The Content Creator Bootcamp is intended to address one of the biggest hurdles small businesses face: social media marketing. While many of our entrepreneurs have wonderful products and services, they often hit a wall when it comes to capturing content and strategic posting to bring awareness to their business. Social media is a growing medium for consumers making purchasing decisions, so we wanted to bridge the knowledge gap and provide our customers with successful social media marketing tactics. In the early stages of business—our primary audience—many entrepreneurs cannot afford to hire social media managers and influencers to capture their content and manage their pages. This program encouraged attendees to confidently manage their social media presence as they build and grow their personal or professional brands.

The structure was comprised of several workshops that would typically be offered separately due to their modality. The first workshop was a panel with local influencers and content creators discussing their journeys, offering advice and opening up about the realities of what goes into successful social media management. The panel consisted of a family-centric influencer, a professional social media manager and the chief storyteller for a local government agency. Professional photographer Austin Hill gave hands-on instructions on how to capture and edit high-quality content with limited resources. A workshop led by Emmy Award-winning journalist Stephon Dingle focused on brand storytelling and making the most out of a viral moment. Clear Minds Counseling & Consulting focused on practical tools for embedding wellness practices into content creation and social media management. Each workshop met its intended goal of allowing attendees to talk through roadblocks and tools to aid them.

We had 51 attendees for this inaugural bootcamp. A majority came with the intention of posting better-quality content and learning new tools. This event strengthened the library’s relationships with presenters and gained new customers who recognized the library as more than a place to check out books. The bootcamp was an opportunity to introduce lesser-known library resources, like camera kits in our Library of Things, instructional databases, meeting spaces and programs. Participants were often shocked to learn of the variety of services and programs on modern media topics. Everyone walked away with knowledge on best platforms and content they can post or utilize that very day. Building off the success of the Content Creator Bootcamp, we have offered one-off programs to support creators, like a presentation of the US Patent and Trademark Office, which included how to protect content created for social media, and have planned additional content creation programs for specific audiences.