By Priya Ramesh

I am eagerly looking forward to joining my extended social media family this week at NewComm Forum in San Mateo, CA, April 20th-23^rd. It’s like a home coming for communications pros who are also in the front and center of helping brands get more social. As I glance over the nicely done conference brochure, there are two sessions that I think anyone engaged in B2B marketing would greatly benefit from so thought I would share it with you just in case you are attending NewComm Forum.

How to Manage Your Social Media & Online Authority for Business Benefits
Wed, April 21, 3:15PM – 4:15PM

If you are in the B2B space, you probably have the luxury of having to quantify, calculate and re-calculate your social media efforts every single quarter. I hear your pain.  Have you then understood the ROI of making your business an influential voice online? “By understanding authority and influence, organizations can use social media in ways that bring true value to their company.” Dharmesh Shah, CTO and founder of HubSpot and the author of top ranking startup blog, OnStartups.com will help you learn how companies and individuals can measure the power and influence you and your competitors have online. I am looking forward to Dharmesh’s session to also specifically understand what new features in  a social network are measurable and how to use this data to maximize a company’s social presence. I am a big fan of HubSpot, a valuable resource for B2B social media and looking forward to this session being presented by the man that built HubSpot, Dharmesh Shah.

B2B Social Media Marketing- Really!
Thu, April 22, 11:15AM – 12:15PM

Listed under the New Communications and Communities track, Paul Gillin, editor-in-chief and executive editor of Computerworld magazine and well known columnist for BtoB magazine will be talking about social media marketing best practices. Quoting the NewComm Forum brochure, “Conventional wisdom says that social media isn’t appropriate for B-to-B marketing. Conventional wisdom is wrong. Across the corporate landscape, businesses ranging from banks to high tech firms to plumbing supplies are successfully applying social media tools to connect with customers, channel partners, and suppliers. B-to-B social media marketing isn’t just about blogging anymore.” I follow Paul Gillin on Twitter and I am excited to finally meet him in-person @NewCommCollab.

A huge THANK YOU to Jen McClure, President of the Society for New Communications Research and all of you working tirelessly to bring in some of the best minds in social media to NewComm Forum. If you are at NewComm Forum, say a hello to me @newpr and we can chat up. If not, stay tuned for highlights coming from NewComm Forum, one of the hard core social media events, right here on Buzz Bin.