SoLoCo: Is using "social" to drive local commerce insane?

In conjunction with Social Media Week (http://socialmediaweek.org/newyork/events/?id=53574#.URUrj7RsMyE), our next event will start off with a roundtable discussion with business owners and digital marketing professionals on which social marketing strategies work and which don't for boosting local engagement and driving business. Then we'll jump into demos from three tech entrepreneurs building products in this space.

** Just added: New product announcements from HopStop and Dwelleo. See 8pm Agenda entry for more. **

Agenda

7:00: Welcome and Group Announcements and Requests

7:15-8: Roundtable Discussion on Social Local Commerce

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/8/c/c/event_204722252.jpegMaria Baugh, co-owner of Butter Lane Cupcakes (http://www.butterlane.com/). Butter Lane has shops in the East Village and Park Slope Brooklyn and has made active use of social media to engage customers and to attract more than 10,000 students to their “Cupcake Classroom” to learn how to bake and ice the perfect cupcake.

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/a/5/2/event_204722642.jpegTom Gray, Executive Director for Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of Commerce (http://www.villagechelsea.com/). Tom is also co-founder of RallyDowntown.org and ShopLocalOnlinenyc.com, both of which make active use of digital media to drive local business. Tom is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and has worked in the NYC government and national political campaigns.

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/a/c/0/event_204722752.jpegMaggie O’Neill, Founder of Peppercommotions, a division of advertising agency Peppercomm (http://www.peppercom.com/). Peppercommotions specializes in immersive brand experiences with the goal of providing clients "with the strategies they need, and audiences with engaging content they find so useful they will want to spread." An example of their work is T.G.I. Friday's "The Last Friday" Mayan apocalypse campaign.

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/b/7/4/event_204722932.jpegAparna Mukherjee, digital journalist and social media editor (@aparnamuk (https://twitter.com/aparnamuk)). Aparna has developed new audiences across platforms for some of the world's leading media firms. As social media editor for a top three consulting firm, she focuses on content strategy and enterprise social media adoption. She has worked on the editorial and management sides of The Associated Press, Bloomberg, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal, among other news outlets.

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/c/3/2/event_204723122.jpegIlana Schwartz, COO of Online Marketing Group (http://www.onlinemarketinggrp.com/). OMG provides real estate professionals with intelligence about how consumers search for homes online, and helps clients develop integrated digital strategies that include, among other things, good practices around when to engage with consumers on social media -- and when not to.

8:00: New Product Announcements

http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/5/a/f/c/event_205763292.jpegJoe Meyer, CEO of HopStop (http://www.hopstop.com/), will give a sneak preview of "HopStop Live!" -- a social navigation service that will enable users to contribute and consume real-time transit information.

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/5/b/4/2/event_205763362.jpegNoah Smith, Founder of Dwelleo (http://dwelleo.com/) (and, yes, the organizer of @NYTLB (https://twitter.com/nytlb)) will unveil DwelleoGram, a service for delivering messages to neighbors.

8:15-9: Demos

http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/d/4/0/event_204723392.jpegGregg Altschul, Co-Founder of Radiuus (http://radiuus.com/). Radiuus allows you to keep up with the pulse of the places you love. Discover and share all the local news and cultural happening around you.

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/d/c/2/event_204723522.jpegEric Matzner, CEO of NatMobi (http://natmobi.com/). NatMobi's VIP Texts helps businesses bring their customers in more often. Most businesses focus on bringing in new customers, but in doing so overlook the value of their existing clientele. Eric will show you how to get more value out of the customers you already have.

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/e/3/a/event_204723642.jpegTrevor Sumner, Co-Founder and President of LocalVox (http://localvox.com/). LocalVox is a local, social and mobile marketing platform that helps businesses market themselves online across a network of publishers, social media, search, mobile, email newsletters and even their own website – and is as simple to use as email.

9:00: Drinks + Tapas at Sala

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/a/a/f/c/event_206383772.jpegAfterwards we'll head around the corner to Sala (https://plus.google.com/103738904796080599350/about), 35 W 19th St. between 5+6. They're offering NYTLB members happy hour specials (half off) on draft beer and sangria. Tell the bar tenders you're with "the meetup."

Twitter: @NYTLB (https://twitter.com/nytlb), #SMWsoloco

Apply to present at our next event (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dHMwenpNRXZWVDVNYWRCTjhyV09BUnc6MQ)

Thank you to Wix (http://www.wix.com/) for sponsoring our event by letting us use their free space, Wix Lounge (http://www.wixlounge.com/). Located steps from Union Square, Wix Lounge is a completely free co-working and event space for creative professionals. Wix Lounge is run by Wix.com, a free drag-and-drop web publishing platform providing user friendly tools for building beautiful, easy-to-make desktop, mobile, and Facebook sites. Wix Lounge provides free support to Wix.com users, giving them help and advice for making the ideal website. To learn more about Wix Lounge, please visit www.wixlounge.com.