Date: 2011-03-04 Category: News
Social Media under the spotlight for International Womens Day
The transformative impact of Social Media is being discussed at a forthcoming event on the centenary of International Womens Day 8th March.
Over 100 businesses from across South Wales, the majority of which are expected to be women will join in the celebrations at the Village Hotel in Swansea next week.
With Social Media being the hot topic for the evening, delegates will get the chance to find out from some influential speakers how with a dynamic approach and the right level of persistence, Social Media can transform the way they do business.
Firstly, Sali Earls Communications Manager for Software Alliance Wales at Swansea University will draw on her own experience as a burgeoning social media enthusiast to demonstrate the reasons she believes your company should embrace the social network. She will ask delegates to consider if their organisation is currently socially networked, and will provide twenty reasons why she believes business should use social media to their advantage.
Next to speak is a lady who is Managing Director of UNIT4 Business Software Ltd, the largest subsidiary within the UNIT4 worldwide group being responsible for business within the UK and Ireland. Anwen Robinson has been in that role since July 2009, and since then, has led the company through rebranding, a companywide business transformation and a period of sustained growth. She is passionate about investing in people, technology innovation and customer service.
She said, I am pleased to take part in an event which promotes the role played by women in technology and the evolving role technology plays in empowering and expanding the reach, knowledge and accountability of people in whatever walk of life.
Last but no means least is Claire Scantlebury, Marketing Manager for Cardiff based digital agency Sequence. No stranger to the world of Social Media, she said, Theres a huge reluctance to get on board with social media and new technologies because a lot of people dont understand them or how they can be used. Im a huge advocate of getting to grips with the latest technology trends and finding out how I can get the best from them and Im really looking forward to sharing my thoughts and experiences at the ITWales event and I hope to get a few more people as enthused as I am.
Aside from this Claire is responsible for organising and managing Cardiff Web Scene, a community for people that have a professional interest in the web that live in and around Cardiff, she is also one half of the team that organises Ignite Cardiff and TEDxCardiff. Claire is passionate about the online space and specialises in Social Media and Community Engagement.
Social Media has taken the world by storm and like it or not, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are just some of the ways that businesses in the 21st century are promoting, educating and communicating with their customers.
During 2009-2010 Twitter users grew by 153 to 190million, and Facebook grew by 71 to 600million. The online population as a whole grew by 14 and at the end of 2010 stood at 1.9billion. Facebook launched in 2004, and Twitter in 2006 they are now worth a staggering $15bn and $10bn respectively.
Dr Neal Harman, from Swansea Universitys College of Science, is Project Director of Software Alliance Wales, he added: Im delighted that Software Alliance Wales is supporting this event, and look forward to hearing about the realm of Social Media. Our project offers support to ICT businesses and professionals working in the industry in Wales to ensure they keep abreast of the rapid pace of technological developments. This event will certainly leave delegates with the enthusiasm to engage with Social Media which will hopefully help enhance their business.
