It’s a new year, and now more than ever it seems we still need great, affordable events to learn about social media best practices.  BlogPotomac 2009 will be held on the second Friday of June this year (June 12) at the State Theatre again.  Like last year, 2009’s line-up features seven sessions from some of the sharpest minds in the business including this year’s keynote Shel Holtz. 

Here’s the full line-up…

Morning Sessions

• Author Shel Holtz will deliver our keynote
• Ace Political Blogger Shireen Mitchell on Government 2.0 and political blogging
• Ford Social Media Lead Scott Monty discusses integration of social media from a corporate perspective

Afternoon Sessions

• SOBCon Organizer and Successful Blog Author Liz Strauss will kick off the afternoon
• Social Media Consultants Aaron Brazell (Technosailor) and Altitude Marketing’s Amber Naslund will be on a two person panel discussing personal branding versus organizational social media
• Network Solutions Social Media Swami Shashi Bellamkonda will discuss how social media has changed the world by requiring immediate response (disclosure: Shashi is an LComm client).

To get a little more unconference-like this time, our seventh and final session topic will be determined by attendees in a month-long open voting session starting on April 1.  In general, our modified format will remain the same.

Debbie Weil and Viget Labs are continuing as advisory board members, and I will chair the event this year solo.  Both Debbie and I will co-emcee BlogPotomac 2009.

Over the next couple of weeks, we will be updating the BlogPotomac site to reflect speakers bios and pictures, the new agenda, as well as the new dates. Tickets will go on sale January 19 at a cost of $95. Like last year, we will limit the amount of tickets to 150, and any profits will be donated to a charity once all costs are paid.