David Nour Selected as Keynote Speaker for SM@RT Conference

ATLANTA, GA, August 18, 2010 (Press-News.org) David Nour, author of Relationship Economics (Wiley) and CEO of The Nour Group, Inc., has been selected as the opening keynote speaker for this year's SM@RT conference. The annual SM@RT Conference is being held December 8-10, presented by the College of Business, The Reynolds School of Journalism and Extended Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno.

The SM@RT Conference features keynote by David Nour and more than two-dozen presenters on a wide range of social media topics. It is designed for business professionals interested in elevating their current social media efforts to a more strategic and quantifiable level.

"Social Media is something that was still very new just a few short years ago," states Jim McClenahan, Director of Management and Executive Programs at the University of Nevada, Reno's Extended Studies. "Now many companies are looking into ways to reach valuable customers with tools they had not even heard of previously. David does a great job in staying ahead of this accelerated growth curve and he will help those in attendance do the same."

"Our purpose is to help businesses better understand how to use social media to grow their top line and improve their bottom line," says Dr. Bret Simmons of the UNR College of Business and the SM@RT Conference organizer. "David Nour is the perfect opening keynote speaker for what promises to be a visionary event. David's message about how to better leverage the value of relationships is one of the core messages we want to convey to attendees," Dr. Simmons added.

"This is an exciting time to leverage more than social networking for online presence, and social media as a platform," says Nour. "Now is the time for organizations to establish their social market leadership and this conference will bring clarity to the attendees as to how they can take a more strategic look and develop a roadmap to execute in the New Year," added Nour.

Nour's unique perspective and independent insights on Relationship Economics and Social Media have been featured in a variety of prominent blogs and publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Association Now, Entrepreneur and Success magazine. He is the author of several books including the best selling Relationship Economics (Wiley), ConnectAbility (McGraw-Hill), The Entrepreneur's Guide to Raising Capital (Praeger) and the Social Networking Best Practices Series. He is a contributor to The Social Media Bible (Wiley) and is currently writing his forthcoming book Listen Louder - How to build strategic digital relationships to fuel enterprise growth.

About The SM@RT Conference

SM@RT 2010 is presented by the College of Business, The Reynolds School of Journalism and Extended Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. The Conference will be held in Reno-Tahoe's Ski Country December 8-10, 2010 and brings together professionals from marketing, tourism, gaming, service industries and nonprofits. The purpose of the conference is to educate these professionals on how Social Media is changing the face of business, communication with clients and customers, as well as the way consumers buy and sell products. Over two dozen presenters, two keynote speakers, pre-conference workshops and area activities are designed for all in attendance to optimize their understanding of how Social Media can be used effectively within their organizations. For more information about the SM@RT Conference, please visit http://smart.unr.edu

About The Nour Group, Inc.

In a global economy that is becoming increasingly disconnected, The Nour Group, Inc. has attracted consulting clients such as KPMG, Siemens, Disney, Alvarez & Marsal, Assurant, HP, and over 100 marquee organizations in driving unprecedented growth through unique return on their strategic relationships. The Nour Group, Inc. has pioneered the phenomenon that relationships are the greatest off balance sheet asset any organizations possesses, large and small, public and private. For more information about The Nour Group, Inc., please visit http://www.relationshipeconomics.NET or call (888) 339-1333.