Yesterday, our team of Webhead-maniacs attended a phenomenal event thrown by Xcellimark and hosted by the Post Card Inn of St. Pete Beach.  Our team, along with 172 other local businesses gathered together to celebrate Tampa Bay Business Journal’s, Social Media Madness competition.  Each business joined with the hope of expanding their audience (and winning), having a stronger connection with their fans (and winning) and increasing their overall brand awareness (and, of course, winning). With only a few days left in the competition, everyone was eager to learn how to get a leg up in this competition.

Everyone seemed to have their own theories on how to move onto the next round but Xcellimark gracefully shared some of their own ‘tricks of the trade.’  Funny enough, even in 2012, some businesses are still resistant to social media, or at the very least keep it on the backburner.  This competition, as well as this meeting, helps the less enthusiastic to grasp the enormity of the impact that social platforms have on today’s businesses.

Above all, the point of this competition is to encourage local businesses to embrace the merge of search and social with open arms.  Our company, along with every other company there, has been ramping up our social media efforts to increase fans, followers, and most importantly, fan engagement.  Best line of the night went to Xcellimark keynote speaker, Mark Hughs, who jokingly asked the audience, “Did everyone know that Google has a social network?”, showing that us Webheads aren’t the only ones who have begrudgingly embraced this social midget since papa Google forced our hands.

All in all, it was an enjoyable event and allowed for local Tampa businesses to connect with each other and put a face behind the website. Regardless of who moves on to the next round or who ultimately wins, no one can deny that this competition has put a fire in the social media belly of Tampa Bay’s businesses.  While we here at Webhead would LOVE to win and encourage everyone to continue to vote for us (shameless plug!), we too have already seen incredible results from this contest.  I would like to personally thank both Xcellimark for presenting along with Post Card Inn for hosting on behalf of our whole team here at Webhead Interactive…and may the best man win!