The Institute for Social Media at Cincinnati State is launching a series of short courses aimed at business professionals.

The three-hour sessions are designed to drive home the most important aspects of social media in hands-on, business-oriented formats. The four courses are designed to meet the needs of professional in sales, development, marketing and public relations as well as owners and entrepreneurs.

Cost of each class is $69; the entire package of four is priced at $229. All classes will be taught at Cincinnati State’s Workforce Development Center in Evendale. Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credits will be provided.

“These are not courses for techies or computer geeks,’’ said Dr. Dennis Ulrich, Executive Director of Cincinnati State’s Workforce Development Center, which houses the Institute for Social Media.  “These are courses designed specifically for business professionals –people who want to understand the key elements of what is essentially a whole new approach to communications, and people who want to improve their current social media results.”

The “Essential Elements of Social Media for Business” courses will focus on understanding:

·         The strategy behind social media

·         The various tools available and when to use them

·         How and when to use social media professionally and personally

·         How to improve an organization’s social media performance

All sessions are interactive. Workshop sessions involve the use of college computers. The program is centered on practical instruction from knowledgeable experts. You’ll be able to transfer your learning to the workplace immediately. 

Class details:

Social Media: Introduction
Feb. 3, 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
What is social media; why is it important?

In this class, participants will gain a general understanding of social media, why it’s important today and how to start using it.   They will also gain an understanding of the many components and how businesses are effectively using social media. This interactive lecture session will focus on the keys to starting to use social media successfully.

Social Media: Connections Workshop 
Feb. 10, 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Learn the essentials of LinkedIn and Facebook in a workshop format

In this hand-on workshop session, participants will learn the essential elements of LinkedIn and Facebook.  They’ll learn how to set up LinkedIn and Facebook accounts and how to use the channels effectively.  They’ll also learn the key features of each and how to apply the features to actual situations.

Social Media: Content Creation Workshop
March 23, 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Develop skills for using Twitter, Blogs and YouTube in a workshop

Social media is about sharing. In this session, participants will learn how to create content for Twitter, blogs and YouTube Channel. During this hands-on workshop, participants will learn how to develop content strategy, and when and how to use content creation tools to reach their goals and objectives.

Social Media: Case Study Workshop
March 30, 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. 
Understand how to recognize issues and improve social media performance  

Like other communication channels, sometimes fine-tuning and performance improvement is needed. In this hands-on, interactive workshop, participants will learn how to recognize issues and improve the overall performance of social media. Case studies – good and bad –- will provide the basis for this session.

To enroll, go to http://www.workforcecincinnati.com/wdc/training-and-career-development/social-media

ABOUT CINCINNATI STATE

Cincinnati State (www.cincinnatistate.edu) offers more than 75 associate degree and 40 certificate programs in business technologies, health and public safety, engineering technologies, humanities and sciences and information technologies. About 10,800 students were enrolled in the 2011 Late Fall Term.  Cincinnati State has one of the largest cooperativ