Take social media from complexity to clarity through these interactive workshops guaranteed to jumpstart your conference experience. These workshops are a great opportunity to advance your learning and network with fellow attendees while taking a hands-on, common sense approach to mastering social media 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 Begin, Learn The Tools Of The Trade, And Strategize A Plan To Get Social Media Started In Your Government Organization

This session is intended for anyone who is responsible for social media programs within government. Whether you are an experienced practitioner or new to social media, you’ll find something you can use in this workshop.

• What social media is and how it revolutionizes communications, collaborative action and the formation of community
• How to make a business case for social media, when it makes sense to use it, and when to avoid it
• Impediments to the use of social media in a government context and how to overcome those impediments
• Which social media tools are most useful for listening, conversation, community building, and measurement

We'll look at examples of the successful application of social media in government contexts. What do the best examples of social media used by government share in common? What can we learn from them?

The session will be highly interactive. Participants will be encouraged to share the challenges you have encountered. The group will draw on the presentation material and experience to suggest strategies and tactics to resolve the problems being encountered in implementing social media in a government context.

Participants are encouraged to bring their notebook computer as this will be an interactive, hands-on workshop. However, there is plenty to learn with or without a computer.

WORKSHOP LEADER: Joseph Thornley is CEO of Thornley Fallis Communications and 76design. Joseph Thornley established Thornley Fallis in 1995 to provide senior executives with communications counsel and programs that contribute to achieving their business and organizational objectives. Mr. Thornley has a longstanding interest in the enabling potential of online technology applied to corporate communication. His blog, www.propr.ca, is dedicated to best business practices, practitioners and building the ideal PR firm. Mr. Thornley has been a driving force behind the establishment of the Third Tuesday Social Media events which bring together social media enthusiasts and communicators to explore new developments in social media and their impact on society, organizations and citizens.

Testimonials From Past Thornley Fallis
Communications Sessions

"Excellent presentation. The speaker kept the interest while addressing important questions. If more attend presentations like this, we would have more on board with social media."

"Excellent, engaging content and stories. Joe provides an excellent perspective and understanding of social media in the context of government."

"I liked the presenter and the topic was very good. Well worth the cost."

"Great information and great start for the conference."

12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Afternoon break/lunch on your own.

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

This workshop will cover how to develop a social media plan, how to write a social media policy and how to implement both at your agency. Some groups get started in social media because one person decided to make it happen and hope for the best. There are many cases where that worked out fine, but ideally, all agencies should start with a well developed plan with input from key stakeholders in order to determine goals, participants, training needs and the organization's social media philosophy. We will cover how to craft a strategy that will accomplish your goals.

We will then discuss the essential ingredients in any social media policy and how to tailor them to meet your goals. Depending on the plan and the type of agency, your policy needs to be a good fit. Law enforcement, for example has special needs with regard to privacy than other agencies.

• Assigning the personnel resources
• Training employees in social media
• Providing them with the hardware, software and authority to carry out the program

WORKSHOP LEADER: Lauri Stevens is the Principal Consultant with LAwS. LAwS Communications offers web 2.0 consulting services to government agencies with a focus on law enforcement. Lauri has over 25 years of media experience. She is also the Department Chair of Web Design & Interactive Media at The New England Institute of Art (NEiA) in Boston, Massachusetts, a position she has held for over 10 years.