Are you one of the many organizations that is considering making the transition from social media observer to social media user? Currently, there are only a handful of provincial and federal governmental departments across Canada that actively engage with users on their Facebook pages - and the Ministry of Labour is one such department. As such, Bruce Skeaff is well equipped to provide you with the tools necessary to ensure a smooth transition from being a passive to proactive user of social media.

• What resources are required once an organization decides to proactively engage with their stakeholders?
• How much time should you allocate and is necessary to engage with the public?
• Policies and factors to consider for “after hours” communications
• Lessons learned during the Facebook page development
• Dealing with the special considerations necessary when developing a Facebook page for government
• Risk mitigation strategies – what happens when you can no longer control the message?

Interactive Q&A Session!

It’s all the rage to talk about LinkedIn, Facebook, and the 500+ other social networks that exist. It’s even more exciting to implement a strategy... until something goes wrong. Randall has implemented over 100 major projects
since 1994, including initiatives for government, major newspapers, financial institutions and not-for-profits. In this presentation, he provides practical advice and examples in the area of social media risk identification and mitigation,
drawn from his nearly 25 years of experience in the field.

• Review of a social media risk mitigation model that you can implement immediately
• How to protect against imposters and organizational identity theft
• What can you do if no one actually uses your social media initiative… or too many do?
• Gain a list of specific to-do items to reduce your organization’s social media risks - and your own

Interactive Q&A Session!

Health Canada entered the social media sphere cautiously, but is now recognized as a solid user of new media. Today they are even experimenting with mobile applications. Attend this session and hear how a cautious and risk averse institution trained and introduced social media knowledge and techniques to over 120 employees across different departments.

• Who should you train first?
• Should knowledge sharing differ between departments?
• Mapping out your training schedule

Interactive Q&A Session!

• What you need to know about the public’s use of social media channels today
• What does the public expect from the public sector and the financial industry’s use of social media?
• Trends in analysts and investors use of social media
• The public’s perception and trust of social media channels
• Canada’s use of social media versus the rest of the world
• Forecasts on the public’s use of social media: what to expect next?
• Social media 3.0 – what is on the horizon in terms of technological innovation and capabilities?

• How the Toronto Police speaks directly to the community, answers questions, addresses concerns, acknowledges criticism and provides important information via Twitter, Facebook and blogs
• Social media as a vital resource during community demonstrations and protests to natural and man-made disasters
• Working through social media with other police services, the community and the media – how to gain buy in to connect, interact and have them help
• What risks were encountered through open communication channels and what successful mitigation tactics were employed?

Interactive Q&A Session!

• Infrastructure and considerations necessary prior to using social media tools such as Yammer
• Why use social media tools for internal communications? Justifying the use and cost of tools like Yammer in an organization
• Lessons learned since ING began using social media as an internal communications tool
• How external communications – such as blogs and other social media tools used by ING's CEO and others - are being used as internal leadership tools
• What risks were encountered and how were they mitigated

Interactive Q&A Session!

Over two and a half years ago research commissioned by the City of Edmonton demonstrated that awareness of the city was a major problem. Though Edmontonians overwhelmingly knew about the qualities of their city, no one else did. Attend this session and hear how this City has successfully used social media and online advertising to advance awareness of their citizens’ experiences across the globe and how they have taken this initiative to the next level by using this campaign for recruitment efforts.

• The ins and outs of the innovative social media strategies that evolved through Edmontonstories.ca
• Resources required for this initiative
• Risks encountered and lessons learned
• How the compilation of citizens’ stories has lead to successful recruitment efforts across the globe
• Working with Edmonton police and their recruitment efforts in the United States – results revealed

Interactive Q&A Session!

• The use of social media for day-to-day operations
• Dispelling myths
• Breaking down silos
• The difference between open and closed customer service
• Incorporating social media into existing customer service channels

Ian has over a decade of professionals political and communications experience. He has worked for cabinet ministers and opposition members in the House of Commons and is currently a media consultant who boasts a client list that includes: the Public Policy Forum, the Canadian Labour Congress, CAW Canada, Canadian Dental Association, CUPE, Hydro Ottawa, CPAWS and many more. Ian will provide you with the latest and most innovative strategies being used to capture audiences and turn them into advocates of your message.

• Using Old Spice tactics - How rapid approvals and humour work. I’m on a horse!
• Thinking like major advertising industry executives, review of current social-campaigns that are really working
• How organizations are taking their Facebook and Twitter communities to the next level
• Slack-tivism and apathy online? Creating a “community of action” who can help you get action in the real world
• Plus – Ian will include the freshest case studies available the week of the event!

It’s time to learn from each other and brainstorm about the future. Come hear representatives from various organizations exchange ideas and analyze the evolving nature and use of social media outlets.

• Will access to information play an increasing role in the use of social media?
• Accessibility and compliance with WCAG 2.0 accessibility standards - how “accessible” are social media technologies for people with disabilities?
• How “open” will the information and forum become?
• Novel uses of social media for crisis communications
• Overcoming security concerns

It’s time to learn from each other and brainstorm about the future. Come hear representatives from various organizations exchange ideas and analyze the evolving nature and use of social media outlets.

• Will access to information play an increasing role in the use of social media?
• Accessibility and compliance with WCAG 2.0 accessibility standards - how “accessible” are social media technologies for people with disabilities?
• How “open” will the information and forum become?
• Novel uses of social media for crisis communications
• Overcoming security concerns