Plenty of businesses and nonprofit organizations have signed up for Twitter and Facebook, but are they using these social media outlets to their fullest potential?

Amy Howell, owner of Howell Marketing Strategies Inc., wants to make sure Memphis companies are getting the most out of their tweets and their profile postings when she hosts “Leveraging the Conversation,” the third in a series of social media discussions.

“In this age of information and technology – like nothing since the Industrial Revolution – companies and people need to find their appropriate role/place and use strong strategic reasons for using digital media,” Howell said. “Social and digital media does not replace traditional but it’s a way to leverage – hence the name – and enhance what works.”

“Leveraging the Conversation” is set for Oct. 22 from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Auditorium. Howell will host the event, and Eric Barnes, publisher of The Daily News, The Memphis News and Chandler Reports, will serve as panel moderator.

Barnes said this series – which debuted in the spring with “Joining the Conversation” and was followed by the summer’s “Continuing the Conversation” – has been increasingly popular, much like the social media tools, strategies and policies it covers.

“What people want is a business perspective on social media. Everyone knows their kids are using Twitter and Facebook. They know their employees are using Twitter and Facebook. But how do companies use these outlets in business?” Barnes said. “We don’t claim to have the final and conclusive answers to that question. But we think it’s effective and useful to get different companies together to talk about the different ways in which businesses are now using – and not using – social media.”

Glen Gilmore, a social media consultant known as “TrendTracker” on Twitter, will deliver the keynote address. His discussion, “Ten Secrets for Social Media Success,” will provide important tips for “starting, progressing and excelling in social media.”

Attendees will hear Gilmore’s advice on developing techniques to help businesses connect and stay connected with social media. (For more on Gilmore, see the Memphis Standout on Page 3 of today’s paper.)

The event also features a panel discussion with experts from a variety of Memphis companies. The panelists include Brad Wilkerson, founder of the digital consultancy firm 68 Comeback; Bryan Simkins, marketing specialist adviser at FedEx; Rowena Track, vice president of Internet marketing at the ServiceMaster Co.; Kevin Kern, public relations director at Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc.; Charlie Hill, lawyer at Glankler Brown PLLC; and Mark Norris, state Senate majority leader from Collierville and special counsel at Adams and Reese LLP.