Twitter. Facebook. Instagram. Foursquare. Do these words fill you with glee? Stress you out? Confuse you?
Personally I’m in the camp that loves social media. I could (and do) spend my days tweeting, Facebooking, checking in and so on. Just take a look at my bio. Like any good social media professional, I’m always trying to learn more, which is why I’m excited about the Out of This World Social Media Workshop sponsored by the Huntsville/Madison County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and the U.S. Space and Rocket Center this Wednesday.
Not Tech Savvy? Not a Problem
I know that everyone is not as crazy about social media as I am and may not instantly jump at the chance to attend a social media workshop. I would encourgae you to reconsider. Don’t want to take my advice?
Would you take the advice of a person with these qualifications:
- National Board of Directors for the Association for Women in Communications
- Technology in Communications Committee Association for Women in Communications
- Chair of Freelance Austin
- Certified Navy Master Training Specialist
- Co-founded Tourism Currents
I thought so! The person mentioned above is Sheila Scarborough, the leader of Wednesday’s workshop. I recently spoke with Sheila (over the internet appriopately enough) about the upcoming workshop.
Social Media Newbies
As one of my favorite actresses the delightful Julie Andrews once said, “Let’s start at the very begining.” After all, where else would you start?
Wednesday’s workshop is all about social media. You may wonder why all the fuss… Try these stats on for size: [pullquote align=”right”]“Appreciate the power you have with so many free or low-cost social media tools. Acknowledge and respect that power by going in with a strategy and goals.”[/pullquote]
- Facebook is the most visited website on the internet (reaching one trillion pageviews on June 30 2011)
- Two most popular reasons for liking a brand on Facebook: 1. because they are a customer (58%), 2. to get access to discounts and promotions (57%)
- 34% of marketers have generated leads using Twitter
- 43% of all online consumers follow or are a fan of a brand
Source: The Social Skinny
Appreciate the Free
“Appreciate the power you have with so many free or low-cost social media tools. Acknowledge and respect that power by going in with a strategy and goals. The basic question for business has not changed – where is your market? If your market is better served by LinkedIn, for example, don’t get distracted by Pinterest. Focus!” Scarborough says.
Starting anything new, be it social media or building a deck, can be a daunting task. Don’t let a lack of expirence stop you from utalzing tools that could be extremeiy benifitcal for your buisness.
“Any town, anywhere, can reach prospective visitors, and they do not need a big budget (or really, ANY budget) to do it, only time, energy and belief in their own voice. Much of the social media innovation and best practices we see in tourism and hospitality does not come from the big brands; it comes from smaller towns and lesser-known attractions who make up for a lack of budget with an entrepreneurial spirit and drive that the ‘biggies’ can’t match,” according to Scarborough.
Should I Come?
Whether you work at a large company with 1,000 employees, own your own buisness, or work at a small compnay with 50 employees, you should come to Wednesday’s workshop. Twitter masters, Facebook newbies, Pintrest wizards are also all welcome.
Starting anything new, be it social media or building a deck, can be a daunting task. Don’t let a lack of expirence stop you from utalzing tools that could be extremeiy benifitcal for your buisness.
Sheila encourages everyone to attend, no matter your level of experience in social media. Still hesitating? Take this advice from Sheila:
“Please come. You already know the hard part – all the great stories and information about your destination or attraction. All we’re going to do is talk about giving visitors online access to what you already know, through technology. It’s not about the tech-based tools; it’s about how you use them.”
What Will I Learn?
Here’s how Sheila breaks down Wednesday’s workshop.
It’s a 3-part presentation, so there are 3 goals:
- To fire up senior tourism and hospitality professionals about social media,especially if they aren’t comfortable with technology,) to assure the mid-level folks who already “get it” and love it that they are not crazy
- To show them how to create even better online content to reach visitors
- To demonstrate through an afternoon walk-and-talk the power of a smartphone for online publishing
Be Prepared
Now that I’ve convicned you to come to this amazing workshop, let’s get you prepared.
What you should bring:
- Something to take notes (pen and paper or iPad- your choice)
- An eagerness to learn
- A willingness to also help others with their knowledge both during the workshop and in the months afterward.
Easy as pie, right? Sheila aslo recommends watching this video (it’s only 1 minute long) as a bit of prep before coming in onWednesday:
Sheila on Social & Travel
Since I had a social media and travel expert at my disposal, I had to get her personal preferences on all things social and travel:
- Favorite tech device: My phone (an Android model) because it’s really a computer in my purse
- Favorite social platform for personal use: Number One is Twitter, Number Two are my blogs. Hard to just pick one!
- Favorite social platform for professional use: Blogs, preferably self-hosted. Hands-down the most powerful platform
- A dream destination you’ve yet to visit: Brazil
- Favorite destination you’ve actually been: Hong Kong
- Your impression of Huntsville (Sheila has never been here): I know about Redstone Arsenal, that you’re in the Tennessee Valley, about Von Braun and the establishment of the Marshall Center and Space Camp
Event Information
Date: Wednesday July 11th
Time: 9am-5pm
Location: Educator Resource Center @ the U.S. Space & Rocket Center
Cost: CVB Industry Partners $10, General public $25
RSVP: By email kristi@huntsville.org, or by calling 256-551-2294
Guest blogger for We Are Huntsville. Are you interested in writing a post for our site? Email katelyn@wearehuntsville.com.
Sheila Scarborough
Thanks for such a great write-up, Larkin; can’t wait to meet you and everyone else this week. Truly looking forward to it.
Larkin Grant
You’re most welcome Sheila! Can’t wait to meet you Wednesday!
Chis Roffe
Wish I could be there, I’ll have to make do with the blog posts and twitter feeds from the event!
Effectively using social media and how to integrate it with existing operations/departments/campaigns is still a HUGE unknown for many hoteliers. The “trickle up” effect of small town CVB’s and businesses social media efforts help pave the way for wider adoption of social media -these types of workshops are a huge boost for those of us struggling to bring change to the hospitality & hotel industry from within; thank you!
Chris