Siouxland Social Media Conference hosted by the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce
The Siouxland Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce the Siouxland Social Media Conference in partnership with Morningside College on Friday, November 4, 2011 on the Morningside College Campus.
The Siouxland Social Media Conference will be highlighted by two trailblazers of the social media world: 1:45 p.m. presentation by Gary Vaynerchuk, best-selling author, self-trained wine and social media expert, and Noon presentation by Erik Deckers, author and co-owner and VP of Creative Services.
Gary Vaynerchuck is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best-Selling author who is also a self-trained wine and social media expert. Gary does not claim to be a ‘techie’, but in 2005, he began video blogging and is 
known as a true social media trailblazer! He has close to 1 million followers on Twitter and was included in BusinessWeek’s list of the ‘Top 20 people every entrepreneur should follow’. In his session, Gary Vaynerchuk teaches entrepreneurs how to take advantage of the current business environment, while also preparing them to succeed as it changes and evolves into what he’s termed “The Thank You Economy.” Gary discusses the incredible tool that allows brands to show customers that they care: social media.
Gary has appeared on countless programs from Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Ellen to MSNBC, CNBC, CNN and NPR. He was also notably featured in Decanter Magazine’s 2009 Power List which is a list of the 50 most influential people in wine.
Erik Deckers co-authored No BS Social Media (Pearson 2011) and Branding Yourself: Using Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself (Pearson, 2010). Erik is the co-owner and VP of Creative Services for Professional Blog Service in Indianapolis. 
He has been blogging since 1997, and has been a published writer for more than 24 years. His session will be based on his latest book, why you should be using social media to communicate with your customers and business partners. It disproves the myths and knocks down the excuses, and shows you the biggest reason why your business needs social media: because you want to make money.
Other sessions during the day include “Why Businesses Need to Worry about Social Media”, “Social Media in Siouxland: Trends & Tactics”, “I have an Account, Now What?” and “This Sounds Great…but is it Practical?” presented by local experts and local business people finding success with their social media strategies.
The Siouxland Social Media Conference on November 4 will begin with check-in at 7:30 a.m., with four presentations and panel sessions starting at 8:00 a.m., author, Erik Deckers, will present during the Noon lunch and the keynote presentation by Gary Vaynerchuk will be at 1:45 p.m. in Eppley Auditorium. The keynote presentation is open to the public.
Reservations are $99.00 per person for Siouxland Chamber of Commerce members and $199.00 for non-Chamber members. All sales and reservations must be made in advance. Register online today at www.siouxlandchamber.com. For further information or reservations, call the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce at (712) 255-7903 or register online at http://business.siouxlandchamber.com/Events/details/navigating-the-social-media-world.
