I had the pleasure of being invited to present at the Annual Economic Development Association of British Columbia Conference in Osoyoos on June 7th, 2010.

They asked me to speak to the 140 delegates about social media, so that they could get a better understanding of how social networking fits for an association like EDABC.

The conference was held at Spirit Ridge Vineyard Conference Centre in Osoyoos – the setting couldn’t be more inspiring.  The entire complex is nestled into the landscape – behind it the dramatic craggy cliffs, and in front, vineyards sloping down to the lake.  The first thing I noticed when I got out of the car was the sound of crickets, and the cry of eagles soaring above.

For this online version of the presentation, I’ve condensed things quite a bit and removed the video vignettes I use in the live presentation.  It runs about 25 minutes.

Here are some links I spoke about in the presentation:

• NYCEDC on Facebook
• WorldBizChicago on Twitter
• Posting and content management via HootSuite
• Posting from Twitter to a Website
• A branded YouTube channel for DigiBC: VXChannel
• The Whitehouse on LinkedIn
• My Flickr page and my ‘set’ of photos from the conference centre setting in Osoyoos

If you’re interested in having me speak to your organization please email me.

I also do workshops to help jump-start your organization into the world of social networking.

We’re just starting to gather up some of their stories,  but I wanted to get this information out as quickly as possible.

Branko Zurkovic from Upside Wireless emailed to say that IPIPI.com is offering free text messaging to Haiti.

He says the company wanted to do what it could to help out, so their offering their service free – making it possible for friends and relatives to text to either of the networks in Haiti for free.

I’ll let Branko explain more in this clip:

To get set up:

• go to IPIPI.com
• create an account (it’s free)
• click on ‘contact us’ and  let them know you want to be able to send messages to Haiti
• your account will be configured to let you send message for free

And you can help out by sending this information to anyone you think might be able to use it.