NAWILIWILI — Based on the number of people attending the Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce breakfast forum Wednesday, there is a growing interest in the use of computers and the social media in the small-business environment. Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce President
NAWILIWILI — Based on the number of people attending the Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce breakfast forum Wednesday, there is a growing interest in the use of computers and the social media in the small-business environment.
Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce President Randall Francisco said there were more than 80 people registered for the Wednesday-morning event by Tuesday afternoon.
That figure soared to more than 90 people when doors opened to JJ’s Boiler in the Anchor Cove shopping center Wednesday.
“This is the largest gathering yet,” said Jimmy Jasper. “It’s even bigger than when we have the political forums.”
Jeff Tucker and Rob Kvidt of TechSpokes Social Media Consultants were invited to share the new and growing realm of social networking and its impact on small businesses.
The pair were joined by local panelists Ryan Esaki of ukuleleunderground.com, Sara Miura of Deja Vu Surf Hawai‘i, Jonell Kaohelauli‘i, marketing director of the Kukui Grove Center, and Cyndi Ceballos of the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort & Spa.
The forum came a day before KITV announced on its web page that Twitter, Facebook and blogs are necessary for Hawai‘i businesses.
The guest presenters stated that small businesses need social media to connect with new and repeat customers, both locally and off-island, learn what is being said about the business and its competitors, discover new targeted and local advertising opportunities, reduce costs of traditional advertising and conduct informal surveys.
Facebook is one of the largest global online communities with more than 250,000 active Facebook users in Hawai‘i, stated a factoid used in the presentation.
Building on this, the presenters worked with the guests on how to succeed using Facebook and Twitter, another global online community with about 100 million users.
“It’s like college was 20 years ago,” said Kelly Mitchell of The Kelly Mitchell Group, a technology-consulting company, on the KITV site.
“You had to have a degree to be successful. You have to have an Internet site to be successful. But that’s more like a high-school diploma. Now, your college degree in business is social media.”
Mitchell was speaking of a two-day conference on O‘ahu discussing the creation of a business strategy using social-media tools.
“It’s especially important here because of Hawai‘i’s geographically-challenging position, said nationally-recognized, Washington-based blogger Geoff Livingston on the KITV site.
“While it may be hard to attract good talent, a successful business can still be created through the Internet.”
Francisco said because of the success of Wednesday’s forum centering around social media and local small businesses, the Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce is already looking ahead to this month when the forum will be followed up by a hands-on session at Kaua‘i Community College.
