REDMOND, Wash. March 18th, 2010 – On April 15, 2010 the Social Media 201 Conference will be hosted at Microsoft’s Conference Center in Redmond, Washington. Social Media 201 is designed to help organizations take their social media strategy, tactics, and implementation to the next level of customer engagement, profitability, and ROI. This one day event features powerful keynote presentations, insightful lightning talks, a collaborative round table working session, and a panel discussion from recognized experts in business strategy, customer-relationship building and monetization of social media. These industry experts include:

* Eric Weaver – Account Director and Strategist at Tribal DDB Worldwide
* Dave Hanley – CEO & Principal at Banyan Branch
* Daniel Rasmus – Author of “Listening to the Future”
* Kristen Ruby – CEO, Ruby Media Group
* Dr. Udi Schlessinger – Managing Partner, U Labs
* Darren Williger – President & CEO, Regillo Consulting Group
* Bille Baty – COO & Managing Partner, Phi Concepts
* Jeff Dance – Founder, Fresh Consulting
* Joe Kennedy – Founder of Eastside Entrepreneurs and AKA “The Connector”

Social Media 201 is sponsored by the Microsoft Local Engagement Team and Comcast Business Class. Supporting organizations for Social Media 201 include Fresh Consulting, Eastside Entrepreneurs Social Network, Ruby Media Group, Banyan Branch, Regillo Consulting Group and Tribal DDB Worldwide.

Mike Whitmore, President of Fresh Consulting from Bellevue, Washington explains, “the concept for Social Media 201 stemmed from the Social Media 101 Conference the Eastside Entrepreneurs and Joe Kennedy hosted last September at Microsoft. The 101 Conference helped educate business owners about what social media is and why companies should participate. The new Social Media 201 Conference is designed for those businesses that have begun to delve into social media and want to take it to the next level, find a path to profitability and measure return on investment.”

Registration for the event is available at www.SocialMedia201.com. Use the discount code FRESH to get an additional discount.

Twitter feeds on the event are available from Twitter.com/SM201CONF and you can follow the event tweets via the hashtag #SM201

The Microsoft Conference Center provides free wireless Internet connectivity. A complimentary lunch is provided for attendees thanks to Comcast Business Class.”