As a member of the Women’s Business Council – Southwest (WBCS), I have the honor of serving on the committee that coordinates and hosts our CEO Roundtable series. These luncheons cover topics like communications, cash-flow management, social media and negotiations in an intimate setting, with discussions led by subject matter experts (SMEs) at each table. What better way to learn and network than at a table for five!
Last week’s luncheon topic was mobilization. In our increasingly mobile society, every company has to adjust – and adjust quickly. This movement affects everything from websites to e-commerce to customer communications. In the last year, mobile searches have quadrupled. And according to eMarketer Online, 66% of Americans ages 25 to 34 own a smartphone.
We were joined by an impressive panel of SMEs. Our experts included Kirk Ballou of Flash Widgets; Will Bralick of Paladin Logic; Bear Cahill of Brainwash, Inc.; Michael Christopher of Elemental Methods; Bryan Schneider of AT&T; and Craig Thompson of Global Web HQ. These guys weren’t shy about sharing knowledge and best practices. (I’m sure that sitting at a table full of women helped.)
Most importantly for the food-lovers in the group, lunch was held at Ocean Prime, a fabulous restaurant here in Dallas. Roundtable attendees had the choice between a ginger crusted salmon or filet mignon. I chose the filet, or course. Yum!
I was surprised by how much I learned in such a short time. Did you know that when browsing on their phones, 40% of smartphone users will immediately leave a site if it’s not mobile optimized? They’ll bounce over to the first competitor that has a user-friendly site on their device. With one-in-seven searches coming from smartphones, it is a sound and strategic move to be optimized for mobile.
If you’d like to learn more about the WBCS and our CEO Roundtable series, contact the WBCS. Who knows? You might be a SME at our next event!