Confluence is lovingly curated. When selecting a venue, it was important to us that we were in a neighborhood that reflected the ethos of our conference; a neighborhood driven by grassroots involvement and creative minds, and occupied by Oklahoma City’s thought leaders.
And where better to host a conference on digital influence than the Plaza District? It’s a neighborhood where nearly every shop on the block is active on social media. I constantly find myself engaging with Plaza District storefronts online: whether I’m checking Bad Granny’s Facebook page to see what the Junk Fairy brought in, browsing The Salvage Room’s Instagram for a new Chiroptera, tweeting back-and-forth with various shop owners, or just waiting for The Velvet Monkey to text me a reminder about my 6PM appointment.
But it’s not only the storefronts. The Plaza District itself is also very active online, constantly organizing and promoting upcoming events. And that’s why I thought it was important to sit down and pick the brain of Cayla Lewis, the District Communications Coordinator for the Plaza District.
What is your title and role with The Plaza District?
I am the District Communications Coordinator of the Plaza District. I am primarily responsible for assisting the Executive Director in coordinating communication between district stakeholders and associations, general marketing of the district, and PR and social media. I often have to wear a lot of hats. Some days it’s all about event planning and running errands, other days I’m behind the computer all day on Twitter or designing on Photoshop.
Can you share how the internet and social media have helped The Plaza District’s community outreach efforts? What are some successful examples of online organizing and promoting?
First and foremost, social media has allowed us to expand our reach throughout the community. The Plaza District’s Executive Director can probably talk about this a lot better than I can, but it was an easy and free way to get the word out. The term “grassroots” comes to mind. We’ve slowly built up a large following, and having a strong presence allows us to interact with individuals that are visiting the district as well as promote community events in a very accessible way.
Something I feel really strongly about is cross-promoting. If we promote the individual businesses or artists around the district (or vice-versa), they come to the district as a whole and hopefully get to see all that we have to offer.
It seems that most shops and restaurants in The Plaza District have a strong digital presence. Do you think the culture of the neighborhood naturally encourages online engagement?
Definitely. We are in a very modern and digital age these days and several of [the businesses] have caught on. It’s interesting for me to see which businesses use what platforms and how. They all have distinct personalities and it really shows through their interactions and involvement with social media. A lot of the businesses, [including] the Plaza District Association ourselves, use social media as our main source of advertising and communication.
Outside of The Plaza District, I understand that you have a performance piece slated for this Friday on Film Row. Can you briefly explain your motivation and what patrons should expect?
Funny you should ask this. My entire performance is actually based on social media and communication through social networks. I will be interacting with the audience and event-goers solely through social media. The title is “The Artist is Not Present,” and [the piece] explores the idea of physically being in a social situation but not being “present.” I could go on and on about this. I strongly believe social media is important (it’s part of my job!) but I also believe it’s important to be present “IRL.” It’s like the, “if a tree falls…” question – only, “If I went somewhere and didn’t post about it on social media, was I still there?” Social media is medium for the performance as well as documentation.
There will actually be an entire performance art show during Film Row’s Premiere event at IAO Gallery. Four other talented artists along with [me] will each be doing separate performances in hopes to raise awareness of the art form itself – but also [to] bring something new and unique to Film Row. Interestingly enough, the vast majority of our promotion has been done through social media. This is Film Row’s second Premiere event and I can only see it growing from here. The district should be bustling with a lot of other activities including our performance art show, Art Synthesis.
Do you try to keep your professional and personal social personalities separate, or do you merge them?
This is an interesting question and I often think about this. It’s hard, because I want to be me, live my life, [and] yet still do my job. At the Plaza, we try and maintain kind of a “quirky” personality, so it’s easy for me to let that shine through in my interactions through work social media.
I do try and keep them separate but there is often a lot of overlap because I spend so much time here and am so invested in this community. There are some people that know me as the person behind @plazadistrict, but there are also a lot of people that think of me first as @awkwordy.
In every sense, I want to be approachable. If someone does make the connection between the two, I think it’s important to try to represent myself in such a way that builds trust and a strong relationship with the community, even if it is a little “awkwordy.”
What advice would you give to community leaders looking to harness the power of social media?
I’ve learned a lot about social media and communication but that it is important to still let your individual personality shine through. It will ultimately help build your “brand” as well as build up a certain kind of trust from the community. The idea of “being yourself” makes you more approachable but also shows that you have something unique to bring to the community. I’m not a professional, but it works for us here. In my job, I try to notice and promote other people doing the same; I think that’s how we’ve built up such a unique culture here in the Plaza.
