Presenting at a Social Media Conference

Last week I had the incredible opportunity to be part of a local social media conference as a speaker (!!!).

I was blown away and humbled for the chance. Speaking at a social media conference has been a goal of mine for a few years now, and to say that I did it thrills me. I’ve attended multiple social media conferences since college as I yearn to learn more and more about the ever-changing digital space. As an attendee, I always hoped that one day I’d be on the stage presenting to a group of people…and now I can say that I have!

Leading up to the conference, I was anxious, excited, and definitely felt a bit out of my comfort zone. I have presented in front of groups and college classes before, but never to a group of businessmen and women who took time out of their days to attend a conference. When I heard the conference was sold out, it definitely increased the anticipation as the conference slowly crept closer and closer.

The day, from beginning to end, was amazing. I had the privilege of meeting several other presenters and we were all excited to get the day started. Over 400 people attended the conference and they came with questions and open minds.

I don’t talk too much about my career on this blog, so you may not know that I work full-time in digital and social media marketing. I love talking about all things social, whether it’s discussing Instagram strategies to grow a business, learning more about the *dreaded* Facebook algorithm, or brainstorming ways to further strengthen a brand’s online community. Whatever it is, I want in on the conversation and I love when others are excited to talk about it, too.

If you’re wondering, I presented in two sessions. In the first session, I joined another presenter for “Ask Me Anything,” where people could ask us anything for an hour. My second session was all about paid social media opportunities for your business. Sounds fancy, but basically it was all about how to create awesome, thumb-stopping ads across social platforms.

Simply put: A brand wants you to stop scrolling when its ad appears on your newsfeed and there is a plethora of ways on how to make that happen. My presentation walked through some of those opportunities and concluded with an engaging Q+A.

To be honest, I could go on and on, but to sum it all up, I’m truly thankful for the experience. Now it’s time to officially check it off the 101 in 1,001 list!