SocialFest wants to turn McAllen into a hub for creators and brands

McALLEN — Rio Grande Valley media event SocialFest set lofty goals for itself Tuesday, saying it aimed to bring more than 3,000 people to its November event and become a defining institution in South Texas.

SocialFest’s inaugural iteration drew more than 1,000 attendees to Mission last year to network, hear from social media gurus, and learn how to market their brand.

Social Fest means to triple that number for its second event in McAllen this year.

The Valley, SocialFest organizers said Tuesday, deserves the event. 

They said the future is bright and the possibilities are sky high.

“Burning Man is in the middle of the desert. Woodstock was just an area where everyone decided to go. What would be stopping us from doing it here?” Yaw Sam, SocialFest’s co-founder, said. 

Last year’s event was a success, more than even its backers thought it would be. 

Hundreds of people milled about the event in Mission, snapping photos with selfie sticks or recording videos of themselves.

People podcasted and talked and listened to speakers, most of whom were digital creators or business people or public relations professionals.

The crowd, though mostly young, was diverse. Many of the attendees were people who consider themselves influencers or who want to become influencers.

Others were small business owners or representatives from larger businesses looking to grow their brands.

Some were politicians, looking just a little stodgy compared to the social media gurus gaggling around them.

Leah Wise, one of the event’s sponsors and speakers, said Tuesday that no one should feel out of place at SocialFest.

Social media, she said, is simply a necessity.

“You’re not immune to social media. It’s at a point where everybody needs to be on it,” Wise said.

A well-known attorney who has aggressively marketed her business, Wise said social media was instrumental to her success.

“You can have someone with zero generational wealth. Zero connections. Zero anything, really, starting from the bottom, and being able to create the business of their dreams,” she said.

Sam said he thinks that opportunity will drive even more people to attend Social Fest in November, especially because of what the event has planned for this year.

There’ll be a few more speakers this year, he said, though the bigger change will be the addition of more workshops in smaller rooms rather than speeches to loud crowds.

Sam said he thinks those speakers will resonate with local content creators.

Among those speakers will be Keith Lee, a former mixed martial artist and current social media food critic with millions of followers on different platforms.

“He’s one of the most influential food creators in the world. He built a following of over 16 million people by doing it very simple: being honest, being kind and showing up for small businesses that needed a voice,” Sam said.

Lee will be one of four keynote speakers, and is the first of them to be announced.