Should you care? If you are in the Charlotte area and are involved in any way (or want to be) with search engine marketing or any online marketing of any sort, you should care.
Why? Because this association is not just some crazy idea that someone thought up and threw up a website.
It all started on May 23, 2007 when Keith Schilling started a little meetup group on the website meetup.com. Roy Morejon, Fred Sexton, and David Kyle all joined him over the next few months and started holding regular meetings to talk about search engines and online marketing. I joined them in October.
Since then, that little Charlotte SEO Meetup group has been holding monthly meetings on various online marketing topics. Now, (less than two years later), there are 319 members and our meetings are attended by 50 to 100 people every month.
The meetings are so popular that we now need to start charging a little money in order to afford a larger location. So Keith turned it into SEMCLT and is now going to be charging an annual membership fee.
Part of the inside scoop is that the five of us didn’t really make this association, it made itself. We’re just trying to keep up with the demand for online marketing training and information.
What will happen to the Charlotte SEO Meetup?
We are keeping it alive on Meetup.com and will hold regular meetings every few months or so. These will generally be beginner level. The meatier meetings will be for members only at www.SEMCLT.com.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW…
Here is the urgent part… Keith has told me that as of March 1, the price for membership will go up to $125 per year. But as of right now, you can signup and become a member for $50. This gets you into all the events, access to the live stream, and access to all previous events that have been recorded. It may get you a link from the members directory. (Keith, leave a message below to confirm or deny this.)
For some reason, the Charlotte area has a love addiction to Twitter. It’s true. At most everyrecentevent locally, the thing everyone wants to talk about is Twitter. It draws the largest crowds and fosters the most conversation before, during, and after.
Don’t get me wrong, the whole country loves Twitter. But Charlotte, North Carolina seems to have embraced it. I think it’s wonderful. I use Twitter every day and so do manyofmycolleagues, friends, and workmates. I am grateful to be living and working in the Charlotte area where so many people “get it” when it comes to social media and public relations.
Twitter is a wonderful way to spend time making connections, meeting people, and sharing ideas. I also think it is a great tool for getting questions answered quite easily.
What about Google?
But just because we all enjoy Twitter, don’t forget Google!
You remember Google, right? It’s been around for over ten years, which is practically an eternity online.
Now Google may not be as interactive and as exciting as the big three in Social Media – Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. But please don’t think that you should ignore it, especially if you are involved in marketing and/or public relations.
Google is by far the most popular tool for people to find things online. That includes the “things” you sell and the information you offer.
In case you have not heard, February 12 is going to be a big day.
Around the world, over 175 cities will bring people together primarily via Twitter to raise money and awareness for a nice charity that is working hard to provide safe, clean drinking water to the 1.1 billion people (1 in 6) on the planet that don’t have access.
It looks as if the entire state of North Carolina is giving this good support. Below are some links for you to learn more – from east to west.
What is SEMCLT? It is the Search Engine Marketing Association of Charlotte.
Charlotte Loves Twitter!
You remember Google, right? It’s been around for over ten years, which is practically an eternity online.