Choose A or B or BOTH for Maximum Value and Learning

Social Media 101: What's So Social About Media? What Social Media Is, What It's Not, And Why It Matters

Social Media is more popular than ever, and your company is faced with the challenge of making its presence known and communicating its message using new outlets and non-traditional avenues. It's challenging, because these 'non-traditional' avenues are becoming more traditional and you are realizing how important it is to dive into these waters.

Before jumping in with both feet into the great expanse of social media, this workshop will help you charter the waters of social media and will illustrate why this is the next great step for your organization.

• The 'social media framework' – What it is and how it is created?
• Jargon/Lexicon – What are these words and what do they mean?
• What makes this media 'social'?
• Why is this important?
• What’s the next step?

Attend this session to learn why using social media is important and how it can take your organization to a whole new level.

WORKSHOP LEADER: Bill Wittur is the owner and operator of Bottree Digital Services, a full-service digital agency. Bill Wittur has been working as a Digital Strategist in Canada for more than 12 years. He has experience with digital media buying and planning, social strategies, ecommerce activities and developing content for his own and other blogs. He has provided predictions and analysis for a number of Canadian publications and was nominated Media Buyer of the Year (2007) by Toronto's Ad Club.

12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Afternoon break/lunch on your own

1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
AFTERNOON PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP B

Practical Social Media: A Step-By-Step Guide On How To Use, Connect, And Monitor Tools Effectively

• How do you get started and then effectively use the most important social media tools?
• What are the best (and worst) practices?
• What tips and tricks do the pros use?

Join Joseph Thornley and Dave Fleet from Thornley Fallis Communications and 76design as they lead an interactive, hands-on tour through the most important social media tools and show you how to implement them in your organization.

• How to use the most popular tools
   • Blogging
      • Setting up your blog
      • Planning your editorial calendar
      • Blogging policies you should consider
      • Installing software to track your visitor traffic
   • Twitter (microblogging)
      • Setting-up an account
      • Twitter conventions and best practices
      • Getting the most out of your Twitter account
   • Multimedia
      • Using YouTube and Flickr
   • Social bookmarking (delicious)
      • Setting up an account
      • Folksonomy

• How to connect with your community
   • The culture of generosity and what you have to offer
   • Promoting your social media presence
   • Social media relations
   • Best practices in writing your blog
   • Understanding ethical quandaries

• How to monitor and measure online discussions
   • Monitoring in 15 minutes/day with free tools
   • Determining what is important to you and measuring it

This is a hands-on workshop in which you will have the opportunity to work with the tools that are being covered. To get the most out of this session, you should bring notebook computers capable of connecting to the Internet via WiFi. If you cannot bring a notebook computer, you may still attend.

WORKSHOP LEADERS: Dave Fleet, Senior Consultant, brings his passion for strategic communications, results-based focus and creative thinking, along with six years of communications experience, to all aspects of his work at Thornley Fallis Communications. A skilled communicator with both public and private sector experience, Mr. Fleet joined Thornley Fallis from the Ontario government where he held a variety of progressive communications positions in both the Cabinet Office and in line ministries.

Michael O'Connor Clarke, Vice President, Thornley Fallis Communications has more than twenty years' experience in corporate communications and marketing in Europe and North America. Recognized as a pioneer in social media, Michael has been an active blogger (http://michaelocc.com) since early 2001 and is acknowledged as a leading consultant on the integration of social media approaches within mainstream public relations programs. At Thornley Fallis, Michael's role is to help TFC clients make the appropriate connections with all of their audiences through both traditional and social media communications campaigns.