Lunch meeting helps individuals and businesses engage with social media

John Rumery

Lunch meetings can be as exciting as a peanut butter sandwich on white bread, but the organizers of Grand Rapids Social Media (GRSM) believe their lunches are much more interesting.  In fact, they feel they have an opportunity to raise the bar regarding the way local businesses and individuals utilize social media in Grand Rapids.

Ian MacLurg, Social Media Analyst for ArtPrize, and Joel Leo, SEO and Social Media Analyst for Pomegranate Studios, were both impressed with the format and spirit of a monthly lunch meeting, Grand Rapids Tech Lunch, that brought together a diverse community of thought leaders, programmers and software developers to discuss technology-related business issues for the region. 

   

MacLurg and Leo decided to organize a similar event, using the same format, but focusing on creating a business discussion surrounding the use of social media. 

"We saw the need to educate and elevate the usages of social media platforms within the city, so we started GRSM lunches as an opportunity to create an ongoing dialogue of these tools and strategies," opine MacLurg and Leo. 

 

The first meeting in March 2009 was held at Founders Brewery, but the series quickly moved to a new home at the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, where the luncheons have proven to be very popular, now drawing 40-50 attendees.  Not only has attendance been steady, but "with a diverse group of middle managers, business owners and interns," you get a very dynamic networking opportunity, says Leo.

Individuals with specific experiences and responsibilities for managing various social media platforms lead the presentations. Recent speakers have included Sara Lopez, the Social Media Strategist for Stremick's Heritage Food's 8th Continent Soymilk, who discussed creating content for blogs, and Aaron Carriere of Creo Productions on best practices for using video with social media.  The meetings are streamed live with the majority of video archived here. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/grsm.

After the 20-30 minute presentation, there is a short question and answer period followed by an opportunity is to break into smaller groups for further discussion and networking.    Because of the increased popularity of these events, MacLurg and Leo recruited social media consultant Donna Bova and web developer Doug Kelly to help with the facilitation and ongoing organization.  

The monthly lunches are "brown-bag," although the organizers suggest you support the local eateries surrounding the Grand Rapids Community Foundation. There is no cost to attend and they are typically held the last Thursday of the month. The GRSM blog http://grsml.wordpress.com/ identifies the upcoming speaker and also confirms the date of the meeting.  Frequent Twitter updates (@GRSML) also provide reminders of upcoming events. 

Sources: Joel Leo and Ian MacLurg, founders of the Grand Rapids Social Media Lunch.

John Rumery is the Innovation and Jobs Editor for Rapid Growth Media. He is an educator, board member of AimWest, WYCE music programmer, entrepreneur, raconteur and competitive barbecuer living in Grand Rapids, MI.  He can be reached at [email protected].  For story tips you can e-mail [email protected]