Review on Networking Breakfast

After attending my first networking event as an intern here at The TNS Group, I have come to the conclusion that small business owners are craving to know the ins-and-outs of social networking!
This morning, myself as well as an Account Manager from The TNS Group, attended the “Beyond the Recession” Small Business Breakfast at the Hilton Stamford. We attended this breakfast hoping to meet new people that may serve as future clients, or at least those would point us in the right direction. Because this event was based around the topic of “Surviving on Main Street”, we attended to learn what other small businesses are doing to stay afloat during this harsh economic time.
Some tips included, knowing your target market and to give your clients a reason to use your business . Caplan-Carroll gave some advice by directing us to “give more than you ask for, you need to make your clientele feel special.” This advice pertained to mainly the content we post on social networking sites.
Wendi Cablan-Carroll, Joshua Crandall, David Lewis and Mitchell Grossinger Etess all spoke about the efforts businesses are making to succeed through social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. However, the three are used for different purposes. One interesting fact that Mitchell Grossinger Etess shared was, instead of advertising for a concert, Mohegan Sun decided to use Twitter to “tweet” about the event. Surprisingly, using Twitter was a success and 65% of the tickets were sold in three days. Note to businesses-tweeting can be beneficial!
After the speaking portion of the event, questions were asked by people in the audience.
I think going to this networking event was a positive experience; I talked to interesting people and also got some advice as to where to find certain information pertaining to free PR.
If another networking event is held close by I will definitely attend!

Tara McKenna