Social Geek Radio

Dana Lopez aka "On-Line Director" for Social Geek Radio will sit in as co-host for AK Stout this week. Joining Dana and Deb is Abbie S. Fink, Vice President/General Manager at HMA Public Relations.  Abbie has both a master's degree in mass communications and a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism/public relations from Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication of Arizonia State University. Abbie will share social media strategies on how to create a great marketing plan for any event! http://www.linkedin.com/in/abbiesfink @AbbieF http://www.facebook.com/HMAPublicRelations

  You are probably engaging customers on social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to grow your business. Are you using social media marketing by connecting your social networks with Email Marketing? Our guest Julie Niehoff, Sr. Regional Development Director of Constant Contact will share how Event Marketing and Online Surveys will get your business noticed and deepen the relationship with your customers.   http://www.linkedin.com/in/julieniehoff http://twitter.com/julieniehoff

Filling in for Deb Evans and AK Stout for this episode of Social Geek Radio is former SGR co-host BJ Emerson, VP of Technology for Tasti D-Lite.  Joining him will be Jack Monson, Vice President of Engage121, a social CRM platform.  If you've ever wanted listen more effectively and have better connections with your customers online, you'll want to hear about Social CRM. This episode will cover the basics as well as get into some details of Customer Relationship Management and social media. 

Join us as we continue our discussion of summer technology fun for kids! Meet Lisa Johnson, Instructional Technology Specialist for NEISD, App Enthusiast, Apptivity Author, Social Geek, Wordpress Addict, and Lifelong Learner. Lisa told us, “I am blessed to be working as an Instructional Technology Specialist for NEISD. I love my job and never truly see it as "work". The Mumford & Sons song, Awake Your Soul, says it best “Where you invest your love, you invest your life.”   Lisa received her Master Technology Teacher certification from OLLUSA in 2008, taught 4 years of 7th Math/Pre-Algebra, and has certifications in elementary education, middle school mathematics, and all-level English/Language Arts. Her love for “cooking up” technology integrated lessons and the need for a creative outlet and a global audience led to the creation of  techchef4u wordpress blog.  Throughout the years she has served in various leadership and mentoring roles and is very involved in curriculum planning, vertical alignment,

Our guest this week is Deb Dobson who is a social media/marketing strategist.  She brings years of experience in business consulting, IT, marketing and social media.  She believes the technology should fit the person and their business goals, not the person trying to fit into the technology.  She has helped startups, small businesses and professionals  learn how to leverage the Web 2.0 world to reach their goals.  Currently, her day work is marketing for a large law firm, and off hours working with a new startup AboutOurWork which is a .com being developed by small business owners for small business owners, and will be launching soon.  Twitter: @DebDobson

Join us with our guest Cyndee Perkins, Director Curriculum and Program Development at COMPUTER EXPLORERS as we discuss technology options for kids over the summer. Kids today are natively fluent in both mobile and social platforms. Cyndee will share how to harness their interests and make the best use of their time over the long summer months.  Follow Cyndee Twitter: @CyndeePerkins Blog: COMPUTER EXPLORERS Read her Blog: 

BJ Emerson, VP of Technology for Tasti D-Lite is back! At least as our special guest this week! As you can see from BJ's speaking calendar by clicking here, he has traveled around the world sharing his thoughts on how to use social technologies to reward brand loyalty. There is a great article by Hospitality Technology on "Reward Point Revolution" where BJ talks about Tasti's social media road map. Join us as he shares his secrets and what he has learned during his world wide tour. Since BJ is founder of "GeekItOut" we are sure he will share some very cool geek sites with us! Twitter: @BJ_Emerson or @Tastidlite Blog: Social Tech

      Our guest this week is Brooke Howell, SmartBrief's editor and resident expert on news for small businesses and entrepreneurs. She tweets from @SBStartup and writes for SmartBrief's SmartBlogs. The premise behind SmartBrief is simple: there’s too much information out there and too little time in the day to read it all. Their editors hand-pick the most relevant and important news from all over, summarize it, link to the original sources and deliver it -- for FREE -- in one-stop-shop e-newsletters. Nearly 3 million business decision makers count on SmartBrief each day to provide “must-read” news in 25 key industries. Subscriptions are free of charge, offered in partnership with more than 100 leading trade associations. professional societies, non-profits and corporations.

Join AK and Deb and their special guest Dave Kerpen, co-founder and CEO of Likeable Media, an award-winning social media and word-of-mouth marketing firm. Dave has been featured on CNBC's "On the Money", ABC World News Tonight, the CBS Early Show, the New York Times, and countless blogs. Likeable's mission is to help build more transparent, responsive, & likeable companies, nonprofit organizations, and governments. If you buy his new book, "likeable social media" you will receive a pre-release e-copy! Dave will also share information about the upcoming Likeable U conference to be held in New York City June 8th and . Twitter: @davekerpen

 Join AK, Deb and guest Steve Cunningham, President & CEO for Polar Unlimited based in Ontario as they uncover what is needed for a digital health check! Polar Unlimited is a digital relationship agency that helps you create meaningful relationships with your customers and prospects. They believe that with the web as a hub, digital brand strategies and tools can engage a larger audience more efficiently and effectively than traditional media. Steve also produces a video podcast at www.readitfor.me, where he summarizes the latest and greatest of the billion (or so) business books that bombard us every year. Tangled somewhere in that forest of pages are at least a few business-changing ideas that Steve distills down to their essence. Proving that innovative content trumps catchy slogans, hundreds of people from every corner of the globe tune in every week. Twitter: @stevecunningham

Deb joined several others for the last four weeks on Monday and Wednesday as they attended Social Media Boot Camp. Their instructor, AK Stout conducted two hour sessions. The sessions were designed for individuals new to social media and those that have been "using" social media.  Sessions covered: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogging and Local Search. Join AK and Deb as they discuss some of the key takeaways of the Boot Camp.

This week on Social Geek Radio, Deb Evans and AK Stout will be joined by special guest, Melissa Giovagnoli, CEO and Founder of Networlding. Networlding teaches the science of social networking. It is based on the best-selling book, Networlding: Building Relationships and Opportunities for Success which was written by Melissa. In 2005, Networlding was licensed as one of five business-leadership programs by Yale University's Graduate School of Business. You can follow Networlding on Twitter at @Networlding and read the blog http://www.networldingblog.com/.

Blogging is all about communication. Anyone can become an online publisher and build an online community. Join us as we discuss what is newsworthy in blogging with Susan Young, President, Get In Front Communication. Susan has 25 years in news, communication, and PR. She is award-winning radio news director, reporter, and on-air anchor. Susan is also Managing Editor/Producer, HR Communicator at Ragan Communications. Twitter: @sueyoungmedia Blog: http://www.getinfrontcommunications.com/blogging

Our guest, Thomas Scott from Brand Journalists attended Podcamp Nashville last week. His blog post describes the Podcamp as a free and interactive forum for bloggers, marketers, content creators, social media experts, educators and podcasters to gather. Podcamp Nashville marked its fourth year held in the music city where attendees could network and learn about the latest trends, tricks and technologies in the interactive world. Join us as Thomas shares who he met and what he learned in the interactive sessions. Twitter: @brandjournalist Web: http://www.brandjournalists.com Blog: http://brandjournalists.tumblr.com

This week our guest is David Murray, Director of Social Web Communications for re:group. re:group, inc., is a privately held, national brand marketing firm located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that provides integrated brand management, including branding, marketing, design, internet marketing, advertising, SEO, social media, communications and digital and traditional media services as part of an integrated strategy. David will share what it means to be a social web communications director, how re:group implemented a QR campaign at IFA (International Franchise Association) and the need for social media education. Twitter: @DaveMurr Web: http://regroup.us

The Domino Project created a worldwide street team. AK Stout is one of the members of the team and Domino Project. The team consists of individuals who are on a mission to spread ideas to people who care. They are digital natives who blog, tweet, take risks, and care about reinventing outdated systems. They are part of the digital revolution in publishing and want to share their thoughts on Seth Godin's latest book "Poke The Box". Join Deb, AK and possibly a guest or two from the Domino Project as they discuss what does it really mean to "poke the box" and why does Godin say "the person who fails the most wins"? Share your thoughts on the Social Geek Radio Facebook page. Join us live by calling into the show Thursday 8pm CT/9pm ET or via the chat feature. Come "Poke the Box" with us.

Watch this YouTube video of AK as she describes the importance of using Google Places and Merchant Circle and why it should be part of your online presence as a business owner. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h9K96xVXXg She will walk us through her checklist and tell us more about The Get Social Bootcamp. Do you have the answer to "How many social platforms does AK have a profile listed?" The winner will receive a copy of "Poke the Box." Join us in the chat or via the telephone to list your answer!

Ken Walker, CEO of Driven Brands declared "Franchising Is Back!" to IFA attendees at the 51st annual convention held in Las Vegas. Deb Evans attended the convention with 2800 other franchise industry leaders and suppliers. This week AK Stout will discuss the convention with Deb. What did attending a convention of that size offer? Was the new IFA Convention Mobile App a success? Was there anything new presented in the Technology Summit? What was presented in the Leadership Conference as the "new normal?" What new technology was used by attendees or presented? Next week AK Stout will be a presenter at the COMPUTER EXPLORERS conference. She will share some of her strategies on using Google Places and Merchant Circle in business and will give a sneak peak of her presentation.

On Thursday, February 17th while Deb is traveling back from the International Franchise Association Convention, AK will be joined by guest co-host Dana Lopez of Graphic Management. AK & Dana will be speaking with Shelley Roth, Founder & President, Springboard Works. http://www.springboardworks.com. Since 1999, Springboard has been helping businesses create and implement ways to grow sales. As a social media trainer | speaker | consultant, Shelley has been working with companies and business owners with a focus on using social media marketing for business growth and brand recognition. At Springboard, they are passionate about teaching how to use social media tools to get the party started! The biz party that is!

On February 10th AK and Deb welcome guest, Greg Pitkoff, Managing Director of GRiP Communications. Greg has been working in the franchise community for nearly 15 years, during which he has helped startups with just a few locations, multi-national companies with thousands of sites and a broad range of companies in between attract prospective franchisees, gain more customers, build and broadcast their brand, recruit, retain and reward employees, and much more. He spent a decade heading up franchise account teams at several New York PR agencies before branching out on his own in 2007 with GRiP Communications. Today the list of franchise companies he has represented tops two dozen, and he continues to add new franchise clients year after year. Greg has been a co-moderator on the former weekly AOL Franchise Chat and on several IFA Convention Roundtables. He has contributed columns on marketing and communications to the IFA's Franchising World magazine, and has consulted with several franchise organizations on tak