David Alston, VP Marketing & Community with Radian6 will challenge your thinking around what defines "marketing" in the age of the connected consumer. Their expectations of brands have changed. They hope you want a relationship. They want to deal with people not logos, both accessible and transparent. They want the organizations they deal with to line up for them, not the other way around. They want something different, and they want it now.

Find out how to transform your organization into one where community is its biggest asset.

Many people have taken the first step on the personal side and don’t consider themselves to be complete novices in Social Media activity. For this group, the big question is how their organization can also benefit from leveraging Social Media marketing.

Attendees of this “just beyond 101” presentation by Michelle Corsano - a digital marketer, communications professional, corporate trainer and Web Marketing instructor for the University of Toronto - will learn how to get started with building the most-effective Social Media presence for their organization. Michelle will provide guidance on best-practice strategies and tactics for organizations about to participate in Social Media, plus the recommended engagement platforms (Web sites, software tools) and online resources you can leverage to continue improving your programs once launched.

Need some more “proof” that your organization should be implementing its own Social Media plan? Want to hear about some real-world examples of Social Media being done well? This is the session providing those answers, along with the various definitions of success to apply when pursuing activity in the Social Media space.

As a results-focused marketer, Sionne Roberts - General Manager of Visability and an experienced participant in online channels - brings a unique perspective to defining successful Social Media campaigns. While the activities and performance metrics may be slightly different when it comes to Social Media, Sionne’s presentation will outline several recommended options to consider when planning, measuring and assessing Social Media programs for your own organization.

OK, at this point you are convinced... but how do you now persuade the decision-makers within your organization to join the conversation and begin leveraging social media channels?

In this insightful session, Katie Morse - a New York City-based community manager with Radian6 - will provide the necessary steps and recommendations to help you build your own business case for adopting social media. Katie's presentation will cover all the key areas, from defining measurable benefits like cost savings and improved customer service efficiencies and also address the often-overlooked opportunity costs of remaining on the sidelines, including competitive disadvantages and increased learning curve challenges.

Social Media and Search are two very important (and different) marketing activities... but should they still be executed independently, or combined instead?

While Search marketing is generally focused on conversion and ROI most Social Media campaigns are branding and engagement exercises. So how is it that Social Media can beneficially impact Search performance, and vice versa? Our luncheon keynote presenter Andrew Goodman - interactive agency executive, published author and Search industry commentator - will discuss the synergies between Social and Search, providing his recommendations for integrating your organization's Social Media and Search marketing programs to realize maximum effectiveness.

The adoption of Social Media by larger organizations presents its own set of unique strategic challenges. Involving multiple stakeholders with implications beyond the core area of Social Media policy development, it also requires a disciplined approach to governance and application of your policies once developed.

Join Dr. Cindy Gordon, CEO of Helix Commerce and author of 8 books on Web 2.0 and business growth innovation as well as a consultant for Tier One clients including CIBC, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Ministry of Ontario, SAP, Toronto Dominion Bank and Tridel – as she outlines via case studies how organizations can navigate confidently through the enterprise-specific obstacles in pursuit of Social Media program excellence.

Is your organization about to start participating in social media conversations, but concerned about becoming the next "Nestle Facebook" news story?

Want to avoid the Dark Side of social media? What does "Don't poke the trolls" really mean? This valuable presentation outlines the details of creating and implementing an organizational social media policy that maximizes opportunities while minimizing risks. Join speaker Dave Fleet - head of Social Media practice at Thornley Fallis Communications - as he outlines the thinking process and required elements to consider when drafting an effective social media policy for your organization.

Facebook is definitely one of the most popular Social Media platforms. Not too long ago, Canada had the most Facebook users outside of the US and was the fastest-growing market worldwide. Today Canada remains one of the top-ten Facebook markets and continues to grow at a rate of 20% annually. So, how can your organization take advantage of the Facebook opportunity?

While over 1.5 million businesses are on Facebook and more than 20 million users daily become fans of Facebook pages there are actually additional options for an organization to leverage marketing on Facebook. In this presentation, Roy Pereira - head of Shiny Agency, and a veteran of over 40 Social Media marketing campaigns - who will introduce the concept of Facebook Applications plus Facebook Connect and how they can be utilized by your organization.

In 2010 it has become a brave new world for omm and PR professionals. This is your opportunity to learn directly from a “been there, done that” Social Media Marketing strategist with extensive hand-on experience in the space.

Do you know how to develop a press release optimized for Social Media? Can you list the Seven Deadly Sins of Social Media Marketing? Why are so many individuals personally active in Social Media but not yet leveraging these channels to benefit their organization? Attend this session with
Mark Evans - a former technology reporter, founding organizer of the meshconference and current blogger who is also digital marketing and social media strategist - as he addresses the answers to these questions, and many other key issues of benefit to those omm and PR field.

This “capstone” session includes panelists drawn from the day’s presentation sessions, and will be moderated by Krista Napier - Senior Analyst with IDC Canada and one of Canada’s most-knowledgeable followers of emerging social media trends.

Attend this panel discussion to gain insights from those sessions you were unable to attend during the conference, put your recent learnings into context and also take the opportunity to ask questions directly to the panel.

A true Social Media event would not be complete without including the old-school version of social networking…complete with cocktails, snacks and making IRL (aka “in real life”) connections with existing as well as meeting some new professional contacts.

This is the time to relax, discuss highlights, likes and dislikes from the past few hours and interact on a social level with your fellow event attendees.