UW-Whitewater: Paula Berg of Southwest Airlines named keynote speaker at Public Relations and Social Media Summit

Contact: Ann Knabe

(262) 472-5068

knabea@uww.edu

WHITEWATER ­ Paula Berg, director of emerging technologies for Southwest Airlines, will be the keynote speaker for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Public Relations and Social Media Summit on Wednesday, Oct. 14. The all-day workshop is affordably priced and open to communication and business professionals, featuring experts talking about the strategic use of social media in public relations and interactive marketing.

Berg will talk about Southwest Airlines’ international success in social media and share insight into the company’s internationally-known blog, “Nuts About Southwest.” Other notable speakers include Randy Sprenger, social media strategist for Harley-Davidson; Colin Hutt, developer of Manpower’s award-winning blog; Jason Weaver, president of Sway Inc.; Lt. Col. Gerald Ostlund, a social media strategist from the Pentagon, and the founder of Comet Branding, UW-Whitewater alumnus Al Krueger.

“The Public Relations and Social Media Summit is an excellent value for anyone wanting to learn more about social media and how to leverage public relations and marketing programs using these new tools,” said event organizer and UW-Whitewater Public Relations Lecturer Ann Knabe. “The summit is extremely affordable, and represents diverse perspectives on a very contemporary approach to communication strategy. Any organization looking toward the future needs to be engaged in social media now.”

The Public Relations and Social Media summit also features panel discussions about social media measurement, tips for finding a job using social media, and the use of social media in healthcare, nonprofits and education. More than 20 different social media strategists and public relations professionals will share insight on how their innovative companies are using Twitter, blogs, Facebook and other social media tactics to reach their strategic public relations goals.

The all-day event costs $10 for students or faculty, $50 for UW-Whitewater alumni, nonprofit and government employees, and members of the Milwaukee Social Media Club (people may join the Milwaukee Social Media Club on Facebook for free, and attend the summit at the nonprofit rate). The regular price for the summit is $75.

For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/PR-SocialMediaSummit . People interested in participating can register directly at http://bit.ly/uww_pr_socialmedia or call UW-Whitewater Continuing Education at 262-472-3165