Team Valley gets businesses tweeting

North East businesses had a real hoot with a special free social media networking event held at our Team Valley Business Centre in Gateshead. 

The event was the brain child of Team Valley customer, Amanda Dixon, a social media expert and owner of I Am You Limited and Business Centre Manager, Stacey Normandale. The pair are both fans of informal networking and wanted to bring the region’s business community together.  

Amanda’s company helps businesses create effective social media strategies, understanding how to make the likes of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn really work. As a Hootsuite Ambassador for the North East, Amanda is a champion for helping people use Twitter successfully. Part of the role is to hold ‘#HootUps’ – events that explain how Hootsuite allows tweets to be scheduled in one go, saving time, but ensuring people make the social connections that matter.

HootUp success

Stacey says:

I was chatting to Amanda about holding a networking event, but I wanted to give local businesspeople a beneficial reason to come, rather than simply holding a coffee morning.

“Amanda suggested holding a ‘#HootUp’ and I thought it was a great idea, as I had received social media training from Amanda that was so fantastic I recommended her to Bizspace as a training provider.”

Not only did Amanda deliver social media training to other Bizspace managers in the North East, but the coaching was so successful that she helped colleagues in Letchworth, Wolverhampton, Bradford, Altrincham and directors in head office too.

The #HootUp sold out fast and brought together more than 40 external businesses that benefited from Amanda’s social media expertise. A live feed of tweets was showcased on the wall encouraging everybody to get involved.

Fundraising through business promotion

Amanda and Stacey used the event as an opportunity to fundraise for the Stroke Association, a charity also based at Team Valley.

Stacey says: “The event was fantastic! An absolute success. It was a great opportunity to network and to raise awareness of strokes in younger people.

“To improve people’s social media profiles, we arranged for photographer, Judith Graham of Village Photography to take headshots for £10 per person and half of the proceeds were kindly donated to the charity.

“We also had another Judith from Costumejewellery1.com selling beautiful jewellery and scarves, who also donated a percentage of her earnings to the charity and Graham McCann of Macsetmedia.co.uk kindly produced a video of the #HootUp free of charge.”

The event raised more than £100 for the Stroke Association including proceeds from a raffle.

Amanda, who moved into her office in November last year, was delighted with the event’s success and with the support she has received from Stacey over the last eight months.

Stacey has been brilliant and is a great centre manager. I know she’s just been awarded 100% by a mystery shopper and she thoroughly deserves it.

“It has been wonderful to work together on this event and help Stacey after all the help she’s given me,” says the social media entrepreneur.

Further success for social media company

Amanda has recently extended her contract with Bizspace as I Am You Ltd is growing and has won a tender for North Tyneside Council as Social Media Specialist Consultant.

I am really excited about this new tender as it involves helping people who are unemployed start their own businesses and become savvy about social media.

“As a result, we’ve advertised for a social media apprentice who will benefit from a wage, full training and hopefully employment at the end of an 18-month apprenticeship,” explains Amanda.

To find out more about business space for rent at Team Valley Business Centre contact Stacey on 0191 300 9491.