8:00 a.m.
Registration & Continental Breakfast

8:30 a.m.
Chairperson's Welcome & Opening Remarks

Gadi Ben-Yehuda, Social Media Director
IBM CENTER FOR THE BUSINESS OF GOVERNMENT
Conference Chairperson

8:45 a.m.

Building Senior Management Support For Your Social Media Programs

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has been a leader in the development of community in the "New Media" global information environment. "New Media" is no longer "new," neither are the basic principles that guide conduct that communicates and protects your reputation as well as the network.

In this session, you will learn why it is important to understand the fundamental change wrought by the World Wide Web and the democratization of publishing.

• Think strategically about this new media/social media environment
• Understand, from the leadership perspective, why it is important to your organization's reputation to be engaged

Jack Holt, Senior Strategist for Emerging Media
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

9:30 a.m.

How To Strategically Engage Communities To Action
Using Social Media

For more than a decade, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency responsible for AmeriCorps, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), Senior Corps and Learn and Serve programs, has strategically engaged citizens to action using social media. Social media has been a centerpiece for CNCS as many national initiatives, such as Martin Luther King Day of Service, AmeriCorps Week, The Communicators’ Institute and VISTA were implemented. In this session, you will get a peek at how VISTA is implementing a successful social media strategy for its outreach efforts.

• Traffic to the VISTA Campus (VISTA’s online learning platform)
• Enrollment in VISTA e-seminars (webshops)
• Interest in the specifics of serving as a VISTA, etc.

In addition, you will learn how your own organization, like VISTA, can manage multiple social media channels while creating online support for current, past and prospective volunteers, by linking the many resources available to them, engaging the community and helping them to be resources for each other.

• Clarifying what your program needs to accomplish
• Where can social media best help your programs?
• Understanding your audience(s) and their interests
• Developing a social media strategy
• Transferability – what you can do starting now
• Lessons learned
• Beyond the numbers - what’s next for your community?

Zachary Jackson, VISTA Leaders Outreach & Recruitment Specialist
AMERICORPS VISTA OUTREACH UNIT,
CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE

Michelle Bond, Project Manager
CAMPAIGN CONSULTATION, INC.

10:15 a.m.

Break-Out Blitz! Network And Discuss Social Media Challenges With Your Fellow Conference Attendees

This session will open the conversation by connecting you with other conference participants and gain greater understanding into many similar issues, concerns, and challenges that your peers are also facing. Become acquainted with your fellow conference attendees in this fun and fast-paced forum!

11:15 a.m.

Letting Go And Reaching Out: Can Agencies Outsource Blogging And Social Media Activities – Yes They Can!

Building a solid online community requires consistent effort and follow-through and this can be challenging for agency staff with other priorities to sustain. In early 2010, some local governments in the Washington, DC area piloted a different approach: they outsourced it.

• Defined their audiences
• Measured whether their message got through
• Paid the bloggers based on their success
• Struck a balance between promoting agencies' messages and creating
  appealing content for readers
• Protected the agencies' reputation while allowing for a free exchange
  of ideas and opinions

Finally, this panel will share how their results compared to previous efforts and what they would do differently next time.

Steve Bieber, Water Resources Technical Manager
METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS

Laura Grape, Senior Environmental Planner
NORTHERN VIRGINIA REGIONAL COMMISSION

Eric Eckl, Principal
WATER WORDS THAT WORK, LLC

12:00 p.m.

Life-Changing Communications: Using Social Media To Exponentially Expand Your Reach To Multicultural Audiences

Health disparities have been and continue to be a public health challenge. When it comes to cancer, these disparities are particularly pronounced as many members of special populations experience a greater cancer burden by some measures. In response to this, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) developed a special communications component to reach special populations with important news and information about cancer. In the past year, NCI's minority outreach effort has reached new heights through pioneering and embracing social media. Through principally Twitter and YouTube, NCI's multicultural media outreach function has expanded and enhanced its reach exponentially in 2009 and 2010.

For the Multicultural Media Outreach team, social media has actually served as an intermediary to the minority communities as the feedback through social media has helped NCI tailor its outreach approach to be more culturally relevant. The results from employing social media are promising, whether it be steady growth of followers on Twitter or hits for cultural cancer awareness ideas on YouTube.

• When social media is presented in a culturally relevant way, it is more likely to be used by media outlets that serve minority populations
• How social media tools can enhance and increase the reach of traditional media tools, including the reach of special populations/communities
• YouTube, and how this tool provides a dynamic way to personalize the dissemination of communications; it can work especially well for tailoring information to minority populations
• How to point people in multicultural communities to government resources

James Alexander, Public Affairs Specialist, Office of Communications and Education
NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

12:45 p.m.
Lunch On Your Own -- But Not Alone!

Join a group of your colleagues for lunch with an informal discussion facilitated by one of our expert speakers. Take this opportunity to join others in a small, interactive group setting to network and brainstorm solutions to your most pressing social media concerns.

2:15 p.m.

Integrating Social Media Into A Crisis Communications Plan During Disaster Response

Highly trained Navy Medicine personnel deploy with Sailors and Marines worldwide - providing critical mission support aboard ship, in the air, under the sea and on the battlefield. During times of great disaster, the Navy is often the first responder providing needed humanitarian relief to those in need. Navy Medical personnel were among the first to arrive in Haiti following a 7.0 earthquake on January 20, 2010, that left more than 230,000 dead.

Participants will leave with new information and understanding on how to fully utilize social media tools in conjunction with traditional communication channels during disaster and crisis situations.

• Integrate social media into your crisis communications plan
• Monitor social media sites to gain awareness of developing issues involving your organization
• Communicate with relief workers and non-government organizations through social media to keep lines of communication open
• Measure social media and keep using it on a shoestring budget

Joseph "Cappy" Surette, Navy Captain
BUREAU OF NAVY MEDICINE AND SURGERY

3:15 p.m.

Utilizing Social Networking Tools, New Media And Mobile Media To Advocate And Educate Your Audience

The Global Healty Living Foundation (GHLF) utilizes social networking channels through disease-specific web sites, such as CreakyJoints for arthritis (http://www.CreakyJoints.org), CreakyBones for osteoporosis (http://www.CreakyBones.org) and RedPatch for Psoriasis (http://www.RedPatch.com) – with membership of patients, caregivers and providers averaging 40,000.

You will hear examples of how the GHLF has mobilized patients for the purpose of advocacy and education utilizing social networking tools, new media and mobile media outlets.

• Mobilize constituents (members, patients, etc.) to encourage word-of-mouth awareness
• Amplify engagement between these groups using social media
• Integrate new media and mobile media to achieve success

Seth Ginsberg, President
GLOBAL HEALTHY LIVING FOUNDATION, INC.

4:00 p.m.


Leveraging Social Media To Foster Economic Development: Discovering New Tools That Help Employees Work Smarter And Be More Responsive

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) will highlight how they are using digital solutions to better inform, support and listen to the Nation’s entrepreneurs. SBA continues to launch and explore new tools in an effort to be … well, as “entrepreneurial” as their customers. The team will showcase new features of SBA’s re-launched website, explain the Agency’s communication and outreach strategy, and discuss tools they believe allow their employees to work smarter and be more responsive, helping you identify and implement their tactics to your organization.

Finally, SBA will cover strategies that can also be applied to your organization, including:

• Utilizing popular social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to connect with your target audiences
• Launching open platforms to foster citizen innovation and build online communities by connecting the dots – how SBA plans to enlist employee power, partner "smarts", and the lending community
• Building content and tools and then giving them all way…through creative common licensing and public/private "challenges"

Jack Bienko, Deputy Director for Entrepreneurship Education
Nancy Sternberg, Program Manager for eGov and Communications
U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

4:45 p.m.

End of Day One

5:00 p.m.

Networking Reception: Please Join Us!

We invite you to join us for a drink as you relax with your peers. All conference attendees and speakers are welcome to join us for this special opportunity to continue networking. Don't miss this chance to benchmark new ideas over complimentary drinks!

Sign up during the day for dinner with a group. Take advantage of DC's fine dining while you continue to network with your colleagues.