Jump-start your conference experience by attending these interactive workshops. These information-packed sessions are a great opportunity to network with fellow attendees while taking a hands-on, common-sense approach to mastering social media strategies that will enhance your understanding of the informative, case study presentations throughout the entire conference.

Choose A or B or BOTH for Maximum Value and Learning

Social Media 101: How To Successfully Leverage New Social Media Tools In Your Organization And Achieve Organizational Buy-In

In this in-depth workshop, you will learn about emerging new communication strategies using social media and explore ways to use them to better connect with your stakeholders. You will gain a tactical overview of the latest tools, hear specific government case studies, and explore and discuss ways these methods can be implemented within your agency.

• Utilize Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media services
• Use blogs and wikis to better communicate and share information
• Empower existing supporters to spread your message within their own networks

WORKSHOP LEADER: Mike Panetta is a principal at Panetta Communications, a public affairs and political strategy firm in Washington that specializes in utilizing new and emerging media to help client achieve their policy and advocacy objectives. He is also the elected U.S. "Shadow" Representative for the Disstrict of Columbia, and is a leading voice in the campaign for congressional representation for the citizens of Washington, DC.

Testimonials From Past Mike Panetta Sessions:

"This session was a good scene-setter for the rest of the conference."

"Many valuable ideas resulted for me to take back to the office."

12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Lunch On Your Own

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

How To Measure The Impact Of Social Media And
Determine Next Steps

• Reviewing several evaluative techniques and their pros and cons
• Exploring and comparing social media endeavors of governments around the globe
• Developing a tailored measurement framework in your agency
• Applying the framework to a scenario in real-time

This session will be highly participatory, engaging participants in an exploration of best practices and brainstorming. Using Government 2.0 tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube; and learning in real-time from sites such as USA.gov and Europa.eu, you will walk away with a clearer understanding of what government agencies are doing, how citizens are getting engaged, and what you need to do next.

WORKSHOP LEADERS: Steve Lunceford, a communications consultant for Deloitte Services, LP, has 20 years experience in media relations and strategic communications, working with key international, U.S., local and trade media on behalf of firms such as Sprint, Choice Hotels International, BearingPoint, RadioShack and the NFL. With broad-based experience, knowledge and skills in corporate positioning and raising awareness for brands and business/consumer products and services, he has supported a variety of industries including enterprise IT and wireless, public sector, consumer technology and hospitality/travel. Steve is a specialist in crisis communications planning and execution, and is an evangelist for the use of new media technologies to help achieve traditional communications objectives. He is the creator of GovTwit.com, the world's largest directory of government using Twitter, and a co-host of Gov20Radio.com, a weekly podcast about the use of collaborative technologies in government.

Chris McCroskey is a Director at Rockfish Interactive, a full-service interactive marketing agency located in Northwest Arkansas. Prior to joining Rockfish, Chris was active in the worlds of social media and politics and is the co-founder of TweetCongress.org, a website which initially began as a grassroots effort to encourage politicians on Capitol Hill to begin tweeting with constituents. Chris is an active speaker on the topics of social media and politics and spoke at the National Conference of State Legislatures, World Affairs Council and the U.S. Department of State International Visitors Program. Chris contributed to the O’Reilly Media book "Open Government" due out early this spring.