In its first post on Twitter, the Greenpoint Chamber of Commerce enthusiastically declared that it “has entered the 21st century” and there’s “no turning back now!”
The recently relaunched merchants advocacy group’s Twitter handle is @GPointChamber. They have also created a Facebook page. Their nascent social media presence fits their mission statement of “providing a hyperlocal platform for North Brooklyn merchants to build business relationships.”
Explained Chamber President Jeff Mann, “By creating our social media presence, we now have another means for reaching people with an interest in doing business in North Brooklyn – whether producers or consumers.”
Mann, the publisher of the Greenpoint Gazette, added that “along with newspapers, e-mail and other means of outreach, social media allows us to notify the public about Chamber events and happenings and to promote our members’ businesses. It also gives us another means for receiving feedback from the community, especially with so many young, tech-savvy companies growing in North Brooklyn.”
Chamber supporter Assemblymember Joseph Lentol was one of the first to spread the word about the Chamber’s new outreach effort. As someone with an active social media presence himself, Lentol agreed with Mann that these “platforms [are useful] on a daily basis so those in the community can voice their opinions about issues instantaneously.”
“Social media has definitely enabled a more streamlined approach to interacting with my constituency and I have found that organizations that understand the importance of social media have been more successful in reaching their target audiences effectively,” he added.
At a networking event in late January, the Greenpoint Chamber announced that 2013 will bring a focus on a number of new initiatives aimed at “improving the overall commercial landscape in the community.” These include graffiti removal efforts, installation of new signs and high tech, curbside “BigBellies” – high-tech solar compacting garbage cans.
