Key4Women 2012 Forum Presents "The New Realities: Three Communications Shifts Today's Business Leaders Can't Afford to Ignore"

CLEVELAND, March 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Key4Women's 2012 Forum series, which launches in May, will focus on the three communications shifts today's business leaders can't afford to ignore.  

Keynote talks by Mindset Digital founders Dr. Debra Jasper and Betsy Hubbard will help women business leaders from Alaska to Florida better understand the new technologies and thinking needed to remain competitive in a digital age.

"Helping women business leaders connect with their customers, their peers and their communities is core to Key4Women's mission," said Maria Coyne, Key4Women founder and head of Key's consumer segment. "Our forums will show women business leaders how to make the most of current communications tools and how to prepare for the next communication breakthrough."

Women business leaders attending the forums across the country will learn:

• How to assess their organizations' digital footprint and how web ratings from customers, clients and employees affect their businesses
• How to effectively harness the power of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and other key channels
• How a "Facebook world" is dramatically changing how they meet customer expectations and everything else – from how they design websites to their newsletters and presentations.

"The challenge today isn't getting a message out. Everyone can take advantage of dozens of new online channels," Jasper said. "The challenge is getting a message in. The Key4Women series will help women in business learn how to develop more engaging messages and reach their audiences in powerful new ways."

"All business leaders and owners should see this presentation!  We need to be savvy communicators and use these social channels to enhance and grow our businesses – Mindset Digital helped our team not feel overwhelmed by social media and see the possibilities instead," said Cindy Delaney, founder, owner and chief operating officer of Delaney Meeting and Event Management in Burlington, VT.

The first 2012 Key4Women forum will be held May 8 in Cleveland. The others will be held throughout the spring and fall in Akron/Canton, Columbus and Toledo, Ohio; Naples, Florida; Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City, Utah; Indianapolis and South Bend, Indiana; Albany, New York; Seattle and Tacoma, Washington; Boise, Idaho; Denver, Colorado; Anchorage, Alaska; Portland, Maine and Burlington, Vermont.

About Key4Women

Founded in 2005, Key4Women helps women in business achieve their goals by providing access to capital, customized solutions, ongoing education and networking opportunities.  Among the nation's largest financial services companies and a leading small business lender, Key provides financial services to thousands of women-owned businesses in 14 states and continuously exceeds lending goals focused on women-owned businesses.

About Mindset Digital

Mindset Digital is a social media firm that helps businesses take advantage of powerful new channels to engage clients, customers and large online audiences. Since 2009, co-founders Debra Jasper and Betsy Hubbard have provided training/consulting to more than 8,000 people and delivered keynote talks nationally and internationally. They've also worked with leaders from a wide range of small businesses, Fortune 500 firms, nonprofits and governments, including KeyBank, the Ukrainian Council of Ministers, American Electric Power and The Ohio State University.

Before starting Mindset Digital, Debra and Betsy directed the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism at Ohio State, where they launched the first social media fellowship for journalists in the nation – training reporters from CNN, 60 Minutes, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and other top newsrooms. They also taught graduate courses in the John Glenn School of Public Affairs on the impact of digital media on public affairs.

Find out more about their work at www.MindsetDigital.com and get social media updates from Facebook/mindsetdigital or on Twitter @DebraJasper or @BetsyHubbard.

About KeyCorp

Key traces its history back more than 160 years and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. One of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, Key has assets of approximately $89 billion at December 31, 2011.

Key (NYSE:KEY) provides deposit, lending, cash management and investment services to individuals and small businesses in 14 states under the name KeyBank National Association. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name.

For more information about Key, visit www.key.com or follow Key on Twitter@KeyBank_News and @KeyBank_ Thrive.  KeyBank is Member FDIC.

SOURCE KeyCorp