Complimentary Live Webinar
Thursday, November 1, 2012

1:00 p.m. (EDT)

Social media in the workplace—Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms—is expanding at a dizzying pace. New technologies and business models have raced ahead, and the law is playing catch-up. Every day business managers face many new questions, often with legal implications, but find few clear answers. How should a manager approach risks and opportunities in this shifting, uncertain legal environment? 

Join John Akula, Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan, for a complimentary webinar on November 1^st to explore key issues related to social media in the workplace, including:

• Where is the line between the personal and professional use of social media? Does an employee surrender a claim to privacy when social media sites are accessed during the workday? Using company-provided equipment? What if there is litigation?
• Can employees you supervise get you into legal trouble by what they post on their personal sites? Does a manager ever have a legal obligation to respond to problematic content? 
• Are there postings a company might find objectionable, but which the law protects?
• What legal risks are created when a user agrees to a social media platform’s “terms of use”?
• What risks arise when managers gather information on prospective employees in the free-wheeling world of personal social media sites?
• If a manager develops a work-related LinkedIn network or Twitter following—encouraged by their company—does the company have rights to that account?
• What rules are emerging to govern social media marketing? 
• When is a company legally responsible for problematic content on its site that it has not posted or authorized? 
• Should your company have a social media policy? What are common drafting pitfalls?

Who should attend:

• Managers who supervise employees engaged in social media activity that is—or might be viewed by the law as—related to work; managers who themselves engage in such activity
• Managers with functional responsibilities that are or might be shaped by social media, such as marketing, customer relations, HR, and complex internal collaborations
• Managers whose responsibilities include protecting the company and its employees from legal liability

What you will gain:

John Akula was a partner at a leading law firm, and the view of law in this webinar will be practical and hands-on. The information and frameworks will leave you better equipped to:

• Make daily decisions regarding social media for yourself and those you supervise
• Provide leadership and strategic overview to constructively exploit social media’s potential
• Protect your company, its employees, and yourself from liability
• Make effective use of legal counsel

You will also be provided with leads to additional resources. 

Note: The content in this webinar is educational. It is not legal advice.

Executives interested in learning more about the special legal challenges of new technologies, products, marketing tools, and business models should consider enrolling in John Akula’s two-day course, Essential Law for Executives: The MIT Advantage, at MIT Sloan Executive Education.

Participants are encouraged to call in a few minutes prior to the 1:00 p.m. ET airtime. Including the question and answer period, total time commitment will be approximately one hour.