Upcoming speaking engagement – Social Media Club (Victoria, B.C.) May 2009

I am always amazed by how incredibly welcoming the social media community in British Columbia has been to me. Recently, I volunteered myself (only half-jokingly) to be the speaker at the Social Media Club gathering in Victoria (British Columbia). Catherine Novak (WordSpring) took my offer to heart and now it is official. On May 26th, 2009, I will be crossing the pond and going over to the capital of beautiful British Columbia to speak about “Using Social Media for Social Change: Towards an Action-Based Agenda“. I am incredibly honored because I have had the pleasure of meeting Chris Heuer (Chairman, Co-Founder of Social Media Club). I am also honored because Colleen Coplick invited me to be part of SMC 604.

Basically, the abstract of my talk will be the following:

The fact that we live in a networked society where the boundaries between public and private have blurred is no mystery to anyone. I have been interested in the behavior of networks for almost a decade. Recently, I have begun an action-focused research agenda trying to understand how we can use social marketing AND social media at the intersection of public policy issues, environmental affairs and more recently, de-stigmatization of mental health.

In this presentation, I want to push the social media for social change agenda further. I’d like to challenge the participants to join me in a brainstorming session to delineate what the future of social networking, social media and social marketing is and how all these elements interact with each other and strengthen our capabilities to effect social change in the world. We need to stop ‘thinking’ so much and start ‘acting’ much more. I will challenge my audience to join me in this movement towards an action-based agenda for social media for social change.

Related posts:

1. Social Media Club Vancouver launch
2. My upcoming (to-be-pitched) talk at @VanChangeCamp
3. My recent Social Media Club Victoria talk: “Towards an Action-Focused Agenda for Social Change Using Social Media” (#smcvictoria) @smcvictoria
4. Vancouver NetTuesday April 2009 – Mini Social Media Camp for Nonprofits & Other Do Gooders!
5. Complexity, self-organization and social media in 2009