Next General Meeting:
Social Networking Dos and Don’ts
Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Location: Danbury Hospital Auditorium,
24 Hospital Ave, Danbury, doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Program Preview:
by Richard Corzo

You’ve probably received invitations from family, friends, and colleagues to join Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace. Or maybe you’ve had the opportunity to create a Yahoo! or Windows Live profile page. Have you wondered whether you should join, or whether to add someone new to your network? What information should you post?

At our February meeting we’ll have Web professional and musician Dan O’Connor explain it all to us. He’s a returning speaker, having last spoken to us on the subject of MySpace in March 2007.

Dan will share with us his experience with Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace, which he’s used extensively for professional networking and for music. An avid fan of books on tape, he’s listened to a dozen books on the topic and read countless blog posts.

Here are some topics he’ll cover:

• Figuring out what you want out of a social networking site
• The best way to set up a profile to meet your networking goals
• Proper etiquette for sending requests to be a friend or a connection
• The proper amount of times to update your status and add postings
• Why and how to use groups to network
• What to post and what not to post in groups
• How to use the social networks to drive traffic to your own Website and mailing list
• Where is the line crossed between networking and spamming
• How to use the social networks to do real social networking
• What widgets you need and what to stay away from
• How to expand a targeted network quickly

On the one hand, social networking sites are a convenient and fun way to keep in touch with friends and colleagues. But, graduates entering the workforce as well as current employees should understand that employers may check social networking sites. What do you want them to know?

Come to our February general meeting and find out the answers to your social networking questions.

Dan O'Connor is the Webmaster of DanoSongs.com, a royalty free production music library where people can use his music for free under the creative commons music license.

Danbury Area Computer Society (DACS) is a registered nonprofit and has been serving the region since 1990. Members receive an award-winning newsletter, members-only workshops and events, and access to volunteer phone support.

As a reminder, our General Meetings are free and open to the public so invite anyone you know who would be interested in this topic.

DACS meetings are held at the Danbury Hospital auditorium. (Click here for directions.) Activities begin at 6:30 p.m. with registration and casual networking. The meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. with a question and answer period (Ask DACS), followed by announcements and a short break. The featured evening presentation begins at 8:00.