Forbes ranked Buffalo tenth on its 2010 list of the best places in the country to raise a family—a particularly welcome accolade as the city seeks a new identity in our post-industrial age.

Still the second-largest city in New York, the Lake Erie port was once the 8th-largest city in the nation—a key shipping and railroad hub, the biggest grain-milling center in the country, and a major steel producer. The city is now a phoenix rising from its industrial ashes, with strong health care, education, and retail sectors, and an unemployment rate significantly lower than the national average.

Buffalo is re-branding itself, aided by a new Social Media Club chapter that launched in September.

MashUp Catalyst

The chapter had its beginnings when Buffalo natives Nicole Schuman, Frank Gullo and several others celebrated Mashable’s Social Media Day last June with a local MashUp.

“We had noticed chatter on Twitter about a SocialMediaClub.org, and saw that Rochester and Niagara already had chapters,” recalls Schuman, a PR and marketing professional who is currently web editor for Roswell Park Cancer Institute. “We said, ‘We have all these media agencies in Buffalo—why not have our own social media club?’”

Co-founders Schuman and Gullo called a planning meeting in July, and organized Social Media Club Buffalo’s September launch event. Nearly 100 people attended, and the chapter was off and running.

Walking the Walk

The club is promoted almost exclusively through social media, including a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and a LinkedIn Group. Meeting announcements are also placed on the SocialMediaClub.org web site.

“We do have an e-mail list, but it’s not our primary communication method,” says Schuman. “The word spreads very quickly; we don’t really need to put announcements in the papers.”

Seventy-six people have joined the club, which doesn’t have chapter dues. Individuals are encouraged to become dues-paying members of SocialMediaClub.org, and 12 have done so, qualifying SocialMediaClub Buffalo as an Official Chapter. Additionally, two local businesses have joined SocialMediaClub.org in the small-business category.

The group is starting to charge for big events, offering discounted rates to SocialMediaClub.org members.

Getting the Leadership Team Right

A core group of about 10 chapter leaders gathers monthly at a favorite coffee bar for a planning meeting. They discuss member and speaker recruitment, publicity, technology and other organizational issues. There is also a social and/or learning event for the full membership, with the location changing from event to event.

Social Media Club Buffalo’s formal structure consists of a president, a vice president, and an events director. The publicity chores are currently doled out to the membership, event by event. “Everyone assumes part of the publicity role,” Schuman states. “We all pitch in and help spread the word.”

There are plans for a speaker series, and in November the chapter added a monthly evening event called beSOCIAL. In contrast to events with speaker presentations followed by Q&A sessions, these are informal round-table discussions. Members gather at a local coffee shop and help each other with problems and share what is working well.

“One challenge is that this circle-chat format can’t get too big,” says Schuman. “We had 20 or so at the first one, and that’s about right.”

Extra-curricular activities have included a field trip to see Arianna Huffington when she visited Buffalo in October, and a TweetUp for the Buffalo Sabers professional hockey team. “Hockey is very big here in Buffalo,” explains Schuman.

Community Outreach

The chapter has also started some community outreach activities. They pick a local charity that doesn’t have the resources to hire a social media consultant, and train its staff and help them get some social media marketing and engagement going. The charity gets some much-needed assistance, and the club gains recognition.

“We want to be considered the community’s go-to social media experts,” Schuman says. “We are letting people know we have a great group of qualified people to choose from and work with.”

Social Media Club Buffalo is also showcasing local businesses during the holiday season. They are staging a “TacoVino” wine tasting event at a downtown wine store, which will be catered by Lloyd’s Taco Truck, a local mobile food truck.

“Part of the idea is to welcome people who are returning home for the holidays,” Schuman says. “And to provide members with another great networking opportunity.”

Lessons Learned

Running an organization with nothing but volunteers can be like herding cats, and Schuman warns other new-chapter leaders against trusting people too quickly. Let them prove themselves first.

“There are people who want to use the club name for their own gain, and people who talk big but don’t deliver,” Shuman cautions. “Before you hand off responsibilities to individuals, make sure that they really have the necessary skills, and that you can depend on them. It’s good to have more than one person assigned to the same chore.”

Schuman also advises fledgling chapters to consider the pros and cons of serving a particular niche. The Social Media Club Buffalo has decided to go broad rather than narrow.

“I think that makes our club more accessible than other organizations in the area: We don’t serve a niche,” sums up Schuman. The membership ranges from agency types to IT people, entrepreneurs, lawyers, non-profits, and some representatives of big corporations.”

“We’re kind of all over the board.” 

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