Social Media in the Utilities Sector conference arrives in London today

SMI Group?s second Social Media in the Utilities Sector two-day conference arrives in London this week

SMI Group?s second Social Media in the Utilities Sector conference arrives in London today.

From 15-16 April 2013, the two-day conference brings together utilities, gamification, law, marketers, PRs, search and technology specialists to discuss the development of social media and related channels for this specialist industry.  Over the next couple of days, professionals will share experiences of what they encounter on a daily basis to further develop approaches that can be implemented and used at their respective organisations.

The first day of the conference is being chaired by Tim Field, press and public affairs executive from the Energy Networks Association.  Tim will introduce guest speakers and panel members from Wildfire Google, Energy UK, Hill & Knowlton, Ipsos Mori Reputation Centre, British Gas UK Power Networks, RWEnpower and Board Gais Networks.  

The second day is chaired by Malcolm Wells, director at Malwell Corporate Projects and will see a mix of guest speakers and panel discussions from Zeethos, Unilever, Vergence Entertainment, Jeffrey Green Russell, Blueclawsearch, Carson Content and Elemental.

The utility sector is like many others in its approach to social media with a combination of early adopters and organisations that have been using the channels with varying levels of success.  ?Given the nature of utility companies, the remit of social media is broad and these channels should be about more than just marketing to consumers.  Rightly or wrongly, as the reliance upon social media continues to grow we now see how the public can be informed about an array of issues and circumstances that can have an impact upon them in real-time,? comments Tm Gibbon, cofounder and editor at the Social Media Portal (SMP) and founder of communications consultancy Elemental.   

?Utilities like many other industries also need to understand how to manage the balance of marketing, customer services and providing services inline with the other channels that their customers use.  How utilities communicate with a range of customers and stakeholders is more important than ever before, especially when they can involve life-changing emergency situations.  One only needs to look to the emergency services and how some of them now use digital communications and how this may be expected of utility companies.  This conference is an ideal platform to discuss these issues,? adds Gibbon.

Read more about Social Media in the Utilities Sector at SMP event pages and what to expect at the conference. Keep up-to-date with SMi?s social media utility events via Twitter account @UtilitiesSMi.  

The Social Media Portal (SMP) is a media partner for Social Media in the Utilities Sector. SMP was created by communications consultancy Elemental in 2007. Stay current with social media and more by following SMP on Twitter at @smponline.



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