Well 2012 was certainly a good start and a busy year for Social Media Club of St. Charles! We had a total of four events, including our inaugural event at Quintessential in August, a networking event at Cottleville Wine Seller in September, where we also had our third event, a Pinterest panel in November, and last, but not least, a fundraising/networking event for the St. Louis Area Foodbank in December.

The Pinterest panel took place on Nov. 14, and it focused on how to drive traffic to your website via Pinterest, was a great social and educational event. It featured three panel members, including Jenn Cloud, Young & Free Spokesperson at Vantage Credit Union, Kasey Lucas, Director of Public Relations and Marketing at Performance Plus Global Logistics, and Kanna Taylor, community manager at American Cancer Society.

(Pinterest panel members (from left to right) Kanna Taylor, Kasey Lucas and Jenn Cloud networking with fellow SMCSTC members.)

Our last event of 2012 was a holiday networking and food drive event at Buffalo Wild Wings in St. Charles on Dec. 11. Each attendee was required to donate a canned good or $5 to St. Louis Area Foodbank. It was a great way to finish up a successful year!

(Jimmy Alkhouri, SMCSTC founder/VP, and Bethany Prange, St. Louis Area Foodbank communications coordinator, draw business cards for prizes at the SMCSTC Holiday Networking Event and Food Drive on Dec. 11.)

And in 2013 we are starting off with a bang with a panel to learn about 2013 social media trends. Local social media experts will be sharing their perspective on new strategies, tactics, social platforms and steps on how you can better utilize the power of social media.

This event will be from 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24. Location is still TBD, but we will announce it on all of our communication channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Eventbrite and on our website as soon as it is determined.

But for now you can save the date and register on our Eventbrite website at smcstc.eventbrite.com. We already have 24 people signed up, so be sure to check out the attendee list!

We look forward to bringing in the new year with you!