Recap of BlogWorld Expo, plus a little *sizzle*

As I mentioned here and here, I was fortunate to attend my first BlogWorld Expo last month.  Having never gone before, I was eager to experience this social media conference in all ways possible.  Meaning, as a speaker, an attendee, and a sponsor.  I’m going to try to cover the conference from all three perspectives, as each part of me is looking for something different. 

Speaking:  I participated in two panels related to publishing.  I’m pleased to say that they both seemed to go very well, meaning there were no riots or people screaming, “You don’t know jack!”  Which is what I imagine my mother would do if she were in one of my sessions.  But she wasn’t, thankfully. 

At the first one, I was a part of the panel along with another publisher rep and Wiley author CC Chapman and two other authors.  For the second, I moderated, which was a last-minute punt from Stephanie Agresta, who switched with me and moved to the panel.  It was a great move on her part, because it put me up there with 3 authors and made the conversation a snap to moderate.  After each session, I met a lot of people who had the yen to write a book and hopefully I was able to give them advice that will help them achieve that goal. 

I want to thank Deb Ng for listening to me pitch her HARD about being on a panel, or at least having someone who actually works in publishing speak to book publishing.  I’ve made no secret of my beef with BlogHer not having a publishing professional on their panels on the topic, and even though BlogWorld didn’t need to put me on there, I’m glad they did and hope that I did them proud. 

Attendee: When not in my panels, or sweating about being on a panel, I had the chance to attend a few other sessions.  For the most part, they were decent.  I certainly picked up a few tips.  I particularly liked Declan Dunn’ s presentation on how to turn friends and fans into customers.  I also liked Scott Hanselman’s 32 Ways to Make Your Blog Suck Less.   Scott is one of our Wrox authors, and it was a lot of fun to see him talking to the non-programmer audience.  I admit to “voting with my feet” and shuffling from session to session at parts, but that’s to be expected when I’m looking for something that works for me.  It’s not a one size fits all proposition.  My only complaint is that there seemed to be too many good sessions in conflict with each other, but there isn’t much you can do about that. 

Sponsor: Wiley was a sponsor of BlogWorld Expo this year.  Our first time, and probably not last.  We sold books in our booth and had author signings.  We had a ton of authors in attendance and used part of our exhibit space to film one-on-one interviews with them.   We had heavy traffic the whole time and felt the people we were meeting were well suited to our marketing message.  My suggestion to the BWE folks is to have some more non-conflict time to visit the exhibit space – I heard some attendees deep in sessions who didn’t have enough time to cruise the hall, as it’s only open for 2 of the three days.  Maybe have the opening night party in the exhibit hall instead (though the party at Liquid was beyond cool!) 

Since I go to a fair amount of conferences in the social media space, I’ve been getting questions from people about how BWE  differed from BlogHer, which I have attended faithfully since 2007 and SXSW which I attended in 2007 and 2009.  They are 3 very different shows, far more different than you can imagine when looking in from the outside. 

At BWE, I felt a part of it.  No, I’m not actively trying to become a pro blogger and make money off my site – if I were, I *might* just dust off that old objective to take “Confessions” self hosted.   But I felt like I was a part of the crowd.  A crowd that included pro-bloggers and wanna-bes, marketers, strategists, and social media mavens alike.  Male and female.  In fact, it felt refreshing to have men at a blogging conference for their perspectives and insights. 

At BlogHer, on the other hand, I know my tribe is there, but it is becoming harder and harder to find them.  I feel more like an observer, a budding Margaret Mead anthropologist, if you well, rather than in on the action. BlogHer has always been about community, but the community seems way too fractured to come together in a meaningful way anymore.  Certainly, there were moments – the birds-of-a-feather lunch I attended with other special needs moms was a highlight.  There were some very good panels, and some that just didn’t pertain to me.  I’m not saying they all have to be technical in nature, but even the more community oriented ones didn’t grab my interest.    I certainly don’t mean to offend those people who would lie down and die for BlogHer – I have a lot of respect for the conference, those who run it, and those who attend.  But it is a different experience from any other conference.  Certainly an experience that has evolved since the first one in 2006. 

At SXSW, I’ve learned that most of the sessions aren’t worth my time.  The networking is great, but I can do that at BWE just as easily, plus serve my need for education. 

As far as the differences from the sponsor/exhibitor side, a couple of bloggers have already covered the BWE vs BH conferences, and you can read them here, here and here.  I echo the comments that if you are coming to BlogHer to up your blogging game, you’re not going to find help for that in the exhibit hall.  At BWE, it was all that.  As a publisher of content in this space, we fit right in, where at BlogHer we’ve been pushed out of the action.  Everything in the exhibit hall is swag, and it’s no place to try to sell books.  I can’t remember seeing anything in a SXSW hall that was of interest, so let’s not even get into the sponsor experience there.   

So, 3 different conferences.  BlogHer, all about providing a community for women, and it does that better than anyone.  BWE – certainly the show to think about if you are more focused on improving your social media prowess.  SXSW – all about the hallways and parties – networking, networking, and more networking.  I couldn’t say that any of them would not be worth your time, but it’s important to think about what you are trying to achieve, define your strategic vision, and go from there.  Unless you can attend 3 conferences every year, in which case can you share some of your budget with me?

Like I said, we worked with a videographer to film our authors at the conference.  Since we had almost 20 in attendance, we kept Michael quite busy.  Still, he had the time to put together an overview reel of our presence at the conference.  Thought I would share it with y’all…

How the IT Girl found bliss at 35,000 or so feet

From the Great Circle Mapper

This summer, I had the chance to take the trip of a lifetime.  Sure, it was a business trip, but it was still a remarkable experience.  I was invited to attend my company’s Asian sales meeting being held in Penang, Malaysia. 

To get there, I flew from the US to Penang via Singapore, taking Flight 21, aka the LONGEST FLIGHT IN THE WORLD.  Superlatives like that demand all caps.  18.5 hours.  Same plane.  No stops. 

The image above is what it looks like on a globe map.  Most people I talk to about the trip roll their eyes when they hear about that flight.  Or pity me.   But they are missing the point.  

When you go on this flight, you’re in an all business class configuration.  Seating looks a little like this:

Dreamy, huh? From Singapore Airlines' site

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sure, it’s a bit idealized, but not much.  Seating is 1-2-1, so each passenger has access to an aisle.  There are separate cabins, but each seat is pretty identical.  On the way to Singapore, I had an aisle seat.  For the return trip to Newark, I was in a window. 

 

Sidebar:  When I got on the plane, I noticed that the active, somewhere-around 18 months old boy who was tearing up the lounge was now sitting in the seats directly in front of me.  A toddler, a male toddler.  On an 18 hour flight.  Quickly after boarding, I calculated the hours that the boy might sleep, and started to panic.  The cabin steward assigned to my section saw my panic and offered me another seat towards the rear of the plane.  Don’t get me wrong, I love kids, as I have two.  But I also know that kids can be some of the worst flyers out there, and if I had an option to not sit near one, I was going to take it.  God bless the parents who had him walking through the aisles through much of the flight. It will be a long time before I take my son on a flight of more than 4 hours, much less 18.5.

 

Courtesy of the Singapore Airlines website

Anyhow, back to the seating.  Each seat has a wide-screen TV, input and power for an iPod, and a seat that turns into a flat-bed.  With a duvet and firm pillow. 

 

Are you starting to understand why I was so happy on board?  19 hours, without hearing, “I pooped, change me” or having to fetch someone some milk.  At the push of a call button, you could get a beverage or a bowl of comfort-food noodles.  And mealtime!  Delicious meals, all brought to you with no effort expended on your part.  Tired?  They’d make your flat-bed and you could get some sleep.  Heck, I got to watch all 3 Lord of the Rings movies one after another, without hearing moans of protest from assorted family members. And this went on for the better part of a day.  On the way there, you arrive in the morning Singapore time, so you try to sleep as much as you can.  It’s the reverse on the way home where you arrive at Newark in the evening.  I did a little of both, whenever I felt the need on each flight.   It was bliss, pure and simple. 

 

I arrived in Singapore mostly refreshed and ready for my connecting flight into Malaysia.  All in all, if you are considering going to that part of the world and are anxious about a long flight, don’t be.  I tell co-workers that I would gladly take this flight any day over the 2 hour tuna-can flight from NY to Indianapolis.  Singapore Airlines is how flying should be. 

 

Sadly, now it’s back to coach on cross-country flights and the tuna-can to Indy.  But someday….maybe I will go back.  An IT Girl can dream, can’t she?

Daddy Blogger ≠ Mommy Blogger, plus a book giveaway

image courtesy of Cafe Press

Recently, I read a post by CC Chapman entitled “I’m a Dad and Damn Proud of It.”  Certainly, it was a great post talking about what he feels is the most important role that he plays, which would be father to his kids. 

In the post, he goes on to talk about why “Daddy Bloggers”, a term he initally resisted but has warmed to, aren’t taken as seriously by brands and the media as mommybloggers.  He then signals the start of his quest to get more brands to pay attention to Daddy Bloggers and see them in the same light as their female counterparts.

I was very conflicted when I first read this post.  (Full disclosure – CC just released a book through my company and we spoke on a panel at BlogWorld Expo last month.)   My inital thought was, are you kidding me?  Men have control EVERY other sandbox in the world, and now you want to take over this little part of the playground where we have been able to make an impact and be heard?  Can’t you just leave this the interwebs alone?   Surely, a melodramatic and reactionary reaction, but hey, this is my sandbox. 

Then I stopped rolling my eyes and thought about it more.  He does have a point.  Yet, I don’t see the Daddy Bloggers taking over and kicking any Mommy Bloggers out of power.  As if the power that MBs have is something to covet.  I think there is a role for Daddy Blogger, but I don’t see them ever being top dog in the blogosphere.

Brands looking at bloggers want to know if the blogger is influential and how many people of quality that blogger influences.  If the role of the Daddy Blogger is to relate to other dads, I wonder how much of their readership is male?  Most men I know will read TechCrunch, Mashable (I do hang with the geeks) or ESPN, not a blog.  Certainly the man I know the most, aka Mr. IT, doesn’t read any blogs.  I’m lucky he turns on his Blackberry when he leaves the house.  Women, by far, seem to read more blogs than men in my world.  So if a brand is looking for a male to be talking to a female audience, bingo.  I think there is a role for the male blogger who is talking to women but if the message is aimed at men, I’m not sure the Daddy Blogger is the best person to give it out.

Why is that?  Three words – WORD OF MOUTH.  Women are simply much better at the game of WoM marketing than men are.  It’s the same reason that we’re stereotypically portrayed as gabby and gossipy – while we’re chatting about that mom who pushed to the front of the carpool line at school, we’re also talking about the new restaurant we just ate at, the new jeans we simply love, and the sale at that local boutique that sells the sweaters that are to. die. for.   It’s why Mommy Bloggers have the power that they do.  Brands know that these women are eager to try new products and will tell everyone when they like something.  It’s what women do, and at least for some, comes off quite naturally. 

CC has a point in that brands shouldn’t ignore dads/men when it comes to looking for advocates.  The engagement will be different and so will the impact.  Greater or lesser will depend on the product, but overall, I don’t expect Mommy Bloggers to be out of a job anytime soon.

In any case, whoever you are, if you aren’t reading CC’s blog and following him socially, do so immediately.  Not only is he smart and thought-provoking, he’s a NICE GUY.  His book, Content Rules is published and available now from, as they say in the UK, all good bookstores.  Co-written with Ann Handley of Marketing Profs, it’s a must-read for any blogger wondering how to take their blog to the next level, if the next level is good content that people want to read, hear or watch.  I have one copy of the book to give away – post a comment below and I’ll choose a winner on Friday at 9am Eastern.

Twitter etiquette – Twittiquette?

Hello citizens of the Interwebs…

Miss Manners is calling!

I’m genuinely interested in what people think about the following…

Does Twitter etiquette dictate that you must acknowledge follows?

…with a DM?

…with an auto-DM?

…at all?

Nothing annoys me like the reply email (especially the dreaded “reply-all”) email that says “Thanks!” and nothing but.  I kind of feel that way about Twitter too, but maybe I’m just too cold and callous.  What do you think?  What else about Twittiquette do you feel is a must/must not do?

Do I always flap my hands when I talk?

One of the fun things about BlogWorld was getting a chance to talk more about publishing with some cool people.  Here’s a link to a video I did in the Southwest Airlines booth – the audio is dreadful, but fast forward to the 19:00 point and see me.  Flapping.

That was before she played a transsexual on “Friends”, because I can only IMAGINE what he would have said then.

Whenever I feel less than together, I think back to the time I had an encounter with the guy who ran the newsstand in my old building.

I went down in the early afternoon for some sort of snack break.  Not sure what I was wearing.  Not sure if he was Rameesh or Ramesh because he didn’t wear a name tag.

“You know who you look like?” he said, in a thick Indian accent.

“Ummm, no, who?”

“That actress, what’s her name?”

I waited.

“You know, the one with the blonde hair.”

I kept waiting, for his response and for change from my Funyons.

“You know, Kathleen Turner, that actress Kathleen Turner.”

I thought…

“You mean Kathleen Turner – Body Heat, right?”

“No, no, Kathleen Turner – Serial Mom…”

Sigh.  Always a serial mom, never in body heat, I guess.

Mighty Mighty Weekend – A Marketer’s Perspective of the 2010 Mighty Summit

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of crashing Maggie Mason’s  Mighty Summit.  OK, I wasn’t really crashing, but it does help explain what my role was. 

The concept behind the event is to take a small group (25+) of socially connected women and whisk them away for a weekend to recharge, regenerate, and contemplate.  By contemplate, I mean review their “life lists” – 30, 40, 50 or even 100 goals that they hope to accomplish in the next year or so.  They were going to do it at a beautiful resort in Sonoma County, CA, complete with wine, pampering, great food, wine, amazing gifts, and did I mention the wine? 

When I was approached about becoming a sponsor of the summit, I signed up pretty much immediately.  It seemed like a really fun concept and I knew that we (meaning Wiley) had to be a part of it.  We’re always looking for ways to connect with social media influencers and get to know the audience that is and could be buying our books.  We didn’t really have a plan at that point, but we both figured that the fit between the attendees and our products were right and we’d figure it out.

What we were able to put together certainly exceeded my expectations.  We decided Dummies would play two parts in the weekend.  First, we became the presenting sponsor of the wine education class.  The summit organizers brought Erin Sullivan in to teach a class on wine to the Summiteers.  Just like Dummies, she was fun, low-key and packed a tremendous amount of valuable information into her presentation.  Each attendee walked away with a copy of California Wine For Dummies which provided the basis for Erin’s talk.   This is a photo of one of the tables before we all sat down and got some wine in us. 

How awesome is this?

The second half of our promotion was even more fun.  We played on the concept of the life lists – knowing that these women were trying to achieve certain goals, we thought, how can we help them do this.  Obviously, in my world, Dummies is a great way to learn something new and have fun doing it.   So, let’s throw Dummies at the challenge!

I spent a bit of time pouring through the life lists of each attendee.  For those that didn’t do a life list, I read their blogs.  And reread.  Rinse and repeat.  It became really clear how important it was to match the right books with the right person.  I used the talents of our whole team on some of the life lists.  We noticed some omissions (Cheese!  How do we not have “Cheese For Dummies”?) but overall we didn’t have too much trouble as the breadth and depth of the Dummies brand gave us more options than we could possibly need.  Who wants to be getting on a plane with 20 books?  Uh, not me.

The Summiteers

After the wine education, we took off for lunch at Arista, a local winery.  It was there that we gave the women their specially selected Dummies titles.  There were some great reactions when people realized that they now had NO EXCUSE not to learn to knit, take better pictures or create custom jewelry.  Dummies would show them the way!

So, as my boss would ask, what was the ROI on this?  Will they all read the books and blog extensively about them?  Don’t know.  And I didn’t ask them to do that.  That’s not what this was about.  It was about showing how they could achieve things on their life lists, helping them achieve something – in other words,  what I could do for them as opposed to what they could do for me.  I do know that I have a connection with many of the women who attended.  Hopefully, I put a face on Wiley and on Dummies that shows us in a good light. 

I do know if anyone does blog about a book, it might not happen right away.  Unlike a new purse or face cream, a book is much more of a committment for someone to get into, and it’s not something we could expect to see in the next week, much less next month.   That’s self-improvement for you.  It does take time!

There are a lot of posts from the bloggers involved with the summit, but two that talk about For Dummies and my involvement are here and here.   I’m not sure why I look so scared in Laura’s post, but it was no reflection on my time at the Summit. 

Overall this was a great thing for Dummies and for me to be a part of.  I’m grateful to Maggie, Laura and Helen Jane for the opportunity to participate.  The Summit was a remarkable achievement, and I feel like they should be put in charge of something bigger, like NATO, because there really isn’t any problem they can’t solve.  

Even though I wasn’t there as an attendee, I did pick up a bit of inspiration from these amazing women.   Once I have a minute or two of spare time, maybe on my trans-Atlantic flight next month, I’m going to put together my own life list.  I’m going to wear more color – the “words-will-fail-when-I-try-and-describe-how-adorable-she-truly-is” Erin Loechner made that point clear without saying a word.  Cutest outfit ever, and all from Target.  Who knew?    I also thought back to when we moved my in-laws out of their house and poured out bottle after bottle of really good but really old wine that had turned.  Don’t wait for joy – if you have a great bottle of wine, open it and share it with good friends.  And after reading Laura’s post, I’m going to stop worrying about what I look like in pictures and just smile for the camera. 

There’s so much more, but that’s what a blog is for, right?  Stay tuned..

Books: Not dead, and do you want to write one?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am going to be a speaker at BlogWorld Expo for not one but two panels.  The first panel I talked about here.  My second panel is titled “From Blog to Book” and could probably be subtitled “And everything in between.” 

Probably every blogger has thought about publishing their work in printed form at one time or another.  There are many ways to do this, from working with an established publishing house to self publishing, to everything in between.  This isn’t a one size fits all proposition, and it’s certainly not for everyone.  For those who can benefit, it’s a great way to create a calling card for your work.  For others, it can spread a message far and wide. 

In this session, we’re going to talk about why do some bloggers become authors, while others can’t get a contract? What do publishing companies look for when trying to sign authors?  And how an author needs a platform before, during and after the writing of the book. 

My fellow panelists are Brian Solis (Wiley author), Warren Whitlock and Simon Salt.  I’m not sure I will be the most stylish, but I will be taking pains to avoid being the least.   

Just like for my other panel, I need feedback on what people want to hear, and what we should and shouldn’t cover.  Use the comments below or at the BWE site.

Books: Still relevant, not dead yet

I’m thrilled to announce that next month I will be a speaker at the BlogWorld Expo conference taking place in Las Vegas.  I will be on not one but TWO panels…

The topic of my first panel is something I am quite passionate about – good content.  We’re all hearing that books are dead, people aren’t reading anymore and publishing is a dying business.  While I have certainly seen a few changes in my years in the business, and undoubtably will see a few more, book publishing is not a dying art.  There are still readers out there who are clamoring for good content.  Here’s the official description of the panel:

In a world of 140s, shrinking screens, and ‘after-the-jump’ readers, how do we make books people want? Are books just ‘content’ in a dead format? Does tweeting, posting, and IM’ing make for better or worse writers? What 5 things should every author being doing to get published? This session is for publishers, and authors who still want to make money on books. It can be done. Come learn how.

My fellow panelists are Matthew Donnelley and Wiley author CC Chapman.  I think between us we have a good idea of what makes good content, what doesn’t, and what authors need to do to get published and more importantly get noticed.

I’m curious as to what people want covered in a session like that.  Do you agree that publishing still has a place in our online-media centric world?  What do you think makes good content?  How do you decide if a book is purchase worthy?  What do we have to cover so attendees will not throw rotten produce at us?  Use the comments space here and fire away!

GAP Magic? No, just GAP ROI.

Last month, I attended the BlogHer Annual Conference in NYC.  Among other things, and maybe first and foremost, it’s a great place to catch up with friends and fellow bloggers that I don’t see all the time.

One person in that category is Susan Getgood.  Always happy to see Susan, I had to remark when I saw her how smart she was dressed.  She in turn told me that her look was courtesy of Gap brands.  Gap, in a bit of social media genius, reached out the speakers at the BlogHer conference and offered them a free styling and 2 complimentary outfits, no strings attached.  You can read about the promotion here and here. 

Susan thought this promotion was all that and a bag of chips, and not just because she was the beneficiary of some great outfits (and a really cute bag – did I mention the bag?).  It was a smart way to engage some very key influencers at the conference.  You didn’t have to wear the outfits, although having someone style you in outfits that play up your strengths gives you confidence, and what speaker doesn’t want a bit of confidence?  I don’t know how many speakers wore their outfits, but overall the promotion seemed to be a success.

So I got to thinking.  I will be speaking at BlogWorld Expo next month.  Twice in fact.  My “professional looking outfit” is now my fat suit – I bought a great jacket and matching skirt at Talbots, but then lost weight, so the outfit doesn’t fit in the least.  Maybe, I thought,  I should check out the Gap near me and see what might work for me when I go to BlogWorld…

It was as productive visit.  First, I had to get the jeans that I saw Shannon Rosa wearing.  I couldn’t find them on the web site but she is wearing them in a photo from her blog that I really hope she doesn’t mind my borrowing…

Cool jeans, second from left

Adorable, even if you can’t tell in the picture.  They’re skinny jeans which roll up, and have the cutest pattern that shows out. 

Jeans were full price for the first, $20 for the second, so of course I bought a second.  I bought the same 1969 Long and Lean jean that I received for free a year ago with my BlogHer coupon. 

Next, I decided to go for a more professional look

That's me, looking all professional

Cardigan, purple blouse, and perfect pants.  I used my Groupon, which made it all worthwhile.  I got some jeans that I know work for me, and a super professional outfit that I used to take my headshots for the BlogWorld Expo web site.  

Gap hasn’t been on my radar for a while, but I will definitely be checking them out more often when I want professional not just casual looking clothes.   The promotion worked, in more than one way…it got me in the store and changed my view of the retailer.  Plus, I loved loved LOVED that they had a Groupon last month.  What more could I want.  Count me in for some of that ROI.

Disclaimer: I received free jeans last year from the Gap.  I received nothing free this year from them. I purchased all the items detailed using my own funds.