AUSTIN—The Austin Economic Club (AEC), a not for profit organization developed in 2004 for the purpose of gathering Texas’ most distinguished political and business leaders, has started their 2009 Distinguished Lecture Series in style with a new Facebook and YouTube site.

“We’ve already seen the affect new media tools have on our general public in the Obama campaign,” said Jim Cardle of Texas Citizen Action Network, and co-founder of the Austin Economic Club, “We want to make sure we were utilizing all options in providing Texans with the ability to understand our current economic status as well as helping them form solutions to our most pressing problems and issues.” 

With over 175 million active users, Facebook has proven to be a smart communication tool. The AEC’s Facebook page will be able to simultaneously reach local Austinites and those people not directly in the Austin area but still interested in what’s going on within the business and political realm. 

AEC also hopes that now, through their Facebook page, AEC will be able to spark an interest among Texas’ younger demographic in what they can do to assure a better future for Texas and the U.S.

The YouTube webpage will be in correspondence with AEC’s Facebook page, providing supporters who are not in attendance at AEC events the opportunity to view clips from the speaker’s address. 

“We want to foster awareness of current issues facing Texas and America, but we also want to develop problem-solving adults who are able to make educated decisions when voting and who are able to actively engage in the formation of Texas policies,” said Ashley Baker, Executive Director of AEC, “We believe that this is more than possible with the use of new media tools such as Facebook and YouTube, and we are excited about this new venture.”

AEC’s Facebook will contain current news of upcoming events and stories relating to those events while YouTube will give a glimpse of previous AEC speakers.

AEC will be holding their next event for the 2009 Distinguished Lecture Series on May 21st with Matt Rose, CEO of Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway. To buy tickets or to find out more about AEC, visit  www.AustinEconomicClub.com. 

To become a supporter of AEC see their Facebook page at www.Facebook.com and search Austin Economic Club; to visit the YouTube site go to www.youtube.com/AustinEconomicClub.