Employee Use of Facebook and Twitter, Social Media for Lawyers

What Have You Done About Employee Use of Facebook and Twitter? asks Eric B. Meyer in his Legal Intelligencer Blog. This is a must read article for all employers and employment lawyers.

I had the opportunity to meet Eric yesterday at a Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI) CLE: “Facebook, Twitter & Blogging…Oh MySpace!” The six-credit CLE was offered simultaneously in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. I presented the introduction to Social Media and then discuss the ethics of social media, public relations and marketing with Kim Jessum, Esq., (@kimjessum on Twitter) an intellectual property attorney with Stradley Ronon and Kelly Phillips Erb, Esq. (@taxgirl on Twitter) who is a tech-savvy tax attorney in Philadelphia.

Eric Meyer (@Eric_B_Meyer on Twitter) is a member of the Labor and Employment Group at Dilworth Paxson LLP. In an one-on-one conversation, he and I shared thoughts about the implications of social media in the workplace. In fact, he writes social media policies for clients -- which -- judging by the informal survey of raised hands yesterday of more than 150 attendees, most law firms are in desperate need of implementing.

When I arrived, I met Melissa Sachs, Esq., who immediately set up a hashtag on Twitter: #pbism - so some of us were reporting and sharing information and thoughts with an even larger audience. If you are not yet on Twitter and just want to see how a hashtag is used and some of the valuable information that came out of the session, go to http://search.twitter.com/ and type in #pbism (even folks from PBI were tweeting).

There were many excellent tips shared by the Philadelphia program participants some of which included Nicole D. Galli, Esq. and Peter Wakiyama, Esq. from Pepper Hamilton LLP, Stephanie "Tess" Blair, Esq., from Morgan Lewis, J. Christopher Erb, Esq., from the Erb Law Firm , PC, Abbe Fletman, Esq., from Flaster Greenberg, Harold Goldner, Esq., (@humanracehorses on Twitter) an employment attorney who blogs at www.humanracehorses.com and Alexander Plache, Esq. who is Sr. Intellectual Property Counsel with Saint-Gobain Corporation.

From what I heard yesterday, PBI's goal is to offer an encore presentation in a few months so if you couldn't make it yesterday, there will be another opportunity.