John I. Todor, Ph.D. joins the Social Media Academy Advisory Board

Pleasant Hill, CA (January 08, 2009), Xeequa Corp (www.xeequa.com ) recently launched the Social Media Academy (www.socialmedia-academy.com) to educate businesses and business consultants on how they can become part of the online conversation that has attracted 300 million consumers. Axel Schultze, CEO of Xeequa and founder of the Social Media Academy says “It is imperative that businesses get involved in social media but this requires new strategies, new forms of connecting with customers and ways to mobilize organizations to seize the opportunities. The Academy was developed to provide leading edge education on the business potential of Social Media.”

Schultze’s vision for the Academy is to assemble the best faculty possible and expose students to their collective insights, expertise and real-world experience. “It is for this reason,” Schultze adds, “that we are please to welcome John I. Todor, Ph.D. of The Whetstone Edge, LLC (www.thewhetstoneedge.com) to the Academy Advisory Board. In addition to helping guide the direction of the Academy, Todor will teach sessions on Social Media business strategies.”

Todor looks at the social and psychological dynamics of the social web from both and academic and business strategy perspective. In addition to his work and active participation in social media, he is an internationally known speaker, strategist and consultant on the psychology of the customer experience and business practices that put these principals into action. He is the author two related books: Addicted Customers: How to Get Them Hooked on Your Company (www.addictedcustomers.com) and Get with it! The Hands-on Guide to Using Web 2.0 in Your Business (www.thewhetstoneedge.com).

“I very excited to be a part of the Social Media Academy.” Says Todor. “Axel Schultze’s vision for the Academy is extremely timely and relevant to business because social media is already having a profound impact on how customer make purchase decisions. I concur with his position that it is not about the technology, it is about how businesses use the technology to achieve business goals. The use of social media to foster win-win relationships between customers, employees and companies is in its infancy but developing fast. That is why participants will get so much out of courses that are jointly taught by a number of leading edge thinkers and practitioners in the field.”

The Social Media Academy courses are all online so they convenient and are available to people around the world. The Academy will begin to offer course in late January of 2009. Unique course are being offered for: Business consultant who want to expand into this growing field; Business executive who want to understand the business implications of this explosive media; Employees who aspire to manage their company’s social media initiatives; and, the business person who wants to learn how to reap career and personal benefits by more effectively using social media.

The Social Media Academy (www.socialmedia-academy.com) is an educational organization designed to help business people in all industries understand and leverages the opportunities in the new social media space. It is sponsored by Xeequa Corp. (www.xeequa.com), a company that provides enterprise level social media solutions. Xeequa invested in the academy to fill the need for a technology independent source of social media education for the business community.

John I. Todor, Ph.D., is the managing partner of The Whetstone Edge, LLC (www.thewhetstoneedge.com) a customer-centric consulting firm that helps clients build customer equity by engaging customers online via social media and by offering compelling customer experiences