Have you been looking for the right conference to attend on social media but worry about the quality of the speakers? I've been there, I know. It seems like EVERYONE is an expert these days ... and all they did to get there is start a cat blog for their Great Aunt Esther (before I get flamed, I have Cute Overload in my feeds and everytime I read any lolcats (fav one is at Catmas) I blow coffee out my nose - i m in ur feedz, mak'n u laff).
The point is .. you want folks who've been down the road and back again with real-life stories and scars who are willing to share. Well, good news. Joe Thornley from ProPR is chairing a 2.5 day conference on Social Media (put on by the Canadian Institute) and some of our best and brightest are coming out to speak (including me!).
Speakers include: Microsoft’s Barnaby Jeans, Tucows’ Leona Hobbs, Yahoo’s Hunter Madsen, Dell’s Richard Binhammer, Scotia Bank’s Michael Seaton, Iotum’s Alec Saunders, Cognos’ John Blackmore, BMW’s John Cappella, and IBM's Chuck Hamilton (who I just saw at VIDFEST here in Vancouver - excellent!) along with over a dozen other top corporate marketers, bloggers and podcasters. You can get the agenda online or in PDF form.
The conference runs Dec 4 and 5 BUT there is a pre-conference workshop on the afternoon of Dec 3. That's what I'm leading. It's entitled Social Media 101, a Crash Course in the Functions and Features of Social Media:
Sorting out social media can be a big ordeal, but caching up with your peers, clients and prospects on the Web is certainly doable. Before you make any hard and fast decisions, you need to know what social media are and how they can benefit you. Whether it’s blogs, podcasts, wikis, RSS, social networking or virtual worlds, this hands-on session will provide you with a prerequisite introduction, tools, technology and practical examples of each social medium.
- Learn how to use blogs, podcasts, wikis, RSS and the various other social media tools
- Determine which social media will (or will not) work for you
- Identify the opportunities for your organization in social media communities
- Review examples of social media utilized by other companies
Good times!
Oooo ... and I have discounts! If you email me or ping me on Facebook, I can offer you a 15% discount. And if you're a client who's planning to attend, just let me know and I can offer you the same discount as well.
Hope to see you there!