MN Workshop on Social Networking Sites

Note that there's a significant discount for students and those who are not currently working who register for this workshop

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The MN Chapter of the Special Libraries Association invites you to attend:

Professional Development: Using Social Networking Sites for Research

Facebook, MySpace: fact or fiction? Can there really be a practical application of these sites for researchers? Join us for a fascinating presentation from Meg Smith, researcher from the Washington Post.

WHEN

Thursday, October 22^nd, 2009

12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. Registration & Networking

12:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Presentation

Light refreshments will be provided.

WHERE

Donaldson Co.

1400 West 94^th Street

Bloomington, MN 55431

952.887.3131

Donaldson is located near the intersection of 35W and 94^th St. in Bloomington.

Map (PDF): http://www.donaldson.com/en/about/dciMap.pdf

Driving Directions (Google Maps): http://tiny.cc/nte0j

You may park in any “Visitor” parking spot, or any spot that’s unnumbered.

NOTE: Participants will need to check in at the front desk in the lobby and wait for an escort to take them to the event room.

COST

$40 Association members (SLA, MALL, SCIP, ASIST, MLA, etc.)

$25 Students, unemployed, and retired attendees

$50 Non-members

*Please note registration guidelines below.

REGISTRATION

Deadline: Oct. 15^th

1. Email name and contact information to MN Chapter SLA

2. Make payment through PayPal OR send check payable to MN Chapter SLA

Registration details are available on the MN SLA website at:

http://units.sla.org/chapter/cmn/programs/events/e102209.htm

Please note the following registration guidelines:

· If you register, we require you to pay, even if you are not able to attend.

· There will be a $5 charge for registrations made after the registration deadline.

· Registrations made after the deadline are not guaranteed seating.

CONTACTS

Julie Eskritt – julie.eskritt@donaldson.com – 952.887.3019

Karen Mackey – karen.mackey@donaldson.com – 952.887.3018

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Meg Smith will share stories of how the Washington Post has used social networking sites in investigative reporting. She’ll show us how to connect a social networking profile to the real-world person behind it, how to spot fake profiles, and how to expertly search social networking sites in order to find individuals who may be hiding, or whose names you might not know. (We’ll even get tips on how to search social networking web sites that haven't been invented yet!)

There will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions during the presentation, but Meg will be happy to take comments in advance so she can tailor this presentation to our audience. Please send questions to Julie or Karen at the email addresses above.

Also, if you haven’t already, this would be a great time to explore Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.

Presenter Bio

Meg Smith is the Washington Post's local researcher. She was the lead researcher for the paper's coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting in 2008 and was a landmark for how the newspaper used social networking sites to report the news. For the Post's "Forced Out" series, which won the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting in 2009, Meg backsearched hundreds of land transactions on new condominiums, and used public records to find the owners of dozens of shadowy limited-liability companies that were shielding landlords who exploited loopholes in the city's housing laws.

Meg has also researched several other in-depth series and investigations including the paper's relentless pursuit of the perpetrators of the District's Office of Tax and Revenue fraud scheme, one of the largest municipal frauds in history, and the groundbreaking and data-rich multimedia series, "Being a Black Man," in 2006. Meg has a Bachelors in Journalism and an MLS from the University of Maryland, and has been at the Post since 2000. She has been a member of the Washington DC chapter of SLA since 2003.