Social Media in Western Mass - Online Impact 2010

On Thursday we hosted Online Impact 2010 in the Technology Park at Springfield Technical Community College (STCC). This was the second Online Impact event held at STCC - we had the first one in June 2009. Both events focused on the use of social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook to reach out to customers and prospects. We had an excellent half-day of panels and workshop sessions that focused on social media tips and tactics - here's a list of the workshops along with the presenters:

Twitter and Blogging 101 - Gordon F Snyder Jr (my session!), National Center for Information and Communications Technologies (ICT Center) at STCC
LinkedIn 101: Getting Started & Avoiding Mistakes Tom Lewis, NeedleMine
Integrating Social Media into Your Website Jason Turcotte, Turcotte Design
LinkedIn 201: LinkedIn for Busy Professionals - Getting Results in 10 Minutes/Day Christine Pilch, Grow My Company
Market like the big brands do: How to build a Facebook Fan Page for your local business Mary Fallon and Amanda Gauthier, Garvey Communication Associates, Inc.
Twitter: Where's the ROI? Morriss Partee, Everything CU
The YouTube Effect: What you need to know about online video and the future of the Internet Dave Sweeney, The Communications Department
If We Can Do It, So Can You: Using Social Media in Organizations of All Shapes and Sizes Brad Blake, Director of New Media and Online Strategy, Massachusetts Office of the Governor and David Cavell, Communications and Speechwriter, Massachusetts Office of the Governor
Social Media in Education: An Education Essential Kelly Galanis, Westfield State College
Becoming A Digital Bigfoot: Five quick moves to enhance your digital footprint and gain a competitive advantage! John Garvey, Garvey Communication Associates, Inc.

We also ran a couple of great panels, both moderated by Dave Sweeney from The Communications Department:

Panel 1: Social Media from the Front Lines

Ed Carroll – WGGB abc40
Craig Swimm – WMAS 94.7
Kelly Galanis – Westfield State College
Gordon Snyder – National Center for Information and Communications Technologies (ICT Center) at STCC

Panel 2: Integration

John Garvey – Garvey Communication Associates
Tom Lewis – NeedleMine
Morriss Partee – Everything CU
Christine Pilch – Grow My Company

We had 90 attendees with over 25 people on the waiting list. The event - presenters, attendees, facilities - all excellent. Kelly Galanis (aka RedHeadedDivaK on Twitter) has put up a nice video shot by WGGB on YouTube:

Special thanks to Dave Sweeney from The Communications Department and John Garvey from Garvey Communications for their efforts in setting this up and also special thanks to STCC President (and blogger) Ira Rubenzahl for allowing us to host this event at the College.

With my work I get around the country fairly frequently and have to say - there is some of the strongest excitement, knowledge, experience, dedication and commitment I’ve experienced right here in Western Massachusetts. This event certainly strengthened these impressions. A great day with great people - Western Massachusetts is a very special place to live and work.

We're looking forward to the next Online Impact event!!