8:00 a.m.
Continental Breakfast & Networking

8:30 a.m.

Chairperson's Opening Of Day Two & Presentation:
Government NOW: What Communication Leaders Need To Know About Social Media To Deliver Tangible Value To Your Audiences

During this session, you'll get practical, usable strategies to effectively create eGovernment Web 2.0 services that deliver tangible value to constituents.  This interactive discussion will address the four pillars of your future social media strategy: data, participation, and customer service.

In this session, you will gain an understanding of the building blocks of Web 2.0, as well as show you several successful best practices from across all levels of government.  The session will conclude with a lengthy Q&A -- a time to "Ask the Consultant" anything you've ever wondered about Twitter, Facebook, tracking metrics, policy, etc.

Hillary Hartley, Director of Integrated Marketing
NIC INC.

9:30 a.m.

Coordinating Your Social Media Launch While Staying In Budget

After the launch of the step-by-step Development Services Guide targeted for the professional developer/builder, the City of Raleigh, North Carolina, began looking for ways to address another segment of their customer base. This group is the do-it-yourself home improvement guy or gal.  This group would find the Development Services Guide a daunting, overwhelming sea of information. The goal was to provide the do-it-yourself person a quick and easy way to understand the overall process described around project types (i.e. decks and screened-in-porches, swimming pools and hot tubs, enclosed spaces and when a permit is required). Video seemed like the logical media to provide a means of show and tell for what can be highly technical information.

The next step was to figure out how to make this happen during the current budget restraints. The City of Raleigh was in the midst of a hiring freeze and the office had no experience in the area of video.  The City however, discovered some wonderful resources to help leverage these projects.  Over a ten-week period, the City created four How-to Compliance videos to help their customers understand the benefits of having their home improvement project permitted and inspected.  These videos are available on the City’s web site, on their YouTube channel and on their Facebook user group.

You will take away lessons the City had to learn, specifically focusing on:

• Creative budgeting to get a project off the ground
• Establishing an overall focus of video segments
• Filming, interviews, script writing
• Coordination with other departments to make the project a success
• Marketing the final product so that you get the best return on your investment

Sharon G. Felton, Public Information Manager, City Manager Office
Development Services Division
CITY OF RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA

10:50 a.m.

Using Social Media To Communicate Complicated Information In Ways That Are Meaningful And Understandable To Any Audience - - While Collaborating Across Multiple Agencies

In January 2009, the Department of Defense (DoD) launched, “Armed with Science: Research and Applications for the Modern Military,” a weekly webcast that featured live interviews with scientists, engineers, and other experts from over 50 government organizations. In the course of 64 episodes, the webcast covered virtually every existing scientific discipline, as well as science policy, education, and history. Importantly, Armed with Science engaged its audience entirely through the use of social media tools like Twitter, BlogTalkRadio, and Facebook, redefining how DoD uses the web to communicate science to the public.

By 2010, the Armed with Science webcast had been downloaded over 250,000 times, which prompted its expansion into a fully-fledged science and technology blog.  In the spirit of science, the blog now serves a testing ground – an “experiment in progress” – to explore new social technologies and strategies that better engage the public.

In this session, you will learn how to use social media to communicate complicated topics in ways that are meaningful and understandable to any audience, including:

• Using social media to communicate complicated topics in ways that are meaningful and understandable to any audience
• Creating a dynamic web communications strategy that can evolve based on metrics, new technologies, and other feedback
• Collaborating with other federal agencies to highlight synergies, engage new audiences, and improve content distribution through social media
• The importance of being authentic and giving your social media presence a face

John J. Ohab, PhD, New Technology Strategist
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE –&– OMNITEC SOLUTIONS, INC.

11:40 a.m.

How To Use Open Source Solutions To Overcome Cultural, Legal And Policy Issues In Rolling Out Your Social Media Plan

In 2007, a pilot project at NASA Ames Research Center explored the use of open source web content management systems for rapidly developing modern web experiences as well as the adoption of blogging practices for efficiently distributing center news, sharing scientific research activities to interested parties, and establishing a two-way communication channel with the public.  This project, called Ames Spotlight, also sought to leverage the capabilities of social content distribution channels that were emerging on the web at the time. 

The story of the Ames Spotlight pilot will share how open source solutions like WordPress are better prepared than bloated enterprise solutions to evolve as quickly as the web does. The Spotlight project also ran head first into cultural, legal, and policy issues that limited rapid technology innovation and adoption of social media capabilities.  Lessons learned and strategies for dealing with those challenges will be shared.  Additionally, best practices for mobilizing a distributed knowledge enterprise to adopt and participate in blogging and related social media activities will be discussed. 

Leave this session with strategies and plans for:

• Making the case for open source technologies
• Evangelizing blogging and social media within government enterprises
• Using editorial strategies in distributed content enterprises for public web content
• Dealing with the cultural, policy, and legal challenges in incorporating blogging into government web content practices
• Mitigating risk when letting the general public add and remix content (via commenting and social web sharing) originating from a government web site

J.J. Toothman, Web Strategist
NASA AMES RESEARCH CENTER

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.

2:00 p.m.

Group Exercise: Brainstorm Solutions And New Ideas You Can Use

You asked for it, you got it! Interact and discuss solutions to your social media challenges with your fellow attendees and our experienced speakers. You will leave with new tools and hands-on experience and ideas for more successfully applying best practices to your own social media initiatives.

2:45 p.m.

Leveraging Your Social Media Presence To Gain Awareness And To Reach Your Global Audience

Genome Alberta is a not-for-profit research organization funded by the Provincial and Federal governments in Canada. They make extensive use of social media on both sides of the border to raise awareness with the general public, reach key influencers, and engage the science community.

In this session, you will learn how the organization has managed to take its small size and leverage its online presence to reach out to an international audience using a virtual team based in Canada and the United States. The organization has contributed to the development of an open source news application, which Genome Alberta has adapted to the biotech sector.

Clearing a minefield in Croatia may seem like it is a long way from using social media to your organization or department but you will hear how a little creative thought can take you a long way in developing your goals and objectives while avoiding potential wrecks along the way.
 
You will also leave this session with ideas on how to:

• Select the right social media course for your audience and for the task at hand
• Make efficient use of your content and resources
• Pull together both social and mainstream media in your communications strategy to get the best return on your communications dollar
• Keep your online efforts dynamic and not get stuck in the social media mud

Mike Spear, Director of Corporate Communications
GENOME ALBERTA, CANADA

3:35 p.m.

Afternoon Refreshment & Networking Break

3:50 p.m.

How To Utilize External Social Media Tools To Spread Your Message And Get Your Constituents Engaged

The State of Illinois currently manages a citizen service portal platform which engages the community on topics such as spending cuts and job growth, while leveraging the platform for transparency and efficiency in government.  This session will highlight the external use of social media within the State of Illinois and the value of the constituent engagement programs currently available.

Specifically, you’ll learn how your own social media platform can
also be enabled and benefited by:

• Cost-savings
• Records management
• Available open-source applications

Terry Lutes, Chief Operating Officer
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY,
STATE OF ILLINOIS

Kent Cunningham, Solutions Architect, Applied Innovations Group
MICROSOFT U.S. PUBLIC SECTOR

4:40 p.m.
Chairpersons' Recap: Key Takeaways And What To Do When You Get Back To The Office

We'll recap the highlights of the past two days and ask you to share key insights and next steps with the group.

Hillary Hartley, Director of Integrated Marketing
NIC INC.