Legal Commentary

It's hard to believe that September is finally here!  But yup, it's time to go back to school! (Well, for a day!) I hope you will join Bob Ambrogi and me at the terrific "Social Networking: Risks & Rewards" program at the Harvard Club in New York City on September 21.

Ambrogi is chair of the event, which targets general counsel and their staff. We're going to address everything from "Social Media and the New World Order," to developing social media policies, protecting identity and intellectual property, and more. My panel, "Your Business and the Social Media Sensation," features speakers Michele Mitchell of NBC Universal, Cheryl Givner of MasterCard Worldwide, Nicole Black of Fiandach & Fiandach and Andy Mitchell of CNN Worldwide.

Givner, vice president and managing counsel of MasterCard's WorldWide Marketing & Core Products, offers examples of how powerful social media has become: United Airlines took a lot of heat recently from an unhappy customer who vented (with great humor) on YouTube when baggage broken guitar. The post has been viewed more than 5 million times and is a great example of the business risks of social media, says Givner. And here's the aftermath -- the consumer's statement about United's resolution and gesture of compensation.

And there's an early bird discount, too! Conference organizer Judy Kelly reports that legal bloggers and readers of Law Technology News and our blogs (The Common Scold and EDD Update) can save $50 -- just use promotion code TCS.