5 awesome things from Social Media Club last night

Last night we had our monthly Social Media Club meeting in St. Catharines. We were graciously donated a room by the fine folks at The Host Pub & Grill our near Port Dalhousie. We were talking tourism and how local tourist interests were making use of online tools to connect with both customers and each other. The B2B aspect in Niagara, particularly among the wine industry, is fascinating. Our guests were Derrick Medcalf from Niagara's Finest Inns and the Best Western Colonel Butler Inn and Kimberly Hundertmark, executive director of the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival.

Both of our guests had some incredible insights (and we'll write about those elsewhere), but what really struck me last night was our audience. Here are five awesome things I noticed:

1. Lots of new faces

Our Social Media Club Niagara meetings have a core of participants who come out diligently every month. On top of that we have a set of "Twitter-well-wishers" who may not be there month in and month out, but we know we can count on them to help us out when our topics stray into their area of expertise. It's been amazing these past two meetings to see so many new faces around the table, people from various walks of industry and skill levels are coming together to learn. We can't even take credit for this as our promotion of the events has sometimes suffered from our own general busyness.

2. Furious note taking

SMC Niagara exists to educate. That's our first and only goal. When the notepads come out and people start scribbling furiously I can't help but feel that we're making that happen.

3. The age range

Our meetings in the past have tended to skew older, as many established business owners in Niagara have come out to try and get a handle on the changes they're facing from the online world. That's understandable. We have the same problem that any company does when it comes to marketing to young people, in that their attentions are so fragmented into various niche networks that it's hard for us to reach them. This meeting however ran the range from students in their early 20s through to folks in their 60s. Again, we can't take credit for that. It just happened.

4. The kids are alright

We had a nice contingent of students at the from the Brock University and Niagara College. Whenever they asked questions they were thoughtful, savvy, and showed an incredible grasp of good social media practice. These guys got it, and they were hungry for knowledge to feed back into their own endeavours. I may have called them Winklevii when on the mic, but it was all in good fun. Really.

5. When I don't have to do anything

My hosting duties last night were delightfully unnecessary. I may have shushed the room and asked the first question, but after that the group took over and hit absolutely every beat I had on paper without me having to open my mouth. I just sat there, drank my beer, and checked off questions as people came up with them naturally.

So yes, our Social Media Club chapter is awesome. Come be awesome with us.