BlogOrlando 3 Unconference

Sitting in the Rollins College auditorium surrounded by bloggers typing away on laptops and others Twittering on their smartphones, I knew BlogOrlando was my kind of conference. In its third year, the unconference held September 25 -27, 2008 in Winter Park, Fla., (just outside Orlando) was a gathering of bloggers and social media experts looking to network, share ideas, and learn about the next generation of social media. If you weren't one of the 234 who attended BlogOrlando, here's a snapshot of what you missed.

BlogOrlando: Opening Activities
I confess, I didn't participate in the opening activities. Thursday, Sept. 25, was an invite-only think tank. I imagine it was a meeting of the social media minds where they planned to conquer the world or devise a plan for world peace. I'm kidding, I'm sure it was much more in-depth. Friday night was happy hour at Slingapour's in downtown Orlando and I didn't make it, opted for the opening of the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival.

BlogOrlando: Saturday, Sept. 27
This is what I considered the meat of BlogOrlando. Thirty-four sessions relating to blogging and social media plus general opening and closing sessions. The sessions were filed under five tracks: Public Relations/Communications, Media/Creative, Community, Technology-Basic, and Technology - Advanced. Since BlogOrlando is an unconference, meaning the conversation and topics are fluid, session leaders were tasked at generating dialog in order for participants to exchange ideas.

Jake McKee (communityguy.com) opened the unconference and Erik Hersman, (whiteafrican.com), who rolled off a flight from the Netherlands that morning, ended BlogOlrando. McKee spent five years as the LEGO Company's first community manager and discussed how LEGO embraced the philosophy from "The Cluetrain Manifesto," a book encouraging businesses to get on board and evolve with their customers and utilize the Internet.

Hersman, an American who grew up in Kenya and Sudan with missionary parents, ended BlogOrlando with "Why We Blog." He blogs about high-technology and its impact on Africa. He also launched a team blog called Afrigadget where low-technology is discussed and launched Ushahidi in January 2008 following the post-election violence in Kenya. It allows people to tell their stories in real time, also known as crowdsourcing crisis information.

Sessions I attended,

Monetization
Ted Murphy, CEO of IZEA "Your blog creates value, it's up to you to unlock that value," I love this quote from Murphy. He listed ways bloggers can make money ranging from affiliate programs to text links and sponsored posts to selling digital assets. He also recommended third-party blogging with sites such as Associated Content (I know, I know, AC doesn't want to be recognized as a blog). To prove his point as to how easy it is to make money from your blog, Murphy handed cash to a couple of bloggers in the audience who promised to blog about Ted Murphy's BlogOrlando session. No, I wasn't one of those bloggers who received the moola.

The Southwest Airlines Blog
Paula Berg, Manager of Emerging Media, Southwest Airlines - Berg walked the group through Southwest Airlines' history in social media, beginning with the reality show on A&E called, "Airline." Today, the airline is involved in many aspects of social media including the two-year-old blog, "Nuts About Southwest," consumer-generated media, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

I applauded Paula Berg and Southwest Airlines' social media efforts, giving her the example of how I entered a Tweet on Twitter about flying Southwest Airlines and soon after received an unexpected message. That's rockin' customer service in my book.

Movements, Activism & Social Media
Geno Church, Brains on Fire - I had no idea how a pair of scissors could create such a following. In a case study about Fiskars scissors, Church explained how social media is used to create a movement and community in the crafting world. He discussed the world of the "Fisk-a-teers," a handful of women who have become blogging celebrities, and their followers. And, I have to add, I love Church's fashionable style. He definitely gets BlogOrlando's "best dressed" in my book.

Other sessions I attended were "Education" led by David Parmet (Marketing Begins at Home) , "Professionalism 2.0" led by Amber Rhaea (Being Amber Rhea), "Keeping up the Passion" led by Alex Hillman (Independents Hall), and "Entertainment and Social Media" led by Chris Thilk (Spout).

Wish I attended "Shiny New Objects" by Frank Gruber, "Going Beyond Google" with Leah Jones and "Twitter in Journalism" with Etan Horowitz.

Saturday night's happy hour at Finnhenry's was sponsored by IdeaBlob, a site that gives away $10,000 each month to small business owners and entrepreneurs. That's right, IdeaBlob gives away free money, the catch is to submit your idea and be the most popular. Utilizing social media in gaining votes is key.

BlogOrlando: Sunday, Sept. 28
I joined event organizer Josh Hallett and his family, along with BlogOrlando participants Nik and Felicia Wilets and Rob Williams, at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Blogger John Frost from The Disney Blog led us through the theme park through his eyes, which gave me a fresh perspective on what I have and haven't seen before (like the oval shaped fertility rocks from India).

BlogOrlando 4?
Will there be BlogOrlando 4? That depends. Organizing the unconference is time consuming and at the close of BlogOrlando 3, Josh Hallett wasn't sure if he'd have the time to devout and organize. I certainly hope there is a BlogOrlando 4 because I found the information gathered valuable and reassuring as I move forward with my blogging efforts and grasping social media.