January 21st, 2006
Hidden treasures found at small business summit
by Susan Snipes
The first annual Longmont Small Business Summit was held today by the Longmont Small Business Association (LSBA). An hour long meet & greet was followed by a welcome address, a presentation on “Google Treasures” and finally a session on LSBA’s new Economic Gardening initiative.
The LSBA is doing a great job of building momentum, planning workshops and networking events. They’ve far surpassed their membership goals in only their first year as an organization. It was great to see the hallway packed with small business owners behind tables and folks engaged in conversation.
I only seriously went for the mini-expo meet & greet before the presentations. However, “Hidden Google Treasures of the Internet” had piqued my curiousity, so I stayed to find out what the presenters consider “hidden treasures” for small business owners.
Engaging speakers
“Hidden Google Treasures of the Internet” was presented by Golden Compass speakers Michael Benidt and Sheryl Kay. Their tag-team presentation-style was great. They made sure to keep the audience involved with lively speaking, “guess who the famous person is” slides, and chocolate rewards. (Though the chocolate jokes got to be a little overdone.)
In addition, the Google treasures were actually useful! The presentation covered a few basic tips, but I learned a lot more than confirming my good searching skills. I will share a couple of the treasures I found interesting. You’ll have to see one of the Golden Compass’ presentations to get the mother lode.
Fun party trick
The first Google treasure I was suprised by was the SMS (short messaging service). They urged us to pull out our cell phones and send a text message to Google. Various audience members asked for definitions, or looked up a person, or location.
They may have put this early in the presentation to really get the audience involved. I admit, it was rather fun to get out my cell phone during a presentation and turn it back on!
This one is fun, but I don’t expect to use it much.
Handy news alerts
Later in the presentation, Michael and Sheryl presented Google’s News Alerts. Google will email announcements of news articles that match keywords you select, right to your inbox. Now, this is something I can use!
One of my clients (Jonathan Ferrara Gallery) is a displaced New Orleans art gallery owner taking art around the country. His “artists-in-exile” shows are starting to get major press. I have just set up a news alert on Google, so I will be emailed whenever an article mention his gallery’s name. That way, I will be able to add press to his web site immediately. Very cool.
Overall, I was impressed with the presentation. As I web designer and search engine marketer, I consider I’m more familiar with Google than most. It was great to get a fresh angle on what Google offers beyond search engine results.
Golden Compass is doing a great job of promoting Google’s services. I wondered if Google knows… ? Somehow I think Google doesn’t know. But if they did, I expect they’d be pleased and amused.
Visit Longmont Small Business Association >
Learn about Golden Compass’ “hidden treasures” presentations >
Find out more about Google SMS >
Set up your own alerts with Google News >
See Jonathan Ferrara Gallery’s Artists in Exile exhibition >
