Guest Blogger, Leslie Carothers (@tkpleslie) ,CEO of The Kaleidoscope Partnership and the social media agency of record for #140conf Detroit sponsor, Gardner White Furniture, on why a furniture retailer was sponsoring a conference about the real time web.
By Leslie Carothers 
When we were first hired by Gardner White Furniture (@GardnerWhite), we were tasked with coming up with innovative ways to engage young families, their next generation of customers, with the Gardner White brand. For 97 years in Detroit, the Gardner White value proposition has always been: “Providing value for families.”
After listening closely for 3 months on Twitter to what people in Detroit were discussing, we could see what they really cared most about was the future of their city and whether or not there would be job opportunities there for them and their families so they could stay.
It’s no secret that Detroit has had major issues with unemployment which has resulted in the loss of many young families who have been forced to live elsewhere in order to create a secure future for themselves and their children. We also could hear that many people in Detroit loved their city passionately and we saw that there were many grassroots efforts underway to rebuild and rebrand Detroit that were not getting any attention in the local or national press.
So, in the spring of this year, the owner of Gardner White Furniture, Barb Tronstein, (@BarbTronstein) agreed to our idea to hold a “Brainstorm For A Better Detroit” meeting. We had no idea if anyone would show up or not. The entire meeting was set up through Twitter and via phone calls with Eric Brown of Urbane Apartments(@Eric_Urbane) and was held at his popular co-working space in Detroit, @Urbane_Space.
On the night of the event, approximately 20 people showed up. Barb and the team she brought in were both surprised at this turnout since none of us had ever met anyone who showed up. Barb listened and took notes. Afterwards, we discussed with Barb what she had heard, and what she had heard was: “What everyone who attended really wants are opportunities for their businesses so they can grow and succeed and stay here with their families.”
Enter the #140conference. As probably everyone reading this knows who is an active user of social media, the #140conf is the most famous conference in the world about the impact of the real time web on businesses and individuals, attracts the world’s best speakers in whatever city it is held in, and gets an enormous turnout-both online and offline.
We proposed to Barb that Gardner White sponsor the conference as a way to show that she really heard the group that night and took meaningful action.
Why is sponsoring the #140conference Detroit taking meaningful action?
Because the #140conf Detroit provides excellent networking opportunities for the people that attend. These networking opportunities lead to jobs. Jobs lead to Detroit’s young families feeling confident enough to stay in Detroit, buy a home or rent an apartment and, eventually, furnish it.
Is this a huge leap of faith for a furniture store? Yes, but Barb is willing to trust that you, the young Detroit families impacted most by the #140conf Detroit, will “get” what she is doing , appreciate the guts it took for a 97 year old established furniture store to go so far *out of the box* with social media in order to support a web conference and, eventually and hopefully, find ways to let her know you recognize her “leap of faith.”
Three generations of Barb’s family have been raised in Detroit. She knows the #140conference Detroit is important to the people who were there that night at the meeting and what it can mean to those working so hard to re-invent Detroit at the grass roots level.
Gardner White is very appreciative of the local volunteers who are spearheading the #140conference effort. Christopher Barger (@cbarger) of lead sponsor @Buick, @adrianpittman who took the original lead in organizing the volunteers, @estrellabella10 who is doing a great job with speakers, @ericafinley @HajjFlemings @DaveMurr, @djmeph @HubertGAM and all the other volunteers giving so generously of their time.
Gardner White hopes the international attention the #140conf receives will put Detroit firmly back on the map in the minds of investors everywhere and let them know Detroit is a viable and desirable place to invest so they will come to Detroit and help rebuild it for the families Gardner White hopes to serve for the next 97 years.
Please follow @Gardner White and @BarbTronstein on Twitter and please *Like* Gardner White on Facebook at http://facebook.com/GardnerWhiteFurniture . Please take a minute to share with Gardner White what you think of this *new way* they are providing long term value- that matters -to the Detroit and Michigan families Gardner White serves.
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