my session on blogging and social media for journalists

I’ve been invited to do an hour long session on blogging and social media – paying particular attention to turning existing processes into content and integrating blogs into programmes – at the DNA 2008 conference in Brussels, 3-4 March 2008. Here’s the official blurb from the conference agenda:

"Many news and media organisations are now using reporter, programme and
editor blogs to reach out to their audiences. Most of these are add-ons
to existing output, creating a further burden upon often overstretched
production teams, but that need not be the case. Robin Hamman, a Senior
Broadcast Journalist for BBC English Regions, is the man behind the
scenes of the BBC’s Blogs Network. Part of his role is to inform
journalists and programme-makers about the usefulness of social media
tools such as RSS, social bookmarking, blogging, social networking and
photosharing. In adopting such tools, they not only make productivity
gains, but can start to more easily turn many of their existing
processes into compelling content which, potentially, will help them
reach new audiences. Likewise, blogging need not be an additional
burden on production teams – if integrated well into a programme it can
be an essential driver of content both to and from audiences. In this
session, Robin will outline the amazing potential and opportunity that
arises when your news teams understand and use social media and blogs
in the way enthusiasts do."

This is one of two conferences I’ve agreed to speak at so far this year, the other being (G)local, 8-10 May 2008 in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. Both of them look like excellent conferences to be a part of.