SOBCon08 provided great insights to social networking

This past weekend I attended SOBCon08 in Chicago (SOB = Successful Outstanding Bloggers). It was a whirlwind two-day event starting Friday night with a river cruise and ending at noon on Sunday after a full day of outstanding presentations, 5 minute pitches by some participants, lots of networking, LOTS of twittering, lots of photos, and lots of blogger love.

I've compiled a list of links (below) - by no means complete because EVERYONE was blogging and tweeting about the event - so you can get a sense of what was covered and more importantly HOW the event was covered by the participants.

Social media and social networking RULED.

Throughout the presentations, everyone was posting on twitter important points and tips shared by the speakers. This enabled thousands of people who could not attend the event to get a flavor of what was going on and to participate in a limited way by commenting and asking questions.  If you're not using Twitter yet, sign up now. You can follow me at http://twitter.com/BlogSquad (click on the Follow button).

The really powerful outcome of the event was the personal connections. Blogging has changed my life - and I don't say that lightly.

Before blogging (BB), I was happy to work behind the scenes, build an email list, consult with my Internet marketing clients and continue learning new stuff on the Web.

AB (after I started blogging) in 2004, everything changed. I came out of my introverted shell. I started connecting with amazing people through conversations on their blogs and mine. Patsi and I merged our companies and formed a new incorporated business. We started speaking at conferences, and the list goes on. We are now known throughout the blogosphere as The Blog Squad and we have a massive online presence.

The people I've met are what it's all about. And meeting them face to face at events like SOBCon is like icing on the cake.

Liz Strauss, co-founder of SOBCon, is an amazing woman. It was truly special to connect with her and witness the enormous amount of love and respect people have for her.

Brian Clark of Copyblogger and Teaching Sells fame, spoke about online business models.  I've been reading Brian's blog for a long time and am a fan. Even though we were told there were no rock stars at the event, Brian is a reluctant rock star as evidenced by the fact it was nearly impossible to get near him to have a conversation. I did get a picture though!

Brian speaks like he writes: clear, precise, intelligent and persuasive.

It's all about the relationships and the content you create that helps you connect with people.

Chris Brogan spoke passionately about building and nurturing community. Chris Garrett spoke about creating content for your blog that can connect. David Bullock blew everyone away with his presentation on selling. Wendy Piersall had everyone in tears with her heart-felt story of starting and growing her blog-based business. Terry Starbucker emceed the event and kept everyone on track and focused (despite all the simultaneous tweeting).

I realize this is a bit of ramble. I absorbed so much information, had so many great conversations, connected with old friends and made new ones.  I've been on overdrive since getting back to the office so I haven't really had a chance to sort out everything that occurred.

Oh, I cannot forget dinner on Saturday night.  After a full, head-splitting day, I almost passed on dinner. A group was meeting up and I wasn't sure I had the energy to be in a group of people I didn't really know. I was tired; I had a headache. Then I saw a tweet from Director Tom saying a group was meeting up at 6:30. It was 6:15.

I realized that I only had this one opportunity to strengthen my connections with these people, whoever showed up.  Am I glad I showed up!

A group of 8 wandered to one restaurant that couldn't accommodate us. So we walked a couple of doors down to a Thai restaurant and the experience began. Others in the group have documented the dinner at Vong's Thai Kitchen on Hubbard St: Todd Jordan wrote here and Shashi Bellamkonda documented the meal in pictures and audio. 

Ok, the links. Here is a small sample of blog posts, tweets, and photos from SOBCon08:

Shashi Bellamkanda interviewed me. (video)

Chris Garrett

A gazillion photos of the event on Flickr.

My photos from the event on Flickr.

A collection of posts, tweets and other media.

Barbara Rozgonyi's report on the opening presentation by Anita Bruzzese on managing your online reputation.

My video interview with Chris Garrett about his new book co-authored with Darren Rowse.

Again, this is a miniscule representation, but if you follow the links you'll find more links to the event and you'll get a great sense of what happened and the content covered. As I process the content, I'll do my best to make time to post it here.

I will be giving a review of the conference to our Blogging and Beyond Mentor group next week.

Comments

[Dawud Miracle]

Social media and social networking RULED.

Right on. It really did rule.

I'm having the same trouble trying to capture the richness of the people. I guess this is just one of those - you have to be there times. Patsi really missed out.

Here's to the evolution of SOBCon...

[Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad]

As they say in French, "Merde! Je n'etais pas la..." I am so sorry not to have been at the big hug fest. But I get to hear Denise' inside stories on our next call, so I'll have to be content with knowing The Blog Squad was extremely well represented by Denise and I was there in spirit.

[Karen Putz / DeafMom]

Denise, it was so nice to meet you! Looking forward to connecting more through our blogs!

[Barbara Rozgonyi]

Thanks for the mention and link, Denise! Great spending time talking about business with you; you really know your stuff. It's easy to see why you have such a loyal following and growing reach. Talk to you soon on Twitter!

[Grant D Griffiths]

I will have to be there next year!!!!

[Liz Strauss]

Denise,
I can't say enought how my eyes lit to see you were coming. I'm so glad you were with us!!

Thank you for this great rendition. I know what you mean about needing time to sort it all. It's an amazing event, isn't it? It's all about the people sharing how much we all know!

You made it spectacular as much as anyone. Proof is right here in this blog post.

[emarketed]

website won’t succeed in today’s rapidly changing online marketing environment if it’s simply a static display of information….

[Lorelle]

It was an amazing event, indeed, and meeting you was a highlight for me!

There is no other event like SOBCon, is there, and it really connects people in ways you just can't imagine. I like Liz's reference that we were all like refrigerator magnets, sticking to each other. :D