Online registration is now closed.  Walk-in registration will be available at the event.

We’ve all heard the noise and promise of social media and its ability to deliver new business and many of us are actively using it. Most, if not all of us, have dipped our toes in the water, but what are the experts saying about what is working and what’s not?  What are the latest and the most important techniques and strategies that are effective for the business community around us?

This exciting summit will feature a keynote by David Weinberger, Senior Researcher at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, and multiple break-out sessions lead by experts and practitioners who will discuss, debate and explore hot topics in the industry including:

• Advanced listening
  
• Lead generation
  
• Social media “outside the box”
  
• Overcoming internal resistance to social media
  
• Social media in regulated industries

Details on each break-out are below. Come and join the discussion - share and learn!

AGENDA

KEYNOTE: David Weinberger, Senior Researcher at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society and co author of the Cluetrain Manifesto

BREAKOUT I

Session A:  Advanced Listening - Deciphering the Noise --  Alan Belniak, Director of Social Media, PTC; Mike Troiano, Holland-Mark

Twitter search, RSS, Google alerts – you’re rockin’ them all…or are you?  Ask yourself these questions:

·         Are you effectively using the free tools available to tap into the social collective?

·         What about the niche communities - are you listening?

·         How do you make sense of the reports from some of the professional services?

·         Have you looked at ant tailored your efforts after based on trend data?

We’ll take a deep dive into effective practices as well as where you shouldn’t waste your time. You’ll learn from the session leads and other participants, and will walk away with new tactics and techniques on how to better listen to the hive. 

Session B: Overcoming the Internal Resistance to Social Media -- David Crosbie, CTO RedEngage, Amy Black, Kadient @amyblack

Social Media makes sense to you, you want your company to embrace it, but you face pushback from your colleagues and management. How do you overcome people’s fears and doubts so they can clearly evaluate the opportunity – and respond effectively? This session will tackle:

·         the biggest concerns often raised;

·         how to think about a Social Media Strategy in terms that fit with traditional sales and marketing models; and

·         identify what resources are required to make it successful.

This will be a highly interactive session as we learn from the session leads experiences and jointly brainstorm – it is a conversation not a presentation, so come ready to share the hurdles you are facing or how you’ve overcome them.

BREAKOUT II

Session C - Social Media for Lead Generation -- Kipp Bodnar, HubSpot @kbodnar32, Paul Gillin, Gillin Communications, @pgillin, Mike Lewis, Awareness Networks, @bostonmike

Is social media just a vehicle for building a brand and providing support to customers, or is it also a valid channel for generating demand for your product or service and capturing quality leads? This session will explore the various ways that companies use social media to do just that. We will look at all the traditional social media sites including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube, plus any others you use. Bring your stories to share and questions to ask. The goal of this interactive discussion is to walk away with some great ideas of how to use social media to help fill the funnel.

Session D - Social Media Outside the Box -- Frank Days, Novell, Gary Halliwell, CEO, Net Prospex, Matthew Mamet Head of Customer at Editme.com, Jules Piere, Founder and CEO, Daily Grommet

With Facebook and Twitter promotions becoming increasingly common for mainstream marketers, it is time to start exploring what is next.  We live in an era of great innovation and in this session we will share opinion about what the future holds for social media.  What is real and what is overhyped?  Will any of this deliver real value to consumers or businesses?  What will become an entertaining punchline 10 years from now?  Come join the conversation and share your thoughts.     

Session E – Social Media for Regulated Industry -- David Harlow, Principal, The Harlow Group LLC, @healthblawg.  Michael Weissmann, Partner, Bingham McCutchen LLP

Health care, pharmaceutical and financial services organizations have something in common when it comes to social media.  As players in heavily-regulated industries, they find that the laissez-faire approach to social media in other domains does not translate very well, and the rules of engagement are not always clear.  Nevertheless, social media is here to stay, so how can you use these tools to connect in authentic relationships with influencers and prospects?  Join our expert facilitators and your peers to discuss whether it's safe to venture into social media and if so, the strategies and tactics you'll want to use to forward your objectives while minimizing your risk of penalties.

Location: Microsoft NERD, 1 Memorial Dr, Cambridge, MA 02142

Thanks to our Social Media Cluster Sponsors: