Facebook comes to South Bend for special event
Facebook paid a visit to South Bend Monday.
The social media giant’s free workshop offered advice to small business owners in Michiana, with a focus on women.
Lela Crawford, owner of Rooted Sparrow in Osceola, is the type of entrepreneur Facebook is encouraging.
She uses social media every day for her business and customers.
“I build websites, graphic design, content management, social media marketing, all that good stuff,” Crawford said.
In front of dozens of people, Crawford shared her experiences as part of the event panel.
The goal was to teach business owners how to use the website to reach customers.
“We came to South Bend because we saw there was a really thriving small business community,” Janelle Mungo, program and events manager for the Facebook booster business program said.
Aside from promoting the social site, the event aimed to inspire women.
“We’ve seen that women’s small businesses are growing at a rapid pace. Women kind of want to be able to expand their networks,” Mungo said.
It was a message of inspiration U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski said she had to be a part of.
“This is why these kinds of workshops are important, really empowering women to go beyond think beyond and do beyond and all ships rise,” Walorski said in an interview after her speech.
In addition to learning how to promote their businesses on the social network, the business owners were able network with one another.
“You bring all these women together, and allow them to work together and empower each other,” Crawford said.
Facebook has held events like this all over the country but this was the first of its kind in South Bend.