We all have busy schedules, and it can be difficult to decide how and when to network. Look at me, I think I’m Caitlin ‘Young Money’ Campbell McNulty!  You put in eight to 10 hours at work, you want to hit the gym, you have errands to run, stuff to catch up, your family expects you to show your face once in a while—it can be tough to carve out even a couple extra hours for professional development.

This makes it a little easier: Buffalo Niagara 360, the young professionals’ networking organization affiliated with the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, and Social Media Club will host their joint Social Media Mixer from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20 at the Saturn Club (977 Delaware Ave., Buffalo). This event is free and open to all BN 360 and Social Media Club members. If you are not a member, you can visit the BN 360 registration page or join Social Media Club online.

What can you expect at the event? A unique format, interesting conversation and a nice, deep dive into some of the more pertinent social marketing issues affecting today’s professionals:

Join BN360 and Social Media Club Buffalo for a unique professional networking experience centered in social media Learn the ins and outs of social media, speed dating style, with Buffalo Niagara’s most dynamic young minds. The evening’s topics include information about social media basics, social media for business, professional ethics, organizing and steaminglining social media, blogging, and video for social media.

Even if you aren’t in the marketing, public relations, advertising or media fields, social media is a subject that you should reasonably expect that you will need to master (or at least be conversant)—as Hootsuite CEO Ryan Holmes recently noted, “...social media is poised to become an office productivity tool, much the same way that email did in the late 1990s…In 2013, the idea that social media is a soft, networking tool will slowly give way to its acceptance as a serious business tool.” In other words, it’s not about learning how to mess around on Facebook more efficiently. Businesses will increasingly harness the power of social media for collaboration, research and customer acquisition.

And yes—companies will be increasingly concerned about how much you mess around on Facebook. Or how your portray your own work on Twitter. Or how many unflattering photos of cafeteria food you’re posting on Tumblr. Whether you work in marketing or wash the floors, we’re all little PR machines for our employers now, and what is said online (no matter the forum) can have unintended ramifications for you and your career.

For more information, check out the Facebook event page.