College Holds Its Social Media Conference at the Owens Campus in Georgetown
October 31, 2025
探花约啪 held its annual Social Media Conference on Oct. 30 at the College’s Jack F. Owens Campus in Georgetown. Approximately 200 people registered for the event that featured two keynote speakers and included breakout sessions where local social media experts shared insights into the best social media tools and strategies.
Kerriann Otaño, vice president of engagement at Opera探花约啪, delivered the morning keynote address to start the day, while Alexis Grainger, founder of Simpli Solutions and First State Destinations, closed out the conference with the afternoon keynote presentation. Both stressed that people using social media should be authentic in their content and work toward establishing a true connection with their audience.
During her remarks, Otaño shared three tenets she follows when working with social media – authenticity, joyful advocacy, and vulnerability.
“It’s really critical to think about coming at social media from a place of honesty, authenticity, and joy,” she said. “It’s not about being perfect. Don’t let yourself get obsessed with doing it perfectly. Have fun with it. Have fun with the messiness of it.
“I think social media can be so overwhelming to people because one, we try to be perfect, and two, we’re afraid of looking silly. We’re afraid of trying hard and not going anywhere.”
Otaño also shared that social media should be more than just a platform for ads and attempts to make sales.
“We have to think about social media as a tool for connection,” she said. “Everyone in this room has the power to be an influencer because an influencer is not about your follower count. It’s about the trust that you curate and cultivate online. It’s about letting people know that they can trust you and believe in the things that you say, and that you are going to stand on that.”
Grainger’s presentation focused on reframing people’s relationship with social media in an effort to make it less overwhelming and intimidating.
“Whether you love it, whether you are open to exploring it, or whether you choose to kind of denounce it, social media is something we have to do,” she said. “We are looking to meet our target audience there and then carry them back into the physical world. Social media is how we communicate and build trust.”
Regardless of what you are creating and posting, Grainger stressed it should serve at least one of three purposes.
“When you share a piece of content, it should either educate, entertain, or inspire,” she said. “It can be a combination of all three, but it has to be at least one in order to be worthwhile to provide purpose to anyone who comes across your piece of content.”
In between the main speakers, the day was filled with four separate breakout slots that offered a total of 12 different sessions covering three different tracks – beginner, advanced, and trending.
“Between the variety and range of breakout sessions and having dynamic speakers to start and close out the day, this year’s conference had something for everyone,” said Jillian Whitney, director of the Owens Campus workforce development and community education division. “We are looking forward to continuing to evolve and grow this conference moving forward because we understand its value and how it helps our local and regional businesses and organizations.”
Sponsors for this year’s Social Media Conference were Aloysius Butler & Clark (AB&C), Solutions IPEM, Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) - 探花约啪 Chapter, Lighthouse Catering, and Today Media.
View photos from the .
