Such a revelation! A couple of weeks ago a neighbour mentioned pre-booking one-on-one tutorials and group workshops at Apple Stores from an App on iPhone. Who knew?
Travelling to Portland for a few days each month, the app was downloaded and an early morning workshop booking made on Social Media for Businesses. The “buzz” and crowd generation evident in the Apple Stores had been previously mistakenly dismissed as product excitement. Wrong!
Arriving early to the workshop, one-on-one tutorials were already in progress and a greeter personally approached participants outside the store to invite them in. The atmosphere in the store at seven thirty a.m. was already charged, purposeful and welcoming. Personnel (besides the presenter) circulated making connections with participants before the presentation began. At no time did one feel any kind of technological intimidation (important to us less technologically advanced) or even a pressure to purchase a new iPAD!
By the time the presentation began (participants sitting in a semi-circle around a screen), everyone already knew a little bit about one another and all felt comfortable and relaxed to participate in discussion around social media tools and one’s experience.
The presenter was easy to follow and able to answer any burning questions. Everyone had some experience with our websites, blogs, Twitter and Facebook. How to use these social media tools effectively to promote and market our businesses brought us together. Our Apple presenter let us set the pace and he engaged in our comments and questions, not hesitating to extend the workshop by forty-five minutes. While our learning circle was completely engaged, the entire store was alive with demos, help, purchases, etc. Workshop participants remained completely oblivious of all this peripheral activity.
There’s no excuse for authors to be “social media phobic“, a workshop for e-book publishing on iPad is only a click away on your App. Enrol! Learn! Share!