I have been invited to moderate a panel on social media next week in Chicago. The panelists include marketing and sales professionals from IZEA, Myspace, Bebo, Facebook and CafeMom. I am super excited to attend the event and meet some of the panelists, especially since Andew Shue (co-founder of CafeMom) will be sitting on the panel. In case you don’t know, Andrew is a pretty awesome actor and was “Billy” on Melrose Place. He is also the brother of Elizabeth Shue, an actress who gained her popularity playing Daniel’s girlfriend in the Karate Kid (and yes, like most boys my age … I did have a crush on her).

The goal of the panel is to provide brand and advertising professionals with a unique perspective on social media. Here are some of the questions I plan on asking the panel:

1. What is your unique value proposition as it relates to social media and advertising?
2. Can you give us any specific examples of how companies have used your site in previous marketing campaigns?
3. How did you/they measure the success of such campaign(s)?
4. How can success be measured in social media (be specific)?
5. Is it possible to measure a conversation?
6. What are the benefits of using social media as part of a broader marketing campaign?
7. Can social media be used as a “real time” focus group?
8. What are the challenges and risks of social media (not being specific to any companies)?
9. What does your company do to protect an advertiser?
   Is there a lack of control for brands who participate in social media? If so, what is your best advice to deal with this?
10. There is a lot of talk in the industry about the concept of community. What is your opinion of the term “community” and is it just a fad?
11. What is the future of social networking?

Is there anything else that you recommend that I ask the panel? I would appreciate your feedback.