Choose A or B or BOTH for Maximum Value and Learning

Social Media 101:
How To Leverage The Use Of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, And Virtual Worlds To Change The Way Your Organization Collaborates, Communicates And Manages Intellectual Capital To Achieve Your Goals

You've heard the buzz words - wikis, blogs, RSS, Flickr, YouTube, Facebook - but what do they mean to you? More importantly, why should the government care?

The interactive, collaborative, and transparent nature of social media is fundamentally changing the way businesses and governments operate – moving from a top-down (hierarchical) structure to one that is horizontal and often bottom up. From wikis in the Intelligence Community to blogs at the Transportation Security Administration, the government is already using these tools on a daily basis.

Learn how social media is changing the traditional intranet, gain insight on the purpose and strategy behind the technologies, and explore how you can leverage these techniques to change the way your organization collaborates, communicates, and manages intellectual capital. You will gain an understanding of the risks and benefits of social media, but more importantly, understand the risks of NOT using social media.

• Discover why successful implementation of social media is more about people and processes than technology
• Understand how to effectively use social media in conjunction with traditional tactics to accomplish your objectives
• Learn how to gain upper management understanding and support
• Gain understanding of how to implement strategies for social media tools
• Receive a hands-on review of how you can immediately start using blogs, wikis, and social bookmarking to make your job easier

WORKSHOP LEADERS: Grant R. McLaughlin is a Principal in the global consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. Grant has more than 17 years of experience in strategic communication and stakeholder engagement working with a variety of public sector and not-for-profit organizations.

Steve Radick is an Associate at the global consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.  Steve leads Booz Allen’s Social Media practice, focusing on how to address the people, process, technology and infrastructure components of social media.

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 Monitor Community Conversation, Distinguish Opinion Leaders And Become Successful Ambassadors To Online Communities While Building Your Organization's Reputation

In the digital age, word-of-mouth means as much for your organization's reputation as headline news, but government and business's efforts to engage online communities often sink without a trace in the vast sea of electronic noise. That's because most online community citizens who receive your message are dead-ends as most of them simply won’t pass it on. In fact, every variety of social media -- the blogosphere, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Digg, Wikipedia, listservs, and the rest -- is dominated by a small minority of highly motivated users who diligently work to influence their peers and set the tempo of the online debate. Identifying and cultivating relationships with these opinion leaders is what spells the difference between a social media outreach effort that produces results -- and one that just wastes your resources.

This workshop is designed for executives and managers who are responsible for putting their agency's message out to the public, highlighting its accomplishments, and managing its reputation during crises. Bring your laptop as this will be hands-on session.

• Efficiently and continuously monitor community conversation about your agency and its areas of responsibility
• Distinguish opinion leaders from followers in online communities like MySpace, YouTube, and others
• Understand what motivates these individuals -- and develop engagement strategies for cultivating productive relationships with them
• Identify members of your staff who have what it takes to be successful ambassadors to online communities

WORKSHOP LEADER: Eric Eckl, is a Blogger and Founder of Water Words That Work, a boutique firm providing contemporary communications consulting to nature protection and pollution control organizations. He previously has served as a press officer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and senior strategist at Bonfire Consulting.