TORONTO, October 28, 2008 - While social media offers more avenues that build trust and engagement with clients, improves brand visibility and promotes business objectives, leveraging social media for business is still to a large extent uncharted territory.  The Canadian Institute, Canada’s premier conference provider, presents the Social Media Conference to be held at The Sutton Place Hotel in Toronto on December 2 & 3, 2008. This event is sponsored by the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS), Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and media partner Backbone Magazine.

Conference Co-Chairs Joseph Thornley, Chairman of Thornley Fallis and President of 76design, and Maggie Fox, CEO of Social Media Group.  The 3^rd installment of this conference will include sessions that provide best practices on how to:

• Develop techniques and metrics to measure the success of your social media initiatives
• Apply social media to facilitate collaboration amongst your employees
• Prepare your online communications team to mitigate risks and manage crises

For organizations involved in, or considering getting involved in, social media, some of the biggest challenges are measuring ROI, managing reputational risks, overcoming the legal hurdles and predicting how social media will impact business.

The conference

On December 2^nd and 3^rd, the conference will host a full slate of speaker sessions, panels and case studies, including:

Joseph Thornley – Chairman of Thornley Fallis and President of 76design, has a longstanding interest in the enabling potential of online technology applied to corporate communication. His personal blog, www.propr.ca, examines the intersection of social media and public relations. Connect with Joseph on Twitter by following @Thornley

Maggie Fox - Founder and CEO of Social Media Group, one of the world's largest independent agencies helping business navigate the new socially engaged Web. Widely acknowledged as industry-leading pioneers, SMG has created and executed social media strategies for Ford Motor Company, SAP and Yamaha Motor. Connect with Maggie on Twitter by following @Maggiefox

Jenny Bullough - Manager of Digital Content & Interactivity for the Internet and Digital Division of Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. Her role focuses on establishing Harlequin as a leader in digital publishing for women by engaging readers with Harlequin brands using emerging and established social media and digital media tools, and using social media to find and develop new authors. Check out the Harlequin blog, Facebook page and Twitter account.

Ferg Devins - Vice President of Government and Public Affairs for Molson Canada.  In this capacity he is responsible for Molson’s engagement with all three levels of government as well as leading strategies related to managing the overall public relations, media relations and corporate reputation, industry affairs and public relations initiatives for Molson in English Canada.  Connect with Ferg on Twitter by following @MolsonFerg

Ross Buchanan - Director of Digital and Relationship Marketing for Molson Canada.  In this role, he is responsible for identifying and managing relationship marketing and internet opportunities for Molson at a national level.  Connect with Ross on Twitter by following @MolsonRoss

David Alston - Vice President of Marketing at social media monitoring solution company, Radian6, which is based  in Fredericton, New Brunswick.  David has built his career in technology marketing first with one of Canada’s regional phone companies, Aliant, and then with a number of tech startups in the interactive advertising and the video over IP space. Prior to working at Radian6, David was partner and Vice President of Marketing Strategy with one of the region’s fastest growing PR firms, Revolution Strategy. Connect with David on Twitter by following @DavidAlston or read his blog, Tweet PR.

Cindy Gordon (PhD) - Founder and CEO of Helix Commerce International Inc., a company specializing in business innovation, collaboration commerce, and talent management service solutions, www.helixtalent.com. Select Fortune 500 Helix Clients are: Amdocs, Bell Canada, EDS, CIBC, Microsoft, MTS Allstream, NEC, Royal Bank of Canada, SAP, Siemens, Xerox, etc. Gordon also works with not for profit leading organizations like the Canadian Cancer Society and George Brown College. 

Ira Basen – Writer and Producer who has been associated with CBC Radio since 1984. Basen created "Spin Cycles", a six part documentary series for CBC Radio One on the topic of public relations and spin. It began in January 2007 and is currently being aired. He is currently teaching radio journalism at Ryerson University.

Attendees will gain invaluable knowledge from speakers, panels and case studies from NYC Transit, Molson and Harlequin. 

Join us on December 1^st for the pre-conference comprehensive guide to social media workshop, facilitated by the Thornley Fallis Team.

Details:

Visit the conference web site today for a complete agenda and list of speakers and to register.

PLUS!  All accredited Canadian Public Relations Society members who attend the conference qualify for 2 Maintenance of Accreditation Units.

Join The Canadian Institute’s Social Media Conference LinkedIn Group to engage in pre-and post-conference discussions.