Social Media Breakfast Tech Valley #4

Twitter hashtag: #smbtv

Follow @smbtv on Twitter for updates, read about SMB-TV or join our Facebook group.

Social Media Breakfast is a series that began in Boston and has now spread to more than 30 cities throughout the United States and around the world. It was brought to Tech Valley by Amy Mengel in June 2009. Social Media Breakfast Tech Valley is now one of the largest SMBs in the country!

We're thankful to The College of Saint Rose Communications Department for sponsoring SMBTV #4 and to Red Cross of Northeastern NY for hosting us.

Building a Successful Blog

SMBTV #4 will feature a panel discussion and dialogue with attendees about blogging. What makes a successful blog? Is ghostwriting appropriate? How do you attract more readers? What kind of content do you write about? Is a blog right for every organization? How does blogging fit in to an overall social media strategy? Should CEOs and corporations blog?

Panel Moderator:

Greg Dahlmann, Uptown/Downtown Media

Greg Dahlmann is the co-founder of All Over Albany, a daily site focused on conversational information about the Capital Region. Before starting AOA he was a health and science reporter for public radio.

Panelists:

Lara Kulpa, Ginkgo Consulting

Lara Kulpa is a displaced zookeeper. No, really... that's what she went to college for. However, she's had an affinity for computers, programming and design since her first Commodore 64. She held positions at two internet marketing firms before launching her solo career. Blogging since before they called it that, Lara now owns Ginkgo Consulting, a web development company. One of her largest clients is Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net. Lara and Darren have been working together for nearly three years. She's the community admin for ProBlogger.com, a membership community geared towards bloggers of all experience levels, that just launched at the end of September 2009. Lara is also the Assistant Editor for TwiTip.com, a blog by Darren about Twitter tips, tricks, and tools.

Christina Gleason, Phenomenal Content

Christina Gleason is a copywriter, blogger, and founder of Phenomenal Content LLC. Phenomenal Content provides quality Web content for businesses both large and small. As a former Google quality rater, Christina ensures that all content written for her clients follows ethical SEO standards to serve the needs of the end user, her clients' potential customers. For her own part, Christina is also a member of the mommy blogging community with Cutest Kid Ever. Christina and her staff of phenomenal writers provide a variety of businesses with ghostwritten blog posts each month. She will discuss the risks and benefits associated with hiring a ghost blogger for your organization as well as how to hire a blogger.

Amanda Magee, Trampoline Design Studio

Amanda Magee is a founding member of Trampoline Design, an 8-person marketing and communications agency in Glens Falls, New York. She came to the social media arena by seeking scrapbooking asylum back in 2004 as a new mom. Five years and two kids later, she juggles personal and professional blogs, company tweets and everything in between. 

Location:

SMBTV #4 will be hosted at the American Red Cross of Northeastern New York on Everett Road in Albany. The event begins at 8 a.m. with registration and some brief time for networking. Please arrive on time. Plenty of parking is available on-site. Breakfast consists of coffee, tea, juice bagels and cream cheese.

Help Save a Life!

Every minute of every day, someone needs blood. That blood can only come from a volunteer donor, a person like you who makes the choice to donate. There is no substitute for your donation. When you make a blood donation, you join a very select group. Currently only 3 out of every 100 people in America donate blood.

Since we'll all be attending SMBTV right there at the Red Cross, we ask that SMBTV participants consider taking 30 minutes before or after the breakfast to donate blood. We will have a link available soon (and sent out to attendees via e-mail) to sign up for a time slot to donate.

The event will be live-streamed online courtesy of: