Big Island residents are invited to participate in National Social Media Day with a free networking event in Hilo on from 5 to 6:30 p.m. today.
Big Island residents are invited to participate in National Social Media Day with a free networking event in Hilo on from 5 to 6:30 p.m. today.
Sponsored by the Social Media Club Hawai‘i, the event will be held at Hawaii Tech Works, 47 Rainbow Drive, across from Rainbow Falls, in the Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council conference room.
Learn how local companies in East Hawaii are benefiting from using social media and find out tips to use social media effectively for your business. Social Media Club Hawai‘i (SMCHI) members will be on hand to answer questions about social media.
Social Media Club Hawai‘i is part of a world-wide network of social media clubs. Based in San Francisco, the Social Media Club international organization has formed more than 90 chapters since its creation in 2006.
SMCHI serves members throughout the state and welcomes anyone who wants to be more involved in social media. Members of Social Media Club Hawaii commit to developing and supporting best practices of transparency, authenticity, and ethics in the use of social media and social networking. Club board members are leaders in the field and are helping to define these business practices. Big Island residents on the 2014 SMCHI board of directors include Ali Catalano of Kona, Sylvia Dahlby of Hilo, and Denise Laitinen of Keaau.
This is the second straight year Social Media Club Hawaii has held an event in east Hawaii in honor of national Social Media Day. Last year, the group held two tweet-ups in Hilo and Pahoa.
According to Techopedia, a tweet-up is an organized, in-person gathering of people on Twitter.
In recent months SMCHI has conducted free educational outreach sessions, holding tweetups in Waimea and Hilo.
According to Sylvia Dahlby, there’s a “small but growing number of social media pros and Social Media Club Hawaii members here on Hawaii Island.”
Fellow SMCHI board member Denise Laitinen said that informal events like the one planned for national Social Media Day are a great way for people to meet and network with other social media practitioners, as well as learn tips about different types of social media.
“A lot of local companies that I talk to want to be more involved in social media, they’re just not sure how,” said Laitinen. “They tend to lump all the different types of platforms, like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Youtube in one large group, when in reality each type of social media is unique and requires a different approach. Networking sessions like these allow people to share their success stories using different types of social media.”
As part of the nationwide event, Social Media Club Hawaii will also hold an event on Oahu on Monday with similar events being held by other organizations around the country on the same day. National Social Media Day was founded in 2010 by Mashable, an independent online news site that focuses on digital culture and technology.
Snacks and refreshments will be served during the social media event. Registration is not required, although attendees can sign up on Eventbrite.
For more information on Social Media Club Hawaii go www.smchi.org.