Organizers of Inaugural Franchise Social Media Summit Announce 2012 FranSummit Series

Online, January 24, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Based on the franchise community's overwhelming positive response to the original 2011 Franchise Social Media Summit, organizers Paul Segreto, President and CEO of franchisEssentials, and Jeremy LaDuque, President and CEO of Elements Local, announced they will deliver a full schedule of educational events throughout 2012.

The newly launched FranSummit Series will include four, quarterly, virtual summits and several half-day workshops and webinars, varying in length from one to several hours, that span sales, marketing, public relations, social media, technology and other relevant topics for franchise professionals.

"We were encouraged by the positive reception of the Franchise Social Media Summit held last September," Segreto said. "Those who participated told us it was time well spent and that the content was relevant for their brands. Our decision to move forward with a branded series of lectures, webinars and events was a direct result of that constructive feedback."

Unlike the Franchise Social Media Summit, which was a nine-hour virtual event held in one day, the four, quarterly, FranSummit main events will be evenly spread throughout several days. Each quarterly event will involve one or two guest speakers, with Segreto and LaDuque actively participating. While most FranSummit events will carry a minimal registration fee, some events will be free of charge. The first event will be held in early February 2012 (exact date TBA).

In addition, Segreto and LaDuque announced that they have partnered with Fishman Public Relations to help promote FranSummit events and add further breadth to the webinars and lectures with their expertise in PR and media relations, social media, crisis communications and online reputation management.

"We wanted to provide the franchise community with a virtual, educational series that stays current within a constantly changing landscape," Segreto noted. "FranSummit will cover topics relevant to franchise professionals interested in learning more about sales, marketing, PR, social media, SEO and other key topics integral to any size or type of franchise system."

For more information about FranSummit, visit www.fransummit.com, or follow FranSummit on Twitter, @FranSummit.

Contact: Debra Vilchis, Fishman Public Relations, (847) 945-1300 ext. 227 or [email protected]