Jump-start your training experience by attending these interactive and practical workshops. These information-packed sessions are a great opportunity to network with fellow attendees while taking a hands-on, common sense approach to mastering social media strategies that will enhance your understanding of the informative, case study presentations throughout the entire training.

*** Choose A or B or BOTH for Maximum Value and Learning ***

Social Media 101: From Curiosity To Comprehension -- Learning How To Leverage Popular Social Media Tools For Your Agency

This workshop is designed to move you from timid curiosity about social media to confident champion. Yes, it will cover the basic terms and definitions but most importantly, it’ll give you the basis for understanding the structural characteristics of this new media form.

You will be provided with an overview of the dominant social media platforms with a focus on their audiences, strategic uses and the time and resources required to managing them effectively.

• Selecting the right social media tool for your needs
• Exploring how to evaluate and document the success and results of your social media efforts - managing your return on investment
• The benefits (and risks) of social media in the public sector environment
• Empowering existing supporters to spread your message within their own networks
• Utilizing Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare and other social media services
• Leveraging technology to engage and collaborate with stakeholders

WORKSHOP LEADER: Carmine Porco, Vice President of Strategic Solutions at Jugnoo, has over 18 years of experience in the areas of Internet consulting, IT management, and software development. Past clients include Agriculture Canada, Canadian Transportation Agency, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Ontario Ministry of Finance, and Regional Municipality of Halton to name a few. His strengths include employee self-service, content management, e-learning, customer care and Internet commerce primarily in the financial, government, health, energy and retail sectors.

Testimonials From Past Carmine Porco Sessions:

"Excellent, usable tools and suggestions. This was a real help for
building the business case."

"Very engaging—lots of great tips and ideas to try. Spoke at our level.
Good information and handouts."

"Great presentation. Very accessible and relaxed. Well done!"

"Excellent, personable communicator. Well informed and good humored."

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Afternoon break/lunch on your own.

12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
PRE-TRAINING AFTERNOON WORKSHOP B

Building A Social Media Strategy: The Power Of Connection To Create A More Authentic And Deeper Engagement

In the business world, simply having a social media strategy is not enough; its effectiveness relies on the Power of Connection to strengthen authentic connections and relationships. This philosophy also applies to government organizations, entrepreneurships and small businesses. This session will also help you understand your values and contributions, in order to develop a more powerful organizational effect.

By the end of this session, you will gain new understanding on:

• Social media networking – strategies and tactics for success
• Learning how to connect with others in a way that engages and build rapport
• Developing your own unique organizational strategy and how to use it
• How to harness the power of social networking sites to further your engagement and return on your investment

WORKSHOP LEADER: Bobby Umar is president of Raeallan. Bobby has over 20 years' experience in leadership training and professional development through conferences, corporate events and numerous teaching positions. With a background in brand marketing, engineering and the performing arts, Bobby draws on his diverse career to lead Raeallan, a transformational training and speaking company. Bobby has run teambuilding activities, presented keynotes, and coached thousands of people across Canada. Major clients include TD Canada Trust, TELUS, Canadian Tire and Kraft, as well as McMaster, Ryerson and York universities. @raehanbobby

These workshops are designed to take your training experience to the next level. Post-training workshops allow you to take the information you gained from the general sessions, and identify and focus on your individual needs and applications. Make the most out of this training by attending these highly interactive, hands-on sessions. Space is limited to ensure interactivity!

*** Choose C or D or BOTH for Maximum Value and Learning ***

I've Chosen My Communication Tools, Now What? How To Develop And Implement Compelling Content For Your Social Media Communications Strategy That Will Engage Your Audiences

You’ve narrowed down the tools you want to use for your social media communications plan – that’s a great first step. Now, how do you go about creating content to utilize those tools effectively?

In this highly-rated workshop, you will be guided to greater understand the ins and outs of creating compelling content for use in your social media communications. You’ll learn practical approaches and tips to developing content that grabs the attention of your audience, allowing you to not only share your message, but more importantly, to create a personal connection that opens the door to further communication. Case studies will be presented to illustrate how video content was created and implemented for communications purposes, and demonstrate how in some cases, this content can serve double-duty as both an outward-facing and internal communications strategy.

• Understand key items and utilize best practices when creating a content strategy
• Develop compelling content that will engage your audience
• Create content that utilizes popular social media tools including Facebook, Twitter and You Tube to communicate with your audience where they’re spending their time
Develop cost effective video content for multiple distribution channels
• Discover how best to deal with the challenges and benefits presented by inward vs. outward facing distribution
• Create a phased strategy for developing content and measuring success
• Apply these approaches to your specific content needs

WORKSHOP LEADER: Denise McKee is COO at AboutFace Media Inc. AboutFace creates short-form, story-driven documentaries for online and social media marketing projects. She's a top-rated workshop leader and her session is guaranteed to help you with your own social media initiatives.

Testimonials From Past AboutFace Media Inc. Sessions:

"I love the group interaction—it forces conversation that makes me think outside the box. I’m taking back some great commentary and “arguments” to our senior leaders."

"This was so good. Great information, great collaborating, and I have tools to take home."

"Denise was great!! :) Absolutely useful! I know what my homework is now. Thanks!"

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Afternoon break/lunch on your own

How To Align Social Media And Your Overall Web Presence With Organizational Key Performance Indicators

Government institutions are using social media to extend the reach and effectiveness of how they use the Internet for information and service delivery in areas such as:

• Responding to constituencies
• Monitoring for citizen reports
• Reporting outages, accidents, and other trouble spots
• Assisting in getting people to the right place and the right agency the first time

In order to assess which Web platforms to use for which purposes and make adjustments along the way, it is essential to be able to track progress in a way that aligns with the organization’s expected outcomes. Key performance indicators are typically chosen at the business planning level and Web and social media metrics are chosen to inform progress against these indicators over time and make adjustments to these initiatives – helping you to know which metrics to track and report on.

In this session, you will participate in a practical, facilitated workshop and leave with insights and advice on the:

• Role of business planning and governance in justifying the use of social media
• Types of key performance indicators and how they relate to Web metrics
• Characteristics and examples of Web and social media analytics tools

WORKSHOP LEADER: Jeff Braybrook is Principal of Blueprint where he provides advisory services, strategic planning and actionable roadmaps for improving outcomes and reducing costs through Information and Technology Management, Web governance, social media policy, collaboration tools and techniques and effective client relationship management.

Jeff has over 35 years of experience and expertise in both the private and public sectors with a broad base of knowledge in information and technology management, trends and business drivers. Team oriented and a strong, passionate communicator that frequently speaks and trains at conferences and trainings on Information Management and Web strategy.

Prior to joining the Government of Canada gained several years of experience with leading technology product and services companies, including sales and client relationship management roles at CGI for the Canadian Government RDIMS initiative and Xerox Canada for Ottawa/Atlantic document management solutions.