Why has social media become essential to marketing and brand development? It’s because Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and blogs and other platforms are powerful devices to engage with customers, build relationships and monitor the market place. But the learning curve to master and successfully exploit these tools is steep.

The Copyright Society of the U.S.A has assembled a distinguished panel of professionals that will help you understand, navigate, employ, but not misuse, these new technologies so that they enhance your business and brand. Please join us.

Time:

6:00 p.m. -- 6:30 p.m. Registration, networking and light refreshments

6:30 p.m. -- 8:15 p.m. Program

There is no charge to attend this program.

Panelists:

Andrew Berger will outline some simple steps you may take to avoid the legal risks arising from your use of social media tools and will also help you create a social media policy to protect your company should your employees misuse these tools.  

Andrew Berger is a copyright/trademark lawyer at the New York firm of Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt. He authors a blog on IP issues at www.ipinbrief.com, speaks about them frequently and is an active Twitter user.

Julie Haas Brophy will discuss how her use of Facebook grew her unorthodox company into an international phenomenon that spurred a book publishing deal and other projects.

Julie Haas Brophy  earned a BA from Columbia University and is a mother of two young children.  She created www.S**tMyKidsruined.com and www.****MyPetsRuined.com, two sites that have attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world in the past year. Her book, **** My Kids Ruined - An A-Z Celebration of Kid Destruction will be released on November 23^rd. Julie and her brother recently co-founded Sibling Thrivelry, LLC, a small media company, and together they’ve launched a number of other humor websites.

Yao-Hui Huang will give a general overview of social media platforms and also focus on search engine optimization, blogger outreach, affiliate marketing and ecommerce.

Yao-Hui Huang, with extensive experience in business, marketing and technology, functions at the heart of entrepreneurship in New York. She founded the Hatchery, www.hatchery.vs/, in 2007, a venture collaboration forum that assists emerging companies to grow their businesses. The Hatchery also sponsors Hatch Match, an annual event that brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and other parties interested in growing and being part of New York’s vibrant internet/web/information economy. Further, Yao for the last six years has served as CEO of GigaPixel Creative, an award-winning New York-based strategic design and development agency. 

Mistina Picciano will discuss how you can blog and use Twitter to brand and market your business to a global audience.

After a college professor convinced Mistina that good writing could actually pay, and several years as a brand manager in the corporate world, Mistina founded Market It Write, http://makeitwrite.com/blog/l, a writing and marketing firm. She is an expert in corporate communications with a large Twitter following and an active blog.

Elissa D. Hecker will moderate the program.

Elissa D. Hecker practices in the entertainment and business fields, specializing in copyright, trademark and business law.  In addition to her private practice, Elissa edited the books Entertainment Litigation - Know the Issues and Avoid the Courtroom and Counseling Content Providers in the Digital Age. Elissa is also the Editor of the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law (EASL) Blog, http://nysbar.com/blogs/EASL/ . Her website is www.EHECKERESQ.com.