There are some events we try to attend every year, and 2 of them are a must for us, the Super Conference and BlogWorld.
BlogWorld stands out from other events for several reasons. First, if you are in an industry that puts live events, seminars, workshops or expos, you need to see what the folks at BlogWorld do. They have the right formula to mix information, tradeshow, networking and entertainment like few I’ve seen so far. Over the years they have also mastered creating an event for a diverse group of people, from the young techie crowd to seasoned entrepreneurs. They have also increased the reach of topics from blogs to new media to an almost full scope of having a Web 2.0 business.
I usually avoid attending the panels because they rarely go deep into the subjects and most of the time they turn into a lot of jokes or go out of topic. This year there were a few exceptions. The panel about the new FTC rules and the one on social media customer engagement and customer loyalty were good. The last had the audience participating a lot with good questions and good answers.
Among the speakers, my favorite this year was Paul Coligan with 7 Proven Monetization Strategies For Podcasts and New Media Producers. This was a presentation full of content, no B.S. and to the point. Tim Street on video and cable television was amazing and Jason Van Orden on how to build a large audience was also very good. The tracks that covered continuity programs and membership sites were not well attended, maybe due to the titles not being very creative and/or enticing, but the content was very good. Again the audience had lots of questions on these topics. I give here a suggestion to topics related to member retention in continuity programs. Lots of questions on this topic were left unanswered.
I missed the presentations on new media and book publishing but heard good comments about those. Only the closing with Guy Kawasaki and Jenny the Bloggess was a little disappointing. I understand that after 4 days, something funny would go well, but that one bordered bad taste for jokes. The trade show was interesting with some new companies we need to pay attention to. The highlight for me was the company MediaFly a delivery platform for content networks and all the possibilities it gives small businesses and online video for the near future. Yubby.com has an interesting concept where you find, collect and publish videos that we still need to take a deeper look into its features.
I wish I could have attended all the parties but I had a bad cold during the four days and that did impact my ability to network and party. I went to 3 of them and they were fun! The organizers at BlogWorld did an amazing job with the last party by the hotel pool. For the first time in 3 years we were in an environment that we could move around, sit at different tables, talk and get to really know people. It was a great night to finally sit with some colleagues and to meet new people. No loud music, lots of room, big tables. This was the best night for us!
This is a month we plan for the new year and BlogWorld is on our A list!