In early 2012 and 2013, Joe Thornley and I presented an eight-week workshop on “An Integrative Approach to Social Media.” We developed the course originally in response to an RFP from IABC, which hosts the series. We made some minor tweaks and updates for the 2013 workshop. This year’s session—which begins on February 6—is a complete overhaul.

If you’re looking for an innovative learning experience that will get you up to speed on applying social media to your communication strategy, this is it. Take a look at some of the testimonials we received after the 2013 session ended, which I’ve sprinkled through this post.

There are three parts to the workshop:

Interactive learning modules—For the first two years, we used Articulate Studio, a learning tool for the web. This year, we’re rebuilding the modules from scratch in Articulate Storyline, which gives us a lot more flexibility and just looks nicer. Each week, you’ll get access to a new module that includes text, audio and video. You complete the module at your own pace, and can return to it again and again. In addition to a deep dive into the week’s topic, the module includes links to additional resources you can use to further enhance your knowledge and understanding.

A closed Facebook group—Participation in this Facebook group is restricted to workshop attendees, along with Joe and me. What makes this particularly great is that the more than 200 participants from the 2012 and 2013 sessions are also part of the group, expanding the connections you can make and the people who can help answer questions and share experiences. Over the first two workshops, a lot of people posed questions to us directly related to content in the modules, but also about issues they were facing at work or topics about which they had read. There’s a ton of knowledge among the participants, too, and the give-and-take in the group has been some of the best I’ve seen in an online community.

A weekly conference call—Not satisfied with these two asynchronous means of offering professional development, we have a weekly real-time session in which we highlight some key issues that may not have been included in the module, and take questions.

The modules and the Facebook group remain accessible after the workshop is over.

This year, in addition to updating the content and publishing it to the new Storyline platform, Joe and I are conducting video interviews with social media thought leaders, including them in the appropriate related module. For instance, I have completed interviews with Scott Monty, who runs social media for Ford Motor Company, about the role of a Center of Excellence, and former Dell Chief Blogger Lionel Menchaca about effective monitoring of the social media space.

Our focus is on strategy—we want participants to be able to take what they have learned to make sure social media contributes to the goals and objectives they have established for their communication efforts, and that they can measure those impacts.

The sessions cover the following topics:

• An overview of the roles social and digital media play in communication and public relations
• A deep dive into the categories of social media
• An exploration of the means by which organizations can monitor the social media space and turn the resulting intelligence into action
• Lessons in how to strategize and measure the effectiveness of digital and social media efforts
• A review of the new skills communicators must acquire in order to deliver results in the digital era
• A look into the role digital and social media play in employee communications
• A roadmap for adapting an organization’s culture and structure to embrace social media
• A guide to adding social media to your crisis management and planning
• A close-up examination of content marketing, including the burgeoning field of native advertising (or “sponsored content”)

If you don’t know my co-presenter, Joe Thornley, he’s CEO of Thornley Fallis Public Relations, based in Ottawa and Toronto, author of the ProPR blog and co-host of the long-running Inside PR podcast. Joe brings the practical dimension of a practitioner in a mid-sized agency to the table.

Because the program is offered by IABC, there’s an official certificate of completion for taking the course. But as you can see from the sampling of comments, the knowledge you’ll gain and the connections you’ll make bring value far beyond the cost of the course.

If getting more strategic with social media is a priority for you, this is your can’t-miss training opportunity. I hope we’ll see you among the 2014 class of participants!

Register here!