Last Thursday, we held our first event of 2012. Dorothea Bozicolona-Volpe led an enthusiastically-received session on the art of personal branding. From the "why" to the "how", Dorothea provided context and content for attendees, many of whom were attending an SMCATL event for the first time.  

While the value of many different social networks were discussed - and our speaker advised an active presence across the spectrum, the effectiveness of LinkedIn a the development of professional, successful personal brand dominated a large part of the discussion. 

Contrary to the rumors, social networks have not displaced email. 

Some recommended tools for building your personal brand:

And not all social networks are created equal - Dorothea made the valuable point that total automation across all of your "social footprint" may not be in your best interest. One reason (among others): if people are following you on multiple channels, do they really want to see the same content?

Wrapping up, some key takeaways: