#VanCoffeeTalks: A Social Media X Coffee Panel

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The Social Media Network is proud to present: #VanCoffeeTalks: A Social Media X Coffee Panel

Besides being a social media adept city, Vancouver is notorious for being a living and working ground for passionate coffee lovers. Without a doubt every Lower Mainland coffee shop, whether it be a hip independent favorite or an efficient member of a successful chain, creates a micro-community in its neighbourhood. But how do our preferred caffeine suppliers foster community-building online?

Get to know the very friendly and awesome marketing and social media minds behind some of Vancouver's homegrown coffee shops in this panel! Join the discussion as the panelists share how their brand uses social media to interact with their caffeinated communities online, and talk about their challenges and wins with the medium. When you can't taste the boldness and kick of coffee behind an lcd screen, you have to get creative! Hashtag for the event will be #VanCoffeeTalks

The speakers for the panel include:

Marissa Iannacone | Marketing Communications Manager, Take Five Café
Marissa Iannacone has fostered a love of coffee (particularly Take Five Café (http://www.takefivecafe.ca/) Coffee) from the very beginning – working as a barista at the first Take Five Café location on Granville + Hastings. Over the years she has transitioned through the company while completing a Communications Degree at Simon Fraser University. She now works for the head office and oversees all brand development and marketing communications programs from new store openings and product launches to building and maintaining an interactive online community across multiple platforms.

Lisa Jensen | Supervisor & Social Media Manager, COFFEEBAR (http://thecoffeebar.ca/)

Lisa started with Coffeebar (http://thecoffeebar.ca/) since before it ever grew to be the cultured community it came to be today.

She considers it in honour to be born in a beautiful city, shining with culture everyday, and after a path of hospitality experience that started at a young age, she found herself in a project she felt such passion for, suddenly growing with a company that continues to grow today.

Located in the ground floor of what used to be a 1930’s gas station, Coffeebar stood as a hollow space of construction, debris and concrete. She stood there with the rest of management, visualizing how the ceiling installation should be, now a chic, sleek, floating wood piece. Everything from the long bar front, the matte black community wall, to the imported cooler and the European chairs are all a part of what they worked with in developing the ambience that was aimed for, and 3 years later they now have a beautiful café full of the best mix of people they could ask for.

Ryan Paulson | Marketing Manager, Blenz Coffee (http://blenz.com/)
As Marketing Manager for Blenz Coffee (http://www.blenz.com/), Ryan Paulson leads a passionate and creative team to develop and execute a wide range of marketing, branding and communications projects for a successful local coffee brand with over 60 locations across BC. He is responsible for managing a comprehensive marketing portfolio, including digital and social media strategies, to increase customer engagement and drive sales for Blenz. Additionally, Ryan is also actively involved in the marketing communications industry, having previously won awards in the field and currently serving as the Vice President of Sponsorship on the Executive Board for the BC Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicator (http://www.iabc.bc.ca/)(IABC/BC). His educational background includes a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science (SFU), a Certificate in Public Relations (SFU) & a Diploma in Digital Graphic Design (Surrey Community College)

Event Details
The panel will begin just after 6:30 PM so please arrive a little bit earlier to sign in.

There will be time for Q and A during the panel (but feel free to send in your more detailed questions when you RSVP for the meetup), as well as time to network and meet new coffee loving (probably highly caffeinated) friends!

WHEN: Thursday, November 7 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
WHERE: The Network Hub, 422 Richards Street 1st Floor
PRICE: $5

We hope to see you there!

DON'T BE AN RSVP SQUATTER!

Please don't RSVP and then fail to show up as this is unfair to other members. There is limited seating!