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Blogworld Expo to be held Sept. 20-21 in Las Vegas

BlogWorld & New Media Expo, the first and only industry-wide tradeshow, conference and media event dedicated to blogging and new media, will offer companies critical real-world information on integrating blogs into their corporate communications strategy in order to improve customer relations, build community around their products or services, and energize their brands.

The exclusive pre-show Executive & Entrepreneur conference will feature advice, insight, and experiences as shared by senior executives from Fortune 500 companies and industry thought leaders, all of whom have already fought the battles, made the tough decisions, and successfully implemented social media operations at their own companies.

Blogworld Expo will be held Sept. 20-21, 2008 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Registration is still open at www.blogworldexpo.com.

Featured speakers at the pre-show event on Sept. 19 include John Andrews, Sr. Marketing Manager – Emerging Media at Walmart; Michael Brito, Social Media Evangelist at Intel; Hilary Weber, Director, Internet Marketing Services at Kaiser Permanente; and Michael E. Rubin, Vice President of Community at The Blog Council.

With more than 112 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media online (1), the business of blogging continues to boom. The medium is disrupting the traditional channels of business communications, as companies – such as Nike, Southwest Airlines, Motorola, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Ford, and General Electric – have turned to blogs as a catalyst for creating more personalized customer service, branding, humanization, and community cultivation.

A study conducted by Burson-Marsteller earlier this year found that 15% of Fortune 500 companies communicate with consumers via blogs. According to the agency, this figure represents an approximate 270% increase compared to when Wired magazine and Socialtext began tracking Fortune 500 blogs in December 2005. This same study found that larger companies are more likely to be using blogs than their smaller counterparts – as blogs can be found at nearly one-third (32%) of the Fortune 50, 16% of the Fortune 201-250, and only 2% of the Fortune 451-500.

BlogWorld & New Media Expo brings together visionaries, senior-level executives, and pioneers from the corporate blogging world, as well as those looking to make their first leap into blogging, livecasts, podcasts, micromedia, and other social media programs. Companies can learn first hand how to use blogs to increase brand awareness, build a passionate community, establish thought leadership, and improve customer service. Attendees will see tangible results and proof points from real-world success stories in social media to help understand the business case and ensure buy-in for their corporate blogging and social media programs.

BlogWorld & New Media Expo sponsors include Investor Village, Six Apart, Southwest Airlines, b5media and Pajamas Media. Additional information on BlogWorld & New Media Expo, including speaker topics, session descriptions and registration details, is available at www.blogworldexpo.com.