Kuwait social media summit inaugurated by minister of information

The Second Kuwait Social Media Summit has kicked off with an opening address by Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah. The annual two-day summit of industry leaders examines the increasing popularity of social media in the Arab world and how governments and businesses in the region cannot afford to ignore the enormous role played in citizen engagement, communication, and public relations. Expanding on last year's summit, the number of participating case studies has nearly doubled, judging the increased demand and significant growth of social media use in Kuwait. Internationally renowned shakers in social media and the web industry from the British Ministry of Defence, Sky News Arabia, comic strip The 99, Egyptian state news agency MENA, t2 Marketing Solutions and Ipsos are present at the summit. Attendees will learn about the different social media platforms around, understand how to communicate via these platforms and will listen to the latest and most developed strategies in the field. The event will discuss ways that Kuwaiti public institutions and businesses can use social media effectively to engage the public and their clients, while participants will benefit from networking and brainstorming sessions with international social media experts in addition to government and industry leaders. Day one of the summit started with a master class on Technology Tool Kit for Social Media Management by Corey Padveen, Director of Global Social Business Strategy for t2 Marketing Solutions, based in Canada. The function covered not only some of the best tools that exist in the marketplace for social media management, but also the importance and effectiveness of forming strategies. The opening keynote on day one was by Naif Al-Mutawa, creator of The 99 comic strip, on cyber bulling and the negative effect of social media if not used responsibly. Other sessions included Evaluating the Long-Term Impact of Social Media on the way Governments, Businesses and End-Users Communicate in the State of Kuwait, Planning and Managing Crisis Communications via Social Media and Establishing a Clear Social Media Policy to Ensure Aligned Social Vision of an Organisation