New marketing manager steps up LBK chamber's social media

There is a new kid on the block for the Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce.

Felicia McDermott started on March 15 as the new marketing and member relations manager for the Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce.

Originally from Pennsylvania, McDermott has lived in Florida for the past 23 years. She graduated in 2013 with a degree in event management from the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida. She got her MBA from University of South Florida in 2020. 

McDermott has worked in hospitality for 10 years for multiple nonprofits and five hotels, including Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando, Ritz Carlton Sarasota, Westin Sarasota and Embassy Suites by Hilton Sarasota. 

With a love for social media and marketing, McDermott decided to combine her passion for food with photography and create her own personal food Instagram account, @foodwithfeliciamcd. She said that this account taught her a lot about social media and plans to use these skills to promote the chamber.

“Felicia’s schooling, professional background, skills and vision for moving the Longboat Chamber forward perfectly align with the work we are doing,” said Kim Verreault, chamber president. “We are so excited to have her on board and can already see that she is committed to building relations and helping our chamber and the communities we service shine.”

The Observer sat down with McDermott to find out what she plans to bring to Longboat Key.

What are your responsibilities as marketing director?

I felt this job really combined all my interests with event planning and getting to promote the area. There's like over 200 members right now. That's a big part of my role is helping recruit and doing member marketing and member relations. I'm going to be helping with planning the events, recruiting new members, assisting with social media, creating marketing material and just helping promote our members and their businesses. 

How was your first week?

The first day was pretty jam-packed. We went through a run-through of my responsibilities. Then I really jumped right in and helped prepare for the Savor the Sounds. I made signs for the table through Canva with the different businesses on it. 

Photo by Petra Rivera

I have already learned so much these first couple days. Connie (Darrah) is so helpful and knowledgeable of the area. Hearing her talk to visitors that come in has taught me so much. Kim (Verreault), she's just so sweet. I know I'm gonna learn so much from her experience and she is just so helpful.

How do you plan to bring your previous experience to the job?

I've learned a lot because I have my food Instagram account. I'm so passionate about photography. I don't have a special professional camera, but something I've always loved was taking pictures of my food. So I was like, why don't I start a little blog on Instagram.

At my previous job, I told them I had my own food account and the restaurant didn't really have a social media account. So, I took over their restaurant account for them and really built it up. From there, I was able to do their hotel page. Also in college, I was also always the designated social media person for marketing classes which I loved. 

So that is the biggest thing I want to focus on here at the chamber, exploring what we can do with social media and how we can use it to get these businesses out there.

What are you looking forward to in this job?

This job combines all the things I was really passionate about: events, marketing and then I also just enjoy meeting new people. So, it is the perfect opportunity to learn more and grow. 

What are your next steps as you begin your job?

I want to explore the whole area. Everyone's been so welcoming, supportive and encouraging. Kim and I plan to go to St. Armands Circle to take pictures and meet the business managers there that are members. Our goal is to recruit more businesses. In St. Armands, there's over 100 businesses. So, we really want to make that connection and develop those relationships with those businesses.