsworthy items and she (just like a wire service) gets them to the local Utah media. Go see.
** blink **
Ran into Pete Codella, one of the founders of the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City. Pete has created a low cost online newsroom that is amazingly easy to implement on any business Web site AND it is user friendly for non-technical PR types to use. Best of all...it is only $99/month. Go see Pete's product here.
** blink **
Ran into Deborah Lindner, a former TV reporter and anchor. You can see her from the back (red hair) in the photo below. Hi Deb! She was at the meeting because social media may have wonderful and inexpensive tools for non-profits like the one she now works for, Utah Foster Care.
** blink **
Ran into Jesse Stay, one of the area's premier bloggers. Very wise for his years and he'll be speaking at the next meeting on March 19 - time and location TBA - during an open discussion on the best social media tools.
** blink **
Sat in on one of the breakout sessions where we all discussed the best ways to dive into social media. Several: Read Groundswell, Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies. Read blogs! For a directory on some of the best, go to: alltop.
** blink **
Much, much more, but I grab some pizza and head out the door to be with family. I explain to my husband that I must keep up on social media to keep my career and business relevant, and to best service my clients.
And I intend to keep going to the meetings held by the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City. Meeting dates and more info here, next meeting info go here, and if you want to join (free), go here,and if you know of a large (free) space where we can meet (for about 100-150 people, let Pete Codella know - pete@codellamarketing.com
And if you want to get the meetings on your calendar - here they are. Many will be held in the evening. Some during lunch.
Feb 19, March 19, April 16, May 21, June 18, July 16, August 20, September 17, October 15, November 19, December 17.
A very special thanks to those who've founded this group (they don't know what they're in for!).
- Malcolm Atherton, Business Wire
- Pete Codella, APR, Codella Marketing
- Scott Duehlmeier, The Summit Group
- Hilarye Fuller, The Summit Group
- Sara Brueck Nichols, Operation Kids
- Jyl Johnson Pattee
