Social media workshop covers legal pitfalls

The workshop, 'Legalities of Social Media' will take place in Cape Town on 3 April 2012 and in Johannesburg on 5 April at the Quirk Education offices in Woodstock and Woodmead. It will draw on relevant real-world examples and incidents, helping attendees come to grips with navigating social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter as both a brand and as individual.

"This workshop is critical to brands playing in the social media space," says Lyndi Lawson, head of Quirk Education. "I've seen how brands often jump blindly onto the social media bandwagon, often forgetting about the very real legal ramifications inherent in a world of spontaneous sharing."

Hosted by Andrew Allison (B.Bus.Sc, LLB, LLM), the group's chief financial officer and former corporate lawyer, this half-day workshop will cover:

Risk identification and management online
Crisis control in social media
Brand, employee and customer responsibilities
Digital defamation
Intellectual property rights for brands
Privacy and Customer confidentiality online

"Attendees will leave with a broad framework to use for understanding and dealing with risks in social media. They will get a better understanding of how the law applies to their businesses and they will learn what steps need to be taken to manage those risks," adds Allison. "They'll be able to proactively reduce their risk profile and be better equipped to react appropriately, with better understanding, to the risks and challenges inherent when working within social media networks."