With the emergence of social media as the preferred mode of online communication for organizations, a host of previously unsung legal concerns are now rising to the top of organizational agendas with few clear answers readily available. A two-day event being presented this January in Washington, D.C. by Marcus Evans Conferences will tackle these many issues.

"Legal Risks in Emerging Technologies: Mitigating Legal & Compliance Risks Associated with Social Media, Mobile Marketing and Cloud Computing" will be held January 26-27 in Washington. These technologies offer exciting new opportunities to share information and to interact with consumers, however they also represent a new area of legal risk.

This subject is of particular concern in the wake of a recent NLRB report that detailed the various legal cases that have emerged over the past few years where the proper use of social media by employees was major subject. As social media use in organizations becomes more and more indispensable, the questions about the proper use of this technology only become more pressing.

Speakers at the conference will include E. Alan Arnold, Assistant General Counsel for Delta Airlines; Jessica Fredrickson, Associate General Counsel for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.; and Kristin McQueen, Senior Vice President for Business and Legal Affairs for the Walt Disney Company, among many others.

The various discussions and presentations featured at the conference will confront issues as varied as "Maintaining and Improving Social Media Policies," and "Discussing the Legal Risks and Rewards of Cloud Computing." More specifically, issues like best practices for formulating responses to negative user-generated content posted online and analyzing the myriad risks associated with the emerging mobile application market will be looked at. These are critically important areas of discussion for all organizational communicators and attorneys.

This conference will be of particular interest to agency counsels and other members of the legal community looking to navigate the ever changing landscape of social media's legal ramifications. The playbook for these issues is being constantly re-written and it is essential for organizations, in both the public and private sector, to have a firm handle on just what they're getting into when they take the inevitable social media plunge.

Attendees are eligible for up to 18 hours of CLE credits, and those who mention OhMyGov at registration will receive a 10% discount on admission.