I want to say a quick thanks to Charles Gaiennie of the W.L. Gaiennie Company and Vic Lafont, Executive Director of the South Louisiana Economic Council, for inviting my cohort Jared Allardyce and I to speak at the small busininess marketing bootcamp this past Saturday. Both Jared and I really enjoyed the opportunity.
Some observations...
I must comment on how (pleasantly) surprised I was at how well audience members were tuned into social media. Almost half the attendees had MySpace accounts and there was even a Twitterer or two in the room. They had a good understanding of blogging, and none seemed to be taken aback by any of the social media terminology or minutiae I covered.
Perhaps the best part of the entire bootcamp happened at the end when Vic Lafont engaged the audience in what turned out to be an energetic Q&A session. It's obvious that he has great passion to help area small businesses grow. So intense was the vitality of that session, it became very apparent that some type of online medium needed to be made available so the conversation could continue. I think both Charles and Vic are open to discussion about how to make that happen.
The one criticism I would have of the event has to do with scheduling. There was no time alloted for a lunch break. I was scheduled as the lunch speaker, following immediately on Jared's heels. Pragmatically speaking, that won't work. And it didn't. There needed to be an allotment of time for people to get their lunch, chat, etc., since participants took time to do that sort of thing anyway. The hosts were gracious enough to give me more time to speak, however, so all's well that ends well.
Again, Jared and I appreciate the opportunity to speak at the bootcamp. There is a strong business climate in the bayou region of south Louisiana, and it's my hope that in some small way we helped foster its growth.
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