BlogOrlando 07 Archive
Commentary by blog and social media consultant Josh Hallett on the use of blogs for public relations, media, marketing, communication & branding and from time-to-time the unsolicited opinion.
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On Friday I'll be attending/MC'ing BlogPotomac in the DC area. This latest un-conference is being organized by Geoff Livingston with some assistance from Debbie Weil. I'm glad to say many of the session leaders are longtime friends and colleagues and I look forward to the discussions.
I feel flattered that the event has followed the BlogOrlando model I started a few years ago. If I have my facts right I think Geoff returned from BlogOrlando this past year and said, "Let's do this in DC!"
A number of other locations/events have sprung up in the past few years: BlogSavannah, SoCon, BlogPhiladelphia and BlogCarolinas to name a few. I'm glad the BlogOrlando concept has spread as it has. However, my original inspiration for BlogOrlando was BlogNashville which took place in 2005...seems like so long ago.
I hope to post some photos from the event and perhaps a recap, but I imagine most of the comments will come on Twitter.
Speaking of BlogOrlando, we're holding our first planning meeting on June 26th.
Wow, I can't believe I'm actually posting about BlogOrlando 2008, but then again it's almost April. Quite a few friends have asked, "Are you doing BlogOrlando again this year?" Yes. At least as of now I am :-)
Back in 2006 when I planned the first event, you may remember that the original concept for BlogOrlando was a bit different than the actual event:
The original concept/title for this event was: Josh is Tired of Traveling Outside of Orlando so Everybody Come Here Con or JTTOOECH-Con. I wanted to get some friends to the area to meet, but more importantly spend some down-time at the theme parks with their families.
That private gathering of friends soon expanded to a public event that eventually became the first edition of BlogOrlando. Then things expanded even more with the 2007 event with almost 300 people taking part.
For 2008 we're blending the old with the new. BlogOrlando will once again be held on a Friday in late September. The main event cost (FREE) and format will not change, and perhaps expand, but there is a twist.
Reaching back to the original concept, BlogOrlando will now feature a private invite-only event on Wednesday. Just an intimate gathering of colleagues, clients, industry leaders, etc. Perhaps a limit of 30-40 folks. The topics will focus more on things like future trends, etc. I dare say Davos-like. The catch is, if you're invited to the Wednesday event, you are required to lead a session at the Friday event.
Here is a tentative schedule:
Wednesday:
- Invite-Only Event
- Special Event/Fun Thing at Orlando Theme Park for Session Leaders
Thursday
- Special Event/Fun Thing at Orlando Theme Park for Session Leaders
- Official BlogOrlando Reception
Friday
- Main Event
- Friday Night Reception
Saturday
- BlogOrlando Day at Orlando Theme Park
More thoughts soon.....
Here are some BlogOrlando recaps from other folks out there:
- Dave Coustan
- Chris Scott
- Alex Rudloff
- Geoff Livingston
- Jake McKee
- Joe Thornley
- Laurie Mayers
On the live-blogging front Marijean and Mistie from Standing PR and Sherry did a bang-up job. Jim Hathaway has a link-round-up as well.
And photos....do we ever have photos. The BlogOrlando Flickr photo group started with 250 photos on Thursday. As of this post it's at 1,083.
I'm still recovering from BlogOrlando and hope to have a big wrap-up/thank-you post up in the next day or two. For now though I'm off to Chicago for the MarketingProfs B2B Forum.
On a good-travel-karma-note, my first requested upgrade since becoming a SkyMiles Medallion member was confirmed, woot!
Big thanks to Billy, Andrea, Jill and Sara from Delaware North Corporation for hosting the BlogOrlando session leaders at Kennedy Space Center today.
I'll be uploading my photos in a few days, but for now you can look at some from Chris and Judson.
P.S. it was almost an all Nikon crew out there!
BlogOrlando kicks off Thursday so I'll be tied up with running that event till next week. This year's event is much bigger than last year, and thus requires more planning and time.
Some updates will be posted over at the BlogOrlando blog, but you're best bet is to follow what other folks are saying. The official photogroup is up on Flickr.
Over the weekend I finalized the schedule for the 2007 edition of BlogOrlando, the un-conference being held in Orlando, FL on Sept 27-29th. You can check it out here.
When you have so many great sessions planned it's difficult to figure out which ones should overlap. This year we have four distinct tracks tailored to the diverse audience that attends the event. The tracks are: PR/Marketing, Media, Technology and Life/Local.
If you're in the Orlando area (or want to come to Central Florida) be sure to check out BlogOrlando and perhaps register. See you in September.
Yesterday I visited the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex to plan a pre-BlogOrlando event. During my brief stay I was able to 'ride'...whoops, 'experience' the Shuttle Launch Experience (SLE).
That little slip was on purpose. The SLE is just that, an experience, and not necessarily a ride. When you tell people it's a ride they have a certain expectation and if you're thinking ride when you get on it, then it might not meet your expectations. This issue is compounded by the fact that there are a bunch of 'rides' about 60 miles away at places like Disney and Universal Studios.
That brings up the question, how do you marketing or tell people about the experience which simulates an actual Space Shuttle launch without using the word ride? When you try to tell somebody the word 'ride' always seems to slip in there.
I'm a space/aviation geek so the ride/expereince was cool and something I look forward to taking my son on soon.
The rest of my photos from KSC can be found on Flickr.
The finalized list of 2007 BlogOrlando sessions has been posted. This FREE event will be held on Sept 27-29th in Orlando at Rollins College. You can register here.
This year's event is shaping up to be a big step-up from last year. We've broken down the event into four separate tracks to represent the diverse audience we expect. Here is the list:
Opening Keynote
The State of Social Media in the World
Leader - Shel Israel, CA - Global Neighbourhoods
Keynoter Shel Israel recently conducted a 10 week Global Survey of the state of social media on behalf of enterprise software giant SAP. He interviewed more than 50 people in 20 countries on four continents. His primary finding: social media is evolving at different rates in different corners of the globe, but it is changing all cultures and businesses. It is beginning even to change some governments.
Israel will report on his finding, some of which are quite surprising most of which indicate that social media is rapidly changing the entire world and in a great many ways, it is for the better.
PR/Marketing Track
Blogger Relations and Ambassador Programs
Leader - Tom Biro, NJ - Open the Dialogue
Working at MWW, Tom spearheaded the Nikon D80 Blogger outreach program. Tom will talk about working with bloggers and building ambassador programs.
Using Blogs for Product Development
Leader - Dave Coustan, Atlanta, GA - Earthlink
Dave Coustan, corporate blogger for EarthLink will talk about how organizations are using blogs as communication tools to develop better products by (gasp) actually asking people what they want.
Crisis Communication
Leader - Laurie Mayers, MI - MS&L
How do you handle a crisis via blog, or created via blog? Laurie Mayers of MSL (think the GM Fastlane Blog) will talk about how GM handles ‘issues’ online, and the limitations of what a publicly traded company can say on a blog.
Customer Relationships with the Rabid Crowd
Leader - Jake McKee, Dallas, TX - Community Guy
As former director of global community development for LEGO, Jake knows a thing or two about working with passionate users. What can your organization do to develop deeper, longer term relationships with your audiences?
Tourism and Social Media
Leader - Annie Heckenberger, Philadelphia, PA - Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation
As the social media guru for the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation Annie oversees a number of social media programs used to promote Philly. Annie will discuss how tourism groups are adapting to the new media landscape.
Business Blogging the Next Steps
Leader - David Parmet, Pound Ridge, NY - Marketing Begins at Home
David Parmet returns to BlogOrlando to lead a session on the business blogging. We’ll assume you know what a blog is….and start to talk about what some of the next steps are.
Participation is Marketing
Leader - Geoff Livingston, Alexandria, VA - Buzz Bin
In the end it’s all about getting involved. Geoff will touch on a number of topics presented during the day…the foundations are honest, open communication. Can you do it?
Continue reading "2007 BlogOrlando Sessions Posted" »
Annie Heckenberger, the creative force behind the recent BlogPhildadelphia un-con has posted her recap, aptly titled: I'm Ready to Talk About BlogPhiladelphia.
The success of BlogPhiladelphia should be attributed to the people who participated. I still can't believe that 270 pre-registered and we had to turn people away. Even better, I am thrilled that more than 250 people showed up. The biggest measurement of success in my mind, is the community that was forged at the event. All of these people who knew "of" each other - or didn't - had the opportunity to meet in person and collaborate, share and learn.
I echo many of Annie's thoughts. I've had a
BlogPhilly recap post in draft for a while now and haven't pulled the trigger yet. Overall I think the event went great and it really puts the pressure on me for
BlogOrlando :-)
One of the things that these 'local' events do is bring together a number of folks that have never met in person, that's the special thing.
It's great having good friends out there. I set out this morning to work on the BlogOrlando 2007 session list. After an hour of e-mails, IMs and a tweet or two, I'm almost done. Just about everybody I asked has said, 'Count me in' or 'Let me confirm the date, but otherwise we're a go.'
I posted the names of the confirmed session leaders so far, and a few more should firm up in the next day or two. The plan is to have a diverse series of tracks. So far they are:
- Local/Florida
- Marketing & Communication
- Journalism/Media
- Society
- Developers
- Newbies
If you don't know about BlogOrlando, it's a FREE un-conference held in Orlando from Sept 27-29th. The main event is Friday, Sept 28th. On Thursday we'll be doing some fun stuff that might involve the Mouse. Saturday is the 'official' Disney day with a group trip to one of the theme parks.
As for hotel and travel, everybody is on their own. Hey, it's a free conference what do you expect! Dave Coustan will recommend the EO Inn. I think he's already made his reservation.
I have been working on finalizing the date for the 2007 edition of BlogOrlando. I almost have things confirmed but I wanted to at least throw a date out there so people could pencil it in.
BlogOrlando 2007 will be held September 27-29. The plan is a similar schedule to last year's. That means the main event will be on Friday, September 28th. On Thursday the 27th we'll have a dinner for those coming in town early. Saturday will be a Disney day.
Granted this might change...but I certainly hope that it doesn't. As soon as the date is finalized I'll post some more details here and on the BlogOrlando site. If you're interested in leading a session let me know.
