8:00 a.m.
Continental Breakfast & Networking

8:30 a.m.

Chairperson's Opening Of Day Two & Presentation:
Moving Towards A Strategic And Integrated Approach To Social Media Usage In Your Organization

Social media is no longer a mysterious new communications medium; it’s becoming more and more integrated into our everyday lives. For many organizations, the foray into social media started at a grassroots level and developed into a sub-group in their marketing or communications department. As social media use matures, the demand for all employees to understand and use the tools in a business context is growing and broader communications plans are expected to include social media considerations.

• Developing strategies around the governance and integration of social media into an entire organization
• Practical tips for integrating social media into traditional communications plans
• Setting measureable objectives and conducting research to guide planning and ensure successful integration

Kelly Rusk, Senior Account Executive & Strategist
Banfield Seguin

9:00 a.m.

Your Opportunity To Ask Questions

9:05 a.m.

Social Media For Security: Understanding How To Communicate In Crisis Situations And Why It Needs To Be A Part Of Your Strategy

With 20 world leaders coming to the city, the Toronto Police Service (TPS) was in the spotlight to provide security for both citizens and dignitaries during the G20 World Summit in June 2010. TPS produced a comprehensive social media guide to include social media communication in its overall plan, and an Integrated Security Unit comprised of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Peel Regional Police, Ontario Provincial Police and Canadian Forces. When rioters turned aggressive, though, so did the TPS and the fall-out on social media still persists to this day.
This presentation will take you back to the days of the G20, how the Toronto Police dealt with the social media backlash, the lessons learned and how, in the end, social media saved the day.
In this eye-opening session, you will be able to walk away with lessons on:

• Expecting criticism, yet having responses ready
• Dealing with crisis communications and why it needs to be part of your social media strategy
• Finding intelligence in the complaints
• Discovering “opportunity” in crisis
• Understanding how and why engagement is king
• The importance of communicating with your own employees

Scott Mills, Constable
TORONTO POLICE SERVICE

9:35 a.m.

Your Opportunity To Ask Questions

9:55 a.m.

Digest Session: Discuss And Brainstorm

Whether it’s a weekly update, emergency broadcast, or contest – every agency is looking to communicate what they’re doing to the public. Discuss and brainstorm with fellow attendees and speakers techniques you’ve had success with, or concerns you’re having, in communicating agency information to citizens.

10:25 a.m.

How To Harness Social Media Tools To Transform Your Communications And Increase Your Outreach

The nature of communication has changed. With the advent of social media, information on the Web is no longer published in a one-way static method, but rather, composed of dialogues and community-based interactions. In 2010, a Statistics Canada survey revealed that 58% of Canadian Internet users appreciated the concept of using social media for both information and commentary. But, at the time, government departments didn’t see social media platforms as an effective communications tool. This didn’t stop the Communications and Public Outreach division of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) from taking a lead in challenging the status quo by integrating five social media platforms (including Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and a blog) into traditional modes of communication.

The response from the general public was overwhelming. An inordinate amount of young Canadians, who are accustomed to using these platforms to seek out relevant information and learn about topics that interest them, began to follow CIHR’s information postings. In fact, 80% of CIHR’s fans on Facebook are under the age of 25 – which represents a considerable increase in overall communications outreach. Now CIHR’s use of social media provides significant synergies amongst the various channels of communication that increase collaboration, efficiency, effectiveness and transparency.

During this session, you will hear about the tremendous achievements made by the CHIR, including how:

• CIHR has grown their fans and followers to almost one million through various social media platforms and that number continues to grow on a daily basis.
• A CIHR Communications and Public Outreach staff member has been hired who specializes in the publication of social media information and has extensive video/editing experience.
• CIHR actively monitors the efficacy of its social media activity by using the metrics generated by the platforms themselves, monitoring audience reaction to the information posted and employing measurement software that gauges its impact on CIHR’s website in terms of visitors

Christian Riel, Manager, Public Affairs and Outreach,
Communications & Public Outreach Division
CANADIAN INSTITUTES OF HEALTH RESEARCH

10:55 a.m.

Your Opportunity To Ask Questions

11:00 a.m.

How To Choose The Right Social Media Tools To
Get Your Message Out

Genome Alberta is a not-for-profit research organization based in Alberta, Canada. They use social media extensively to raise awareness with the general public, reach key influencers, and engage the science community. Their efforts have earned them a nomination for an Alberta Science and Technology Award and they ran a live BioRadio ‘broadcast’ from the International BIO Convention in Washington recently.
You’ll hear how they have integrated a variety of social media platforms with their web presence, outreach activities and print communications, and have worked with an Open Source community to develop their own 3rd party social media application.

You will leave this session with ideas, tactics and strategies on how to get your message heard through the clutter on social media, including 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

11:35 a.m.

Digest Session: Gaining Senior Management Buy-In

Whether it’s LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or any of the other social media tools present today – there will always be concerns. Concerns of security, not having enough hands-on-deck to manage the platforms, or not understanding the ROI of a social media strategy. Discuss and brainstorm with fellow attendees and speakers how your agency was able to convince the pro’s of social media to upper level management.

12:05 p.m.
Lunch On Your Own -- But Not Alone!

Join a group of your colleagues for a themed lunch with an informal discussion surrounding a specific social media hot topic. Take this opportunity to join others in a small, interactive group setting to network and brainstorm solutions to your most pressing communication concerns.

1:30 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 citizen engagement 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 engagement initiatives.

2:00 p.m.

A Step-By-Step Look At How To Create, Integrate And Market A Mobile Application

According to Bricks and Mobile, 1 in 4 Canadians will cut their landline by 2014. Citizens are moving from hard line connections to wireless, so how do you keep up?

Owning a small piece of an individual's digital real estate results in a very personal connection, and an app gives you the opportunity to be on that real estate.

In this information-packed session, you will hear first-hand how the City of Regina launched and marketed their CityApp and how the City has used the app to work with key organizations in the City to provide a true CityApp. Learn how the City addressed the following key questions:

• Should you go in-house? Buy a service? 3rd party developer?
• Even if your site is already mobile-enabled, should you still bother?
• Who should you work with? why?
• What can you deliver? Should this be on your app?
• How do you actually get people to download your app?

Philippe Leclerc, Interactive Communications Manager
CITY OF REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN

2:30 p.m.

Your Opportunity To Ask Questions

2:35 p.m.

How To Use Social Media To Collaborate Across Geographic And Organizational Boundaries

A decade after its founding, the U.S. State Department’s Office of eDiplomacy has shaped a suite of social media tools into a vibrant knowledge management program that encourages and enables U.S. diplomats to securely and effectively find and contribute knowledge anywhere, anytime. Social media provide the technological foundation for the Department’s effort to:

• Encourage collaboration across geographic and organizational boundaries through the use of self-forming, self-managing online communities;
• Provide better access to knowledge resources through an enterprise wiki and collaborative search service;
• Assist personnel to share and find expertise through an in-house networking platform
• Develop widespread use of the suite and embed knowledge-sharing in the daily workflow

In this session, you will hear about the components of State’s Knowledge Leadership strategy and their plans to tap the opportunities for integrating social media tools to foster cross-boundary engagement that addresses real business problems of knowledge generation and sharing.

During this session, you will learn about the strategies and tactics that have helped the State Department, as well as gain valuable insight into:

• Ways to identify and develop opportunities for knowledge management and collaboration efforts through social media
• How to integrate knowledge sharing and collaboration practices into employees’ daily work
• Methods to highlight successes to stakeholders and leadership

3:05 p.m.

Your Opportunity To Ask Questions

3:25 p.m.

Digest Session: Your Future In Social Media

Discuss with fellow attendees and speakers what you would do with social media and engaging citizens if there were no restrictions, no budgets, no privacy concerns.

3:55 p.m.

Understanding Where Social Media Is Today And Where It Is Heading?

The Ontario Ministry of Labour is one of the country’s leading government departments in the field of social media use. It is now in its fourth year of including social media in its communications planning and execution. The ministry has seen success over success using social media as a public service, and has been applauded internationally on its work.

The rising question at the ministry and other early adopters is “now what?” What does the future hold in the short, medium and long range? Is social media a passing fad or here to stay in government communications? Is social media a specific job title or a skill set now needed for all communicators? Are any of those people making predictions on the ball, or just speculating? Hear where the ministry’s Social Media Planner expects the Ministry of Labour will be going tomorrow and beyond in the realm of social media.

In this session, you will learn:

• Options for thinking about the future of social media in your organization, short, medium and longterm
• How to sustain internal staff interest in social media, and at what level
• The kinds of daily routines and standards to make on-going social media operations efficient and not burdensome

Bruce Skeaff, Social Media Planner
Ontario Ministry of Labour

4:25 p.m.

Your Opportunity To Ask Questions

4:30 p.m.
Chairperson’s 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.

4:45 p.m.

Close Of General Sessions