A free in-depth social media workshop, co-sponsored by the Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce and Bluffton Center for Entrepreneurs, is being offering to interested area residents.

Persons interested in attending must RSVP to [email protected] by noon on Wednesday.

The workshop is at 8:45 a.m., Friday, May 13, in the third floor of the town hall. The workshop will take place following the Friday morning chamber breakfast set for 7:30 a.m. in the town hall.

The workshop will touch on a number of ideas and is designed to give practical ways that social media can make businesses more profitable. The Bluffton Icon will sponsor a free continental breakfast served at the workshop,

Following each speaker will be a time for a questions.

Workshop speakers
Carrie Phillips of Bluffton team teaches a course on information technology and organizations in the Bluffton University's MBA program.

She is the Archives and Special Collections Librarian for Bluffton University, caring for the thousands of documents and rare books in the University's archival, historical, and Mennonite collections.

She's also the webmaster for Bluffton University's Musselman Library and works with library staff to develop and maintain the library's web and social media presence.

Her daily work allows her to work with different spaces of time, going from preserving a 16th century Swiss Bible to tweeting about the latest electronic resource available to the University audience.

Her presentation will cover the following areas:
o How did social media come to be?
o Where and when did it start, and where are we now?
o Why does social media matter for businesses?
o Marketplaces have always been about conversations.
As the conversation between and among producers and consumers shifts toward a virtual setting, what are some good case studies to show how businesses are participating in this conversation via social media?

Josh Smith of Bluffton is a technology writer who is currently the editor for Notebooks.com and GottaBeMo- bile.com. He has also written for AOL's WalletPop.com, Dealnews.com and had his work on MSNBC and CNN as well as other outlets.

Smith strives to make technology accessible to the average user by breaking down the jargon and delivering an easy to understand summary.

He is a 2005 graduate of Bluffton University and a 2008 MBA graduate of Bluffton University.

In his current role, he manages the Facebook and Twitter pages for Notebooks.com and GottaBeMobile.com and is an avid user of social media.

Smith has taken the best social media practices from his observations at WalletPop and his discussions with successful social media efforts and will show you actionable steps to take to kick off the social media campaign for your small business.

Smith will cover the following topics:
o How to attract fans
o How to create a landing page (and why)
o Tips for posting on your page
o What you need to know about contests on Facebook
o How many people should be in charge of your Facebook page
o How you can use Facebook ads to grow your likes

7:30 a.m. breakfast
The monthly chamber breakfast is at 7:30 a.m., featuring a presentation by Mennonite Home Communities of Ohio.

They will bring chamber members up to date on the progress of the New Vision: Transforming Elder Living (Green House) campaign, and a new program, which provides non-clini- cal services to residents in their own homes.

Laura Voth, CEO, Julie Stratton, director of marketing, and Doug Luginbill, director of development and church relations, will make the presentation.

Also at the May breakfast, Greg Denecker, Bluffton school superintendent, will update chamber members of school finances and the impact of the State of Ohio's 2012 budget.

Krysti Schey of Krysti's Music Studio is the expert of the month. She will explain why you are never too young to enroll in musical instrument lessons.

A complete breakfast is provided by Richland Manor.

A 15-minute break will following the breakfast. Persons interested in remaining will reconvene at 8:45 a.m. for the next session.