What are the real and concrete business benefits to be gained from implementing Social Tools such as blogs, podcasts, wikis, online video and other collaborative technologies?

It is widely accepted that Web 2.0 - which has user-generated content and communications at its core - is changing the way we are living and the way we do business. It is also accepted that social tools make inter- and intra-organisational communications easier and more effective, and can add value to the customer experience. Collaboration and participation are the watchwords as companies encourage staff and customers to get involved and build communities around their brands, knowing that they can get better results in terms of staff productivity and engagement, while improving customer retention and acquisition.
The relationship between organisations and consumers is rapidly changing. People are increasingly becoming much more interested in what an organisation does, its public reputation and the environmental impact it is having on society. The new concept is that businesses are being run from the bottom up with employees pushing an innovative and entrepreneurial agenda. "Generation Y" expects to be able to have their say and network with their peers online, and to network with the work community via Face Book and similar tools, in the same way as they conduct their social lives; 63% of professional communicators in a recent survey said that their organization used online video through video sharing services like You Tube as a business tool.

So Social Tools have become widely pervasive; yet are they really delivering the promise? Some industry watchers maintain there is a shortage of revenue among social networks, blogs and other "social media" sites despite more than four years of experimentation aimed at turning such sites into money-makers.

What else can we do to tap these vast (and free) resources? Do they provide more effective alternatives to email? Can we use social tools to manage our brand online? How can we measure benefit and time-saving in a concrete way? What can the public sector do to streamline services and interact more effectively with the public? Do Social Tools help to reduce waste of resources and ensure more "Green IT"? and what are the answers to anxieties about security, lack of support from the top?

This highly interactive and lively conference brings together experts working in the environment of Web 2.0 or Enterprise 2.0, the new breed of managers and entrepreneurs - "Managers 2.0" - who have seen the power of collaboration and engagement, who have found new ways of saving time and money, and who share their experience with their audience in a way that is instructive, useful, and even fun.
We are delighted to have Gurteen Knowledge supporting the conference again and to welcome back speakers who received exceptional reviews at past events.