An introduction to the #socialrecruiting summit will include an overview of the speakers, a discussion of the agenda for the day, and instructions on how the unconference sessions will be conducted.

As a venture capitalist behind many of the names you know on the Internet (Twitter, Indeed, del.icio.us, and many others), Fred Wilson has a unique perspective on social media and how important the right team is to building a company. In this session, he will discuss how social media changes sourcing, recruiting, and hiring employees and what you should do about it.

Check of some of his thoughts and what he is up to through his blog and on Twitter.

Here’s what Carmen thinks:

If you’re going to rebroadcast what’s on your corporate website, then there’s no need to jump into social media. Invest in your corporate site and save yourself time and heartache. Recruiters who wish to connect with jobseekers directly via social media must commit to creating new, interesting, even funny content.

Carmen will talk about how to share without oversharing, provide value and add levity to your social media presence. She will share examples (mainly from her own life) of building and strengthening professional connections through authentic participation in social media.

Following this short session, Carmen will be leading an unconference discussion on this topic and another that will be determined by the Summit participants.

Sure, some companies have a Facebook page, or a LinkedIn group, or a Twitter account, or maybe even a blog. But how many companies have actually formulated a comprehensive social media recruitment marketing strategy that crosses multiple platforms?

Learn in an interactive session from a panel of leaders at three companies who are pushing the envelope with their social media strategies—Sodexo, Microsoft, and RSM McGladrey. They will describe why social media is a critical component of their recruiting strategies, how they were able to launch their initiatives in their organizations, and what results they have achieved to date.

John Sumser will tackle the question of the value of the current content in social media. There seems to be a gross disconnect between the people who are using social media and the people who are actually executing the profession. Is this normal? What should we expect next? Will today’s celebrities be tomorrow’s has beens? Does the echo chamber blind us to the truth? Do prior internet revolutions offer any insight?

After this short session, John will be leading an unconference discussion on this topic and another that will be determined by the Summit participants.

Moving forward with a social recruiting initiative can be daunting. Not only must you as a leading staffing professional sell the idea to organizational leaders that have heard about social media but have little interest in learning about it themselves, you must also deal with an industry that brings new innovations to market almost daily, each of which has a potential application or two in recruiting. Figuring out where to start, where to spend money, and what not to do can paralyze an effort before it even gets moving. Looking around, it’s clear some approaches are more common, but does that really mean their working?

Social recruiting from 30,000 feet will help you answer the questions you’re likely to face from HR leaders, hiring managers and organizational leaders as you get started and move forward with social recruiting. You’ll learn about a practical framework to organize your efforts, see what is and is not working, and devise a high level strategy those you need to influence can understand.

Is social recruiting just another sourcing tool—a way to promote job postings and find potential candidates? Or is it a pathway to building a sustainable talent community and another tipping point in the evolution in recruiting?

The tools we have access to today deliver benefits that you won’t find through other sourcing vehicles. Harnessing the true power of social networking is about active talent communities. Talent communities provide a forum that enhances the relationship between candidates and your brand by inviting talent to engage in conversation rather than transactional activities and messaging.

In this interactive session, we’ll take all 200+ of you and create a massive brainstorming community of our own. We’ll look at community development through the eyes of talent and the organization. By organizing into sub-groups we’ll leverage our collective intellect to tackle key questions and begin shaping a sustainable recruiting strategy.

Some of the questions we’ll address include:

• How can you attract talent to your community, engage them, and give them a reason to keep returning?

• How can talent be inspired to help you grow the network?

• How will you convert a community member to a hire?

• How can your company approach social recruiting to build a sustainable strategy?

• How can the recruiting function create greater value for the organization?

Read more about Susan’s perspective on Social Recruiting.

Two weeks ago, in response to a question raised by a staffing leader, CareerXroads conducted a pulse survey by asking 100 large competitive firms where they stood in developing their internal Social Media policies and practices. 74 responded in 48 hours and the data, reflecting a snapshot of firms in continuous transition, raises more questions than it answers…as it should. What do you think?

Following this short session, Gerry will be leading an unconference discussion on this topic and another that will be determined by the Summit participants.

Social media doesn’t have to be intimidating. To be effective in this space, you don’t have to be a tech geek, you don’t have to be a marketing pro, and it’s not just for companies who have a household name. Deploying a social recruiting strategy can be done by anyone, if you follow the right principles and road map.

Case in point: a year and a half ago, Jessica Lee was a social media neophyte. She didn’t read recruiting or HR blogs (nor knew they really existed). She wasn’t on Twitter. She wasn’t on Facebook. And she barely used LinkedIn. Her social media timeline was non-existent. Fast forward to today and she’s launched her company into social recruiting, she’s the editor of a popular recruiting blog, and she’s highly involved in all things social media. It’s kind of a fairy tale story, but in actuality, it’s more of a tale about how social recruiting is the great equalizer as anyone can jump into social recruiting and achieve success.

She will lead a discussion on how as an individual and with limited budgets, she was able to deploy a social recruiting strategy for her company, APCO Worldwide, a mid-sized, privately held, global public relations firm. She’ll provide practical, tangible thoughts for establishing a recruiting presence on various social networks, determining how social recruiting plays with and impacts other traditional recruiting efforts and simply managing the social media as an additional recruiting tool.

There is no better way to wrap up the day than at the #socialrecruiting summit networking reception. We will head over to Fig & Olive on West 13th St. for some good food, good drink, and good conversation with good people.

Fig & Olive is located at 420 West 13th St.