We are pleased to announce the launch of a special Public Affairs Council Group on LinkedIn - the interactive professional network.

What is LinkedIn? 

LinkedIn is an on-line network of more than 25 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries. When you join, you create a searchable profile that summarizes your professional history and accomplishments. Your profile then helps you find and be found by colleagues and clients. This is a marvelous tool for maintaining current contact information and discovering common backgrounds and affiliations with policy-makers, community leaders, business partners, future employers and others.

Who can join the Council's LinkedIn group?

As of December 2011, the Public Affairs Council's LinkedIn group is now open to all individuals who are currently working in the field of public affairs.

Our database currently contains more than 5,000 professionals from over 600 member organizations. All of these organizations have active public affairs departments - and all are interested in learning and sharing best practices, and making new contacts in the field. In addition to our members, other professionals working in the field of public affairs are also given the opportunity to network within our group.

Special Note About Privacy:  Neither the Public Affairs Council nor fellow LinkedIn members can access or share any of your personal data - including your connections - without your permission. Read our full "Acceptable Use Policy".

How do I sign up?

Your first step is to create a profile on LinkedIn, which is easy and free. Here's how:

• Visit www.linkedin.com and sign-up under the "Join LinkedIn Today" box. 

You'll be asked for your first and last names, email address and basic company information.

Then, join the Public Affairs Council Group.  To do this, watch the video below or follow these instructions:

• Once you've created your profile, search for our group.  To do this, look for the search boxes near the top right-hand side of the screen. Use the pull down menu to change "Search People" to "Search Groups" and then type "Public Affairs Council" into the blank search box.  Click on the "Search" button.
• Once you've found our group, click on "Public Affairs Council" and request to join the group by clicking "Join Group."
• An automated message will be sent to you accepting you into the group.

Once I have created my profile and have been accepted into the Council's group, how can I use LinkedIn?

Once you have created a profile on LinkedIn and joined our group, you can start making connections with otherpublic affairs professionals. You can build your personal network by searching for friends and colleagues who may already be users, or by inviting others to join LinkedIn. Your network consists not only of your connections, but also your connections' connections, which can link you to thousands of knowledgeable professionals. (You can also create connections to Council non-members, but they won't be able to join our group.)

There are an infinite number of ways to used LinkedIn.  For example:

• If your state lobbying role has expanded into a new state, you can search the Council group for members who are based in that state to ask for advice on hiring contract lobbyists or developing political strategies.
• If you're building a national coalition, you can find allies who have a common interest in a legislative issue.
• You can search the general LinkedIn network for contact information and backgrounds of professionals working in policy-making, business management or even non-profit activist jobs.