Chamber Of Commerce Gets Lesson On Social Media

In between business networking and idea exchanging came the need to tweet and post.

On Wednesday, Aug. 10, the Lacey Chamber of Commerce held its monthly meeting to discuss new business, new members and among other things new Facebook updates. Business owners from the surrounding area attended the meeting to discuss what is new in Lacey.

The meeting was held at the on Lacey Road at 7: 00 PM where dinner was available as well as a free seminar on social media.

After a half hour of networking, the group of business owners was able to partake in a seminar on “Social Media and Expanding Your Business.” Ruth Feeney and Jim Spaloss of Convexserv Technology Solutions, LLC showed a PowerPoint presentation to the chamber which involved an explanation of the Top 5 social media sites.

“It’s all about cross promotion and cross traffic,” said Feeney in regards to Facebook and other sites. “Supporting other businesses supports yourself.”

Feeney spoke about the benefits each site had to offer its users. Social media sites like Twitter have a “micro-blogging feel to it,” said Feeney. “With Twitter, you can make a two-way connection.”

Feeney also spoke about Google + 1, a relative newcomer to social media. Since its launch on June 28, Google + 1 is by invitation only at this time. The other sites mentioned, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Foursqaure, are all easy to use and can help a business grow, Feeney said.

“What we wanted to do is to touch on five popular online social sites,” said Feeney after the presentation. “We know people have heard about these sites and we wanted people to know how to use them for their businesses.”

Jim Spaloss, Senior Field Service Technician at Convexserv, spoke about how social media has helped with his business. “We’ve been doing more research and getting involved with these sites to prepare for this presentation. I was one to kind of shy away from these sort of sites, but after learning of some of the benefits, we started to put things into action.”

Convexserv is one of the businesses in Lacey who is having a networking event coming up in the future. “Summer Business After Hours Networking Event” will be held August 24 at the Village Green Shopping Center on North Main Street. Refreshments will be served as well as a giveaway drawing during the event. To reach Ruth Feeney about the event you can visit them at www.convexserv.com.

As with all Chamber of Commerce meetings the group was given time to talk with other business owners and introduce themselves. Janet Levy-Minetti, President of the Lacey Chamber of Commerce, spoke at the meeting to address new chamber business.

Among the items on the agenda was discussion of the new “Welcome to Lacey” bags. Levy-Minetti said the bags will be given to any new resident of Lacey starting this month and will contain information about businesses and events in town.

The new welcome bags would be handed out for the first time at Lacey Day on Aug. 13, Levy-Minetti said. The Chamber of Commerce will have a booth at the event where they will feature the welcome bags in addition to a temporary tattoo station for the children.

Discussion about fund raising and a recent scholarship recipient were also talked about before dinner was served.

“I think tonight was a great night,” said Levy-Minetti. “We did have some members attending in addition to some new people who are interested in becoming members. We had a great presentation by one of our members and I thought it was realty fantastic.

The next meeting will be on Sept. 14 at the Captain's Inn where potential new business members will be encouraged to learn more about the Chamber of Commerce. For more information about the chamber, please visit www.laceychamberofcommerce.com.