As Pete Fasano said after  last night’s Social Media Club Atlanta monthly meeting, “We may have outgrown the back room at Manuel’s Tavern.” 

Tony Conway and Jeannie Ericson

One of our biggest crowds yet came to hear Jeannie Ericson of Public Broadcasting Atlanta and Tony Conway of Atlanta Children’s Shelter talk about their efforts to build community via social networks and the internal and external investments required for their initiatives. The event was sponsored by Lens on Atlanta,  an internet destination where members of Metro Atlanta can connect with each other and with regional leadership to find answers, solve problems, create positive change, and connect and create communities.

Clockwise Amani Channel, Stacy Williams and Grayson Daughters

Several leaders in Atlanta’s social media community were on hand including Sherry Heyl, Amani Channel, Grayson Daughters, and Stacy Williams.

Check out Michelle Batten’s excellent summary of the conversation. But if I could boil the discussion down to one point, it would be Tony’s rhetorical question “Why should a children’s shelter in a church basement be on Facebook?  The same reason why Fortune 500 companies do – growth.  

Both Jeannine and Tony talked about mapping efforts back to the communications goals, managing limited dollars, sustaining efforts after a particular campaign finishes, and connecting with the community.

Let me get back to you.