This year at SXSW I made it a goal to try to network with as many people as I could. Thanks to my new position at Posse Social Media, I was given a phone number that made this super easy. I simply meet someone who I want to connect with and instead of giving them their one millionth business card of the weekend, I give them a phone number. They text this phone number with their name and email address and they automatically receive a text message from my Posse email address with services that Posse provides as well as all of my contact information.
This tool wowed quite a few people that I encountered at SXSW but it also established a connection with a gentleman from Paris, Patrick Perlmutter. Patrick works for a startup accelerator called Le Camping. I was unfamiliar with the entire concept of a “startup accelerator” so he kindly explained it to me. Le Camping takes 12 startups through a six month long program to prepare them to launch their product/service. The first half of the program is dedicated to creating and improving their product/service. The second half of the program is dedicated to working on their plan for growth, getting their name out there, building their user base, etc. The startups will have the help of the Le Camping team, mentors, and experts through every step of the program. When Patrick explained this to me I immediately thought about how Posse could be a part of this.
Because of my cool networking tool I was able to keep in touch with Patrick during and after the festival. I set up a meeting with Patrick, Tracy (our founder), and myself so that we could explore some possibilities. Patrick explained to us that they have specific partners and “friends” that they have chosen to help these startups. They have a bank that helps them stay on track financially, a law firm that will give them legal advice, and other services as well. After the program these startups have a choice to either keep using these services or not. Patrick explained how they do not have a go-to social media company that they refer their startups to because it is not a very common type of business in Paris. Although we were on the phone, I am sure that Tracy and I were sharing the exact same HUGE smile because we both know that Posse would definitely be able to help.
After some collaboration and discussions with Patrick and our team, Posse has officially become the go-to social media “friend” for Le Camping! We will be helping these startups with their social media presence and showing them how our tools and services could help their companies be very, very successful. This is our first international connection and we are all very excited about the journey that we have ahead with Le Camping. Watch out world, we’re going GLOBAL!