Social Media Surgery Workshop in Rutland on January 15th
Area nonprofit representatives and small business operators are invited to join us on Wednesday, January 15 from 5-7pm at the the College of St. Joseph’s for a free hands-on workshop called “Social Media Surgery.” At the event, sponsored by the Vermont Digital Economy Project, in collaboration with Burlington NetSquared, and the Vermont Small Business Development Center, social media experts (“surgeons”) from around the state will work hand-in-hand (“operating”) with community organizations and businesses (“patients”) to improve their presence on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms.
For more information and a video from a previous events: http://vtrural.org/programs/digital-economy/updates/social-media-surgery
YOU MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE TO ATTEND
Nonprofit Registration: http://vtrural.org/content/register-social-media-surgery-nonprofits.
Small Businesses Registration: https://vtsbdc.centerdynamics.com/reg.aspx?mode=event&event=50340001.
WHY ATTEND A SOCIAL MEDIA SURGERY?
According to Patrick Ripley, Director of e-Commerce at the Vermont Small Business Development Center, “There is an expectation on the part of modern consumers that your company or organization will have a professional online presence, and part of that expectation includes social media.”
Rob Fish, the Non Profit Advisor with the Vermont Digital Economy Project, notes that this workshop will be very hands-on. “One of the hardest things about running a workshop about social media and online tools,” he says, “is that there are always a number of different ability levels in the same room, so no matter what you cover, somebody will already know what you’re explaining, and somebody else will feel left behind. It’s a very difficult balance. Social Media Surgeries address that with smaller, break-out groups.”
The Wednesday event is unique in that small business operators are also invited, as Rob and the NetSqaured volunteers will also be joined by e-Commerce advisers from the Vermont Small Business Development Center.
“I learned a lot about how to use Facebook more professionally, and I think that I learned a lot of tricks about how to get people to come to our Facebook page and how to share information that my organization has,” said Sally Miller of Sustainable Woodstock.
While gaining tangible skills is one goal of the workshop, another important outcome of the Social Media Surgeries is to help people feel less intimidated by social media. “One of the most important things that I learned was not to be afraid of Facebook,” said Betsy Tonkin from the Plymouth Historical Society, who attended the Woodstock Social Media Surgery.
This type of understanding is exactly why Social Media Surgeries are helpful. "The purpose of Social Media Surgeries is to help people achieve small victories and breakthroughs in their understanding of social media,” said Amanda Levinson, volunteer organizer of NetSquared’s Burlington chapter.
These small victories lead to stronger organizations and stronger communities. According to Fish, “The goal of the Vermont Digital Economy Project is to leverage new technology to build more resilient communities. A resilient organization has mastered a full range of communication tools. As an ever-increasing number of people move away from communicating by phone, postal mail, and even email, it is important for all types of nonprofits to master the use of social media platforms, such as Facebook, for communicating with their members and the outside world. We are confident that every organization that attends a Social Media Surgery will leave with an improved social media presence.”
REGISTER TODAY
Nonprofit organizations wishing to participate are asked to register at
http://vtrural.org/content/register-social-media-surgery-nonprofits.
Small businesses wishing to participate are asked to register at
https://vtsbdc.centerdynamics.com/reg.aspx?mode=event&event=50340001.
For more information, contact Rob Fish at rob@vtrural.org or Pat Ripley at pripley@vtsbdc.org. The Vermont Digital Economy Project is a program of the Vermont Council on Rural Development.
About the Vermont Digital Economy Project
The Vermont Digital Economy Project was created to address vulnerabilities of Vermont business and communities that are not fully utilizing online tools. The project offers free support to speed flood recovery, spur economic development and job growth, and improve community resilience to disasters. The project is working directly with at least 25 of the towns that were affected by flooding to help businesses, nonprofits, and municipalities expand their innovative use of online tools. It is funded by a disaster recovery grant from the Economic Development Administration and from the donations and expertise of its partners (IBM, Microsoft, the Snelling Center for Government, the Vermont Department of Libraries, the Vermont Small Business Development Center, and the Vermont State Colleges) to provide grant services. More information can be found online at: http://vtdigitaleconomy.org/.
About the Vermont Small Business Development Center
Vermont Small Business Development Center (VtSBDC) provides no-cost business advising and low-cost training to all Vermont entrepreneurs starting or growing their own businesses. Our highly committed and professional business advisors will work with you in one-on-one, confidential sessions. We cover all areas of business from start-up planning to loan package development to long term growth strategies and everything in-between. Since VtSBDC was established in 1992 we have served over 17,500 clients with over 167,800 hours of counseling and provided training to 22,000 people. We support your needs through a variety of programs and partnerships with other state and federal agencies. More information can be found online at: http://www.vtsbdc.org/.
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