Facebook Vancouver for the Arts
Since hosting the first networking event for The Art Party Facebook Group, friends have suggested that I become a “political leader” for The Art Party. I think it’s partly that The Art Party name reminds them of political party names, such as The Green Party and The Work Less Party. It was not my intention to become a voice for the arts, but I can say that I know many people in the arts have been demoralized from the severe funding cuts in the last few years. This has unfortunately resulted in some long-time arts organizations closing their doors. Vancouver was already known as the “No Fun Zone” due to strict bylaws and the funding cuts to the arts has made it even less fun.
Don’t politicians realize that a vibrant community is dependent on supporting the arts in Vancouver?
Social Networking in the Arts for Community Engagement
Equally disturbing is the recent findings published from the Vancouver Foundation: people from all walks of life see growing isolation in Metro Vancouver, within neighbours, neighbourhoods and communities. The result of a growing civic malaise and indifference to one another is less engagement in the life of our community. That beyond a handful of family and friends, the survey reveals that many Vancouverites feel a lack of connection to other people that make up our community. Here’s a link to the findings: www.vancouverfoundationstories.ca/story.php?recordID=327.
Just a thought. If more funding became available for the arts, would this help solve the growing isolation problem in Metro Vancouver?
As a social media experiment, we invited The Art Party Facebook Group Members to a live networking event at the Waldorf: http://www.facebook.com/events/326828254044348/ where we had nearly 100 yes. I received over 20 compliments from emails and Facebook comments about how much the guests loved The Art Party networking event at The Waldorf and wanting to attend future events. We attracted over 50 attendees for our first event, even with the Canucks versus Kings hockey game on that night. However, a few guests were still able to keep up with the game on the giant Tiki-tron in the Tiki Room. I also heard repeatedly from attendees they believed The Art Party networking events will get even better over time. And the Waldorf staff welcomed The Art Party back for more events. Therefore, we’re planning the next Facebook Vancouver social networking event this summer. Stay tuned…
Meanwhile, here are a few of the reasons why Facebook can help you successfully promote your events too.
Social Networking and its Evolution
Social networking leads to face-to-face networking as humans are by nature social creatures. I recently met well-known speaker Leonard Brody, Co-CEO of Now Public on the future state of the internet at his leadership talk at the Vancouver Hotel. He said the next evolution on social media is the need for “smaller spaces for social engagement”. I revealed to him that we created The Art Party Facebook Group to funnel our Facebook Friends who support the arts in Vancouver into a “smaller space” for social networking. And shortly after that meeting, I planned our first networking event for The Art Party.
In addition to the feedback from the first networking event, I also received a few positive emails about my new Timeline design on www.facebook.com/lizajleevancouver. It’s a really nice and clean design that meets the strict rules about Facebook Fan pages, while making the most of branding. I will soon have a free report about Facebook timeline branding and how to leverage it for other online assets. Then, I can create an opt-in page for my Facebook Vancouver Page after visitors click on Like. This will help me grow my email subscribers. Finally, I will test out Facebook Ads to my friends and friends of friends on Facebook.
My latest interest in Facebook ads is the result of meeting Alfredo Tan, Head of Facebook Marketing Canada at an SMEI event for sales and marketing professionals at the Pan Pacific Hotel. Here’s what he had to say: ”Facebook Ads allows you to advertise to the right people based on their real interests.”
I also discovered you can even target people who are friends with people who already “Like” your Page. This social context will show up around the ad, as a type of “endorsement”. A study from Nielsen shows that on average, people are 68% more likely to remember seeing an ad with social context (endorsement) than without, twice as likely to remember the ad’s message and four times as likely to purchase. For now, read on below on how you can plan and promote your own Facebook event with a few friends.
How to Plan Your Own Facebook Social Networking Event
You can plan your own social networking events by talking to a few of your trusted Facebook Friends to create a joint event. You would all agree to invite friends to the event and share in the work and costs. Then talk to a venue that can provide the space for free, as they can make money from the food and beverages.
To learn more Facebook Vancouver networking for leads, opt-in to your upper right.