I recently had the chance to attend a social media masterclass in Dubai hosted by the effervescent Alexandra Maia from House of Social.
It was dubbed Masterclass 3.0 and using the hashtag #HOSMASTERCLASS, was held at The Fridge in Al Serkal Avenue, Dubai.
I interviewed Alexandra Maia almost a year ago after having attended a session she ran at SMWi also held in Al Serkal Avenue and it’s inspiring to see how she’s grown from strength to strength and become an icon of the local social media scene since then. And it’s not hard to see why.
The blue hair is a dead set giveaway and you can spot her from anywhere! But it’s her addictive personality and style that truly makes her stand out. And that’s precisely what it’s all about when it comes to social. You can’t really be reclusive or shy with social media – and Alexandra is anything but that.
As the roller doors were being pulled up, attendees were greeted by her #HOSfamily who were cheering and live broadcasting and taking photos. We were asked our names, how we found out about the masterclass and it felt like you were entering a fun, exclusive club of sorts.
What I love was the fact that there were signs all over the place with links to House of Social social media accounts, a SnapChat ghost so you could add HOS to SnapChat and also get the masterclass geofilter (very cool!) and there was a poster to sign as we left the building with our thoughts and inspirations. Fantastic.
#hosmasterclass even has its own Snapchat geofilter! pic.twitter.com/gwWsAaTQXL
— Jaaved Khatree (@jaaved) October 1, 2017
The thing that really sets Alexandra’s sessions apart from literally anyone else’s (on just about any other topic) is that it has actionable tips at every turn. Like literally, everything is an action item so you know yo’re not just getting fluffed up slides with meaningless stats and obvious statements (‘the internet is changing the world as we know it’). there’s so much to take in that I admit, it can be overwhelming but that’s precisely what makes it so damn good. I don’t work in social media and the topic of the night relating to using social for biz dev isn’t up my alleyway but I could certainly take away plenty of ideas and get a better understanding of social platforms so to me, this was excellent value. I want to be a better digital marketer and attending this masterclass is helping me to skill up.
#hosmasterclass is so full of actionable tips. Every other digital event pales in comparison. Way to go @alexandramaia_! pic.twitter.com/zeJcAUZnL9
— Jaaved Khatree (@jaaved) October 1, 2017
I should also add that Alexandra didn’t just make us sit around on beanbags and listen to her tips and advice – she actually split us into 4 huge groups to put her recommendations into practice – in this case, networking with a purpose. So we were shown how to introduce ourselves, offer value to the other person, see if we were a possible business match (it didn’t matter if we matched or not!), how to efficiently exchange details and of course, take a selfie. I had a load of fun with this and met 6 new people. One of the girls in the audience met 12! Clearly a super networker with plenty of potential. I’m pretty sure others also loved this. Not many events have any sort of active component to them. With more active, fun networking like this, I think we’d see people get far more value out of the events they attend. Some people (like me) need to be ‘forced’ to network!
Finally! Someone actually promoting their social channels at an event! pic.twitter.com/wJ0GUbgekR
— Jaaved Khatree (@jaaved) October 1, 2017
One thing I was a bit disappointed with was the lack of live tweeting. I know people spend more time listening to the speaker but I was one of perhaps 3 people who were using the hashtag. I think more people were broadcasting on Instagram and SnapChat but still – where the live tweeters at?! Twitter is not dead!
Anyway, that’s just a people thing. Nothing to do with the brilliant Alexandra and the #HOSfamily!
If you work in social media and want to get ahead, seriously consider attending a masterclass and heck, just follow House of Social on twitter. Alexandra Maia is set to open the first Social Media Academy in the UAE and she also recently presented to the Dubai Police! So you now she’s got her act together and knows what she’s on about.
The House of Social Masterclass is highly recommended! Thank you for a great event – more power to you Alexandra!
Side note: Alexandra is always live broadcasting so check her out on: HoS Instagram and HoS SnapChat.
1 Comment
Omg this is the most sweetest amazing review I read I’m so thankfull that you took the time to write this with such detail! I’m so in awwww it means the world to me! You are so awsome!