LinktoCharlotte Plans for 2009-10

LinktoCharlotte has been working behind the scenes to plan our events for 2009-2010. We are in the process of identifying interesting locations to hold our events and team members who will help us coordinate.

LinktoCharlotte's mission is to bring people together in our on-line community and also to highlight the interesting activities available in our city. This is part business networking with a large dose of fun and entertainment. We want this group to be vibrant and fun.

Do you have a place for our group to meet. This can range for 15 people to 50+.

Please contact Andrew Kaplan at ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com.

We are also looking for donations for raffle prizes for our meetings as well. If you have a product or service you would like to offer our members please be in touch.

Derek James, Fox News Charlotte Likes LinktoCharlotte

We are now posting some of our members and people in the community who are fans of LinktoCharlotte. We have over 2,000 members of our groups on various platforms. We are using our new Flip HD camera to capture our fans and members.

Here is one of out latest LinktoCharlotte fans, Reporter, Derek James of Fox News Charlotte. We caught up with Derek at a Twitter 101 event run by a LinktoCharlotte member at La Dolce Vita in NODA. Fox News covered the story of this event on Fox News on two consecutive nights and had people call in to leave messages on whether they twitter or not.

Sprint All Star Race and Media Celebrities

This week Charlotte is all about racing and Lowes Motor Speedway is the place to be.

NASCAR is building up to the Coca Cola 600 on memorial day weekend, with its Sprint All-Star Race for a million dollars. The top drivers will compete in a final segment which will have only 10 laps for this million dollar prize. Driver Kasey Kahne compared it to driving the way they did when he first started racing as a youth.

The All-Star race is special this year as it is in its 25th running. Celebrities such as Kevin Costner and America's Most Wanted John Walsh are here to participate. Country Duo Montgomery Gentry will be the featured artists at the race.

This is one of the most fun days for NASCAR drivers. Many of the drivers live and work near Lowes Motor Speedway in Concord, NC and have a chance to drive in front of family and friends.
Posted by Andrew Kaplan at 4:23 AM
Labels: Lowes Motor Speedway, Nascar, Sprint All Star Cha

Motorsports invades Charlotte

Each year in May, two of the largest NASCAR events are planned two weekends in a row, The SPRINT Million Dollar All-Star Race and the Coca Cola 600. This year is the 50th running of the Coca Cola 600. Some of the highlights for the week will be:

1) A Quarter mile Grill on Friday, May 22nd at the Speedway with 7,000 lbs of charcoal and 100 cooks and celeb chefs serving hot dogs and hamburgers.
2) Speed Street - Uptown Charlotte is a festival of NASCAR fans, brands and music. 2 major music stages will be set up and Clint Black will be playing
3) At Lowes Motor Speedway, actor Kevin Costner and his band will be the warmup for country music band,
4) The military is saluted at the Coca Cola 600. The Marine Corp band will be playing at 3 pm on Saturday. There also are usually flyovers, helicopters, and parachuting before the race.
5) World of Outlaws at the Dirt Track (5/22)
6) Pole Night - this is a great way to see NASCAR for the first time and an inexpensive ticket. This night determines who sits on the pole for the Coca Cola 600 (5/21)
7) Carquest Autoparts 300 (5/23)

For more detailed schedules: http://www.lowesmotorspeedway.com/schedules/

LinktoCharlotte is getting active on Twitter

LinktoCharlotte on Twitter (@linktocharlotte) will be pushing out events in the Charlotte area on a daily basis. If you are a member of www.linktocharlotte and would like you event to be twittered by us. Just send us a note as a direct message on twitter with the details or e-mail Andrew Kaplan on the LinktoCharlotte.com network.

If you are interested in the Charlotte, NC area and are thinking of moving here. LinktoCharlotte and our network is the place to be. You can find us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and NING.

If you don't know what twitter is, just go to www.twitter.com and spend a few minutes to set up an account. It is what we call micro-blogging.

LinktoCharlotte Mentioned in Mashable.com article

LinktoCharlotte just surpassed its 2000th member this month. We are now receiving recognition on how we built a successful social network.

Here is the link the the article
"12 Inspiring Stories of Successful Social Networkers"
http://mashable.com/2009/04/28/grow-social-network/

LinktoCharlotte Turns Two Years Old

LinktoCharlotte turns two this month. It has been an interesting journey building a community online. We first started out with a small group that grew to about 70 people in our first month and had our first meeting at the Carolina Panthers executive meeting room with 15 people. We have expanded from there to be on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and NING platforms. Each platform allows us to add or attract a diverse group of members interested in social media and networking.

About 20% of our members are people who are thinking or planning to move to Charlotte or are interested in networking here using virtual tools.

Today, our community is flourishing growing by 50+ members a week on LinkedIn and now on our new NING Site we have reached the 200 member mark. I have found the 200 person mark is a catalyst for larger growth, so we are now ready to begin to reach out to members with live events, online events, a newsletter and other activities.

We are beginning to talk to organizations who believe in this concept and are willing to sponsor or support this endeavor. We can reach 2000+ professionals on LinkedIn, the creative community on Facebook and all the Twitterverse.

In addition, we are working with other cities such as Phoenix, San Diego, and Las Vegas to begin to build those as well in 2009. In addition we have a significant group for LinktoMotorsports on LinkedIn which overlaps with its membership with LinktoCharlotte, so we have great momentum.

If you are interested in helping with publicity, community management, creation and support of our blog, speaking/sponsoring events or helping us find sponsorships. Please contact me at ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com or 704-293-2151.

LinktoCharlotte.com - 2009 Plans, Plots and Parties

MediaMensch Networks has successfully launched a new platform for www.linktocharlotte.com and have attracted over 75 new members within the first month of launching. Since mid-2007 we have been working with the professional community in Charlotte helping them connect with each other. As of today, LinktoCharlotte has over 1400 members on LinkedIn.

Why multiple platforms? Think about a tool kit. The purpose of LinkedIn is for professional to network. Much of their information is hidden from others unless you are directly connected. It is also very difficult to find a large group of contacts in Charlotte and promote yourself to that group. So our new platform, developed on NING.com allows for posting of photos, videos, blog posts and is easy to navigate.

The founder is one of the early adopters of social media technology and has built that practice on his background as one of the first sales automation/crm consultants in the world (started in 1987).

In 2009, we intend bring education and opportunities to our members to learn how to be "professional networkers" both on-line and in person. If you are a member and would like to speak or help out to promote the value of this network, please contact Andrew Kaplan. (Hint: you can find him on www.linktocharlotte.com).

If you use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, NING or any other emerging social media tool, you will find this of use.

If you are on Twitter you can follow:
www.twitter.com/linktocharlotte
www.twitter.com/coachkaplan (tips and tricks for social media)

If you are interested in sponsoring an event or financially supporting this endeavor, we will be interested in speaking with you.