FREDERICTON, N.B. — Kate Belair considers social media a good tool for her job as executive director of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada.
“The women’s institute is modest farm women with rural backgrounds and we need to encourage them to toot their own horn a little bit,” Belair said.
“They are not utilizing this as much as they could and it’s free.”
Her WI branch in Paris, Ont., credits its Facebook presence with increasing its membership to 42 since its first official meeting in April.
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Most of the promotion took place on the page, which resulted in 96 women at an information night.
“There are another dozen who came who haven’t paid yet,” Belair said. “Most are under 40.”
She follows the WI in the United Kingdom, which has added 18,000 new members in the last few years. She wants to do that in Canada.
She presented a social media workshop during the FWIC’s 20th triennial convention in Fredericton, N.B., in June that focused on Facebook’s features and ways to use it.
“We have discussions on Facebook leading into meetings and everyone has a buddy so if someone is not on Facebook, their buddy can print off the information so everyone arrives with the same information for the meeting,” she said.
Belair said it helps branches find out what others are doing around the world. FWIC uses Facebook for communication, frequently posting WI events and community issues.
Elizabeth Rushton from the Stony Plain WI in Alberta, who hopes to create a Facebook page for her branch, said one member uses her personal Facebook page to find vendors and promote the WI’s annual craft sale.
Gisela Nolting from the Rosser Grosse Isle WI branch in Manitoba attended the session to become more familiar with social media.
“We’re doing it partly already, but we could do it more,” she said.
