Those attending the Social Media Workshop Tuesday evening at 6:00 PM are in for a very special treat. Andy Beal, internet marketing consultant, award-winning blogger, professional speaker and coauthor of the critically-acclaimed book Radically Transparent: Monitoring & Managing Reputations Online will be the special guest speaker via Skype.

Riverstone Energy Center team members Kristy Johnson (on screen) and Ben Thompson (standing) make first trial run using the modeling and simulation “Cave” for immersive teleconferencing.

Lisa Kipps-Brown, President of Glerin Business Resources, is working with the Riverstone Energy Center to use the modeling and simulation “Cave” to host an interactive discussion during the workshop. “We couldn’t afford his fee to come and speak to our group, but Mr. Beal graciously offered to attend via Skype. Our next challenge was to figure out a way for those attending the workshop to be able to see and interact with Mr. Beal,” Kipps-Brown said. “Without Riverstone Energy Center's assets and lots of help from Energy Center employees Ben Thompson and Kristy Johnson, we wouldn't have been able to make this happen; they're also enabling us to live stream the entire workshop for those who can't attend,” she added.

The next free social media workshop at Riverstone Technology Park will be next Tuesday, March 20, at 6pm; the topic will be blogging and a special guest will be teleconferencing in. You can register online but space is limited so make sure to register early.

 Noted marketing and online reputation expert Andy Beal will join the group via teleconference for a Q&A session.  Andy will discuss how businesses can use social media monitoring software in market research, PR, online reputation management, risk analysis, and customer service. He is the author of Radically Transparent: Monitoring & Managing Reputations Online.

The day after two Southern Virginia groups visited the Capitol to express their concerns over lifting the ban on uranium mining in Virginia, Governor Bob McDonnell has asked the General Assembly to kee the moratorium in place for the 2012 session. We applaud the Governor for taking the cautious route. 

We desperately need jobs in our region but must weigh the potential risks before making such an important decision; given that the NAS report was just released in December, there is absolutely no way that lawmakers could have studied it and other reports fully. One only needs ask the citizens of New Orleans and Fukushima about the failure of designs in the face of catastrophic natural disasters.  Read the full press release on ReadTheReports.org.

Groups visit the Capitol to express business and health concerns regarding lifting the moratorium on mining uranium in Virginia.

Continuing the free Social Media Workshop series that kicked off in December, Glerin Business Resources will present a Facebook workshop on January 23 and 24, 2012 at Riverstone Technology Park in South Boston, Virginia. The popularity of the first workshop prompted Glerin to schedule two nights this month to allow more participants.

This free social media workshop will explore how to use Facebook effectively, including topics such as: