YYC Girl Gang Hang
Women, pie and a whole lot of Instagram
Robyn Welsh & Kari Pedersen, Staff Writer & Publishing editor
Imagine 60 creative and amazing women together in one room with hundreds of slices of pie. At the February YYC Girl Gang Hang (which was held at Pie Cloud in Kensington) women learned about marketing themselves, their businesses and using Instagram as a tool for a successful blog or company, all while enjoying amazing happy-hour priced pies.
Bree Johnson gets passionate talking about Instagram | Photo By Robyn Welsh
Throughout the night, women conversed with each other and were challenged by the creators of the Girl Gang Hang to find others to collaborate with. On top of it all, there were contests throughout the night. The first contest winner got a session with Bree Johnson (@breejohnsonphoto on Instagram), a local photographer who puts a colourful twist on everything she captures, while True Buch (@true_buch on Instagram) gave away two giant bottles of kombucha.
Bree Johnson spoke to the crowd about how having a visually pleasing Instagram can lead to increased traffic to blogs, more exposure for any products made by the instagrammer or simply more followers. Having an amazing Insta-aesthetic will interest people and make them want to learn more about you and your brand. Johnson mentioned that Instagram has changed a lot since it first came out, and hashtags have become useful for consumers to search for products that are of interest to them.
Local businesses are booming, and having a community that can work together to uplift each other rather than pull each other down is very unique. Creating an outlet where woman can meet a find support with one another is an important way to get your business moving. These connections inspire a strong female community in Calgary.
Overall, the night was fun and an amazing opportunity to meet interesting, local women. Plus, there was pie, and pie is always good.
By heading to the Girl Gang blog you can find out more about the organization and minds behind YYC Girl Gang Hang, and learn about other local entrepreneurs. All of the women who founded the YYC Girl Gang Hang have an interest in local business themselves and know the importance of networking and finding a community of support. Plus what is better than a girls night and making new friends? Nothing.
Most of these women can be found hanging out at Market Collective in between the YYC Girl Gang Hangs, which is a great way to introduce yourself and get yourself out there before the next hang. Introduce yourself to them, and get ready to mingle.
The March Girl Gang Hang is currently sold out, but a simple email to the creators can get you on a wait list. After March the founders are switching to meeting once every two months instead of every month. Keep an eye out for the next hang in May! The YYC Girl Gang Hang website can be found at www.yycgirlgang.com.
