Panelists included three K Street Café contributors: Peter Waldheim from the Blog Council, Chris Kinnan from FreedomWorks and Brad Fitch from Knowlegis. Others on the two panel discussions, moderated by Mathew Zablud of Adfero Group and Brad Peck from the U.S. Chamber, were Chris Ramsey from Radian6, James Tipton from Google, and Evan Tracey from TNS Media Strategies.

Here were the key points from the two panels:

1. Never let anything inaccurate go without a very quick response. But consider the source – sometimes if the source is completely uncredible or unbelievable the best strategy is to leave it alone.

2. When engaging the blogosphere a measured, thoughtful and low key response is more likely to diffuse an emotional situation.

3. Why should every organization pay attention to blogs? Anyone who is searching for information on Google is reading them. (Blogs are quickly moving up higher and higher on search results.)

4. Members of Congress themselves are stuck in a world that existed before the Internet. But things are changing. Some Members have begun to use Twitter and others have started up a New Media Caucus to educate their colleagues.

5. How does one sell a social media strategy to the senior leadership of an organization? Use compelling data to make your case but do it in digestible bite-site chucks. Don’t overwhelm with too much information. Be diligent and have patience – change in an organization takes time.

6. When you have convinced your organization to engage in social media, start small and go slow. It takes time for an organization to learn the rules and know how to engage communities online.