How the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City was launched using social media

An interesting social media case study played out last week in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Background

The Social Media Club is an international organization headquartered in San Francisco, Calif. that took root in the fall of 2005. Since then, chapters have sprung up in various countries around the world.

In late 2008, several social media practitioners began plans to launch a Social Media Club chapter in Salt Lake City.

Interestingly, one of the founders was in Phoenix, and another one in Las Vegas (that’s me). But both of us already did business in Utah: Malcolm Atherton with Business Wire and me with my partnership with Olson Marketing Services and our mutual client, Millenniata (headquartered in Springville, Utah).

With my business and family move to northern Utah in Oct., I was in a better position to be actively involved in the formation and launch of the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City.

The organization has six founders. I’ve already mentioned me and Malcolm. The other four include Hilarye Fuller and Scott Duehlmeier, both employed by The Summit Group, Sara Brueck Nichols, who works for Operation Kids, and Jyl Pattee who directs the efforts of a mommy blogging community called Mom It Forward.

Pete Codella, APR Nominated as President

In an initial leadership meeting held in Nov., I was voted program director for the organization, also known as chapter president. I guess I traded my presidential role with the International Association of Business Communicators/Las Vegas for the same post with the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City.

The Launch

From about mid-Nov. to mid-Jan. the six of us reached out to our networks to promote the inaugural SMC of SLC meeting on Jan. 15, 2009. We optimistically hoped that 25 or 30 people would show up.

We were amazed by the response!

By most estimates we had 75 people there, although some have reported upwards of 80 or 85.

Needless to say, we did not have enough room for everyone, and our program, which was planned for 30, was bursting at the buttons with everyone who showed up.

What a great challenge to have!

Perhaps we had this challenge because the subject matter of social media is sexy and timely, or because there was a lot of anticipation for the launch of SMC of SLC, or that there really are a lot more social media practitioners in the Salt Lake City area than most people realize. Regardless of the reason, we’re thrilled to have the support of the community.

A Diverse Crowd

One of the Social Media Club founders, Chris Heuer, commented in his webcast with us that he hopes we’ll reach out and be inclusive of all types of social media practitioners.

Judging from those who showed up on Jan. 15, we’ve already begun to do that.

We welcomed the business dress crowd, the business casual, and even the jeans and t-shirts crowd. People represented all sorts of industries and niches. There was a pretty even mix of men and women.

Using Social Media Effectively

The success of the launch of the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City rests solely on the effective use of social media to help spread the word.

Before the chapter was officially launched it had a:

• Wiki
• Web site
• Blog
• Facebook page
• LinkedIn page
• Twitter account
• Gmail account

And now that we’ve built a community that includes 140 Facebook fans, we also have a:

• Flickr account
• YouTube channel

Some blog visitors have even commented that in searching for social media in Utah they found the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City. That’s a good thing.

Case Study

The reason I go into this detail on PeteCodella.com is to demonstrate how companies and organizations can utilize social media technologies to reach more people virtually than would be possible in the physical world.

Doesn’t President Obama’s campaign and inauguration provide ample example of that?

In Conclusion

There’s a new voice for social media in Salt Lake City. It’s the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City. And everyone’s invited!

Membership in SMC of SLC is free. There are also membership options in the worldwide Social Media Club which will provide special perks locally as well as at various conferences around the world.

SMC of SLC meets, usually in the evening, on the third Thursday of the month.

Visit smcslc.org for more information.