Canada - Welcome to our professional association!
We’re excited to announce the Government Social Media professional association is expanding internationally and is now offering memberships to government communicators in Canada!
The GSM professional association is the first organization specifically for public sector social media professionals, founded in 2015 for U.S.-based government agencies, and is now welcoming professionals representing government entities in Canada. The association is led by Team GSM and the Membership Council, a volunteer advisory council of elected regional representatives. We support local and state agencies, the United States Federal Government, regional government, academics, Canada government agencies and more.
All members receive special benefits (more on this below!) including monthly webinars, regional meetups and other online resources. Members, including those in Canada, can serve on association committees including the Awards Committee, Membership Committee and Training Committee as a great way to get even more involved. Browse our Membership Guidebook for further details.
We’re proud to be the most economical professional association you’ll find specific to this unique field. If you’re not already one of the 500+ members, it’s a place to genuinely connect with other socialgovs actively employed full/part-time by a local, state, regional or federal agency, academics or as an elected or appointed official. Join the association today!
Membership benefits
What is the value of GSM membership? GSM offers many services for its members, including:
Professional Development
GSM works to establish and promote best practice standards for government social media to support professional development in this field. We monitor and communicate issues of relevance to members and assist in facilitating discussion with social networks. We communicate new platform features and products to member agencies.
Educational Webinars
We organize monthly member-only webinars taught by social media experts and fellow socialgov professionals. Members can also view archived recordings of previous webinars.
Regional Virtual Meetups
We host quarterly meetups for each region held via Zoom and facilitated by council and Team GSM. The meetups are a great opportunity to collaborate on regional topics and network with nearby public communicators.
Community Network
Members have access to a membership directory to search, message and connect with social media peers in their area. A gated online community allows members to communicate with each other and share challenges and lessons learned with social media professionals dealing with the same issues across the country.
GSMCON Extras
Members registered for the Government Social Media Conference can participate in our annual membership meeting, get complimentary professional headshots and be identified with a member ribbon. Virtual participants can also join in on the membership meeting.
Are you eligible?
Members can have any job title — it’s not limited to social media manager — and must be actively employed full- or part-time (not as private industry, a contractor or a consultant), or be an elected or appointed official.
For our Canada membership, you must represent a government entity such as federal, provincial or municipal government to qualify. Employees at academic institutions in Canada are currently not eligible for membership. Canada members are currently not eligible to vote or serve on the Membership Council, but are welcome to serve on association committees.
For our U.S. membership, you must represent any of the following entities within the United States, including their departments, agencies, boards and commissions:
- City, town, township, municipality, borough, county, tribal
- State
- Special district (water, airport authority, sanitation, visitor’s bureau, port authority, utility services, etc.) owned by government agencies
- Council of governments, regional planning commissions, metropolitan planning organizations
- Economic Development Corporation
- Public library: City, county, state or federal
- Courts: Municipal, county, state or federal
- Public safety entity: local or state
- U.S. federal agencies
- Active duty U.S. military or civilian staff
- League/association of cities or counties
- Municipal league
- Public entity insurance pools or exchanges
- Public employees retirement system or benefits authority
- U.S.-based public school or university
More details on eligibility, code of conduct, elections and more can be found in our Membership Guidebook.
How to join
If you meet the eligibility requirements, we welcome you to join hundreds of fellow members in the association! You’ll unlock a support system for this niche field, while getting monthly training and opportunities to engage and connect with each other.
Complete the new member application form & start viewing the member-only content today. We’ll see you in the association!
Best communicate with the public you serve and get connected with fellow socialgovs by registering for the 2024 Government Social Media Conference happening in Palm Springs, California or virtually from wherever you are! Join our free network for bi-weekly Government Social Media Chats or professional association for member-only webinars. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest updates on training, events and more.
We support the largest network of government social media professionals in the U.S. by guiding government agencies through complex social media issues. Government Social Media helps you successfully communicate with the public you serve, protect your agency and keep public trust while finding your support community.
