Through their use of Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and other social media tools, many local charities have spread their message, raised funds and increased public awareness of their cause in order to promote social change. In the hopes of spreading their stories and inspiring other philanthropic organizations to do the same, four local charities will be conducting a panel discussion at the Sacramento Social Media Club’s “Social Media Best Practices for Charities” on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Urban Hive. Moderated by Clay Nutting, director of Concepts 4 Charity and account executive for 3Fold Communications, the event will include panelists: Kate Towson, Americorps VISTA with Sacrament

Let’s face it; those of us that use social networking sites are pretty much addicted. Whether you are connected through Facebook or Twitter—or both—you have a pretty good idea of what’s going on around town. Businesses that have been paying attention for the past two plus years are aware of this phenomenon and have leveraged social media to broaden their reach to potential customers. Restaurateurs are no different. On Tuesday, the Social Media Club, Sacramento (@SMCSac) hosted the “Dining Social: Restaurants & Social Media” at The Urban Hive in midtown to discuss how local restaurants are using social media and the impact it has had on their business. Ashlee Gadd (@AshleeGadd), PR Manager

What or whom are you influenced by when you are looking for a new product? It might be commercials, television shows, or maybe if you are like millions of other people around the world, you are influenced by bloggers. Gone are the days when you only read ads in the Sunday newspaper, or watch commercials on the television. Today many of us are being swayed commercially by social media, the internet, and other digital mediums. In fact, according to Marketing Charts.com, nearly 50% of blog readers say they purchase products mentioned in the blogs they read on a daily basis. That is quite powerful when you put it in perspective. So what about here locally? What kind of power and influence do

93% of all American adults adult internet users are now on Facebook. While this is not a surprising statistic for anyone that has fielded a friend request from their mom, aunt or even grandpa, it does make it harder for small businesses to ignore Facebook as a platform to engage their target demographic. The argument that a business targets an older or less tech savvy demo than Facebook users just doesn’t hold water any longer. Businesses without a Facebook presence are not just passing up a valuable opportunity to engage their customers, provide customer service, and gain new consumers; they're falling behind. But just being on Facebook and setting up a business page isn’t enough. A Face

So, your business has a website. Then you heard that blogs are the thing that every website needs to helps your business connect with customers. So, now your website has a blog... and you have no idea what to do with it. Enter Jennifer Bourn, owner of Bourn Creative and the guest speaker at the Social Media Club, Sacramento (SMCS) workshop, "Blogging for Business". The workshop, held at Drexel University in Downtown Sacramento on March 24th, aimed to help small business owners and other business bloggers ensure the rewards reaped through their blog is worthy of the time spent.  There is no question that blogging, whether for business or pleasure, requires a significant investment of time

Three local non-profit organizations were featured in a Sacramento Social Media Club panel on Tuesday evening hosted by the Sacramento State College of Continuing Education. The panel included Celia Cortez, Projects and Event Manager for the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Jordan Blair, Board Member for River City Food Bank; and Jon Benorden, Program Coordinator for the Center for AIDS Research, Education and Service (CARES). Lesley Miller, Media Director for 3Fold Communication, also sat on the panel. Moderator Josh Morgan, principal at Morgan/Dorado and program director for the Sacramento Social Media Club, focused the discussion on how non-profits are using social media to educ

Some say God is everywhere but last month, we discovered that social media is everywhere too—even in our churches! On October 20, 2009, the Sacramento Social Media Club held a panel discussion on the use of social media by local churches. The event, “Pray for Social Media”, was hosted by The Sacramento Press, and was moderated by Jeff Marmins of Social Media Path and partnership director for the Sacramento Social Media Club. Panelists included Josh Trevino from the Parish Council of St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church in Roseville; Robert Mees, Director of Evangelism at Sierra Baptist Church in Pioneer in Amador County and CJ Alvarado, Director of Communications and Technology at Bayside Church

Police converged on a ballroom in a downtown hotel Tuesday night, but there wasn’t a crime in progress. “Social Crime” was the topic of Tuesday evening’s Sacramento Social Media Club event hosted by The Citizen Hotel in Downtown Sacramento. Representatives from local law enforcement shared how their organizations are using social media tools to prevent crime, improve community outreach, and even take down predators. Josh Morgan of Morgan/Dorado Public Relations and programming director for the Sacramento Social Media Club presented a “101” on Facebook Privacy. He explained how Friends Lists on Facebook can be used to limit information connections can see on your profile. Josh, for exampl

The Sacramento Chapter of the Social Media Club is hosting a Government 2.0 panel discussion.   The panel will answer questions on how local government leaders and community activists are effectively incorporating Web 2.0 and social media technologies into their organizations. We'll consider the benefits of developing a social media strategy and share ideas and solutions to help participants deal with the unique challenges and potential obstacles that arise when trying to integrate these new technologies within government agencies. The free event, sponsored by Morgan/Dorado Public Relations, LLC, is Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 6:30pm - 8:30pm at 2804 Gateway Oaks Drive, Sacramento, CA.  The