Last month I spoke at BlogWorld and part of being a .tv Advocate meant that I also spent a lot of time in the .tv booth chatting with people as part of the live stream of video that they were producing at the show.

Being a compensated member of this group has been a lot of fun and having the program enable myself and other advocates to make the trip to L.A. was a great idea. I hope they continue this with other conferences in 2012.

A large number of the videos are now available on the .tv YouTube page, but I wanted to share some of my personal favorites that I got to do here as well because I got to chat with some great friends during my time there.

Mitch Joel is a good friend and the host of the Six Pixels of Separation podcast which I take part in when we find time to do a Media Hacks episode. He was very sick when he first arrived, but thankfully felt better and we got to sit down and chat.

Steve Garfield told me he had “a fun idea” for our interview. Since he is a trusted friend I didn’t question it.

We sat down and instead of me interviewing him, he flipped the camera on me and interviewed me with his #Penready supplied camera. I can’t wait to see his camera’s footage of this interview.

Amber Naslund is a woman that I love dearly and on the heels of her inspiring keynote she swung by for a chat. She just announced a new consulting company that I know is going to do amazing things.

Scott Monty and I go way back and I was lucky to get a few minutes of his time to talk about all that is going on at Ford Motor Company. As usual, they’ve got tons happening. I’m actually heading back out to Dearborn next month to see some more up close.

Finally, Lan Bui gave me a demo of the mobile camera rig that was being used to do livestreaming interviews around the show floor. I’m still amazed that one little black box can make that possible. Damn, I love technology!

I also got to sit down and interview Marc Pitman, Lynette Young and Bryan Elliott. Plus a bunch of other great people swung by the booth for interviews.

Again, they are all on the .tv YouTube page so check them out for tons of great content. The variety of people that were interviewed still makes me smile.

The event was a lot of fun and I’m extremely happy that the .tv booth was such a hit with everyone. It was fun to be part of that excitement.

Photo Credit: BlogWorld Expo

I wanted to play off my book title of Content Rules, but focus in on how with even the best content in the world if you don’t use basic common sense and good manners none of it will matter. You can now watch that speech below. I’m damn proud of how it went and I’m psyched it was captured so nicely on video.

If you’d love to see all the other great panels and presentations given at this year’s Blogworld they are available as part of the BlogWorldExpo Virtual Ticket. (affiliate link)

Photo Credit: BlogWorld & New Media Expo

But, I’m now here in the sunny state of California and excited to be taking part in another BlogWorld Expo.

I’m speaking on Saturday morning at 11 and my presentation is title Content Rules, But Common Sense Rocks! and I hope to see a lot of you there. I’m in the mood to really wake some people up and start the day off on the right foot.

I’ll be popping in to some sessions, definitely not missing the keynotes from good friends Amber Naslund and Peter Shankman and going to a couple of the parties.

But, if you are really looking for me, your best bet is to swing by the .tv booth #321 on the expo floor. Trust me you can’t miss it. Just look for the red, black and white lounge with the comfy couches and the live studio filming everything.

As one of the .tv Advocates, I’m going to be interviewing a variety of people to talk about why online video is important and how they are currently using it. Other Advocates will be on hand as well interviewing people and conducting a series of how to classes. On Saturday I’m even going to be doing a live Digital Dads TV from the booth starting at 1 pm PST. All of this will be live streamed so even if you are not here you can enjoy at home.

If you don’t swing by the booth (you should!) than keep an eye out for fellow Advocate and friend Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff who is serving as the man on the street conducting interviews from all over the event.

Hope to see you over the next few days and if you love the image above be sure to let Hugh MacLeod know when you see him here.

Every year that I go, I walk away having made new contacts that lead to friendships and business. Last year we sold out of copies of Content Rules in the bookstore and people still come up to me and talk about sessions I’ve talked in over the years.

Yesterday as they announced the first round of talks for 2012 (including mine), I noticed something that has me worried that a lot of magic of why I love SXSW might be killed as the conference has grown to the size it is today.

Now, I have to mention that I can’t imagine organizing a conference of any size, let alone one as huge as this. Hugh and his team do an amazing job running the show and the challenges they face as they continue to be extremely successful and grow to meet that success is something I can’t imagine dealing with. Don’t take this post as a slam to any of them. They are doing what they need to do and it makes complete sense from a logistical standpoint.

If you didn’t notice what I’m concerned about, they’ve set up different tracks of talks in different buildings. Some of them very far apart from each other.

Granted, this is awesome if you are interested in only one type of session. Interested in “the future of work” then you can hang at the Courtyard Marriott for the day. Want “journalism and online content” then you can chill at the Sheraton. Only interested in the featured talks and keynotes, then you don’t have to ever leave the Austin Convention Center.

What I have always loved is the diversity of sessions and being able to be in one about photography one second, then go next door to listen in on the new world of non-profits and finally swing by a third to hear a case study about a successful transmedia storytelling campaign. A little something for everyone.

The hallway magic of SXSW is what I’m worried about being lost.

The photo above tells a great story of when I got chatting with a world famous author, a leading online parenting expert, a well regarded analyst and the top buddhist podcaster in the world near the escalators of the Austin Convention Center. Where else in the world would this meeting happen but at SXSW?

With the rapid growth forcing talks to be held at hotels spread all over Austin it is going to naturally cut down on these random bits of magic to occur. Instead we’ll bump into other people interested in the same topics as we are since we’ll all be at the same hotel together. This will lead to other great meetings for sure, but don’t we have enough fishbowls already?

I love crossing paths and talking with people from different backgrounds and interests. We may bump into each other in a hallway and then later grab a drink or talk long after the event is done. I live for diversity in my relationships. SXSW has always been a great place to start these relationships for me.

I’m still wrapping my thoughts around all of this, but am curious what you think? I’d love to hear from SXSW veterans and newbies alike.

SXSW is still an amazing conference and I have zero doubts that it will rock this year as well.

You should attend because you’ll meet great people, eat great food and experience a truly magical event. I’m just worried maybe it won’t be as magical as years past. I’ll let you know in March.

So when Al Letson stepped on the stage last week at IdeaFestival 2011 I had a feeling we were in for something special and I hit record on my video camera thinking I might be right.  Enjoy.

I arrived in Louisville, Kentucky with zero expectations of what lay ahead of me at IdeaFestival 2011.

All I knew was that the conference was ten years old, brought together a colorful mix of speakers and that they had given me a hotel room and airfare to come down and check it out for myself. With the motto of “Stay Curious,” I arrived with an open mind and was ready to have it filled.

What I was not ready for was the awesomeness of both IdeaFestival and Louisville.

The easiest way to explain what IdeaFestival is would be to say that it is a weeklong festival that brings speakers from every discipline and corner of the world to take the stage and share their stories. It follows the same vibe of better known conferences such as PopTech or TED. But, that would be far to simple of a description and while I’ve never yet been to either of those other two conferences, I think IdeaFestival is different.

First the city of Louisville.

Sure, I knew about The Kentucky Derby and all the great bourbon. But, who knew it has the largest number of independent restaurants per capita in the US, a thriving art scene and a great mix of old meets new architecture around every corner? I certainly didn’t know any of this and unfortunitely since the programming was so amazing at the festival I never got a chance to explore the city more.

I had plans to swing by The Louisville Slugger Museum and Muhammad Ali Center at a minimum, but made it to neither of them. I’m already thinking how I can back down to actually see more of the area in the future. I can only imagine the magical spectacle of Derby Week.

It was also very apparent that the city fully embraces the IdeaFestival. The Mayor wanted to be such a big part of it that he moved his entire office down to the location of the festival for the entire week and spoke several times at the event to thank everyone for coming. There was also a night time gathering at Churchill Downs where we were treated to a taste of Louisville from many local restaurants and businesses. I think I may still be full from that.

Now for the IdeaFestival

Wow, would be the easiest word to describe it. You know the content is good when your brain physically hurts at the end of the day from all the processing it has been trying to do.

When a program welcomes to it’s stage the likes of Azure Antoinette, Parag Khanna, Wes Moore, Cesar Millan, Al Letson, Sugata Mitra and IBM’s Watson it is bound to be a stimulating time. But, even more so than just the people taking the stage I was impressed by the audience. IdeaFestival has made it a point to keep the price of admission as low as possible and to make sure that local students are able to attend and interact. I said more than once how impressed I was with the challenging questions the students asked through out the entire event. I hope this is a trend that expands to other conferences.

I found myself never wanting to leave the theater and getting up much earlier than I usually would to insure that I didn’t miss anything. But, the event organizers knew what they were doing when they put the Science of Kissing session at 8 am. People will show up for that. *grin*

You need to attend IdeaFestival 2012

As someone who attends and speaks at a lot of conferences I don’t say that lightly, but I firmly believe that you need to consider attending IdeaFestival next year.

I say this because my mind is still going through everything I saw and heard. The fact that I had to leave on Saturday morning and missed a whole day of it is still bugging me and I plan on buying a couple of the talks through the Fora.tv channel so I can see what I missed.

Unlike a lot of conferences where you never see the speakers once they leave the stage, I bumped into, chatted with and saw every speaker before and after they were on stage. They were there to engage and learn as much as every other attendee. I remember getting a big smile when one even got up to ask a question at a session. That was another refreshing item was that every speaker left plenty of time for Q&A because it was expected.

The whole IdeaFestival is a climate of curiosity and learning. All you needed to do was turn to the person next to you in the hallway and you never knew who it might be or what you might come away from the conversation with. I certainly made some great new friends at the event, bought a few books to read and even have a great new print from Don Stewart to hang on my office wall.

They haven’t announced the dates for next year, but as soon as they do I’m going to pencil it into my calendar.

Special Thanks

I would not be a good human if I didn’t give special thanks to the people that made my journey to IdeaFestival a reality. Kevin Smokler originally reached out to me about the opportunity and June Sargent took care of all the formalities to make it happen. Also, a special thanks to freelance photographer Geoff Oliver Bugbee who I met at the event and gave me permission to use some of his photos with this post. My photos are here if you are curious.

Finally, for legal reasons I’ll once again disclose that my travel expenses were covered by IdeaFestival and I was given a media pass to the event.

I had never heard of it, but if Kevin was involved then I was interested in hearing more about it.

Turns out that it is “a world-class event that attracts leading and highly diverse thinkers from across the nation and around the globe to explore and celebrate innovation, imagination and cutting-edge ideas” that got it’s start back in 2,000. It reminded me of TED or PopTech, both which I’m a huge fan of.

So tomorrow I’m jumping a plane and headed to Louisville, Kentucky for the rest of the week.

I’ll be honest that I’m not sure what to expect. It has been a long time since I was only an attendee at a conference. Usually I’m on stage speaking at some point, but for this event I’m officially media. I’m actually excited that I will barely know anyone there at all. Making new friends is always fun to me.

In full disclosure, the event is flying me down and covering my hotel and ticket to the event while I’m there. They are doing this with several of us who have been deemed influential in one form or another. When I saw the bios of the other people being brought down like myself I kept wondering how in the world they pulled this diverse group together. I mean that in a very positive way.

So, I don’t know what the rest of this week holds for me. I’ll be tweeting during the event, taking photos and pushing content out on most channels that you can find me at. The hashtag for the event is #IF11 so if you follow that I’m sure you’ll be able to play along at home.

Rumor has it, I’ll have some time to go exploring as well. Since I’ve only been to that area once (and it was a quickie) I can’t wait to see everything it has to offer.

If you are headed to this event as well, let me know. Would love to connect and say hello.

I had heard the expression Cleveland Rocks for years, but yet had never set my feet on the soil of Ohio until this past week when I was brought to Cleveland to speak at the first ever Content Marketing World.

Now, I have to be truthful and say that even though I’m considered an expert on content marketing and co-authored the best selling book Content Rules, I still wasn’t completely sold on the need for two days of cheerleading and back patting each other about how important content is.

But, I’m here to tell you that in it’s first year with over 600 attendees from 18 countries, this conference delivered and I have no doubt that it has a bright future.

I say this because every talk I saw and panel I attended delivered. There was a variety of speakers from companies of all sizes with unique stories to tell and they were sharing them openly with all who asked. Plus, any conference that opens up with the ever fascinating Sally Hogshead and closes with the eternally funny Kevin Smith is going to be a good time. (Yes, THAT Kevin Smith and to every doubter out there, the man is great inspiration to me and my career and I’ll be sharing that story soon.)

Joe Pulizzi and his entire team organized an amazing event. While I was officially sick of orange by the end of it all (just not my color, but it obviously is his), I left smiling and inspired to create better content. They deserve huge kudos for pulling off such an impressive and well organized first event. I don’t know how they did it and they’ve certainly given themselves a high bar to soar over for next year.

If I have any suggestions for next year it would be not to have back to back keynotes first thing in the morning. Even when the second one is my friend David Meerman Scott who always brings a ton of energy, experience and stories to the stage, it is tough to sit through 2 1/2 hours right out of the gate first thing in the morning. I also hope that there are more case studies next year. Really detailed ones that talk a project from conception to execution. There may have been some of those in sessions I didn’t attend, but I know everyone would benefit from more of these.

And, please whatever you do, don’t move it out of Cleveland. The unique charm and vibe of the city really worked for me and I want a reason to go back. Plus, I didn’t get to spend enough time in the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame during the opening party and I really want some more yummy goodness from Lola Bistro and Great Lakes Brewing.

Make sure you put Content Marketing World 2012 on your radar for next year. You don’t want to miss it.

Photo Credit: Shashi Bellamkonda

It is that time of year again with the opening of the voting gates to the 2012 SXSW Panel Picker.

For those of you not familiar, SXSW is the must attend event for anyone working in the online, film or music space. They allow anyone to submit panel ideas and then the world can vote for the ones they like. This community vote counts for roughly a third of the decision making process.

Because of this, you’re going to see lots of people pimping for votes and people bitching about this pimping, but I’m hoping that we can do better this year.

I have a proposed panel this year called The Power of  Visual Storytelling and of course I hope that it gets chosen to be part of the official program. But, you’re not going to see me ever ask the public for votes because it is desperate and frankly annoying to all who see it.

My suggestions for how to do it better this time.

1. Mention that you have a panel. Just this morning I linked to it on both Twitter and Google+ but in both situations I did not ask for votes. I know if people are compelled to they will, but I don’t want to be “that guy” asking for the votes. There is nothing wrong with informing your followers, but there is no need to beg.
2. Promote other people’s panels. Two from friends that I found this morning and really want to see picked are Community Management is the New Black and
   5 New Tools to Share Video Like Max Headroom.
3. Spend time going through the entire panel picker and the categories you are interested so that you can cast meaningful votes. Panels chosen should not only be about those with the biggest audiences.
4. Leave comments on the panels you are most passionate about because I know the organizing committee does read these and they matter. Go beyond just a thumbs up or down.

I can’t even imagine the scale of what goes into picking the panels that become part of something as mammoth as SXSW and kudos to the organizers. They certainly work their tails off, so lets all step up and do a better job helping make that 30% of the decision mean more then screaming out and begging for votes.

We are better than that right?

Because I make part of my living as a speaker, I get e-mails often asking “would you be interested in speaking at our event?” and I can tell you right now that the answer is always “yes, as long as we can work out the details.”

You see, I’ve got a permanent case of travel wanderlust mixed with the urge to meet, talk to and motivate as many people in the world as I can before my time is up. That means there is not a location, group or organization that I don’t want the opportunity to take the stage in front of. The fact that I always tailor my talk to the group I’m in front of means that I can do this and look forward to it.

But, it amazes me how hard it is to work out the details with organizations no matter how big or small they are, so I’m hoping to make it a bit easier by laying out some of the basics that need to be taken care of in order for me to speak at your event (and hopefully not make that face above).

Cover My Travel Costs

If you are charging for your event, than you must cover my travel expenses to be part of it. If you do not have the budget for this, then you really should focus on local speakers or those that work for companies who will foot their travel bill. This is not negotiable for me and why I put it first. I’ll travel anywhere in the world, but you’ve got to get me there and give me a room to sleep in while there. This is pretty standard and really shouldn’t come as a shock to any event organizer.

I’m working with an event right now that wanted me to bring some other speakers to the event and when I was told they would not be able to cover their travel I politely explained to them that they just cut out my first ten or more choices because of this one decision. They were shocked. Don’t be. Figure these costs into your budget. This is a deal breaker for me unless you happen to be TED, Poptech or some other conference that I’d kill to be in front of.

Pay My Speakers Fee

I don’t work for a big company and thus my time is money to me. I make part of my living from speaking and yes I will charge to speak at your event. But, I have different rates depending on the type of event or organization and I also am very open to discussing this because I’ve found a million creative ways to make this work or offset it.

But, with that being said, assuming you are going to get a keynote speaker for free is a silly assumption. Especially from anyone who has been doing it a while. Quality costs, so don’t just assume you can get everything for free. And, before someone asks, I do still speak for free quite often, but anytime I do this I take away from a possible paid engagement. I’ve had this happen where I had to pass on a paid gig because I already had a free one on my calendar and that hurts.

Want to know a trick? Find a business to become a “keynote sponsor” to cover the costs. Win-win all around.

Don’t Ask For My Slides

I’m constantly tweaking my presentations and except for my recent Content Rules book tour, no two are ever the same. I’ve been known to add slides up to the moment I take the stage to make it as fresh and relavent as possible. If you ask for my slides months before the actual presentation I am going to say no because technology and our space changes too rapidly for that. Plus, why would you want a two month old presentation?

Also, realize that my slides without my voice are not very helpful. They are not stuffed with clip art and bullet points, so making handouts of them does not make sense and honestly is a waste of paper and your money. Please double think before you insist your audience requires this because I doubt they do. Plus, I upload many of them to my slideshare profile for all to have.

Allow Me to Attend the Event

This one is usually a given, but I like to actually check out the event I’m speaking at rather then flying in, speaking and turning right around and flying out. Now, this may sound shocking to you, but I promise that I’ve had more than one event offer me a discounted ticket for their event rather than just giving me one. Thankfully this is not the norm, but it makes no sense. Every speaker at any event should have a free pass to the rest of the conference if they want to see what is going on.

—–

The moral of this story is that I’m sure I’m not the only speaker who wants to get the basics covered. I love speaking in front of an audience of every size and I’m willing to make every effort to make it work within your parameters, but at the same time you have to respect my time and desire to keep a roof over my kids heads at the same time.

I don’t believe any of these details are that demanding, but because I’ve had to pass on many events I know not everyone agrees.

I’d love to hear from other speakers out there as well as event organizers to know if I’m off base or not. I know in my heart I’m not, but I still want to hear what other people in the industry think.

Have an event you need a dynamic speaker for? Drop me an e-mail and let’s make it happen.

Photo Credit: WayneNH

I get invited to a variety of blogger junkets and press events so I arrived in Detroit expecting the same sort of event sponsored by Ford that they were calling Forward With Ford 2011.

But, as the conversations begun and the presentations kicked off, I realized that I had found my way to a completely different type of event than I had ever been to. Part conference, part show and tell, all interesting.

As we gathered for the opening reception it was obvious that this was a unique event in the auto industry. I grabbed a scotch from the bar and began chatting with people nearby. There were writers from all sorts of sites and publications. It didn’t matter if you wrote about automobiles, pets, parenting or any sort of lifestyle, there were representatives from your market. Heck, I even learned the term elderblogger (someone who writes about the aging population) within the first five minutes. I wonder what Millie Garfield thinks of that term.

The night kicked off with Ford CEO Alan Mulally introducing the night’s keynote speaker who was none other than Malcolm Gladwell. I’ve been a long time fan of his writing and thoughts, so getting to hear him and then to shake his hand and thank him for all the damage he has done to my brain was a personal highlight. I had to hold back standing up and cheering as he talked about how people need to recognize their worth instead of letting other people dictate it. As you know this is something I talk about often.

The next day, each attendee (170 or so from what I was told) was assigned three sessions that we had previously showed interest in. I was going to be seeing sessions on emerging technologies, the global convergence of design and living green. Large buses took us to each location which made the trips nice and comfy. The other themes for the day that I did not get to see included the aging population, safety for all ages and engaging your senses. Thankfully in following the #FordTrends hashtag allowed me to virtually check out those sessions.

These all sounded like rather lofty themes to be able to dive into for 90 minutes each, but I was ready to give it a try if Ford was.

What I loved was that instead of just having Ford employees talking to us all day, they brought in thought leaders from the appropriate industries to share thoughts with us. To speak about design there was someone from Ideo, a millennial expert and a former fashion designer. Sure, they placed way to much focus on the mentality of millennials to drive their decision making, but their hearts were in the right place. My favorite take away from this was the term “slash generation” to refer to how people now have jobs AND they have passions, hobbies and side businesses that they care about.

They also showcased to us how they design cars and how much of it is done completely digital before they make a life size model. The photographer in me geeked out as they showed us how Ford designers check light reflections and shadows on their cars. In a scene straight out of The Matrix they can put a car design in any environment and drive it through at ever possible angle and magnification. I thought I was watching live video of a car when in fact it was 100% digital magic. I could have stayed and played here all day.

Next up was learning about the electrical cars and hybrids. This is something I’m very passionate about because my lifestyle is perfect for an all electric car, but I haven’t made the jump yet because the technology is changing so rapidly and honestly I want to test drive one for a week to confirm that my life would work if I made the investment.

Environmental activist and actor Ed Begley Jr. shared his story of green living and then we learned about all that Ford is doing in this space. I love their partnership with Best Buy to make it easier to install and move a charger in your garage if you move. I was also psyched to get a hands on demo of the new MyFord Mobile app. It is some of the smartest use of mobile technology I’ve seen from a car company and it even includes sensible game mechanics instead of just making it gimmicky.

In a moment of perfect timing, we broke for lunch which had an environmental conscious focus to it. Not only did we have a speech from one of the top scientists at Ford talking about how they use sustainable materials in the cars, but our menu focused on locally grown meat and vegetables as well as some products that are used in the cars. I loved this playful, yet educational thinking. Why can’t we do things like this in our schools?

The final session of the day was review for me since I already drive a Ford and it was show and tell time for everything that is awesome about Sync. But, what I hadn’t seen was the ways that our cars can now interact with health care devices. Just imagine your child is diabetic and their insuline pump could notify the car that they have low blood sugar so you knew to pull over and get them something to eat. We are currently use to having our phones automatically connect with our cars, but in the future any device will have that ability. Whole lot of cool possibilities when you start noodling on it.

The night ended with being taken to the famous Fillmore Theater Detroit. While we munched on international yummies from mini coney dogs to pierogi and I was introduced to Michigan Lager there was a talk from Pandora Radio’s founder Tim Westergren. I’ve been a big fan of their product for a number of years and his statement about “the car being a viable distribution channel for music” really struck home for me. I was disappointed by the panel that followed though because while there were two artists on it, they were barely allowed to speak and instead the focus was geared towards music industry dinosaurs and the stillborn technology of HD Radio.

But, even with the panel not being what I had hoped for, things got a million times better as The Head and the Heart took the stage. I had never heard of this band, but before they were one I had bought the album from my iPhone. They are part Mumford Sons crossed with Fleetwood Mac and a bit of Dave Mathews Band. Whatever you call them, they were amazing and I’m now a fan.

It was a jam packed twenty four hours of conversations and presentations on the future and the trends that are not only going to effect Ford and the automobile industry, but everything in our lives. I know I left pondering some directions I had not focused on before and it even gave me a few new things to add into my next book.

All this and still another day to spend on the Ford Test Track? I think I’ll save those tales for a second post.

Disclosure: Ford flew all attendees out and gave us food, shelter and a blue magic eightball while in Dearborn. Ford previously was a sponsor of my Content Rules Book Tour. We were not expected or asked to write about the event, but of course I wanted to. All photos and thoughts are my own.

Yesterday was Father’s Day and I was psyched to be hired to host a special event on Saturday to celebrate Pampers Little Miracle Missions at the New England Aquarium in Boston. Full set of photos available or some of my favorites to follow.

On June 10, 2011 bloggers from around North America gathered at 233 West Huron Street in Chicago, Illinois to take part in a blogger summit put on by Craftsman. We were flown out, filled with Chicago deep dish pizza and worked our way through five different do-it-yourself projects that were conceived and taught by fellow bloggers. Read more about the experience.

The complete photo set is available for viewing as well as a video slideshow.

Here is what the event looked like through my eyes.

Disclosure: Craftsman covered our travel and hotel for the event and we were given a drill and choice of another small tool as a thank you. All views (and photos in this case) are my own.

Being a parent is one of the most challenging and rewarding roles anyone can fill. Nothing quite like it. I started Digital Dads to meet other guys who also loved being dads and every day it feels like I meet someone new.

I’m psyched to announce that I’ve been hired by Pampers to host a BBQ in Boston to help celebrate the brand turning 50 and to celebrate the role dads play in the parenting equation.

My kids are long removed from diapers, so I had not heard about The Pampers Miracles Campaign they launched. This year-long Facebook based program was started to recognize that every baby is a little miracle to be celebrated, supported and protected.  What I dig most about it is the pay it forward focus on helping others and throughout the year they are posting new missions for people to take part in.

On Father’s Day weekend there will be cook-out celebrations happening around the country sponsored by Pampers. These are invite only events to keep them intimate and fun, but I know we’ve got a few more openings for the Boston event if you are interested in coming down for great food and a great day. Plus, there will be ton of activities for you and your baby to have fun doing and your entire family is invited.

See you there?

Thanks to my buddy [munk] for the use of his killer track Dirty Work in this video.

Content Rules

I arrived with no expectations because I really didn’t know what the OTA Sessions were all about, but I knew they invited us and last year I had some close friends like Julien & Mitch both attend and that was good enough for me to go.

After a day spent in a darkened theater with a variety of speakers taking the stage, I can safely say that I left South Dakota much more inspired than when I arrived and it is all because of the magic that is The OTA Sessions.

OTA gets it’s name because of the area states of North DakOTA, South DakOTA and MinnesOTA.

It was a day of inspiration in the hopes of inspiring action. When the day kicks off with Sally Hogshead giving someone a shot of Jagermaister on stage and later you have everyone from Ellen McGirt to John Winsor to riCardo crespo sharing their various stories and you have a day packed with awesome.

I know as I sat in the balcony watching the speakers take the stage I found myself furiously jotting down notes. Not on what they were saying, but rather about an idea that I had brewing for a while and was being inspired to flesh out based on what I was hearing on stage. I already told Hugh Weber who organized the day, that I now have a goal to be asked to return next year and tell the story of how his conference inspired me to do something new.

I know there are plans underway to hold OTA Sessions next year and if there is any way you can attend I can’t recommend it highly enough. The energy reminded me of the early days of Podcamp and the infinite possibilities of where this can grow to. I also have a goal of hopefully making it to Big Omaha next year which I heard about from the stage.

Thank you to the entire team behind the conference for the warm hospitality and killer content!

I’m writing this before I leave, because I know that once I’m on the ground there it will be a fast pace, talking to a lot of people, making a lot of new friends type of time and I wanted to get this out there now in case you might be looking for me. The above photo is one I took in 2008 that pretty much sums up the vibe of SXSW

The quick answer is that besides a few set in stone events I don’t know where I’ll be because I’ll be going with the flow.

I’m going to be in Austin from Thursday afternoon until Tuesday morning.

During that time I can tell you now that you won’t find me at any of the crazy big parties that will be happening every night. While they can be fun, the long lines and over capacity rooms don’t make for all that great of a time so I tend to skip them.

Where you can find me is taking lots of photos like this one when I meet great people (still loved bumping into Jonathan Coulton in the hallway for this photo). I will be doing plenty of walking around the convention center, grabbing drinks with people and meeting as many people as possible.

The only places that I know I will be for sure are as follows:

Saturday

• SXSW Social Breakfast
• Content Rules Official Book Reading (Saturday 11:50am Ballroom D Foyer followed by a book signing at the SXSW Bookstore)
• #TequilaNow party to celebrate The Now Revolution
• Wiley SXSW Authors Party

Sunday

• #AllHat3
• Co-Hosting #BlogChat Live

Besides those few events, everything else is up on the air. If you really want to get a hold of me the best way is to send me a text message at 508-241-1062.

I’ve kept my schedule as open as possible so that I can fully enjoy my time with people while I’m there. After all, it is the hallway magic that leads to the best memories in my opinion. Please make sure that if you want to say hi, that you come up and say hello!

Hope to see you in Austin.

Those of us gearing up to go to SXSW in Austin, Texas begin to get excited and those who are not going get cranky. (Yes, there is a third group who could care less about the conference and go about their merry way enjoying life to the fullest.)

But, this year I’m seeing more and more people questioning the relevance, worth and value of attending SXSW and I wanted to provide my answer to what value I find in attending.

This will be my fourth year attending the conference and every year I come away so happy that I was able to attend. Once again I’m speaking at the event by doing a Content Rules book reading. (I’m still not sure how a book reading happens there, but we’ll find out.)

The way I describe SXSW to people who have never been is that it is as if the entire Internet came together in one place and you’ll leave having made new friends and becoming closer with old ones.

Sure, there are a ton of great presentations, parties and more then enough great food and drink. But, for me the value in going to SXSW is the people you get to meet and spend time with in Austin. Looking back through my photos I’ve taken at SXSW you’ll see most of them are of the people I meet.

Through the years as I’ve worked on different marketing campaigns, I’ve used technology from vendors I saw on the expo floor, involved influencers that I hung out with over breakfast tacos and more than once formed business relationships with people I met in the hallways of the convention center.

While I haven’t conjured up a magical spreadsheet to measure the ROI of this to me, I know it in my heart and wallet that the value is there. That is why every March you’ll find me in Austin, sleep deprived, inspired and counting the days until the next SXSW.

Trust me, that it is up to each of us to find value in everything we do. It is not cheap to attend and you need to make sure you get what you want out of it. Need some tips? Here is my SXSW Tips video I made last year at this time.

And to anyone that criticizes or complains and yet has never attended, you don’t get a voice OK? SXSW is truly one of those things that you have to experience to fully appreciate.

Before a few of my friends started teaching there, I had never even heard of the school.

Now, after spending two days with the staff and students there I can’t wait to tell everyone about the school.

If you want to work behind the scenes in the music, movie or gaming industry then Full Sail is a school that you must check out. To call it “hands on” would be an understatement. It was obvious from visiting classrooms across their degrees that students come here to learn by doing rather than by reading a book about something. I love that.

They also have business degrees and a huge thank you to the Full Sail’s Internet Marketing Department for bringing the Content Rules Book Tour to campus. As of right now they are the only College or University that has made this happen so I will always hold a special place in my heart for them and their support.

We had a packed house and live stream for my presentation and I can’t wait to get a copy of it because it felt pretty good to me. But, the highlight for me was sitting down with eight students who were close to graduation and talking with them about the future and answering their questions. I’ve always loved mentoring others and this filled that need perfectly. I was amazed at how each of them knew exactly what they wanted to do with their lives. I certainly didn’t at that age.

I’m hoping this isn’t the last thing I do with Full Sail. I was so impressed with their program and approach to education that I hope I can do more with them in the future.

Update: My #FullSailCC presentation is now available online to watch.

Photo Credit: Carol Cox

While I want to see everyone possible, I know that the scope of CES is going to make this hard so I wanted to share the locations where I KNOW I’m going to be. Anything outside of these times is up for grabs and I could be at any of the parties, restaurants or other social locations in Vegas. The times shown are local Vegas time. If you want to say hi, these are your best bets.

Thursday

• 7 – 9 – Helping open the Kenmore Booth #26111
• 11 – 1 – NBC Universal Booth #9831
• 1:30 – Speaking on a Kodak K-Zone panel Booth #31400

Friday

• 9:30 – Live Digital Dads TV Booth #31400 (next to Kodak)
• 11:30 – Live Cast of Dads at the Intel Booth #7153
• 1:30 – Ford Motor Company Booth #301
• 5 – 8 – Kenmore Blogger Event Booth #26111

Next week I’m heading to Las Vegas to attend the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). It is a conference that I’ve always wanted to check out, but have never had a solid business reason to do so.

I’m excited to announce that I’ve been hired to be the Official Kenmore Blogger Correspondent on the show floor.  My assignment is to capture and share the innovative gadgets, people and companies I discover.I can already hear some of you saying, why in the world is Kenmore hiring someone to be a roving reporter, creating content about CES?

Earlier this year I was invited to a Kenmore blogger summit in Chicago. I was confused why a home appliance company would be doing something like this, but after the weekend I learned that Kenmore has a lot of innovation happening in their product line and this is the first year that CES is going to have a dedicated area to the digital home. Word is that CES attendees will enjoy cooking competitions between LeCordon Bleu chefs as they battle in a live kitchen and one in the Kenmore Live Studio back in Chicago.

Kenmore has really done a good job of making social media a core part of their online presence and are smartly using both Twitter and Facebook to their advantage. As I’ve gotten to know the team a bit better, I’ve been impressed that they are doing things right and I look forward to helping them continue do that by producing them a lot of content during CES.

If you are attending CES, I’ll be there on Thursday and Friday with cameras in hand and would love to talk to you. Drop me an e-mail at cc.chapman@gmail.com and hopefully we can connect and I can share your story.

December is usually a quiet month, but I’ve got three events I’m really psyched to be speaking at in the next two weeks.

MarketingProfs Content Marketing Crash Course
Ann and I are kicking off this series of amazingly talented people teaching you how to use content. This Friday our webinar is free and everyone that registers for the whole course gets a free copy of our book in addition to all the lessons.

They’ve also set me up with an affiliate code that you can use to save $200 on the class. Just enter code CHAPMAN during check out or use this link to register and I’ll make a few dollars and you’ll save a whole bunch of them.

Social Media Breakfast Ottawa
I’ve never been to Ottawa before and I can’t think of a better way to spend my first time then over breakfast with a room full of people eager to learn.

The event is taking place on December 8th and there are still tickets available. Along with the coffee and the conversation, I’ll also be signing books for everyone who attends. Get up early and come out and say hello while learning at the same time. Plus, I bet the time away from the office will be good for you and you can still make it in before lunch.

Portland State University’s Digital Marketing Conference
Once again I get to go to a city that I’ve never been to before and this time it is on the other side of the country.

After speaking to a class at Portland State University they asked me to give the opening keynote for their Digital Marketing Conference. How could I say no to that?

Don’t tell anyone, but this is the first time I’ve actually given the opening keynote to a conference like this and I’m the perfect mix of excited and scared all rolled into one! Just look at the other speakers and you can see why I’m feeling this way. *grin*

There will be a book signing and some other events going on while I’m in town so check out the event’s Facebook page for the latest.

I’ve got to say that I never thought in all my years I’d be on stage at Carolines talking to a room full of people I know and respect. Plus, when you add the fact that it is in a comedy club, it instantly makes everything more casual. Because of this there are a few bad words in the video.

The Audience Conference has become a must attend in my book and is something that I’ll schedule around every year to make sure I’m there. If you missed it this year, 1938 Media has posted videos of most of the performers. Watch them and enjoy.

What is Kinnernet you ask?

I was asking the same thing for a couple of months from the time I got the invite until the time I showed up and found out. I had looked online for the answers ahead of time and found nothing. Now, I understand why. It is an event that can’t fully be summarized in words and that you must experience to fully appreciate.

At the most basic of basic levels, Kinnernet is an unconference that brings together a group of people from around the world to inspire each other. While there are some planned activities, the meat of the days are spent with open discussions on a variety of topics that anyone can lead.

With such an open ended description it is inspiring the variety of topics that occur. Personally I know some of the more powerful ones I took part in were on what education could look like in 2020, the power of programmable cities and game mechanics in business. See what I’m talking about? Big topics, with big thinking discussions. No fluff here.

I was excited as I looked at the participant list leading up to the weekend because I only recognized 3 names on it. While that might scare most people, I viewed it as a chance to make all new friends and spend time getting to know people I might never cross paths with otherwise. So much of the weekend was spent talking, debating and having fun together.

I need to give a deep, heart felt thank you to both Jeff Pulver and Yossi Vardi for allowing me to be part of this weekend. Being invited to take part of something so special and inspiring means more to me then I can fully express and you made it possible.

Don’t fear the unknown. Embrace it and experience it. I promise you’ll grow a bit and come out a better person.

Say what you want about the team at 1938 Media, but they put on a hell of a show. No laptops. No twitter. Just top quality speakers and face-to-face conversations over good food, good drink and good times.

When Loren gave me a call a few months back and asked me to speak at this years conference I was shocked and honored at the same time. It means a lot to be part of this and I can’t wait to see who else he lines up to speak. I am happy to see my close friend Dan Patterson has been added as a speaker. No one rips apart a stage quite like he does.

Watch this video to learn more about what to expect.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrRnVSYrY5o[/youtube]

Then buy a ticket because there is only a limited number of them and they will sell out.

Come spend the day in New York with me and some of the funnest people you can hang with. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

If you are? We’ll just blame the puppets. *grin*

As part of the Marine Week Boston festivities, they had a media day at Hanscom Air Force Base and I was one of the lucky few allowed to take a flight. A special thanks to Eric Schwartzman for the invitation to be part of the fun.

The Osprey is a beautiful piece of machinery that we got a full briefing on. It is currently being used in both combat and humanitarian missions. Able to carry over 20 fully armed Marines, be decked out as a flying emergency room or to transport cargo and supplies to anywhere in the world, this is not your typical airplane. The one stat I remember being amazed by was that it could take off from Boston and be in Chicago in 3 hours and not need to refuel. That is impressive when you need to get some place fast.

I took a bunch of photos or you can watch the video slide show of them below. I didn’t film any video, but Eric posted a video of the whole adventure.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/11504301[/vimeo]

In addition to the awesome time aboard the Osprey flying over Boston with the back door open, we also got to learn more about what today’s Marines are doing and even why they have something called Marine Week. David Meerman Scott posted this video that includes an interview with just one of the great Marines we met.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIzwAfqitWs[/youtube]

I’ve always been a big supporter of our troops and being able to spend even a few hours with some of them and chat a little made this extra special for me. A couple of the young Marines I spoke to are headed over and into combat later this year. I told them to stay safe and thanked them for everything they do. Not enough people thank all of our armed forces for keeping us safe and protecting the freedoms we love so much.

Marine Week goes until this weekend and on Saturday they have got a bunch of great events to check out!

It is not about the panels for me, but about the hallway magic where you get to meet and talk with some of the most amazing people in the industry. Friendships are formed and business relationships are made. THAT is where the power of SXSW lies for me.

This was my third year, so I went in knowing what to expect and what I wanted to get out of it. Because of the shear size of it and the amount of people that are there you have to do this or else it sort of swallows you up whole. It is why I made my SXSW Advice video for all the newbies (and seasoned veterans) who I wanted to make sure at least knew a little bit of what they were getting into.

Here are some thoughts and highlights for me from this year:

• I knew that I wouldn’t be able to see everyone I wanted to, but I still ran around like a maniac trying to. I had a lot of meetings the whole time so I didn’t spend much time in the Blogger Lounge. As several of us said, “Get out there and meet the Internet.”
• Most people knew about Campfire and what we do, so instead of “tell me what you do” conversations we got to have “tell me how we can do something together” conversations. Those ones are always more fun. *grin*
• I’m still not a massive party guy, but the All Hat 2 gathering and the Powered Party were both perfect day time events in great locations. Don’t under value the importance of a well shaded spot, cold drinks and a small enough crowd that you can actually talk to the other attendees.
• Chevy showed up in a big way and really showcased that they knew how to work directly with this community. I had the chance to test drive a Volt and they even fed me and a bunch of others with a great dinner at the Salt Lick BBQ. I got to meet a lot of their team and their excitement and genuine interest in hearing feedback on everything was refreshing. If a brand that size can do it, anyone can. Extra kudos for them on knowing that there is more then just Interactive going on. They are still there through all of film and music. Smart move.
• PBS Kids held a informal brunch at The Driskill Hotel that was one of the best mornings of the whole event. I met some amazingly talented women including Rachel from A Southern Fairytale and Karen from Chookooloonks that I might not have met other wise. Plus it isn’t that often that I get asked if someone can take MY portrait and I was excited to be part of the 1000 Faces Project.
• My travel light goal was achieved. I left my 50D in the room and after taking the S90 out the first day I left that in the hotel room also. Nokia gave me a cool little N97 Mini to play with and the camera on that was more then enough for me. My SXSW Flickr Set doesn’t have much in it yet, but I’ve got more pictures to put up soon. I did sneak in a photo walk with Jane Quigley and Melissa Pierce which was an awesome way to start the day.
• Gingerbread Chocolate Chip pancakes from Magnolia Cafe. Need I say more?
• I got to catch up with some close friends which I wasn’t sure if we were going to be able to pull off or not. Whether it was sharing a late night bottle of wine in a hotel room or sneaking away into a corner of the Hilton to chat, those moments are always cherished.
• Peter Shankman and Jess Berlin co-hosted a great little dinner that I’ll be giggling about for years to come.
• Checking out the Dad Labs studio was cool. They’ve got a great set up and are truly chasing their dreams. We recorded our first video Cast of Dads which I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

I’m sure I’m forgetting something else, but those are the things that pop out at me. I’ve got some reactions on the tech and marketing side that I’m going to save to talk about on today’s Media Hacks rather then rambling on here. You’ll have to listen to see what discovered in that arena.

I returned home with my tank full. While it is an exhausting time, I really came back recharged and ready to attack. Each of you that I met and talked with helped with that so thank you for being who you are.

Photo credits: Greg Verdino & Jason Jarrett

I want to meet you. I want to shake your hand, give you a hug and then talk about whatever it is that your passionate about. I want to talk to you about Campfire and how we can help your business do better. I want to meet parents and talk about Digital Dads, show them Emily Explains It and let them listen to Cast of Dads.

I took this picture moments ago so you know what I look like and can keep an eye out for me. I’ll be the big guy smiling and hugging people.

PLEASE come up and say hello. I hate hearing stories about “well you looked busy” or “I was too shy.” If I look busy then it is possible I might be, but I’ve always got time for a hello. Just be respectful and if I’m in the middle of a conversation wait a moment and then say hello. Old fashion respect and manners go a long way with me (and most people).

I plan on doing plenty of checking in on Gowalla & Foursquare. I’m really open with friendship requests on 4sq, but not so much on Gowalla. My personal choice of how I’ve found both services useful.

If you are reading this AFTER meeting up, I’m an easy guy to find online. Feel free to drop me an e-mail, become a friend or fan on Facebook or follow me on Twitter. If I took your picture then you’ll find it here and yes you can use it for your headshot, avatar or whatever so long as you give me attribution.

I’m excited for Austin. I don’t plan on hitting most of the insanely insane parties, but I will be out and about. Can’t wait to see you there.

Jeff Pulver continues to grow the series of 140 Characters Conferences around the globe and they are coming back to where they started in New York City on April 20th & 21st. Besides a variety of great content, Jeff took a drastic step and one that I think was VERY needed. He slashed the prices.

It use to cost almost $1000 to attend a 140 Conference. So many people who wanted to attend just could not afford that so Jeff took the risk on making it much more affordable to attend. I asked him about this and his plan is to find quality sponsors who want to get in front of some the most influential people in the space to cover costs. If you wrote off the conference because you couldn’t afford it in the past, check it out again because now you can. Also, if it is a fit for you find out more about becoming a sponsor.

I’m most excited because I’m going to be moderating a panel called Where Am I? How Location Changes Everything with the CEO of both Gowalla and Foursquare on the panel. I need your help because I’d very much like to add a senior member of the Google Buzz team or the CEO of Yelp to the panel and I’m hoping someone out there will read this and be able to help.

This is not going to be a panel discussing which service is better. I want to focus on why I (and the panel) believe that location is a key part of everything going forward. It is something that every business from the smallest corner sandwich shop to the largest retailer in the world needs to pay attention to and I hope this panel answers some of the questions everyone has.

If you have a connection feel free to introduce them to me. My e-mail address is cc.chapman@gmail.com

I’ve never been a beach person. I love hanging out at the ocean and feeling the sand between my toes, but hanging out poolside for any amount of time has never been that appealing. I guess that is why when it comes time to think about vacations I never think about the tropics, cruises or anything like that. I like to be active on vacation and do lots of different things. But, I’ve got to say that I was surprised by how much fun I had on this trip.

As I’ve already disclosed in a previous post, this trip was a press junket sponsored by JetBlue, Atlantis and Lego to showcase their new Atlantis Kids Adventure (AKA) addition to the resort. A variety of travel writers, parenting bloggers and other press were on hand for this weekend of fun.

I of course took a ton of photos and after the first day my 50D never left the room because I was so happy with how well my S90 did at taking photos. I’m officially in love with that little guy. Since I knew I was going to be writing up this trip in several different styles, you can see I took a variety of photos.

The whole family had a blast. I had always thought of Atlantis as an adult only resort and maybe that is the way it use to be, but it certainly isn’t any more. The variety of pools, water slides, restaurants and things to do makes it so that every member of the family can have a good time.

The new AKA addition is a kid’s dream. With different areas dedicated to computers, video games, cooking, dress up and all around play there is something for everyone. Even the bathrooms are unique (and yes I did go in the girls room after a mom insisted I go in and see it). I had a chance to talk to the designer of it all and she stressed how she really wanted a place where a kid could completely unwind and have a great time. She succeeded!

With such a great place for the kids to spend time away from parents, I was disappointed that we didn’t get a chance to leave them there and have a bit of parent only time at one of the restaurants that is not a buffet at the resort. The Mesa Grill was calling to me, but there was no chance to try it out.

Emily & Dylan both loved it there and didn’t want to leave. Everyone agreed that their favorite part was getting to swim with the Dolphins. I did it a couple of years ago at Discovery Cove and this was just as good.

Since the kids are both part fish, they loved all the different pools, river rapids and slides that they went on multiple times. I liked that they had these in every size so that kids of all sizes (and levels of bravery) could enjoy. I personally liked the tube ride through the shark tank the best just for the shear awesomeness of slowly going through a clear tube with sharks an other fish inches away from you.

We had a chance to try food from all three hotels, took part in a culinary adventure where we built underwater sculptures out of chocolate and even got to build and race our own race cars. So many activities were crammed in our four days that almost was a blur. Maybe that is why I took so many photos so that I can remember it all.

It was great to meet so many new people from a variety of publications and I can’t wait till our paths cross again. This was a very needed and appreciated vacation for the entire family and any time we can spend together away from the world and enjoying each other’s company is time well spent!

I’m writing this to disclose that for the next four days I’m going to be on an adventure that is being sponsored by JetBlue, Lego and Atlantis to celebrate the launch of their new Lego Fantasy Camp this summer. I’m not fully sure what is in store for me and the family, but just before the holidays when I got a note asking if I’d be interesting in going on the trip how I could say no?

I plan to be tweeting, taking photos and producing other pieces of content while there. They have asked for nothing in return for this trip, but I still wanted to make sure to get the proper disclosures out of the way since they are paying for our expenses and I’m assuming this is a press junket / blogger weekend even if they haven’t called it that.

What I’m most excited about is the kids do not know what is going on. We told them earlier this week that we were headed on a “Chapman Adventure” but we did not tell them anything about where we were going or what we were going to do. Dylan is going to lose his mind when he finds out about the Lego connection.

So, I’m off to play on the beach for a few days. If you are trying to reach me, good luck. I’m not going to be checking e-mail or voice mail until I get back.

Stay safe and have fun. If your curious Flickr and Facebook would probably be the easiest way to see what I’m up to.

Disclosure: http://cmp.ly/3

On January 1st the two of us got to spend a day together (something that doesn’t happen nearly often enough) with almost 40,000 other screaming fans at Fenway Park watching The NHL Winter Classic hockey game. I’ve been to a lot of sporting events over the years, but this was by far the single coolest I’ve ever been able to see live. Even if you are not a hockey fan you’ve got to admit that the idea of a hockey game being played INSIDE of Fenway Park is damn cool thing!

I have to give a huge thanks to the NHL for hooking me up with a tickets. I got an e-mail from a friend asking me if I liked hockey and when I replied yes, the next thing I knew I was going to the game.

I grew up in New Hampshire so I’ve seen plenty of outside hockey games. Two years ago when the NHL played their first of these games in Buffalo I thought it was a genius idea. The marketing angles on this game are endless and the fact that it is once a year adds to it all. Whoever came up with it, kudos to you.

It was strange to arrive in the area and see Bruins jerseys everywhere. It was even weirder to see so many Flyers jerseys as well. In a strange twist, there might have been an equal number of fans for both sides which made the time in the crowd even more enjoyable. I personally would have preferred that we played the Canadians so there would have been some deep seeded rivalry, but it was a lot of fun.

There were fans of all ages. Sitting next to us was a dad and his nine year old son from Los Angeles. I got a kick out of him taking a Flat Stanley picture for his daughter back home. No one got out of hand in the crowd and we all united under a nice loud “Yankees Suck” chant at one time that left us all laughing.

Looking back, I can’t imagine a better place to spend New Years Day. Having the game go into overtime and the Bruins winning made it all that much sweeter.

Plus, I’ll never forget the confused looks on the faces of the hockey players and many of the fans in the stands when the baseball fans in the crowd changed “so good! so good!” along with the Fenway familiar Sweet Caroline.

The NHL Winter Classic was a great game and a great memory. I can’t wait for next year!

Disclosure: http://cmp.ly/3

You never heard of The Audience Conference? Are you wondering why it wasn’t trending on Twitter or didn’t see lots of Facebook updates and photos on Flickr from it?

The reason being this was not a traditional conference like what you are thinking about. In fact it was better than many I’ve been too lately. It was held in the Hudson Theater. A beautiful little theater just off of Times Square with ornate balconies and red velvet seats.

Each performer was introduced by Loren, dressed to the nines, and there was no pause during each of the three acts of the day.

With people such as Jason Calacanis, Brian Clark, Rae Hoffman, Melanie Notkin and Andrew Keen there was a great variety of people who have built and engaged with a variety of audiences.

Plus, what other conference have you been to where the day ends with amazing poetry from Robert Bruce and three unique musical performances that left everyone smiling and cheering for more. Look for some of that music on a future Accident Hash.

Ground rules for the day were laid out the beginning and they were not negotiable. We were an audience for the day and Loren was the ringmaster. We were there to enjoy what each person brought to the stage. Laptops were not allowed. Twittering would be punishable. Everything was being photographed and video taped so there was no reason for us to worry about it. (Pained me not to take photos for sure since it was such a great venue)

We were all given a program and a notebook. This wasn’t something to be shared with the world, but enjoyed by the smart and savvy group gathered on this Friday.

From the moment I first heard about the conference I wanted to go. I liked that it wanted to focus on the audience first and foremost. This is something we talk a lot about at Campfire and firmly believe in so we wanted to attend to be around like-minded individuals, but also to see what was being said. Plus, I personally wanted to support Loren, who has got to be one of the most misunderstood guys online.

I asked him why he felt he needed to organize this event and he told me, “it needed to be done because I couldn’t take all the narcissism and navel gazing going on at other conferences in all over social media.”

Any self-proclaimed social media expert would have been lost here. There was no schwag, no slides and no wifi. Instead there was a tight, solid and content filled program, a constant supply of coffee and food and plenty of time for networking with all the attendees. I also liked that unlike some conferences I’ve been to recently the presenters were part of the audience as well and didn’t swoop in, take the stage and then disappear. I hate when that happens.

There was nothing confirmed for another one of these events, but I’m holding out hope that it does. I know I took part in something very special and unlike anything I have felt since attending the very first Podcamp in Boston in or the first Portable Media Expo back in the day. Being part of the audience has never felt better.

Thank you Loren.

Photo Credits: Steve Hall

Last week I was in Los Angeles to attend and speak at the 140 Conference. Having never really been to LA before, that alone made it an interesting experience, but it was also great to connect with so many people on the West Coast that I don’t get to see that often.

I’m going to be writing a more formal review of the whole conference, but I had to share here what it felt like to take the stage where the Oscars are held.

Now, in case you don’t know I’m a huge movie fan. In 1996, I co-founded Random Foo Pictures with my close friend and cohort Dan Gorgone.

We went on to make over 75 short films and helped produce a couple of features. We did it for the love of doing it and had a blast with it all. We’d hold our own screenings and had several Foo Fests that drew friends and strangers into a theater to watch our crazy (and bloody) creations. All of this was before YouTube and all the other great tools that filmmakers have today to get their stuff seen online.

I’ll be honest. I’ve given my Oscar acceptance speech more then once in my head and actually being on THE stage where they are given hit home for me.

I wanted to focus on what I think people are forgetting when it comes to social media and boiled it all down to the subject of Be Human. It is simple. It is short. But, it works. If you can’t do that one simple thing then all the pretty ads, flashy websites and interactive nonsense means nothing.

People seemed to resonate with it and I’m looking forward to seeing the video when it is posted because when you only have 10 minutes on a stage like this the time flies by and you don’t remember much of it. Plus, that is something I certainly want a copy of if nothing else then to proove I was actually there.

Thanks to Jeff Pulver for inviting me to speak. I always dreamed about being on that stage, but I never dreamed it would actually happen and I certainly didn’t know it was going to be in this fashion. What a fun and strange life I lead some days.

Photo Credits to Steve Garfield & Ken Yeung. Click on either photo to be taken to the original.

This past week I was in Las Vegas for Blogworld Expo and had two fun nights out on someone’s dime besides my own. FTC or not, I’d still write this post the same way and share the same information.

On Thursday I got the chance to check out Cirque Du Soleil’s KA. Being a smart organization with the very smart Jessica Berlin heading up their social media efforts they put the offer out several weeks in advance to all attendees of Blogworld that they’d try to give out as many free passes as possible to people who might want to see the show. How could I pass up an offer like that?

I had a great time at the show. The scale of the massive moving stage was beyond impressive. We went to a 9:30 pm show which translated to 12:30 am for me, so the middle of the show when it gets rather mellow and romantic almost lost me. I hate to admit that my head bobbed a couple of times.

But, the battle scenes and the wire work easily made up for the slow middle. I actually felt like the end came on a little too quick as I was getting into it and was hoping for even more of “the war” part of the story. With no dialogue it forces you to pay attention while your jaw hangs open at the amazing things the performers are doing. Last year I bought tickets to see Love and comparing the two I have to say I liked Love better, but then again I’m a music junkie so that makes sense.

On Saturday after the conference was over I was invited to a dinner hosted by Joseph Morin and Taste MGM Grand at Shibuya. I am not a guy to pass up a free dinner and even though Japanese would not be the first choice for me personally I went in with an open mind.

They had a tasting menu for us and the staff really made sure to fully explain each and every item we were enjoying. My personal favorite was the  Lobster and Scallops in Uni Butter followed closely by the Kobe Beef Short Ribs. I asked if I could get the seafood recipe because I’d love to try making it at home. We also enjoyed some Kikuhime Junmai Daiginjo Saki which was simply amazing. The only reason I can even know how to spell that is because they gave us a business card for the restaurant with all the information printed on it. Smart move! The picture above was taken by Steve Hall capturing us in our afterglow. *laugh*

Both nights were great times with good people, which at the end of the day is really what made both of them so cool. Yes, being given tickets or food that I didn’t have to pay for is nice, but not required. I had equally good dinners, lunches and hang outs with friends that did require my dollars and they were great as well.

I hope that brands of all sizes realize that simple things like this can go a long way. Just make sure that when you encourage attendees to share their experiences that you also stress that they fully disclose the arrangements of the event. It goes a long way in all directions and is more important then ever.

My full wrap up of Blogworld Expo when I get a chance to finish wrapping my head around my thoughts.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/2

I’m speaking on Saturday about Building Passionate Communities. As with any time I speak, I’ve got the deck, but depending on who is in the audience I’m ready to change it to fit what they need to get out of it. Personally I think any speaker who can’t do that really doesn’t know their topic. I watched it happen recently. I’m excited about it and anyone who comes and I hope I answer their questions.

Vegas is not really my type of town. Sure, I enjoy the meals, the shows and last year I was introduced to the fun of the tables by my partner in crime Steve Coulson, but even with all that out of all the cities I’ve ever visited in the world I just can’t “get into” Las Vegas like so many others.

The diversity of speakers at this event is amazing and I’m excited to see of the ones I’ve never seen before. Curious to hear what they have to say and if it is different then what everyone else is saying. Of course I’m also curious to talk to companies who may be in need of some help to figure this stuff out. While the title of the conference title may give the feel that it is mainly focused on the creation of written content I think we all know it is about much more then that.

If you are attending, I’d love to meet up and connect for sure. I’ve kept my schedule pretty open so that I can have meetings with as many people as possible. So if you want to grab a coffee, a cocktail or just a corner to chat let me know and we can go from there.

This picture taken by my good friend (and great photographer) Derek Wilmot was taken during my presentation at Inbound Marketing Summit here in Boston. Episode 86 of Managing the Gray sums up my presentation so give it a listen if you are interested. Also, if curious you can see my IMS09 pictures as well.

The event was great as always. Hosting it at Gillette Stadium is one of my favorite parts about it since it is so close to my house and I love the set up of it all. Great to reconnect with so many people that I haven’t seen in a while and to meet a lot of great new ones well. Plus, how can you argue with having a location that allows you to walk across the parking lot and grab some Five Guys for lunch when the urge hits? *grin*

After this event I realized that one thing I’m going to be doing a lot of is telling people more about Campfire and what we do. This of course is exciting and fun. I was even interviewed by Nate Riggs to discuss some of our work.

I love seeing all the people and making new connections, but travel is also a drain on me. The time away from the hugs of my wife and the laughs of my kids is never an easy thing, but it is part of the life so we learn to live with it. Up next is Vegas for me an Blogworld Expo where I get to talk about building passionate communities.

Now, having not grown up in the ranks of the Madison Avenue mentality and jumped from agency to agency I instantly realized I had a different mentality then a lot of the people I met. It seemed that the second question out of everyone’s mouth after I introduced myself and told them I was with Campfire was “what other agencies have you been with?” I quickly realized that to a lot of people I met that it actually mattered more then what I had accomplished. Not the crowd I’m use to.

The panels, speakers, events and parties are spread out all over the city. So getting from one to the other is not the easiest of things (even though I am getting better at finding my way around). It was hot and muggy most of the time so that made it extra fun to get from place to place.

The whole event really opened my eyes to how the Advertising world works and what some of the players in that field are thinking about. It certainly has me thinking about a lot of things that I wasn’t before.

I attended the IAB MIXX Awards and I’m psyched to let you know that Campfire took home 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze for the work we did around HBO’s True Blood. This picture taken by Steve Wax shows me taking a picture of one of our Gold Statues (they were dang heavy). I’m really proud of that campaign and learned a lot by being part of it. I’m not a big fan of award shows, but it always feels great to be recognized for hard work and congrats to every member of the team who made it happen.

Overall, I think I expected more out of the week then I actually got. My perceptions of what it is were completely wrong, but I’m still glad I took part in it and I’m sure next year you’ll see me there again, but I’ll be better prepared now that I know what is going on.

I met some great people, reconnected with old friends and of course got to tell the story of Campfire to everyone I met and that at the end of the day is really why I was there. Making people realize what we do, how I fit in on the team and how we can possibly do business together. All that was accomplished so it was a positive trip for me.

But, it also confirmed that New York is a very different city from one that I’d ever feel totally comfortable in.

Special thanks to Matthew Ebel for allowing me to use his music. Give his music a listen on iTunes and then consider signing up for his subscription service that will give you new music every month.

Photo by Jerome Paradis

I promise a lot of thoughts on it all soon as well as photos, but until then if we crossed paths, hugged, shook hands or glanced at each other from across the room I’m hoping we can continue beyond the weekend.

I’m easy to get in touch. Drop me an e-mail, send a message on Twitter or friend me on Facebook. We’ll chat soon for sure.

Just remember that all the koombaya of the weekend is pointless if you don’t actually move forward and do something with the energy.

The day didn’t start off that great as the organizers didn’t have a collective decision on if pictures could be taken or not. I was told yes by one and then told no by another. Not wanting to cause problems I said that I wouldn’t take any. Of course as I go out and look for photos I have yet to see any that I can post.

This is something events must realize is that people will be writing about the event and would love to include photos. If you don’t let them take pictures then you should insure that you have your pictures up as quickly as possible. I know they had a photographer for the event, but I can’t find them anywhere yet.

The content for the day was amazing. They put together a great line up of speakers on a variety of topics. I wish they had mixed in some of the health topics that seemed to dominate the second half with the ones in the first half just for variety sake.

You can see all the speakers on the TEDxBoston site and there wasn’t a single bad one. Dave Edwards approach to art, life and science really changed the way I think about some things and what Hugo Van Vuuren and his team are doing to bring electricity from dirt in Africa was mind blowing.

Finally, I am happy to report that I met the most passionate man on the planet and his name is Benjamin Zander. This guy lives and loves what he does and that is music. I got chance to shake his hand and instead he hugged me and thanked me for telling him how much I loved his passion.

The day ended with him conducting the Youth Orchestra of the Americas for all the attendees. He earlier said “I measure success by the number of shiny eyes in the audience” and I can safely say that as we all rose to our feet in a standing ovation filled with energy from the performance there was not a single NON shiny eye in the place.

Thanks to the organizers of TEDxBoston. I look forward to next year and hope I can be part of it as well.

I took a few photos while there, and was very impressed by the line up of speakers. Mark Beeching kicked it off and instantly got my attention.

I’m not much of a celebrity guy, but it was funny all the little encounters I had during the day:

• I had a nice long conversation with Justine Bateman who I grew up watching on Family Ties and who is now doing great stuff with her production company FM78. We compared some war stories about how hard it is to get executives to understand this space.
• I was editing this photo of Tom Green when in my ear I heard, “Is that really what my hair looks like today?” and I turned around and it was Tom Green doing the asking. He is everything you’d imagine him being and then some. He left me to go over and check out all the technology powering the stream from Revision3.
• Finally, I noticed at one point that Milo Ventimiglia was standing out in the hallway just chilling so I went up and said hi. I think I surprised him a little when of all the projects I could mention to him I lead with It’s a Mall World. We chatted for a couple of minutes and he introduced me to his producer from Divide Pictures.

All in all it was a really powerful event. I wish that there were more success stories and examples presented, but perhaps next year we’ll have more of that.

It was great to hear so many people talk about how the media landscape is changing, but it wasn’t so great to hear that so few have figured out how to monetize. I guess if I was to look for a silver lining about this it would be that no one has fully figured it out so it isn’t just the independent little guy and girl who can’t make a living doing this quite yet.

I was also very impressed by Al Gore and everything he  has going on at Current right now. I knew he was a great speaker, but seeing him in person was extra cool. For some reason we were not allowed to take photos during his speech, which is why you won’t see any here.

The entire event was steamed live and I know that a lot of people were watching from their homes and offices based on the comments throughout the day. I’ve had more then one person ask me if any of the content will be archived and available to view at some point and I’ve been told that “it is being worked on.” I’m sure that if and when some clips are the first place to find out will be @TheThirdAct twitter account.

I hope I get a chance to attend next year. I left psyched about the future of this space. (not that I wasn’t already *grin*)

The Advance Guard got involved with the team putting on this event and they asked me if I could attend. The entire event is being streamed live and is part of the official line up of Internet Week New York events. I’m sure I’ll be tweeting throughout the day or you can follow the official Twitter stream by following along with the hash tag of #NF09 or on the twitter account @TheThirdAct.

When I watched the highlight video from last year (shown below) I remember thinking, “wow how have I not heard of this before?” Then I found out that it was the first year and that is probably why I missed it.

It goes without saying that I’m sure that I’m going to walk away today with a head full of ideas and a ball of creative energy. It’ll certainly keep me jazzed about Emily Explains It if nothing else. *grin* Plus I get to spend some time tonight with my good buddy Dan Patterson so that is the icing on the cake.

Since I know the event is at full capacity be sure to watch the entire event live online. They will be taking questions via twitter and with the diversity of speakers I can only imagine the topics that will be covered. If you are attending the event in person be sure to say hello.

I really liked the format of the event.

• Everyone arrives and chit chats over coffee (which is free and strong)
• Room is set up with a horse shoe like table with plenty of room for everyone
• Each person gets 3 minutes to stand up and say who they are, what they are working on, do a show and tell or ask a question.
• In the midst of this breakfast orders are taken and eaten. (FYI, Doyle’s Cafe makes a great breakfast)
• After everyone has spoke, there is more hang out and talk time.

What surprised me was the variety of people there. We had filmmakers, sculptors, PR, newspapers and lots of people just looking to create media. The variety and fresh faces was extremely stimulating. I really wanted to hang out more afterward and talk to people, but I had to run to get home to watch the Miami Dolphins playoff game.

I shot some video during the day that I’m going to cut together as my first project to learn Final Cut Express.

Thanks to Steve for hosting this and I’ll be attending again for sure.

Today at 3 pm EST there is a free Jonas Brothers concert going on at 77kids.com. They are a client of ours and I’m very excited to see how this works today.

I’ve already seen some great photos from the event from Ali Hart who did a killer job taking some photos. The concert photo bug in me was impressed.

First time we’ve gathered around a computer for an event like this as a family so it should be interesting. Makes me glad I’ve got good speakers. Or maybe I won’t be glad. *laugh*

Hope to “see” some of you there.

Some of the tips I gave for companies thinking of using video as part of their marketing programs included:

1. The audience has changed, you need to change with it.
2. Where, when and how we watch video has changed.
3. The powerful cable has changed from coax to ethernet
4. Video does not have to cost you a lot of money
5. Forget viral videos. Focus on results.
6. Find the perfect length for your audience.
7. Work with independent video producers who are already producing great work and know the space.
8. Hyper syndicate your content to all channels you can.
9. Involve the audience.
10. Measure results and learn from your mistakes.
11. Don’t be afraid to experiment.

To everyone who I met at the event and everyone involved in making the event happen thank you for an amazing two days in the desert.

I arrived earlier this afternoon to attend and speak at the MarketingProfs Digital Marketing Mixer.

Fun part was I got a voice mail from Scott Monty letting me know that he was getting in just about the same time as I was.

So I waited and checked my e-mail while he was arriving and then we jumped into a Ford Flex that he got from the company specifically to show off at the event. I’ll be honest that from the commercials and photos I thought these things were pretty damn ugly, but after seeing it in person and riding in one I’ve got a different opinion of them. I did instantly fall in love with the whole integrated navigation and Sync system. That is just plain cool!

This trip is also allowing me to try out an application called AirMe on my iPhone. I didn’t bring a camera with me *gasp* so all pictures will be from the iPhone. This application grabs my location and puts it automatically in the title of the picture with the date when it uploads to my Flickr account. Pretty cool, but I still go in and add descriptions and such since it doesn’t do that yet. I’ve talked to the developers and they are working on a big update which will have more features. I can’t wait.

I’m looking forward to seeing some familiar faces and finally meeting some people I’ve been eager to for a while. Plus, any time I get to see Gary Vaynerchuk keynote it is a good time.

I’m speaking about Making Media as Marketing with a focus on video. It is a topic they asked me to speak about and it is a nice change of pace to be able to focus in on a specific topic area. I’m looking forward to hearing what questions the audience has and helping them get answers for them. After all that is what a conference should be about right? People come to learn and get their questions answered.

If you are in the Scottsdale area we are thinking about having some sort of gathering Thursday night. No details yet, but I know I’ll post something to twitter or others will as well.

I’m jumping a plane and heading to PodCamp Montreal. While I know this conference is going to be top notch, informative and fun I’m most excited by the people that will be there. Some of my closest friends live in Montreal and it’ll be the quiet times away from the masses that I’m looking forward to more then others.

Of course between work, family and life in general I’m sure there won’t be as many of those as all of us would like. Nature of the beast and all.

Can’t wait to see so many of you this weekend and to meet a lot of great new people. PLEASE come up and say hello no matter what. I always hate hearing “I wanted to, but you looked busy.” I’m never too busy.

I’m looking forward to spending the day with a small, interesting group of people who are excited to learn about this world we are playing and working in.