Downtown Group to Offer Social Networking Classes

Downtown Washington Inc. will present a seven-week class on social networking for local businesses.

The session is open to any business, but the class will cost less for members of the organization.

Bridgette Epple, executive director, announced the program last Thursday at a quarterly membership meeting.

The program will be offered on Tuesday evenings, beginning May 29. There will be no class July 3 due to the holiday.

“We realize social networking is so important for businesses today, and it can be a little overwhelming, so this class will be a social networking 101 to cover the basics of Facebook, Pinterest, blogging, Foursquare, LinkedIn and Twitter,” Epple said.

“Each session will flow into the next, so it’s important to try and come to all of them,” she added. “We’ll give a brief history of each social network, its function and purpose, and the number of people using the service.”

Examples of how certain social networks can be used will be given.

Epple said all small businesses suffer from “time poverty” and keeping up to date on social networking can be difficult.

“We hope this will help a business make an educated decision on what might be a good fit and work for them,” she said. “We want to help businesses harness these online engines. Whether you’re a service business, retail or professional, social networking is a good tool.”

Epple said each class will last about one hour. The time is still to be determined. The class will be held at the Four Rivers Career Center.

Downtown Washington Inc. staff members will be the instructors and will offer one-on-one help if needed after each session.

The classes will be limited to 15 to 20 people.

For more information, people may call the downtown office, 636-239-1743.