Social media safety Patterson’s theme in upcoming FWKCC Speaker Series
The series, which features attorney and speaker Randy Patterson, will take place from 7:30 to 9 a.m., Tuesday, June 26, with the presentation starting at 8 a.m., at Rothchild Catering & Conference Center, 8807 Kingston Pike.
Cost is $30 for Chamber members, $40 for non-members, $15 for students with a school ID and $275 for a table of 10.
With June as Internet Safety Month, Julie Blaylock, FWKCC president/CEO, acknowledged, “Social media has become a fixture in most of our lives, both personally and now, professionally.
“Most businesses, nowadays, have social media accounts of some kind that they use to leverage and build their brand to attract potential clients or customers,” she added. “So, it’s everywhere, and I don’t think it’s leaving anytime soon.
“The media in general has just been rife with all kinds of stories of (business) staff acting in ways in social media that are not becoming of their boss or their employer.”
As such, businesses face legal risks as a result of its misuse.
“I think a lot of people are not very clear on how to handle those kind of situations when it’s an employee of their own,” Blaylock said. “There’s a lot of gray area, and there are a lot of questions; so we wanted to try to shed some light on what is the letter of the law in situations like this.
“How do managers and businesses proactively address the topic of how to behave on social media and how do they deal with the consequences when it’s after the fact?” she added.
Patterson, who is with the firm Baker Donelson, which has offices throughout the country, is not just an attorney.
“He also is a presenter,” Blaylock said. “He’s written several publications.”
Patterson’s area of expertise is labor and employment litigation.
“So, this (subject) is his specialty,” Blaylock said. “The issue of social media is just one amongst many, many issues that he has advised employers on across the country, so he’s very well-versed on the kind of issues and questions that businesses have.
“Our hope is that he’s going to talk about some of the best practices and ways people can avoid the pitfalls of social media within their business,” she said, adding
Patterson also will take questions from the audience.
“I think he’s going to be received well,” Blaylock said. “He’s a really good speaker and very easy to talk to.
“I think folks are going to come with a lot of questions and walk away with, at least, some specific answers on things they can put into place in their business or ways they can improve their own business practices and policies,” she added.
Town of Farragut is presenting the event, Baker Donelson is community sponsor and farragutpress is media sponsor.
To register for the Breakfast Speaker Series, visit the Chamber online at info@farragutchamber.com or call 865-675-7057.
