Asheville's Free Social Media School - May 10th - All About Blogging!

Okay, we are back on track after we got a "surprise" visit from the President of the United States. Of all the places to choose from, he decides to go to the same venue where we were supposed to hold the last social media school. We have rescheduled and we are now having the next class on Blogging, and it will be on Monday, May 10th at the Grove Park Inn (in the Elaine's Piano Bar area) from 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm. (Note to self: Afterwards we will be going upstairs to the Great Hall Bar area to mingle, listen to some music. Food and Drinks are also available until 9:30 pm)

You are going to hear from many local blog pioneers and experts including Jen from Blog Asheville, Anne from Edgy Mama, Felicia from Go Graham Go, Jason from Ashvegas, and of course me... Gary, the main contributor on the AskAsheville blog and I also build blogs for many businesses. Justin from Social Village will also be there to team up with G Social Media!

Blogging has changed the online community greatly in the Asheville area and around the world. Find out how these bloggers use it to create a strong network. Also, learn how you can use it to increase your visibilty and raise your voice online. You can email me, or RSVP on Facebook. See you there. Thanks!!

***PS: The next Asheville Free Social Media School after this one is May 27th. This will be the make-up class on Video Social Media. Same place, same time! But the "After-Party" will be staying down at Elaine's Piano Bar! Then on Friday, June 18th... we are going to have our 1st Asheville Social Media City Crawl where we meet at a location, discuss some of the ways social media can be used, and the take a tour of Downtown Asheville together, learning how to use new media. Lots and lots of fun to have and connections to be made. We are going to have a blast!!

Class #4 - Free Asheville Social Media School on Videos - May 27th

This event was originally planned for April 23rd, but the Presidential family was in town so it was postponed. The new date for this event is May 27, 2010 at Elaine's Piano at the Grove Park Inn. Video taking, making, editing, uploading and marketing.

In Asheville North Carolina in a few weeks, Social Media School takes a nice topic on.. when we talk about using video production and marketing to truly advance your business or person in this new media society. The class is going to be held at the Grove Park Inn 290 Macon Ave Asheville NC 28804 on May 27, 2010 from 5 pm - 7:30 pm with some music and an after party beginning around 8pm. RSVP on Facebook or email me.

Your words are worth something, but add a picture to those words and I heard it is worth 10,000. Add a video to the mix and WOW, you can really get your message across to a whole new audience. Videos are and important part of your social media package and strategy. Who doesn't like movies? And who does not like to watch a short movie about the topic they are interested in? Businesses who have not taken advantage of the YouTube and Vimeo scene are already behind in their efforts. Learn what to do to pick up your pace and get effectively involved.

G Social Media will be teaching along with Asheville Video Productions, Bourne Media, Rev Pictures, and PSAV. This is an important class that you do not want to miss. I know I will be there! Lol.

2010 Schedule for Asheville Social Media School

Okay, so for a brief itinerary on the Free Asheville Social Media School; we are going to layout some plans for the next several months. It is more than just making a blog, or meeting new people. All of these things are somewhat important, but without connecting it all together and creating a balance; it will not prosper effectively. We are going to take Western North Carolina and AVL on a journey of what social media is all about.


Class #1 – February 25, 2010 from 5pm-7pm – Our first class in Asheville NC is going to be at the Downtown Market on 45 South French Broad Avenue 28801. We are expecting about 200 people to attend this first social media class. We are going to start with an introduction and some basic info. Some questions that will be answered will be… “What is Social Media?” – “Why is Social Media Important?” – “Who created Social Media?”

We are going to discuss the simple importance of creating and maintaining an email. Learn the difference between emails options and why one may be better than the other. We are going to talk about being sociable in Asheville North Carolina and beyond. How can you express your media if your social skills are limited? We are going to show you some easy integration to meet more people and learn more about them. This is not just necessary for business, but for your whole life in general. We are going to learn some of the “unspoken” rules of social media and how to learn them online and then improve your daily living using them also. We are going to learn about the many different social media platforms that are available, how they reach different crowds and how you can use them all to circulate your message to millions of people.

We are going to have 1 minute intros at the beginning of every class from several people. If you would like to say something about you and your business, please let us know. But only one minute to show you the importance of making your initial message short and sweet for this new media society. At this first class… PaleoSun will be joining us to talk about some basic information about websites, and the Asheville Citizen Times will discuss some of their moves into the social media world.

*Since we are doing this right after work, food and drinks will be available from the vendors at the Downtown Market for about $4 per plate. Simple and good!

Class #2 – March 23, 2010 from 5:00pm-7:30pm at the Garage At Biltmore 101 Fairview Rd Asheville NC 28803 – Learn Social Networking using Twitter and Facebook. Besides G Social Media, we are going to have some guest speakers including Trey Pennington from Greenville South Carolina and Social Village from Asheville discussing some very important social media information. We will also show you how to set up a Twitter and Facebook account and some great tips for you and your business. Drinks will be available during the meeting and a music and social time will follow our class at 7pm. RSVP on Facebook or by Email (Email is on my blog website)

Class #3 – April 23, 2010 from 5pm-7:30pm at Elaine's Piano at the Grove Park Inn 290 Macon Ave Asheville NC 28804 – Learn Social Media Marketing using Video platforms from G Social Media, Asheville Video Productions and Bourne Media. Video communications are very important in today’s society. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a short video is worth at least 10 thousand to the targeted viewer. We will also show you how to set up a YouTube account and some lessons when uploading videos.

Class #4 – May 10, 2010 from 5:30pm-7:30pm – Learn Blogging as a personal journal project, a community awareness platform and business blogging from AskAsheville, Ashvegas and BlogAsheville in Asheville North Carolina. You will learn how to set a blog up, a few tricks to get it presentable and optimized, and how to fill it with the proper content and wording for your specific niche. Creating a blog for your business (and doing it right) is a very important part of your social media circle.

***More classes are planned for the rest of the 2010 year, with shorter spans during the warmer months. We have a few outdoor activities and social media retreats planned as well. This is going to be too much fun!!

***If you have a venue or place that you would like us to consider for hosting a Free Asheville Social Media School event or if you have something that you would like to donate as a raffle item at our events; please contact us. If you think that you know someone or are someone that would fit in good with one of these school sessions; please let us know. Thank you.

Asheville Social Media - Free School Coming Soon!

I have initiated a social media school in Asheville North Carolina beginning on February 25, 2010 and it is going to continue indefinitely in the months to come. Each class will provide important information to help you understand, initiate, and use social media effectively. Some people are simply coming to the classes for information. Some are coming to learn how to aggressively use it for their businesses and promotions. While some want to learn how to get started, others may want to make sure their marketing company is up to par. Many businesses are led into a weak form of social media because the media companies that are leading them do not completely understand it themselves. But all of us like to say "we know it all and have it covered." This is many times not the case. We are going to try to help everyone from the common social media and social networking user, to companies that are trying to assist their clients with new media.

The Asheville social media class dates for the next few months will be February 25th, March 23rd, April 23rd, and May 10th from 5pm-7pm, with social hours after on some of these days. We have a nice curriculum planned for all of these dates with great information and guest speakers coming in. We are going to answer any and every question you have concerning Social Media, Websites, Marketing, and Social Networking. You are going to be trained on how to start social media for fun, for your business, and keep it simple. More maintenance means more of your time, or more of your money if you are hiring someone to do your social media. We show you how to eliminate a lot of this time or expense by connecting your social media together properly.

These Asheville classes are going to be fun fun for everyone. We are planning several outdoor activities and even a social media retreat for the Summer of 2010. We are going to be meeting several businesses in the Western North Carolina area and learning how they connected with their audience before, and how they are currently connecting. You will learn effective change. We are going to learn how to make connections with businesses ourselves and how to extract the important information we need from anyone. We are going to learn some simple lessons that we should have learned in the playground as children... to big corporate business strategy. All of your social media needs will be covered in this free school in Asheville NC.

The 1st Class on February 25th will be at the Downtown Market at 45 South French Broad Ave Asheville NC 28801 from 5pm - 7pm and there will be some great food and drinks available for a small cost ($4 - $5) from the vendors. It is located right down the street from the Asheville Federal Building, across from United Way.

You can email me to reserve a free spot by clicking HERE or you can visit the Facebook event page.