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Several IIT Stuart undergraduate and graduate students attended this September, a week-long series of events that takes place in cities around the world featuring experts, iconic brands, and leading thinkers sharing their ideas and inspiration. Thank you to IIT Stuart M.S. MAC student Congying Lin, for sharing her experiences and insights from the week.

Thanks to Stuart School of Business, I had the chance to attend several masterclasses and insider lectures at �糵���� Social Media Week, where I learned a lot.

The presentations were given by people from all kinds of careers, which provided insights into the growing social media field. From “,” I heard several stories about how people built their own brands through Twitter engagement. In “,” I learned how to use social media to research and engage with a global market. From “,” I learned how to protect myself on social media. Almost every presentation enabled me to have a better understanding of social media and how I can use it for personal branding and global engagement.

By going to the sessions, I was also able to visit various universities and companies in �糵����. I attended events that were held at University of Illinois at �糵����, Leo Burnett, Hyatt Regency, and Cisco—many places that are not regularly open to the public that I was able to explore.

More importantly, I met people and expanded my network throughout the week. In my first session, I sat next to the director of a marketing department from Northwestern University. She was surprised that a student would attend the event and we had a good conversation. Google also gave a presentation about Google+. In fact, people in higher positions are more likely to join those activities to have a good command of new trends. There were huge opportunities for us to network with industry professionals.

To sum up, I had a great week and only wish I had more time to attend more sessions.