Today we are particularly excited because all of those things are well underway. You can see the first round of speakers for BlogWorld New York announced on the home page here. But we have a few new important change this year. First of all you will see our lowest prices ever for content creators. If you register by February 22nd it is only $147 for bloggers, podcasters and Web TV producers. Here comes the cheesy infomercial part BUT Wait There’s More!

WE ADDED AN EXTRA DAY FOR THE BLOGGER / PODCASTER PASS!.. That’s right, 3 full days of conference content, networking and learning from the smartest content creators in the world for $147. That is half off our lowest price ever and over $300 less than our full price 2-Day pass last year.

Why did we lower the price for content creators? Because those of you who have been to  BlogWorld & New Media Expo before know this event is a dream come true for me. I was a blogger who wanted to meet my friends, peers and heroes in the blogosphere. I wanted to learn how to podcast, create and embed YouTube videos and last but certainly not least I wanted to learn how to make money with my content that I put so much passion and time into. (Little did I know the pros called that “monetization”, and as many of you know, we now have a popular Monetization track in the conference.) When I realized no event existed that covered all of these things, we created BlogWorld.

BlogWorld NY Keynote Hall

You can ask anyone who has been to the show before, read all the blog posts and tweets, watch the videos. The kind things our community says about their experiences at BlogWorld are truly humbling.  This event was built for you, and we want to share this experience with more content creators than ever. So we removed one of the biggest hurdles content creators have: the cost.

On top of that we have a couple of technical items that we are excited about. If you have attended the show in the past, you should have received an email yesterday with a unique link to the registration site. This link has all of your info from last year already populated so you don’t have to enter it all over again every year. YAY!

Lastly we are really excited about this and at the same time really mad that it took this long to make it happen:

Anyone can now log in to register with their Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Google + ID. You don’t have to create and remember a new user password and log in. Double YAY!

You have no idea how many registration companies we went through or talked to in order to make this happen. Something all of us take for granted and that seems so simple was so hard; but now we have it, and this will make getting your pass easier than ever.

On behalf of myself, Dave, Deb, Patti, Chris, Jen W, Jen H and the rest of the team I sincerely hope you decide to come join us in New York this June 5 – 7. Old friends and new will be waiting to see you.

Sincerely,

Rick

Don't be sad if you're left home alone - rock that conference anyway!

This past week, many of my friends were in Las Vegas for CES…or, at least, wishing they were. It happens to all of us – a major event happens and we get left behind while others in our industry attend and tweet about what a fabulous time they’re having. They blog about keynotes we don’t get to hear and post pictures of parties we don’t get to see. But the worst part is that it feels like every other blog in your niche is getting a ton of traffic as readers flock to their event posts while you’re stuck regurgitating second-hand news.

But do you want to know a secret? You can totally rock an event…even when you’re not there.

Attending an event is always the best-case scenario. It’s just not always possible, for whatever reason: money, time, family responsibilities…so let’s take a look at a few ways you can be one of the cool kids, even if you’re at home!

Capitalizing on Non-Event Industry News

Everyone at an event is focused on reporting news happening there. That doesn’t mean the rest of the world goes on hold, though. When something happens in the industry outside of the speakers and announcements at the actual event, bloggers who are actually at the event typically don’t cover it or even know about it. They’re too busy. That gives you the chance to corner the market on traffic!

For example, the night before CES started, Leo Laporte was denied access to a tech event and the PR company involved made fools of themselves on Twitter and Facebook. While this was slightly related to CES, since it was a related event, everyone was jet-lagged from flying into Vegas or attending pre-CES parties. I even waited to post my story the next day, and I was still one of the only people who wrote about it. As a result, I got a lot of search engine traffic and a fair about of shares on that post.

Direct Readers to Bloggers Who Are There

One of the really fantastic posts Julie wrote about CES, even though she wasn’t there, was a mini-directory of members of the BlogWorld community who are attending CES. If you’re interested in following news about the event, this gives you a list of people tweeting about it, and if you’re attending the event too, it’s a great way to connect with others.

The point is that even if you aren’t attending an event, you can be helpful and relevant. It’s just like every other topic you cover – be as helpful as possible to your readers, and they’ll come back for more (and tell their friends to visit too).

Create Post Round-Ups

Often, many people who attend events blog about the same things – a cool product that was the hit of the show, a fascinating keynote, or an interesting announcement. You can report on the news, but since you aren’t there, you can’t give readers a first-hand opinion. What you can do, however, is create a post round-up of all the bloggers who are discussing the topic in question. That way, people who are looking for information about, for example, a specific new technology being shown at CES, can use your round-up to find posts they’ll want to read.

Whether you attend a conference or not, if you write about it, let the community manager or social media manager know about your posts. Conference organizes love to read what people have to say about their event, and often, they’ll even help promote your posts or respond to your questions.

The BlogWorld community is growing by leaps and bounds. Every day, more people “like” us on Facebook, “follow” us on Twitter and “circle” us on Google+.  Still, our work isn’t done. We enjoy a big, vibrant and lively community of folks interacting and sharing ideas.

Sometimes when we invite folks to join us on one of our social channels, we’re asked why or what’s in it for our community.  It’s one thing to say “join us on Facebook,” but that’s not much enticement. So to cover the “why” part,  I’m going to share the top reasons to join our Facebook community.

10. Brag your blog day

Community isn’t us, it’s you. The collective you. We want to know everything about you, who you are, what you do and what you’re about. At the beginning of each month we feature “Brag Your Blog” day when our entire community is allowed to legally spam our Facebook wall.  Let’s face it, there are  a lot of people producing a lot of content  and none of us can possibly know about it all. But on “Brag Your Blog Day,” we can help our community to promote their content to over 6,000 friends.  Hopefully by participating you can gain  some new community members of your own.

9. Picture Day

We love sharing images from the BlogWorld Flickr account and other channels and picture day is our day of doing so. When we post our images, we tag community members who are in the photos whenever possible. We also invite our Facebook community to share their own images from our events. The perks are in the tags and the shares, a great way to see and be seen.

8. Participating is encouraged and rewarded

Facebook isn’t about us. It’s about you. Our goal is to have pages and pages of questions and comments from the members of our community. Still, we have an active community and enjoy lively conversation every day. We even reward our best comments by calling out our community member of the week, month and year. We won’t lie. One of the reasons for building our online community is to help promote our own stuff and we won’t pretend otherwise. However, we really want to hear from you more. Our community pages are places for you to interact and enjoy each others’ company. The more the merrier.

7. Ask questions

Do you have questions about BlogWorld, content creation, or new media? Our Facebook page is a great place to ask those questions. As the person who is leading your community, I’m monitoring all our social networks every day and if I’m not there, another member of the team is on standby. So please feel encouraged to ask questions about our events, content creation and the latest tools and techniques. If we don’t have the answer, someone in our community is sure to help.

6. You never know who will stop by

The BlogWorld Facebook community features a variety of personality types and you never know who is going to stop by on any given day. Some people are quick with a quip and others master the art of intelligent discussion. Plus, many of the influencers and big names in the New Media space stop by on a regular basis. We have an open door policy and you never know who will stop by.

5. Keep the conversation flowing long after BlogWorld is over

All those important connections and conversations don’t have to end because BlogWorld is over.  Keep the good vibe going long after our live events end.  Continue to hang out with our speakers, attendees, and team, as well as those who hope to attend a future BlogWorld event. Just because we’re not at a convention center doesn’t mean we have to stop enjoying each others’ company.

4. Make connections

Members of the BlogWorld community include content creators, business people, influencers and folks from all walks of life.  The connections you make by joining our Facebook page are just as important as the connections one makes in person while attending BlogWorld.  There’s no need to be shy, either. Everyone is participating for the same reason – to make connections, build relationships, and have a conversation about the things that matter most.

3. Promote your brand

Though we discourage spamming, we still offer many ways to build a personal or professional brand. In addition to Brag Your Blog and Picture days, we offer opportunities to share Twitter Handles, Google+ circles, Pinterest boards, blog posts and so much more.  We know our community has so much to offer and we invite you all to share on a regular basis.

2. BlogWorld news and updates

There has to be something in it for us too, right?  Our social networking channels are a terrific opportunity for us to share  news and updates about BlogWorld events.  If there’s a call for speakers, a special date to announce or something interesting happening for us, we’ll make the announcements here. We’ll also take the time to answer any questions you may have and gather feedback to help keep us on the right track.

1. Learn something

The BlogWorld blog is an important resource for content creation tips and news, and we carry the feed on Facebook. We also share informative posts from other content creators.  Also, we invite our community to share tips and ideas on our Facebook page.  We know conversation is important and we want to keep you informed of what’s going on with, but it’s important for us all to learn and share what we learn – and that’s the best reason to stop by the BlogWorld Facebook page.

We shared reasons why you should join our Facebook page, now share reasons why we should join yours! Tell us about you, what you do, and what your Facebook page or group is all about.  Invite members of our community into your community and let us all know what rewards membership will bring.

Sad panda picture Leo posted on his blog after being denied access to The Digital Experience at CES 2012.

In a quick audio clip, Leo says that he was denied access because they didn’t have credentials – proof that he qualifies as press in the tech field. I don’t know if that was a mistake on Leo’s end by not sending in paperwork or a mistake on Pepcom’s end by misplacing the paperwork. My attempts to contact Pepcom have gone unanswered.

Because Pepcom is being tight-lipped about what happened at The Digital Experience door, I’ll be clear about one thing: I don’t think an a-lister in any industry has the right to demand, “DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!?!” when they haven’t followed the registration process for an event. It’s rude, and more importantly, event staffers need the numbers ahead of time to make sure there’s enough food and they’re following fire code laws. That said, I really doubt that this is what happened. This isn’t Leo’s first time at a major event, and he’s not known for being a diva. I think this was simply a case of crossed wires (appropriate for a tech event, right?). I think there was a mix-up with the registration and Leo was mistakenly left off the list.

No matter who was to blame, though, what really matters is that Pepcom staffers – those at the door representing the company – should have without question allowed him access.

See, if you’re a business owner, especially a PR agency, you’re responsible for knowing who the content creators are in your industry. Access for Leo would have meant a ton of additional press for their event, and for all of the companies at their event. Word on the street is that the companies involved paid $15,000 to have a booth at The Digital Experience, and when you’re shelling out that kind of dough, you want access to the best media personalities and analysts in the industry. The fact that Leo instead went somewhere else that evening was a huge blow to those companies.

It can be difficult to know everyone in your industry, especially when you’re new. I’ll never forget the look of shock and horror on a friend’s face when I asked, “Who is Chris Brogan?” several years ago. As a relatively new blogger, I legitimately didn’t know. So I don’t really blame the people working the door for not knowing.

The first person I blame is the person who put together the list. If the people working the door were newbies, they should have had a group of people under the header, “These people didn’t complete the registration process correctly, but they need to be allowed access anyway because they’re a-listers and we want them at our event.” Okay, maybe the header needs a little work, but you get the idea.

At the very least, there should have been protocol – someone at Pepcom who well acquainted with people in the tech industry should have been on call to give approval (or not) if someone arrive who wasn’t on the list. Especially when they arrived with a camera crew who was on the list. It was obviously a mistake.

The second person (or team of people) I blame is whoever was running Pepcom’s social media accounts.

It’s bad enough that this was exploding on Twitter and Pepcom didn’t respond. After Leo’s initial tweet, tons of his fans tweeted about it. When looking to see if Pepcom responded…I couldn’t even find a valid Twitter account for them. Their site says @PepcomEvents, but there’s no profile under that name, and @Pepcom is a egg profile with no tweets. Maybe I’m missing something? How are you a PR events company without a Twitter account?

Update: I’ve been told be a few people that @PepcomEvents was their Twitter handle, but when they started getting all sorts of negative attention over the Leo incident, they changed it so people couldn’t find them and eventually just completely disappeared. I can’t confirm this because, once again, Pepcom ignored my emails and phone call…but…WOW. There are no other words. Just wow.

What they do definitely have is a Facebook page…which says nothing about the Leo Laporte incident. in fact, they very quickly deleted every post mentioning it as it was uploaded to their page. You can see now that their wall is squeaky clean with no negative posts at all.

But this is the Internet. Once something is posted, it doesn’t just disappear. Facebook user Adam J. Kragt was smart enough to start taking screenshots as posts were being deleted. Pepcom took that post off their wall of course, but you can still see the images here.

People were mad. In his audio clip, Leo sounded more disappointed than angry, but in any case, this was a huge Pepcom mistake, and they didn’t do anything to correct it. Social media gives us the awesome ability to screw up in public…but it also gives us the chance to easily and publicly apologize and make things right. As soon as he was denied access, Pepcom should have reached out to him on Twitter or Facebook and corrected the problem. Somebody was obviously monitoring their social media accounts (at least, on Facebook), so why didn’t anyone try to fix the mistake? Why did they instead try to hide it by deleting negative posts?

Will this blow over? Yes. I’m sure an equally big scandal will rock the Internet soon (if it hasn’t already during the writing of this post). People will be saying, “Pepcom who?”

But what really matters to Pepcom, to any business, is the button line – the money. And if I was a company involved with their event or thinking about getting involved with it, I wouldn’t be so quick to jump on board next year. I would be more inclined to spend my sponsorship budget on other events where major players in the industry aren’t turned away at the door. Leo has said that he won’t be going back to their events and I’d be worried, as a sponsor, that others would follow in his footsteps. So while the general public will probably easily forget, the people who write the checks won’t…and when they search for press about The Digital Experience, this post is what they’ll find.

** Update by Rick**

When I read Alli’s post, I pretty much agreed with her entire Post. One thing that struck me is that Leo’s TWiT is one of the most high profile press entities at CES. He has one of only two networks I am aware of that have a booth at the front of the show. The other is CNET.

I had our Deb go take a couple photos of Leo’s booth. Here is the TWiT booth at the very front of the South Hall at CES.

Pretty hard for any attendee at CES including the PR flacks to miss.

By taking one quick look at the conference schedule, you’ll see there are some fantastic speakers, tracks and sessions. Trade show attendees will hear from speakers at Microsoft, Intel, Ford, Verizon and Facebook – just to name a few.

If you check your twitter stream for #CES or #CES2012, you’ll see there are many content creators attending the event who are giving us a great look into the show. It’s easy to get lost in CES twitter hash tag land, which might leave you wondering, “Whose tweets should I follow?”

Who To Follow

Here’s an alphabetical list of who to follow, who is covering it well and who is there in the trenches of CES. The list includes several of our speakers from BlogWorld L.A. 2011, as well as a few members from the BlogWorld team.

(Side note: I’ll be adding to this list throughout today and Wednesday.)

Beth Blecherman – @TechMama, Technologist- CoolMomTech.com, Founder- Techmamas.com

Bryan Rhoads – @bryanrhoads, global social media @Intel

Cali Lewis – @CaliLewis, Host of GeekBeat.TV. Tech correspondent for CNN, FOX and Sirius 101′s GeekTime

Calvin Lee – @mayhemstudios, Blogs at Method to Mayhem

Cathy Brooks – @CathyBrooks, Raconteur and genetically inclined connector. Evangelist & Head of Strategic Relationships for mobile search

Dave Delaney – @DaveDelaney, Founder of Geek Breakfast & Nashcocktail. Co-founder of BarCamp & PodCamp Nashville

Dave Taylor – @DaveTaylor, Blogger, entrepreneur, public speaker, dad from AskDaveTaylor.com

Deb Ng – @debng and @blogworldexpo, Social media enthusiast, oversharer, and Conference Director for BlogWorld. Author of Online Community Management for Dummies.

Heather Solos – @HeatherSolos, Blogs at Home-Ec101.com

Jennifer James – @MomBloggersClub, Founder of Mom Bloggers Club

Jen Wojcik – @TheJenATX, Biz Dev for BlogWorld & New Media Expo, Co-Founder PinqSheets.com

John Pozadides – @JohnPoz, Co-host of GeekBeat.TV and blogs at www.onemansblog.com

Kelby Carr – @TypeAMom, Founder of Type A Parent conference

Kristi Trimmer – @dragonflytweet, Social Media, Design and Editing

Leo Laporte - @leolaporte and @TWiT, Podcaster, broadcaster and tech pundit. The Tech Guy on the Premiere Radio Networks. Live at live.twit.tv

Mike Schneider – @schneidermike, Blogs about social media and technology at www.schneidermike.com

Patti Hosking - @newmediapatti, Director of Business Development for BlogWorld and New Media Expo, Employee #1

Rick Calvert – @blogworld, BlogWorld & New Media Expo founder

Sarah Kimmel – @Tech4Moms, Blogs about technology for moms at www.tech4mommies.com

Syed Balkhi – @SyedBalkhi, Creator of WPBeginner.com

Our individual holiday wishes are below:

Rick Calvert, CEO & Co-Founder

“I want to say thank you to each and every one of you for choosing to be a part of our community. We are grateful beyond words. I wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and happy holidays.”

Dave Cynkin, Co-Founder, Sleep Deprivationist & Thrill Seeker

“For me, year-end is more than a time to look back at milestones and resolutions for growth in the new year…It’s a time to embrace the good fortune we’ve had in meeting creative, brilliant and insightful people and sharing memorable discussions together. This community is one of the most precious gifts to enjoy. I’m grateful for meeting you and look forward to spending more time together in 2012 (and I hope to see you at BlogWorld!). Wishing you and yours a healthy and relaxing holiday, and a happy New Year! ”

Patti Hosking, Director of Business Development

“Wishing you the peace, joy,  serenity, and excitement of being poised at the top of a mountain on skis just after a new snowfall has covered all the trees.”

Dani Goren, Director of Operations

“Happy Holidays”

Deb Ng, Director of Conference and Community

“Thank you, not only for being a part of our community, but for welcoming us into your own communities as well. My very best wishes to you and yours for the holidays and for a positive, peace-filled and prosperous 2012.”

Jennifer Holder, Executive Assistant

“Happy Holiday’s to you and yours, may they be filled with love and cheer.”

Christopher Castro, Registration Manager & Speaker Coordinator

“Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Felis Pasgua yan Año Nuebo! (Chamorro)”

Jennifer Wojcik, Sales

“Happy HanaChristmaKwanzakah to EVERYONE! Thank you all so much for an amazing year! On to 2012 with much pomp and fanfare. Love to you all, BlogWorld community!”

Nikki Katz. Managing Editor, BlogWorld.com

“Wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season & a wonderfully prosperous New Year! Can’t wait to see everyone in NYC.”

Allison Boyer, Features Editor, BlogWorld.com

“Happy holidays, everyone! May 2012 bring you all growing bank accounts, shrinking waistlines, so much laughter that your sides hurt, and stats that would make Mashable jealous. Thank you for being the best community in the world!”

Julie Bonner, News Editor, BlogWorld.com

“To a joyful present and a well remembered past. Best wishes for Happy Holidays and an exciting New Year!”

Katherine Randall, Public Relations

”
Here’s wishing you and your family a happy holidays and prosperous New Year! Can’t wait to see everyone in NYC!”

Happy Holidays from the BlogWorld team!

Twas the night before BlogWorld, when all through the hall
The hustle and bustle of preparing for it all.
The signs were hung by the rafters with care,
Catching the eye of all who would be there.

The speakers were giving good cheer in the lounge,
While raising their glasses, shouting “one last round!”
And Deb in the sternest voice to be heard,
called “Guys, you have to be up  early, now get thee to bed.”

When out on the concourse there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the barstool to see what was the matter.
Away to the lobby I ran to see,
and looked around to learn what it could be.

The light on the stage in the keynote place,
Gave the promise of new stars in the space.
When, what to my inquiring mind should intake,
But an entrance so grand, there could be no mistake.

To our attendees, exhibitors, track leaders and sponsors,
to our speakers, and vendors and community members,
from the bottom of our hearts, we’d like to bestow,
Happy BlogWorld to all and to all a good show.

“BlogWorld West in Los Angeles was our most successful show to date in terms of attendance numbers, exhibitors and sponsors, the caliber of the educational sessions and the speakers we hosted,” said Rick Calvert, CEO and co-founder of BlogWorld & New Media Expo. “The decision to take BlogWorld bi-coastal has broadened our reach and made the event more accessible to attendees all over the country and the world. We are looking forward to continuing this pattern of growth into 2012 and have some exciting news to announce in the coming months.”

Highlights from last month’s BlogWorld West in Los Angeles held at the Los Angeles Convention Center include:

• Record-breaking attendance of more than 3,250 people, from 41 different countries including, Australia, United Kingdom, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, India and more.
• An additional 208,000 people watched the live stream of BlogWorld’s keynote sessions.
• BlogWorld’s official Twitter Hashtag, #BWELA, generated 323 million impressions, 40,000 original tweets reaching 30.4 million people over the course of the three-day show, (Source: Hashtracking.com).
• An economic impact in Los Angeles estimated at $3.3 million in revenue and a total of 3,700 hotel room nights, (Source: LA INC. The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau).
• Entertainment-focused closing keynote talk show featuring Hollywood and Web Stars, including: Jace Hall, president and founder of HDFilms, with guests Aisha Tyler, actress, director and host of the hit podcast Girl On Guy; Rick Fox, three-time NBA champion, actor and producer of the Web TV series Off Season – The Lex Morrison Story,; Justine Ezarik (a.k.a. iJustine), an Internet personality and popular YouTube content creator with almost 2.5 million subscribers and Tim Street, Vice President Mobile Video, mDialog and creator/executive producer of the Viral Video series French Maid TV.
• More than 300 speakers, 20 session tracks and 150 educational sessions. BlogWorld introduced several new session tracks this year, including Mobile, Music, Web TV, Travel & Tourism and Fitness.
• Unveiling of Technorati’s 2011 State of the Blogosphere Survey.
• Keynoters included by Peter Shankman, Founder of HARO; Amber Naslund, VP of Social Strategy Radian 6; Jim Farley, Global CMO of Ford Motor Company; Brian Solis, Principal of Altimeter Group; Shani Higgins, CEO of Technorati; Mikal Belicove, Contributing Writer & Blogger at Entrepreneur Magazine; Mitch Joel, President, Twist Image; Deanna Brown, CEO of Federated Media Publishing; Michael Stelzner, Founder and CEO of Social Media Examiner; Lisa Stone, Co-Founder and CEO of BlogHer.
• 85 exhibiting companies including brands like Ford, Southwest Airlines, .ME, Verisign/.tv, Century 21 Real Estate LLC, Blogger, WordPress.com, Viddy, Stickam and more.

BlogWorld’s Virtual Ticket, the largest social media conference library ever recorded, is also available for purchase. The virtual ticket includes audio and video recordings of more than 100 sessions, keynote presentations, official BlogWorld parties and access to exclusive interviews and extras.

It was invigorating. Attending the BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Los Angeles was like attending a conference for TV in the early 1930’s—an opportunity to see the future of media with my own eyes.

To be honest, I entered the conference with a few misconceptions. However, after attending BlogWorld, those myths were instantly busted.

MYTH #1: Learning is best done in the classroom (or in this case, the panel room)

As a bootstrapped college student, I was upset that I couldn’t afford the full conference ticket. Although the expo-ticket gave me access to the keynotes and the exposition floor, it did not give me access to the numerous panels throughout the weekend. I soon realized, however, that everyone I talked to, whether at one of the planned mixers or just sitting on a bench beside me, was an expert in their own niche. This realization turned the entire conference upside-down for me.

Instead of simply waiting in anticipation for the keynotes, I began turning to the people seated next to me and asking them questions. The breadth and depth of expertise found amongst the attendees of BlogWorld blew me away. I met incredible people, ranging from an older woman from Ireland who was a podcasting expert, to a young Canadian guy who was a social media consultant for the restaurant industry. With every new conversation I felt as if I was hitting the “I’m feeling lucky” button on Google—always getting something of value while still being a bit surprised by what I found.

For the first time in my life, BlogWorld gave me the opportunity to learn directly from experts in the field. As a student, I always thought that learning was best done in the controlled environment of a classroom. But after attending BlogWorld I learned that I could engage some of the greatest gurus in the industry on the expo floor, in the hallway, or even at a party.

MYTH #2: Blogging is just a hobby

I began the conference with the naïve thought that blogging is to young adults as knitting is to old people—something they do in their spare time. I knew there were a lot of people who are full-time bloggers, but I had no idea how indubitable of a business it actually is.

While listening to the founder of the SocialMediaExaminer, I learned how he created an entire business model with a blog as its main course and he would then monetize the side dishes (by creating online conferences, by selling extra tools, etc). Not only did I hear about all these ideas, but I also learned how to implement them—and that is what I was really curious about. I learned how bloggers get sponsored posts, how they work with brands for product placement, and even how they negotiate to get free promotional items to giveaway to their readers.

I was blown away when I learned that major advertising agencies work with bloggers the same way they do with television networks. I’m sure this sounds sophomoric to you pros out there, but this was entirely new to me. The tremendous business opportunities available in new media is definitely not being taught in my business school’s curriculum.

MYTH #3: Bloggers are just like any other kind of writer

There was a certain culture—dare I say, a gravitas—to the people at BlogWorld. Think: New York publishing ambition crossed with Silicon Valley edge. It was simply awesome.

I made some incredible friends at BlogWorld, and we are still in touch today. Plus, there was an essence of openness, authenticity, and generosity at the event that is rare for a college student to experience (campus career fairs usually look like an episode of Survivor).

I know some people like to calculate ROI (return on investment), so here is my final breakdown:

• The cost of attending BlogWorld was .04% of a year’s tuition for me
• The returns included:
  • Receiving an eye-opening education in the future of media while making fascinating new friends
  • Being asked to write as a featured contributor for Yahoo! Finance
  • Meeting people ranging from the Chief Marketing Officer of Ford to the author of The End of Business as Usual
  • Getting a dozen new t-shirts, ha!
  • And best yet… I won a 32GB iPad by simply spinning a wheel at one of the expo booths [I know—it was unreal!]

Overall, it is pretty clear that BlogWorld was hands down one of the best events I’ve ever been to.

Most people idly sat by as newspapers emerged, and then radio, and then television. Today, the world is getting hit by the wave of blogging and new media. If you want to surf on the edge of this wave instead of wading in the water, be sure to give the next BlogWorld Expo some serious thought. I’m sure I’ll see you there next year!

Alex Banayan is an author, speaker, and a full-time undergraduate student at the University of Southern California. You can read more about Alex on hisblog, or you can connect with him on his facebook page.

(Did you know BlogWorld has a forum? We do! Head on over there, introduce yourself and get involved in a great community.)

I’m excited to announce that on November 10th, at the opening bell of the Toronto Stock Exchange, Vanilla was named among the Top 20 Most Innovative Companies in Canada for 2011 by the Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX).

Here’s some information about the CIX Top 20:

The CIX Top 20 is a unique program designed to showcase Canada’s hottest innovative companies working in Digital Media and Information and Communication Technology.

An expert panel of innovation leaders will select 20 technology companies from across Canada to be featured in a live showcase at CIX 2011, taking place December 1st at MaRS Discovery District in Toronto.

The CIX Top 20 will serve as an elite index of the most forward-looking companies in the Canadian innovation ecosystem, and work to connect the key players driving technology-based business both in Canada and beyond.

As you can see, it is a huge honor to be named among one of the 20 companies. Congratulations to Vanilla Forums!