Wonderful – 165 people attended – did anybody do any business? MeetingUp through social media what do we know?

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON March 14, 2012  The Mayor has suddenly become a “social draw”.  Last week James Burchill, Burlington’s best mind on social media, held a MeetUp that pulled together 165 people at the Beaver and the Bulldog.  It was one of the better local examples of social media making something happen.

The event was made to happen when James Burchill used his LinkedIn account to broadcast a MeetUp.  He  pumped and promoted like crazy and got a more than decent turnout. Well let’s let Burchill tell his own story about the “happening”.  “Last week” gushes Burchill, “our third  Business in Burlington networking group MeetUp happened … and boy oh boy did it happen! We figured on getting 100 people to attend but blew through that and ended up with 148 confirmed and 165 finally accounted for.

Attendees at the March MeetUp

“The energy was awesome and people are still buzzing about it. So what’s the scoop today? Simple … it took us 3 weeks to reach 100 RSVP’s last time and about 3 days this time!”

“Yes, we’re well past the two thirds point for the April 4th event and yesterday we confirmed that Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring will be attending to show his support for our networking group.”

“Bottom line, there’s three weeks left until our next networking event and I’d say (if I were a betting man) that we’ll have filled all 150 available spaces before then.”

“Are you in?, asks Burchill. “ Don’t wait. It you want to attend the “hottest networking ticket in town” .

RSVP today

Clearly Burchill is on to something.  By using his LinkedIn account and telling his network of the event that network broadcast for him and they all just appeared.

A contributor to Our Burlington mention she was going to attend and asked if she could do a write up on the event for us.  She did and we published the piece.  Within two hours our analytics were telling us that the 150 some odd people who had attended the event read the  article and then passed it along to others.  The analytics tell us that about 350 people read the piece.  Normally that kind of an article would attract maybe 200 people.

If  you’re a business person – what does this mean to the way you sell widgets?   How can you use these social media tools to drive people to your web site and then to the point where they buy your product or service?

Burchill hasn’t said how he is going to “monetize” what he is doing.  Having a bunch of people who have nothing else to do or who are on the make, show up for an event where they know there will be a crowd of like-minded people isn’t anything new.  We all did that at university.   What Burchill has done is create a happening for people who for the most part don’t know each other.  What happens during his fifth and tenth event?  Does the novelty wear off?  How many people are there in Burlington that fit the demographic Burchill seems to be drawing?

Financial planners and insurance agents dream about getting their hands on this many business cards. Did anybody do any business at the March MeetUp?

From a business aspect – what Burchill has done is pull those 150 people together at a cost of less than $25. – plus his time.  There isn’t a financial planner or an insurance agent who wouldn’t love to know how to make something like this happen for them.

It will be interesting to know how many people learned something they didn’t know about social media due to this event and understand how they can use it.  Did anybody do any business?  And how many new clients does Burchill now have?

Ivey, the hot new spot out on the South Service Road gave away tickets galore to free offerings at their new establishment and that worked for them.  Could a meet up work for them? What is it you have to do to get some kind of a lift off and reach beyond the best 20 or so friends you have?

The politicians seem to be able to make it work for them – why do you think the Mayor is going?  He wants to see for himself what the results are and hear what others have to say.

What about you – will you go again and why would you go again?  Leave a comment.

The photography is © M.L.Holton 2012 / https://canadadaPHOTOGRAPHY.blogspot.com

 

 

 

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1 comment to Wonderful – 165 people attended – did anybody do any business? MeetingUp through social media what do we know?

  • I’m already booked to attend in April and looking forward to it. I met people who had heard me speak and read my books and their feedback was valuable. I found people who had skills I want to use and started some potentially beneficial new relationships. I also enjoyed face to face contact with people I’d met on LinkedIn. Networking takes time to develop relationships and James has created a wonderful venue.