Day 254 - Attending a Social Media Workshop
I
have never taken a social media marketing class. Admittedly, taking such a
class has never been something I have wanted to do. Generally speaking,
marketing has very limited appeal to me outside of clever or humorous
advertisements, and as someone that doesn’t own a business, I have no real use
for social media marketing skills. However, as readership of the “I have
never...” rose as my year of new experiences progressed, part of me started to
think it would be valuable to get more involved in promoting my stories via
social media. As a result, I hopped on the Twitter bandwagon and used more
targeted approaches to draw in readers through Youtube, Facebook, and blogspot
tools about half way through my year of new experiences. As I attempted to use
new and unfamiliar aspects of these social media tools, it quickly became
apparent I wasn’t as well versed in the breadth of social media tools as I
thought I was. In turn, I decided it might be a good idea to include a social
media class as one of the new experiences in my “I have never...” journey.
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The Dreambank |
That
perspective resulted in me doing some research to find some outlets for
learning more about social media and its use in connecting with unknown people
that might take interest in my journey. At first, this effort produced a lot of
classes that required extended time commitments and tuition for in-depth
training and academic resources. Although I wasn’t opposed to such a format for
learning more about social media marketing, I realized the amount of time and
money I would have to commit to such a class would be a restrictive in
completing my journey. As a result, I set aside the idea of attending a social
media marketing class and decided I would keep my eyes open for any
opportunities that might offer another forum for learning such skills.
A
little more than a month after I began my search for a social media marketing
class, I eventually came upon an opportunity at the local American Family
Dreambank that appeared to fit the mold for my desired “I have never...” event.
When flipping through a variety of upcoming local events, I stumbled upon a
workshop titled “Going Social with Youtube, Vine, and So Much More.” A brief
description of the free event indicated it would focus on exposing attendees to
the refined social media tools and strategies large companies like American
Family use to reach more people more broadly, which convinced me it would be a
valuable use of my time. As a result, I signed up for the workshop and marked
the event on my calendar.
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Inside... |
With
the class scheduled for this evening, I made my way to the Dreambank after my
workday and prepared to take in as much information as I could from the 90
minute session. When I entered the building, I was surprised to find the
interior fixtures were entirely different from my previous experience with a
life coaching session at the location. Equally as vibrant and warm as before,
different concepts of personal development and identifying personal strengths
covered the walls and displays throughout the building. After taking a few
minutes to take in all of the new features, I found my way to the back of the
building, where a man name Keith quickly introduced himself and welcomed me to
the session. With that, I promptly found a seat among the few rows of seating
in the meeting area and waited for the presentation to begin.
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Time to learn |
In
the minutes leading up to the event, five other attendees entered the room and
speckled the seats in the meeting area. Although the crowd was small, Keith
eagerly welcomed everyone and began the event. Explaining his background in
visual media and advertising with American Family, Keith guided us through the
organization’s transition to social media platforms for advertising campaigns
and described the power of social media in reaching new and different
audiences. With that, he moved into several demonstrations of his work and laid
out the marketing approach used by American Family in social media outlets.
Paying specific attention to video services like Youtube, Vimeo, and Vine, he
walked through a series of tools, dashboards, and features offered by each of
the services that I was completely unaware of prior to tonight’s events. The
scope and power of the insight provided by the embedded, and unbelievably free,
tools offered by the social media platforms astounded me, which made me realize
I wasn’t nearly as savvy with such resources as I had previously thought.
|
Keith kicking things off |
Acknowledging
many people in the room likely shared that perspective, Keith was quick to
provide us a detailed walkthrough of each feature and dispel any assumptions
about the available tools required advanced skills or expertise. The
information he provided was comprehensive but concise, and although it was
directed at small business ventures, it offered me plenty of ideas for how I
could make the most of social media outlets during the rest of my “I have
never...” journey. Basically, that meant I had to give up my tendency toward
skepticism about social media tools, and I needed to stop being so reluctant to
try new things. From Keith’s presentation it was clear those characteristics
has resulted in me overlooking a lot of incredible tools and ways to connect
with people that had been at my fingertips for years.
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Social Media breadown |
Eventually,
the presentation drew to a close with a brief question and answer session,
during which Keith provided some ideas and input on potential social media
marketing approaches for some of the business owners in the room. Encouraging
the ideas and input of others, Keith welcomed those of us in attendance to
offer our thoughts on approaches for the businesses being discussed, which
inspired a collaborative discussion among the group. Collectively, we talked
about the application of the concepts discussed until the workshop drew to a
close with a review of the tools and topics discussed during Keith’s
presentation.
As
the group slowly gathered their belongings and began streaming out of the
building, we offered one another a few final ideas and some encouraging
remarks. In those last moments of tonight’s experience it was easy to recognize
my first social media marketing class had not been the most exciting new
experience during my “I have never...” year, but and the ability to creatively
collaborate with others and the insight offered by Keith’s presentation made
the experience worth it. Honestly, tonight’s class was more than I expected,
and it helped me realize the downfalls of my slow adaptation to new tools and
new technology. That’s a good reminder of how my stubbornness can be a
hindrance sometimes, which is a valuable lesson that will hopefully remind me
to think twice before I dismiss something new out of hand in the future. That
isn’t exactly what I expected to take away from tonight’s event, but it made me
glad I decided to include this experience as a part of my 365 new experiences.
Hello Caleb,
ReplyDeleteThank you for attending the workshop and your view.
I really enjoy your blog and the 365 day journey. It’s a great prescription for anyone to get outside of a daily routine, broaden one's perspective, and reboot. Your work motivates me.
Also appreciate your day 287 post from Apostle Island Ice Caves. Something I hoped to do.
Regards,
Keith
Thanks, Keith! It's good to hear from you. I appreciate you taking the time to catch up on my year of new experiences, and I thank you for your kind words.
DeleteBreaking routines is what this year is all about! I have learned a lot, met many amazing people, and become a better person through the process. I thank you for welcoming me in and letting me make the social media workshop a part of the experience!