How to use social media to get ahead

The webinar, hosted by Boston-based Finnegan partner Linda Thayer, was the first in a series for Managing IP’s Women’s Network and follows last week’s successful International Women’s Leadership Forum in San Jose.

The webinar speakers explained some of the ethics issues that lawyers need to bear in mind when building their social media profiles, discussed the advantages and disadvantages of blending personal and professional online personas, and underlined the importance of lawyers having a firm plan if they want to use social media for marketing purposes.

Katherine McGowan, trade mark and advertising counsel at LinkedIn, outlined some of the features of the site that enable users to control what information they share and how they alert their connections to updates they make to their profiles. She also offered suggestions for seeking recommendations and endorsements from other users of the social media site.

Christine Kao, who deals with IP and identity policy at Twitter, advised would-be Twitter users to research how other lawyers in their field have used the service successfully. “Learn from successful peers and watch industry norms,” she suggested.

You can listen to the recorded webinar here. You can find more information about the Women’s Network here, or contact registrations@managingip.com.