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A Few Words About Suitcasing

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Have you ever gone to a conference and seen folks handing out brochures, flyers, and swag while standing in hallways or outside of session rooms? Do you wonder why they’re not on the Expo floor showcasing in a booth? It’s because what they’re doing is unethical. They’re suitcasing.

As the name indicates, suitcasing is when someone presents their business from a bag or suitcase so that it’s easier for them to zip up and run if they spot conference organizers. Suitcasing is also the practice of putting flyers, cards, business cards and promotional material on all available surfaces without the blessing of the conference organizers. In essence, it’s stealing. You see, there are people who pay good money to exhibit and sponsor to share with our community. People who are suitcasing are bypassing this fee to present on the sly. Our exhibitors and sponsors enable us to put on our conference, so the people who are suitcasing are also stealing from attendees. The less money we make, the less money we can spend on food, parties and bells and whistles. Moreover, the less money we make, the more we have to charge.

What happens if you’re caught suitcasing

If you’re coming to NMX as a sponsored content creator, the brand you’re representing may ask you to hand out flyers or t-shirts. Please know that this is considered suitcasing. It’s one thing to chat with others about what you do, that’s why we go to conferences, right? It’s a whole other story to walk the aisles and hallways giving out promotional items without permission. If you’re caught you’ll, at the very least, be asked to put your materials away. However, the  most likely scenario is that you’ll be booted out of the show.

If you’re planning on bringing promotional materials to NMX and you’re not sure if it’s considered suitcasing, don’t be afraid to ask us. We’d rather chat with you about what you’re doing than have to ask you to leave. We’re nice people, really, we just don’t want anyone stealing from our attendees, exhibitors, sponsors and the team that works so hard to bring you the best possible conference.

How can you represent your brand without suitcasing

If your brand isn’t into a booth (but we encourage them to get one  – there’s still time!) there are ways to represent them without suitcasing:

  • Wear branded clothing. Wearing a t-shirt with a brand logo isn’t suitcasing, and everyone does it. In fact, it’s a great conversation starter.
  • Collect business cards: As you talk to attendees, collect business cards to bring back to the brand. Please explain why you’re doing so, however, so no one receives unwanted promotional material.
  • Blog: Live blog from the event and mention your sponsor. Let folks know that they sent you to the conference so you can learn, and also let folks know what your sponsor does and why they might want to follow them.  You don’t have to be spammy about it, but most folks understand sponsors require promotional posts and tweets.
  • Tweet: Thank your sponsor on Twitter for sending you to the conference.

At NMX we want our attendees to have the best experience possible. We want them to be able to walk our hallways or hang out in the New Media Lounge without being bombarded with unwanted sales pitches. Please think before suitcasing.

Why You Should Come To BlogWorld If You Are A Content Creator

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Chris Brogan is a person I greatly admire and respect and I am proud to call a friend. This morning he wrote a post titled 9 Ways to Rock BlogWorld Expo and said some very nice things about our event and our team.  Thank you Chris.

I was in the middle of writing this very long comment on his post expanding on some of his points and realized Chris had actually inspired me to write a post two posts of my own on why you should come to BlogWorld. This one is for Content Creators. Another will follow for Brands.

Let’s start with why you shouldn’t. This line from his post resonated with me:

it’s great to get out and socialize. It’s less useful to get out and get blotto so that you can barely attend the next day

Everyone should come and have fun. That is definitely a part of it and fun often times involves an alcoholic beverage or two, but BlogWorld is not about getting trashed.

Dave and I and truly amazing team of people including @newmediapatti @debng @jenjenholder @nikki_blogworld @allison_boyer all of our track leaders, all of our speakers, the Hanley Wood team and everyone else involved in organizing BlogWorld work extremely hard on this event all year long to help you make the most out of your content.  Please don’t come to BlogWorld to party in Vegas. You can do that another weekend.

Continue Reading

Your Blog Isn’t As Important As You Think

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Your blog isn’t as important as you think.

Justin McHood

Really.

I know, I know — there are plenty of people speaking at BlogWorld about how to develop the best blog in the world. You know, one that is engaging, interactive, informative  and possibly even (do I dare say it?)  profitable.

But unless you are going to have a blog about bacon, starting a blog about something that could potentially lead to profits (either online or offline) just seems like a lot of work to me.

So if you are going to start a blog about mortgages (or anything else), get ready to turn it into a labor of love.

Spend your free time learning CSS, obsessing over what kinds of calls-to-action  you could possibly have to get more of your readers to join your subscription list and spend so much time thinking about your blog that you actually run the risk of becoming addicted to improving your blog.

Or…

Take a short cut.
Continue Reading

Your Blog Isn't As Important As You Think

Author:

Your blog isn’t as important as you think.

Justin McHood

Really.

I know, I know — there are plenty of people speaking at BlogWorld about how to develop the best blog in the world. You know, one that is engaging, interactive, informative  and possibly even (do I dare say it?)  profitable.

But unless you are going to have a blog about bacon, starting a blog about something that could potentially lead to profits (either online or offline) just seems like a lot of work to me.

So if you are going to start a blog about mortgages (or anything else), get ready to turn it into a labor of love.

Spend your free time learning CSS, obsessing over what kinds of calls-to-action  you could possibly have to get more of your readers to join your subscription list and spend so much time thinking about your blog that you actually run the risk of becoming addicted to improving your blog.

Or…

Take a short cut.
Continue Reading

Three Days in Vegas – BlogWorld & New Media Expo 2010 When and Where

Author:

Quentin Tarantino

I am seeing a huge number of searches now that we are in the new year all looking for Blog World 2010.  People are searching I suppose to find out the details since we are about 10 months away from the event.  The other issue is probably related to the the fact that 150,000 people were geeking out in Las Vegas with each other and are looking forward to SXSW and Blog World Expo. We have not yet worked out the venue details at this time, but the show itself is going to take place on October 14-16, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  The first day of the show on October 14, 2010 is the Social Media Business Summit.   The final two days will be the trade show and convention featuring the exhibitors on the show floor.  Once the show venue is determined and those details are confirmed and completed we will be making that announcement.

Until then, feel free to get it on your calendar, and start making your initial plans. Once the other details are confirmed, we will be able to provide more precise information about hotels, parties and all the other fun that we have for three days in Vegas.  Three days in Vegas is either a great title for a Tarantino movie or perhaps my next blog post.

Now I have to run off and see if Mr. Tarantino is on Twitter.

Photo via FusedFilm.com

Three Days in Vegas – BlogWorld & New Media Expo 2010 When and Where

Author:

Quentin Tarantino

I am seeing a huge number of searches now that we are in the new year all looking for Blog World 2010.  People are searching I suppose to find out the details since we are about 10 months away from the event.  The other issue is probably related to the the fact that 150,000 people were geeking out in Las Vegas with each other and are looking forward to SXSW and Blog World Expo. We have not yet worked out the venue details at this time, but the show itself is going to take place on October 14-16, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  The first day of the show on October 14, 2010 is the Social Media Business Summit.   The final two days will be the trade show and convention featuring the exhibitors on the show floor.  Once the show venue is determined and those details are confirmed and completed we will be making that announcement.

Until then, feel free to get it on your calendar, and start making your initial plans. Once the other details are confirmed, we will be able to provide more precise information about hotels, parties and all the other fun that we have for three days in Vegas.  Three days in Vegas is either a great title for a Tarantino movie or perhaps my next blog post.

Now I have to run off and see if Mr. Tarantino is on Twitter.

Photo via FusedFilm.com

The 140 Characters Conference “Call For Speakers”

Author:

Jeff Pulver wrote a blog post and sent out an email blast to all of the people interested in the 140 conference that will be taking place in NYC on April 20-21, 2010.  Jeff has done a great job of getting attendees to come out and hear from some of the best known people or in his case “characters” on Twitter.  The deadline for the call for speakers is January 22, 2010.  I am especially interested in how the nomination process works for him.  More of the information can be obtained from the email itself:

With today’s “Call for Speakers” I am looking for creative, out-of-the-box thinkers to come forward and pitch me something relevant they would like to present that has been effected by the emerging real-time, NOW Internet.

My hope is to attract not only established celebrities, members of the media and thought leaders who are now using twitter, but those who have become a celebrity, and a brand in their own right, through the creative and disruptive application that twitter continues to be.

I’m looking for first-hand accounts of how twitter is being used and the impact it is happening in the industry sectors this event is focusing on. My goal is to bring together a curated group of characters to both lead and contribute to the discussions. And this event isn’t just about twitter. Open for discussion are all platforms and applications which are effecting and contributing to the real-time internet experience.

I believe that 140 of the right characters can impact 140,000 online participants at the event. I saw this happen in 2009 at the New York, LA, London and Tel Aviv events, plus multiple #140Conf MeetUps held across the U.S.

I believe that the knowledge shared and learned at this event will help bring more people into the twitter ecosystem. The take aways from this event will provide the attending delegates knowledge, perspectives and insights to the next wave of effects twitter will have on business.

So please, think about what YOU could contribute to the dialog, and who you may know who would be interested in being part of this event.

#140conf is the twitter hashtag for the conference. I would appreciate your help in once again spreading awareness of the April conference to the people who you are connected with on your social networks.

What I hope to bring together is a gathering of people with a variety of backgrounds and together explore the future of where things are going and how to best prepare the community at large to get there.

If you are interested in speaking at: 140 Characters Conference, and or would like to suggest a speaker, please tweet your nomination to #140conf. I will be checking the twitter stream on an almost real-time basis for nominations. You can also contact me by sending email to: jeff@pulver.com. The deadline for speaking proposals is: Friday, January 22nd but the first to be nominated will be the first considered.

I am also looking for sponsors and for exhibitors to be part of our twitter showcase. My goal is to have a special section of the event just for applications, and a maybe this time a Best Of #140conf Award for killer apps. For more information about sponsoring and exhibiting, please contact me by sending email to: jeff@pulver.com

A new approach to the pricing of the #140conf events was announced last week. Click here to learn more about this.

For more information about upcoming #140conf events, please visit: http://140conf.com.

I will reach out and see if Jeff will give us an interview here of the process and other questions that will give more details of the conference.  Jeff if you are listening or reading here, how about a sneak peek under the hood of the 140 conference?

The 140 Characters Conference "Call For Speakers"

Author:

Jeff Pulver wrote a blog post and sent out an email blast to all of the people interested in the 140 conference that will be taking place in NYC on April 20-21, 2010.  Jeff has done a great job of getting attendees to come out and hear from some of the best known people or in his case “characters” on Twitter.  The deadline for the call for speakers is January 22, 2010.  I am especially interested in how the nomination process works for him.  More of the information can be obtained from the email itself:

With today’s “Call for Speakers” I am looking for creative, out-of-the-box thinkers to come forward and pitch me something relevant they would like to present that has been effected by the emerging real-time, NOW Internet.

My hope is to attract not only established celebrities, members of the media and thought leaders who are now using twitter, but those who have become a celebrity, and a brand in their own right, through the creative and disruptive application that twitter continues to be.

I’m looking for first-hand accounts of how twitter is being used and the impact it is happening in the industry sectors this event is focusing on. My goal is to bring together a curated group of characters to both lead and contribute to the discussions. And this event isn’t just about twitter. Open for discussion are all platforms and applications which are effecting and contributing to the real-time internet experience.

I believe that 140 of the right characters can impact 140,000 online participants at the event. I saw this happen in 2009 at the New York, LA, London and Tel Aviv events, plus multiple #140Conf MeetUps held across the U.S.

I believe that the knowledge shared and learned at this event will help bring more people into the twitter ecosystem. The take aways from this event will provide the attending delegates knowledge, perspectives and insights to the next wave of effects twitter will have on business.

So please, think about what YOU could contribute to the dialog, and who you may know who would be interested in being part of this event.

#140conf is the twitter hashtag for the conference. I would appreciate your help in once again spreading awareness of the April conference to the people who you are connected with on your social networks.

What I hope to bring together is a gathering of people with a variety of backgrounds and together explore the future of where things are going and how to best prepare the community at large to get there.

If you are interested in speaking at: 140 Characters Conference, and or would like to suggest a speaker, please tweet your nomination to #140conf. I will be checking the twitter stream on an almost real-time basis for nominations. You can also contact me by sending email to: jeff@pulver.com. The deadline for speaking proposals is: Friday, January 22nd but the first to be nominated will be the first considered.

I am also looking for sponsors and for exhibitors to be part of our twitter showcase. My goal is to have a special section of the event just for applications, and a maybe this time a Best Of #140conf Award for killer apps. For more information about sponsoring and exhibiting, please contact me by sending email to: jeff@pulver.com

A new approach to the pricing of the #140conf events was announced last week. Click here to learn more about this.

For more information about upcoming #140conf events, please visit: http://140conf.com.

I will reach out and see if Jeff will give us an interview here of the process and other questions that will give more details of the conference.  Jeff if you are listening or reading here, how about a sneak peek under the hood of the 140 conference?

TechZulu Talks BlogWorld & New Media Expo

Author:

Just wanted t get this interview on the blog as Amanda Coolong does a great job talking with Rick Calvert about the experience at BlogWorld & New Media Expo.


Watch Rick Calvert – BlogWorld Expo 09 in Tech & Gaming  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

I am hoping to get some of these interviews doen myself this year as we travel around to the events and talk with organizers, attendees and speakers at shows we are attending. Thanks to the folks at TechZulu and Amanda!

TechZulu Talks BlogWorld & New Media Expo

Author:

Just wanted t get this interview on the blog as Amanda Coolong does a great job talking with Rick Calvert about the experience at BlogWorld & New Media Expo.


Watch Rick Calvert – BlogWorld Expo 09 in Tech & Gaming  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

I am hoping to get some of these interviews doen myself this year as we travel around to the events and talk with organizers, attendees and speakers at shows we are attending. Thanks to the folks at TechZulu and Amanda!

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