As most of you already know, I recently attended BlogWorld Expo 2009 in Las Vegas. I’ve always heard good things about this conference, and was anxious to finally check it out for myself and see what all the hype was about.
Right when I got to the show, there was such a great vibe in the air. So many people looking to learn, collaborate, and share information – it was like social media heaven. 
For those of you that don’t know, one thing that’s different about BlogWorld than the rest of the conferences I normally attend, is that it caters to a wide variety of bloggers and people in the Social Media space. There wasn’t just your typical “general” blogging sessions, the conference really went out of their way to target people by niche, so that the attendees got the most out of the conference. There were sessions about blogging in the Real Estate industry, miliblogs (which are done by people in the military, spouses etc), sports blogs and mommy blogs.
I made it a point to at least attend one session in each of the different niches, because I really believe that you need to open yourself up to see how people in other industries are using Social Media, because in most cases, it is usually pretty different. There’s so much you can learn from them, that can really help inspire new ideas and strategies.
Some of the other panels that really stood out to me were:
The Internet Marketing For Smart People (featuring Chris Brogan, Darren Rowse, and Brian Clark) which was so full I had to sit on the floor. The panel discussed some of the different strategies they used to grow their blog and community, and provided some excellent tips and advice to help the audience do the same.
The Sponsored Conversations panel ( with Jeremiah Owyang, Ted Murphy, Wendy Piersall), was a full house as well. The point of this keynote session was to talk about the new FTC act that requires bloggers to disclose anytime they are getting paid to write about a product, service, business etc. The entire session was pretty much all Q&A so bloggers could have all their questions answered before the act goes into effect on December 1, 2009.
The Blogging Super Panel (with Zac Johnson, John Chow, Darren Rowse, and Brian Clark) was another panel that I thought was extremely valuable for the people that stuck around the last day. Bloggers had the opportunity to pull their blog up and ask the experts what they could do to better monetize it. While this type of advice and consultation would normally cost you a lot of money, BlogWorld attendees received it for FREE.
Another thing I liked about BlogWorld was the networking. One thing that most beginner bloggers seem to forget is the power of face to face networking and how it can really help fast track the success of their blog. Whether it’s to find a blogging buddy, or to meet someone that will link to you or allow you to guest post, there are so many opportunities you can find at conferences that won’t appear anywhere else.
So all in all, I thought it was a very successful event and it was great to see so many new and old businesses (tons of brand names!) committed to Social Media and listening and engaging with their customers.
I took a variety of interviews while I was there and will be sharing them throughout the week, but for now, check out some of the pictures I took below.
Me, Peter, and Zac Johnson
John Chow and I at the Clickbooth booth
Me, David Risley, and Tim Jones
Me and Loren Feldman from 1938 Media
Me and the infamous Guy Kawasaki
Jun Loayza and I kickin it at the Expo Hall.
Me and Justin Levy from New Marketing Labs and Workshifting.com
Congrats again to the BlogWorld team (especially Rick Calvert) and I definitely look forward to attending next year’s conference.
