Emerge Inc. Blog

I am extemely excited to announce that social media rock star and New York Times best selling author Chris Brogan has been added to the Credibility Conversation speakers series.

Due to a schedule conflict and an opportunity to add another exceptional speaker to the agenda we have made an adjustment to the schedule.

The series will now run the 2nd Wednesday of each month November 11, December 9 and January 13. Lewis Howes who was originally scheduled for October will join Shawn Morton on November 11. Tom Wanek will present on December 9.

On January 13, our speaker will be Chris Brogan, co-author of the New York Times best seller Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust (amazon). Chris is a ten year veteran of using social media to build digital relationships for businesses, organizations, and individuals and his blog ChrisBrogan.com is in the top 5 of AdAge Power 150, a daily ranking of marketing blogs and in the top 100 on Technorati.

For more information and to register, please visit CredibilityConversation.com.

UPDATE: New York Times best selling author Chris Brogan has been added to the Credibility Conversation (blog post) and will speak on January 13. Lewis Howes will join Shaun Morton and speak on November 11.

We are excited to announce that we (Emerge Inc. and LorainCounty.com) are hosting a 3-part speakers series focused on the themes of trust, authenticity, transparency, relationships, engagement, community and social media.

Each session will be on the 3rd Wednesday of each month (October 14, November 11 and December 9 and January 13) from 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. at Lorain County Community College Spitzer Conference Center.

ThreeFour exceptional speakers have agreed to present at what we are calling the Credibility Conversation:

October 14November 11: Lewis Howes, author of LinkedWorking: Generating Success on the World’s Largest Professional Networking Website and host of “LinkedWorking” events around the country that create opportunities for online connections to gather face-to-face.

November 11: Shawn Morton, Director of Social Media at Nationwide Insurance, previously employed with CNET Networks focused on large-scale community and social media initiatives.

December 9: Tom Wanek, Author of Currencies that Buy Credibility: Methods to win your customers trust and consultant with clients in the United States, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

The price for the event is $45 per session or $90 for the series. Early registration for the Credibility Conversation is now available for just $60 for the 3 part series.

A number of great organizations have partnered with us for this event including the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce, Community Foundation of Lorain County, Visit Lorain County, Lorain County Association of Realtors, Leadership Lorain County, and WOBL & WDLW Radio.

This is one of the most ambitious things we have put together and we would be honored if you could attend and share in the conversation.

If you have any questions or if I can provide additional information, please call (440) 284-4949 or email (Ed@EmergeInc.com) me.

There’s been a lot of talk in industry circles lately about the “graying” of social media.  Websites like Facebook, Twitter and FriendFeed are watching as the average age of their users gradually increases.  While many of the newer, more mature social media users are simply looking to communicate with old friends online, the “graying” audience is also a consequence of business professionals taking note of a valuable networking tool.

Many older professionals are just waking up to the amazing things that social media can let them do online, but high-school and college-age web surfers have known about the networking power of Facebook (and other social sites) for much longer.  Like most new technologies, it was the younger crowd that popularized social media websites before it became “cool” for the grownups to use.  Even today, students are ahead of the curve when it comes to using and comprehending social media.

That’s why it’s so exciting for me to be heading up a search for interns to help with an amazing new social media project here at Emerge, Inc.  We’re looking for local high school and college students who have experience connecting and sharing with friends on social media websites like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter.

And Emerge isn’t just interested in one kind of person; we want students whose extracurricular activities include computers, sports, band, academics or anything else. The more different types of people we have involved in this project, the more successful it will be.

Although I work with social media for a living, I have no doubt that there are plenty of brilliant Lorain County students out there who could teach me a thing or two . . . and we’re hoping that they contact Emerge.  If you think you’re the type of person we’re looking for, please start the process by answering a few questions on our online form.

On August 27th, the Lorain County JVS released a new website developed by Emerge. The new website features a dynamic design along with a restructuring of the site navigation to assist visitors in locating the information they are seeking in a fast and efficient manner.

Within the website, visitors will find information regarding the High School, Adult Career Center, and District information. There are also sections of the website dedicated to students, parents, employers and community services. Visitors can also view a calendar of events or download video from one of the Career-Technical Programs offered at the JVS.

You can also become a fan and follower of the Lorain County JVS. The website was expanded to incorporate links to the Lorain County JVS’ Facebook, MySpace, Twitter social media sites along with RSS feeds and Share This.

To learn more about the JVS and to check out the new website, visit: http://www.LCJVS.com.