Business Best Practices Potluck Recap

For our May 21st Chamber Lunch, we hosted group discussions on different topics. These are the compiled notes from those discussions.

Topic 1 - Successful Social Media/Marketing Tactics (Noelle):

1. Group 1
1. Inviting friends to “like” our business page
2. More traction on FB events
3. Pinterest—not having to start everything over
4. Time released—all posts pre-scheduled
5. Instagram to Twitter, FB, Tumblr, Flickr
6. Hoot Suite—scheduling everything out
7. Meetup—volunteers
2. Group 2
1. Contests—telling historical stories
2. Successful sponsored posts

                                         i.    Higher traction when relatable

                                        ii.    Engage with your community

3. Who is your audience?

                                         i.    Ex. Trainer doing kettle bell

4. Drink specials, holidays, dress-up
5. #SouthLakeUnion
6. Popsicle Contest
7. Getting other people to talk about your stuff
8. Being part of a dialogue
9. Posting other people’s stuff
10. Use hashtags!
2. Group 3
1. Photos of clients in eyeware
2. Good Yelp reviews—be on customer service
3. Huge on Yelp—comment on everything!

                                         i.    Contact info

                                        ii.    Dedication to solving problems

4. “Pillam loves pets”

                                         i.    Vote on contest pet photos

5. Scavenger hunt—via 6
6. Reposting
7. Linked in
8. Linked in sends updates—emails
9. Instagram, Twitter

Topic 2 - SLU Chamber Membership Value and Support (Danah):

1. Group 1
1. Sandy—why she joined, where can she met the most people?

                                         i.    Community calendar

                                        ii.    Facilitated networking

                                      iii.    Responsive team

2. Martha—enjoys being on committees in chambers

                                         i.    Opportunity to fully engage

                                        ii.    After hours (happy hours)

                                      iii.    Wants to take more advantage

3. Jenet—meeting people in person—opportunity to spread the word about PEMCO

                                         i.    Word of mouth

4. Dislikes—conflicting events with GSBA
5. Wants more power networking (3-5 businesses that get specific exposure at a themed event)
1. Group 2
1. George—Umpqua—working with good people

                                         i.    Regular events to meet people in the community

                                        ii.    Shared resources

                                      iii.    Ability to host events

                                      iv.    Take advantage of membership

1.   Would like the directory to be promoted more

2.   Easy to access emails/contact info for members

3. Group 3
1. Patty—meeting people at events, getting access to the shared resources of other members
2. Kim—Graphica—reaching the right person in the company you want to network with

                                         i.    Lori says people know people & that’s how it works—personal introductions

3. Good—facilitated networking
4. Suggestions—events for members to connect one on one—build trust with one another—share their expertise

Topic 3 - How do you connect to the SLU community (Renee):

1.   I use the Chamber’s online directory

2.   I came to Chamber events and network

3.   I strategically choose what to get involved in

4.   We take out an ad in brochure

5.   Get involved with SLU Community Council & Cascade Council

6.   We host events in our building—create community

7.   Art Walk

8.   Table in lobby of buildings to promote

9.   Looking to do a Happy Hour event

10.  Invite others to use common space in buildings

11.  Participate in community events—bike to work day, etc.

12.  Neighbor Appreciation Day involvement

13.   Just “foot it” and walk the neighborhood

14.   At Umpqua, we have freedom to do this—hand out ice cream, buy out a food truck and pay for people’s meals, host a boot camp

a.   Our challenge is to connect to residents—how do we get the neighborhood to know us?

15.                Capitalize on the coffee shop atmosphere of the neighborhood—walk about, etc. Word of mouth

Topic 4 - Favorite Personal Productivity “App” (Josh):

1. Doodle (schedules meetings)
2. Workflowy (list & note-taking app)
3. Zite (magazine-style reading; predicts what you will want to see)
4. DropBox (shares documents & images with others)
5. Hoot Suite (posts to all social media simultaneously)
6. One Drive (similar to Google Drive; a place to store documents)
7. Audible (audio books)
8. TED (informative, creative, sometimes inspirational podcasts)
9. Paperless (List app)
10. Grocery IQ (List app that automatically categories groceries based on aisles of your grocery store)
11. Any.do (“To-do” list)
12. Nike Plus (Tracks exercise progress without a sensor; allows you to connect with others and challenge them)
13. Waze (Navigation app)
14. Meditation Bell (rings periodically throughout the day in an attempt to help you de-clutter and focus)
15. My Fitness Pal (Calorie counter app)
16. Flipboard (magazine-style app that has news articles as well as your personal social media)

Topic 5 - How do you handle SLU business pressures? (Joe)

1. Pressure in parking—rush hour
2. Rent is controlled in historic building; can’t increase but incrementally
3. Competition—another similar store opened soon after
1. Yelp
2. Involvement
3. Stay positive
4. Service
4. Competition, new store hub
5. Invited people in
6. Involvement in community
7. Free ice cream!
8. Positive branding—approachable
9. How to connect?

Topic 6 - Attracting and Retaining High Quality Employees (Elisabeth)

1. Training
2. Messaging

Topic 7 - Favorite Thing About SLU? How would you spend #2HoursinSLU? (Camberly)

1. Art Walk/public sculpture use
2. Eat at Yellow Dot for breakfast, food trucks for lunch
3. Walk in from Downtown
4. Lake/modern/new
5. 13 Coins—high energy/hip
6. 4 years ago could not find a sandwich shop
7. No music venues yet! Need a Vito’s here!
8. Need a jazz alley/Triple Door/piano bar
9. Places in SLU that have stages?
10. MOHAI
11. La Toscanella—lunch, gnocchi
12. Guitar Center
13. Brave Horse
14. Whole Foods
15. Food Trucks—Contigo (Mexican)
16. Kakao Chocolate & Coffee conference room & lavendar-flavored mocha
17. Farmer’s Market
18. Umpqua—read newspaper, meeting space
19. Cask & Trotter/Bar—$3 beer & sliders
20. Pub Crawl, start at McCormick & Schmick’s
21. SLU Sweep—Community Clean
22. Kayak on the lake
23. Vivace coffee—Tom Douglas Restaurant
24. Kigo Kitchen
25. Food trucks
26. Paddy Coyne’s Happy Hour
27. Cuoco Happy Hour/Dinner—easy parking
28. Vivace
29. MOHAI
30. Biking to work from Ballard, eat outside/outdoor seating, Amazon space between building, food trucks

SLU Goes Turquoise Week of May 12

What’s with the turquoise everywhere? 

On Monday, the PEMCO headquarters, UW Medicine, Westin Hotel and the Seattle Center Arches will join Century Link Field and the Great Wheel as they turn turquoise.  

On Tuesday, the SLU neighborhood is invited to attend a giant turquoise “Whoosh of Breath” art unveiling on the SLU DiscoveryCenter, facing Denny Way – followed by a celebratory public lunch at UmpquaBank across the street on Westlake.  

And on Thursday? Free outdoor yoga for the masses at the basketball courts on Denny and 9th, courtesy of Be Luminous Yoga … where the first 100 attendees receive a free Sub Pop Records sampler CD. Wear turquoise for a special drawing! 

Meanwhile Yellow DotCafe, Nollie's Cafe, Top Pot Doughnuts, Seastar and Serious Pie & Biscuit are joining other restaurants across the city in offering turquoise treats and dining specials, and it’s all in to support LUNG FORCE Walk Seattle.  

Visit lungforce.org/walk to hear more about why Seattle will be the first city in the nation to use our LUNGS to shout out about lung health!

#2HoursInSLU - Center for Wooden Boats

We hope you’ll enjoy our second official #2HoursInSLU feature this month. We ask representatives from our member organizations to tell us a bit about themselves and their business for this feature. Additionally, they explain how they might choose to best spend a couple of free hours in our fine neighborhood.

With seaplanes landing literally overhead, and dozens of wooden boats of all kinds bobbing on the sparkling blue waters outside her office window, we chatted with Kristin Pederson, Adult & family Sailing Coordinator at the Center for Wooden Boats. 

An avid sailor, Kristin joined the crew there this past November and is excited to experience her first summer. She’s really excited about April their extended summer hours (10am-8pm seven days a week), which started last month. She spends most of her time hands-on at the docks, coordinating the 100% volunteer-taught sailing lessons and public sails. This volunteer crew is so passionate I might add, that they’ve been known to all show up for work hours early on busy days without even communicating about it in advance. 

A rare historical gem and impressive showcase of maritime history and small craft heritage, The Center for Wooden Boats is extremely accessible. Along with it’s next door neighbor, the Museum of History andIndustry, it offers a refreshing sense of balance and deep connection to history amidst the high tech that makes up so much of SLU. Visit the center and you may leave with direct experience sailing classic boats, building classic boats,  or one of countless other maritime heritage skills ­-- from splicing a line to caulking a seam.

When Kristin has a few hours to spare, you’ll likely find her in a sailboat on the lake. She also enjoys grabbing lunch from Veggie Grill and taking it back to the Center for Wooden Boats public dock. A leisurely walk around the boat pond or parks nearby also ranks high on her list.