In the heart of VA Highland sits Manuel's Tavern. Manuel's has a very rich history of being the place to be for discussion about news, politics, and technology trends. I was first introduced to Manuel's Tavern in 2005 when I attended a bloggers meeting.
While I was working on some projects that focused on building an online community focused on Atlanta activities I found myself going to Manuel's for lunch and inspiration.
Last night I attended the July Social Media Club event where two of my clients discussed their online community building efforts. It was appropriately held at the place that has been my source of inspiration during these projects, Manuel's Tavern.
Jeannie Ericson Director of Lens on Atlanta, a project that is being sponsored by Public Broadcasting of Atlanta discussed the vision of creating a site that brings the many various communities within metro Atlanta together to discuss arts and entertainment, neighborhood and city improvements or to simply stay connected with our neighbors. The site will be launching soon, but you can follow the development progress at their Twitter account, @lensonatlanta.
Tony Conway from the Atlanta Children's Shelter discussed the amazing work that they do in the basement of a church on Peachtree. Children of displaced families are cared for and educated in a NAEYC accredited program, a program that holds the highest standards of quality for child care centers. While the children are getting the best in quality education, their parents are going through programs that help them get back on their feet. I had the opportunity to develop a plan for the Shelter to leverage social media to connect with the local community about their different programs and fundraising opportunities. I learned last night that through our social media outreach efforts their 5K run exceeded expectation by more than 100%!
It was a great meeting and Manuel's provided wonderful service. The only challenge with meetings like this at Manuel's is that the place gets busy, which means it gets loud and the rooms are not sound proof. But it is a place where members of the community continues to come together.