Choose C or D or BOTH for Maximum Value and Learning

Practicing Social Media: How To Use Blogs, Wikis, RSS And Other Social Media Tools To Improve Communication With Your Internal And External Audiences

At this conference, you will hear many high-level presentations on the usage of social media within organizations. Some attendees, though, don't understand the intricacies behind these social media tools and how to create and use them effectively.

This workshop will walk you through the workings of many social media tools and show you exactly how to use them to reach both internal and external audiences.

In effect, this workshop is designed to demonstrate the various social media tools, with emphasis on creating and using them effectively once back home in your organization.

• How to create a compelling blog for internal and external audiences
• The role podcasting plays in getting your message out
• Why wikis are the new way to manage projects internally
• How to incorporate Facebook and Twitter into your communication strategies
• How RSS can help you rely less on email

WORKSHOP LEADER: Jason Anthoine is a communications consultant who has more than 20 years of corporate and agency internal communication experience including employee communication, change management, corporate reputation, community relations and internal branding. Most recently, Jason was Senior Vice President at Fleishman-Hillard in St. Louis, where he specialized in building integrated and specialized workplace communication programs that produced results by aligning employee behaviors and attitudes with business strategies and values. During the previous 10 years, Mr. Anthoine was Founder and President of The Cohesion Group, a Georgia-based boutique public relations firm focused on internal communication, where he worked with a variety of clients including Cox Communications, GE, Flowers Foods, Lehigh Hanson, Manheim, Marsh, NBC Universal and Willis, among others.

Testimonials From Past Jason Anthoine Sessions:

"This was my favorite session... it tied it all together. Great. Speaker was excellent!"

"Covered many topics, very detailed."

"Very good examples and discussion. I very much enjoyed it."

"Excellent presentation—expert."

11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Lunch On Your Own

How To Blend Traditional And Non-Traditional Media For Your Communications Plan

With the dramatic expansion of social media and its significant impact on the way we communicate today, many organizations are struggling with the question of whether to and how to integrate social media into their communication strategy.

Social media can be an effective way to connect with customers, engage employees, and better understand what customers and employees are thinking. But there are also many questions being raised by organizations about social media’s return on investment, legal and HR concerns, loss of control over the messages, and whether or not your desired stakeholders will use these tools once they are available.

• Tools for assessing the readiness of your organization for social media
• How to educate your organization on social media and address concerns
• A model for incorporating social media into your current communication strategy and tools
• An action planning process that will help facilitate participation by stakeholders
• Ways to capture learnings and measure your success

WORKSHOP LEADERS: Chris Gay, a Principal at Bridge Consulting, partners with companies to connect people and strategy through employee engagement, communication, and change management strategies that truly have an impact on business results. Chris has earned international and national awards for her communication and engagement work, including three IABC Gold Quills, a PRSA Silver Anvil, and recognition as one of the top 20 Human Resources case studies in the world according to the International Benchmarking Association.

Chris has worked in corporate America for 25 years in the retail, manufacturing, and financial services sectors. Her extensive experience spans both Human Resources and Communication, and her corporate experience has allowed her to develop strong skills in both strategy development and execution.

Michelle Mahony, a Principal at Bridge Consulting, has focused on facilitating connections with her clients to create highly engaged workforces committed to business success for over 14 years. Whether it's connecting people to a business or change strategy, leaders to employees, people to technology, or generations with each other, Michelle focuses on engagement, communication and change management strategies to help organizations across industries achieve their objectives. Michelle also served on the faculty in the Education Department at Whitman College, where she taught students effective pedagogical and communication methods, as well as Developmental Psychology.

Testimonials From Past Bridge Consulting Sessions:

"Thoroughly enjoyed!"

"Appreciated the practical tips, examples, and stories to apply to my own organization."

"One of the best speakers; great tools that can be easily applied."