This week, NMX CEO Rick Calvert was a guest on The Big Biz Show to talk about why he started NMX and what you can expect at our 2014 show in Las Vegas. If you didn’t listen to his interview live, check out the video now!
As Rick mentions in this interview, the early bird registration deadline is TODAY. If you haven’t registered yet, now’s the time to get your ticket to the show. Use the code BLOG20 for 20% off your ticket.
Remember, you have to register TODAY to get the early bird ticket price. Head to the NMX event site now to secure your seat at the event.
I have to admit: when I heard that Dana White would be keynoting at NMX 2013, my initial thought was, “Who?”
Our co-founders, Rick Calvert and Dave Cynkin, were extremely excited, both being huge UFC fans. But as someone who is not into UFC or other fighting sports, the name was not familiar to me. It is now, in a huge way.
With over 2.3 million fans on Twitter and a complete sports empire built on social media, anyone in the social space would be shooting themselves in the foot not to listen to what this guy has to say. After his keynote at NMX, Dana sat down with Rick and Dave to talk about Twitter and dish out a little general social media advice to anyone smart enough to listen. How did he grow his personal following and his business using social media? Check out what he has to say:
You can see Dana’s full keynote at NMX University, where you’ll also find access to more keynotes from our 2013 event, bonus interviews with other speakers, and more.
Social Media Success Secrets with Dana White Transcript
Rick Calvert (0:05): We are backstage in the green room, here with Dana White. Dana I know…
Dave Cynkin (0:10: At New Media Expo!
Rick (0:11): At New Media Expo. And I know you get this, I mean, as Dino said earlier, was talking to you. I don’t get star struck either. I’m freaking star stuck, man.
Dana White (0:21 🙂 Thank you. I’m honored.
Rick (0:23): I mean, we’re huge fight fans. Thank you so much for coming to the show, we really appreciate it.
Dana (0:26): Pleasure.
Rick (0:27): You said something in the keynote that you love Twitter. Why do you love Twitter so much?
Dana (0:33): I love Twitter because, first of all, it give me the ability to cut out all the middle men. Meaning the media or whoever it might be. And I can talk directly to our fans or whoever wants to talk to me. You know, you’d be surprised how many, you know, how many amazing things that I’ve done, you know, real time with our business through Twitter.
Rick (0:56): By the way, is this the strangest place ever don an interview before?
Dana (0:59): No, actually it’s not. Funny you should ask.
Rick (1:01): What is the strangest place?
Dana (1:02): I’ve literally done one…I did this interview one time in the bathroom at the Hard Rock. Because the guy liked the tile in there, so we did it in the bathroom.
Rick (1:11): And were people coming in and?
Dana (1:12): Yeah, people were walking by us and, whatever.
Rick (1:16): Very good. So, Google+, you haven’t used Google+ yourself, but I was talking to your content guy earlier, and I know you said you weren’t using Instagram. But as an organization, you’ve got people on almost every social channel.
Dana (1:28): Every platform. Every platform or social media that has ever been created, we’ve been on and we’re engaged in some way. But me, personally, Twitter is for me. It just works a lot easier for me. Twitter is…Twitter is what I’m into.
Rick (1:43): Do you think it’s important to pick one platform and just kind of live there? Or can you do two or three different things good?
Dana (1:49): I think you can do two of three things good if you’re really into it. I’m really into Twitter. It’s easy for me, it’s fast, it’s simple. You know, it’s what works for me. And that’s the thing. When I talk about social media, whether your thing is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, whatever it might be. Whatever works for you, you absolutely 100% should do it and figure out what does work for you and what works for your business or your brand or whatever it is you’re into.
Dave (2:19): What about control? I mean, you, I don’t want to say let things get out of control, but most companies are so shielded and so guarded about what they say. They don’t let people from their company speak without following a specific legal policy. And you let it fly, and it’s great because everybody…all these fans feel like they’re like you, and you’re like them. You’re just another fan.
Dana (2:37): It’s what’s made us unique and makes us different than every other sport. You know, I’ve been the way that I’ve been day one, since we started this company. And it has allowed me more slack than some of these other guys have or will ever have. But I think that it’s…The way that I run the business, the way that I interact with the fans and the way that the UFC does things. I think it’s the future. I think you have to be this way, you have to be. The younger generations, they live on social media. This is where these kids live. They live on the Internet. They live on YouTube, the Internet, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and all these others. That’s where they live. If you don’t go meet these people and engage with them where they live…I don’t know. It’s not good for the future of your business.
Rick (3:31): So, one of the questions I was going to ask is if you think the UFC is particularly positioned, you know, in the world that you’re in makes social media easier for you? And, say, maybe a Fortune 100 company, maybe Ford, can’t be as transparent as you because their business is different than yours. Or do you think they should be just as transparent as you?
Dana (3:50): No, it’s not about being as transparent as me but, I don’t care if you’re Ford or Microsoft or whoever. You should live where your fans are. You have to get in there at some point and live where your fans live. You have to be there. Or your customers, or whatever you want to call them. You don’t have to be like me. I would never recommend going out and acting like me on Twitter or any other place because that might not work for you. But it worked for me.
Rick (4:18): And, when I hear you talk about the UFC, and you said you’ve been a fight fan since you were a kid. We were talking about that a little bit before. Do you feel like you have a responsibility to fight fans? Not just UFC fans, but fight fans in general with the way you guys direct the UFC and where you’re taking it.
Dana (4:35): I think so, yeah. You know, at the end of the day, the way that I Iook at the business and the way that I look at my job and what I do is; I’m asking you to stay home on Saturday night and sometimes put down 45, 50 bucks, watch these fights. And, yeah, I think that it’s my job to give you the fights that you want to see. To give you as much access to the UFC as we possibly can. That’s another thing that we’re really big on, is giving the fans as much access as they can possibly have. Looking behind the curtain, getting behind the scenes. And really making them feel like a part. Because I remember being a kid and what a huge fight fan I was. And, for me, and I keep talking all this stuff that shows how old I really am, it’s like, all I had was the newspaper. Every Sunday, they would come out on the back page and it was all boxing. It’s the only thing I read. I wouldn’t read any other part of the newspaper except that boxing section. And I remember how engaged I was, how…I just couldn’t consume enough information about the fights. And I told you guys earlier, I knew everybody, man. The guy over here that rang the bell. I knew the guy who, you know, the cutmen. I knew everybody. And that’s what’s really, you know, the way that the UFC was built and designed is that fans who are really, you know, into it…everybody is interactive. You can interact with everybody from the octagon girls to the cutmen, the referees, I mean everybody.
Dave (6:07): You know, the fighters, the businesses, now, that came to this conference that are learning from you. Is there anybody that you see using social media, where you watch what they do and you say, “That’s really a good idea, I didn’t think of that,” and you learn from them? Is there anybody that you kind of…?
Dana (6:22): You know, I follow a lot of different people on there and everybody has their own unique style of tweeting. And, you know, putting out whatever message it might be. I can’t stand people who keep constantly tweeting ads. Or always pitching or selling or doing something like that. It drives me crazy. I block those people. And I don’t block many people. I like people…I follow people that are real. I like people who talk real. I like people who are interesting, and will tweet interesting things. But I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody that was like, “Wow, this guy has really got it on lock down. I gotta do what this guy is doing.” And not to sound like a cocky idiot, but a lot of people follow what we do and start, you know, doing the stuff that we do on Twitter.
Rick (7:15): It sounds like you’ve learned some things what not to do by seeing what other people do.
Dana (7:19): Yeah, and that’s…I’ve done that my whole life. I look at what people do that I don’t like and making sure that I don’t do that.
Rick (7:27): You mentioned that about boxing earlier, you don’t want to be like them.
Dana (7:28): Yeah, that was our model. Is to do the exact opposite of what those guys have done over the last 35-40 years.
Rick (7:34): So, you guys do this amazing job engaging with your fans in social media and giving us access to things that we wouldn’t get in other places. How’s the culture inside the UFC? Do you guys use, you said earlier, if anybody wants to know what’s going on with the company who works there, watch your Twitter feed. You guys talk to each other on Twitter? You send direct message to people in the company?
Dana (7:55): Yeah, I’ll see people in my company that pop up on my Twitter and say stuff. You know, we do things, you know…we let the fans see a lot of personal stuff through Twitter. At our Christmas party, we were Tweeting, you know, pictures of, you know, we had the Red Hot Chili Peppers play at our Christmas party. And people were sending out pictures of that. I was on stage drunk; I saw a few of those pictures out there. There were a lot of things going on. So we let people in. We let them deep in. And that’s part of the fun of being a fan of the UFC. There’s nothing that we don’t let people see. We let them see everything. We let them see behind the curtain.
Dave (8:34): You know, something that you mentioned today; you don’t like it when the athletes think they’re comedians and make mistakes. And I’ve seen those things and…
Dana (8:42): I’ve made mistakes too.
Dave (8:43: I just going to ask. You’ve done a lot of great things. What you done anything that you thought, “Wow, that was a real mistake,” and what did you do about it online?
Dana (8:52): Yeah, I mean, you know, to say that I’ve never tweeted anything stupid would be stupid. I have tweeted some dumb things myself. That’s always my philosophy. When somebody does something wrong, the world freaks out. Like, “Oh my God, how could this happen?” Because we’re human beings. And we’re all going to make mistakes, and we’re all going to do stupid stuff sometimes. Everybody’s had that tweet that they wish they could reel back. But, you know, once it goes, it is what it is and, there’s, you know, you have to deal with it here and there.
Rick (9:24): Own up to is, accept it.
Dana (9:25): Yeah, it is what it is. It’s going to happen. It’s going to happen. If you consistently keep tweeting stupid stuff, then it’s a whole different level. You know. Then we’ve got to talk.
Rick (9:38): Dana, thank you so much for all the time. We’re honored to have you with us.
Dana (9:41): Pleasure, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Many bloggers and other content creators do their best to disclose to their audiences when they have received money, gifts, or other special perks that supports the content they make available for others to enjoy for free. Despite these efforts, most bloggers and publishers may still not be following the FTC’s disclosure rules. Even for people who actually know about these guidelines, there’s still great confusion over what they’re supposed to disclose, and exactly how to do it. (See FTC’s New Dot Com Disclosures: What Every Online Marketer Needs to Know to learn more about the FTC requirements and upcoming changes.)
Even long-time veterans in our industry are left scratching their heads over where things are with the FTC. New Media Expo’s CEO and Co-Founder Rick Calvert is one of the thought leaders in our industry who I thought really understood this issue from both the perspective of the marketer and the consumer, and who was also willing to come out on the record over what has been a highly sensitive subject.
Grant: What do you think of the FTC’s requirements for disclosure of material relationships for guest bloggers and other outside content contributors?
Rick: I do think they are appropriate, I think disclosure is good. I think that as a publisher, and any type of content creator, you should always disclose if there is some potential conflict of interest with any type of relationship with somebody who is posting content; and so that definitely applies to guest bloggers.
For example, we’ll let people who exhibit at our show post a guest blog on our blog. But, we disclose that they are an exhibitor, we tell you who they are, and we also require that their post not be commercial – so it’s not promoting their product.
Now other people could have a different standard than that. It depends on what the audience that post is meant for. Some people want those types of product presentations, since that’s what that audience is looking for. But again, if somebody paid for that, or there is some sort of business transaction happening, you definitely should be disclosing that relationship.
Grant: Or, if it’s something someone received for free (or at a significantly discounted rate wouldn’t normally be made available to them?)
Rick: Oh sure, something for free – free travel, a gift card to Starbucks or an Amazon, that sort of thing.
Grant: Many of the most widely read and subscribed to blogs in online marketing, like New Media Expo, will naturally feature guest bloggers as speakers at their events. The FTC’s Press Officer informed me that those are also likely fall under business relationships, which should be clearly disclosed.
Rick: I really thought that was interesting to learn about, since I don’t think the FTC has ever actually included that information anywhere before that you need to disclose if somebody is speaking at your conference. Again, we have no problem with that and we do anyway, but that just seemed a little strange that the FTC would even think that far, and that deep.
Grant: Do you think the FTC has some issues with how they communicate their regulations to the online marketing industry?
Rick: I think the answer to that is, does the average blogger know about these regulations?
Grant: How about even veteran thought leaders in this space? Take the example of Search Engine Land’s Editor-in-Chief, Danny Sullivan. He himself has reported on the FTC’s activities for the search space for over a decade, and recently published an open letter to the FTC on search engine disclosure compliance – and even he was completely unaware (mistaken, even) on the FTC’s guest blogger disclosure guidelines.
Rick: It’s pretty indicative that if Danny Sullivan doesn’t know what these regulations are, I think it’s pretty safe to say that overwhelming majority, the vast overwhelming majority, doesn’t either. I don’t know how to describe the significance of that any stronger. The vast majority of people in our industry – social media, blogging – have no clue what these FTC regulations are and how they apply to us.
Grant: Do you think that most people who are entrenched in the online media and marketing ecosystem, who’ve started out in it and have been in it for so long – may not have the same understanding of FTC compliance laws versus the more traditional media industries?
Rick: I would assume that people like Huffington Post, AOL, Forbes – traditional media companies that are involved in social media – should know what those regulations are because they comply with those things in their normal, traditional media business. But I would bet you the average blogger wouldn’t. I could name dozens and dozens and dozens of conferences in our space – technology conferences, online marketing conferences, search conferences, social media conferences – they probably have no idea of those regulations or how they apply to them.
Grant: From my experiences as a long time blogger who’s been a freelancer or done guest posts for many different online marketing publications, I can say there’s so much confusion with publishers on what they believe the FTC disclosure guidelines are. You could even get completely opposite opinions from one publisher or another on why they think they don’t apply to them.
Rick: I wouldn’t fault any of those people either; it’s the FTC who has done this horrible job of making people aware of these regulations.
Here’s just for an example: There are 3.9 million active mom blogs in the United States alone. That’s one of these spaces where this is prevalent, where people are concerned about disclosure. It’s where a lot of people write posts either as guest blogger or on their own blog; or they will let a company write a guest post; or they will ghostwrite a guest post. What they don’t always disclose is if there is some sort of business relationship going on. A lot of times it’s just for free products, or a nice free trip for the blogger. But a lot of them are not disclosed. As big as that space is, it’s only just one example of how prevalent this is across our industry, where people need to be concerned about disclosure.
Grant: The FTC says the larger issue here is consumer transparency and building trust, so consumers can feel as though they can safely do business online, and so businesses can play fairly. I think most people who follow these guidelines can agree that the FTC isn’t intentionally trying to cause confusion, although there are certainly unscrupulous people in our industry who will try to take advantage of that confusion.
Rick: Right, because people who are doing things like that, don’t care. They either are knowingly violating those guidelines or they don’t care what those guidelines are and nothing the FTC does is going to change what they do.
Grant: How much of the problem do you think is how the FTC can do a better job of catching criminals, versus better educating the public?
Rick: If the FTC finds out about somebody who is breaking the rules – maybe blatantly breaking the rules with forethought and doesn’t care and so they prosecute them, and it ends up with a fine most likely, that gets in the news, but that doesn’t really educate anybody. It might scare a couple people, probably not, but it doesn’t really do anything to address the problem.
Grant: Clearly the FTC doesn’t have the resources to monitor the entire Web, with millions of bloggers and publisher sites. Where do you think the maturity of our industry is today to support independent watchdog groups – across social, search, blogging, etcetera – that can do the kind of monitoring with the expertise behind it that is trusted by both the industry and consumers alike for what they find and report – and can have the ear of both mainstream media and government?
Rick: I think there could be a place and it’s probably a good business opportunity for somebody. That’s probably the best solution, but New Media already has its own solution. Someone can start a watchdog blog where people can report something that they think might be a violation, and then you could review it and say, “Well to us, this is in compliance or this is not in compliance, and this is exactly what wasn’t and this is what they have to do to make it in compliance…” and if the FTC wanted to weigh in on that – it would be amazing if the FTC did that, but I doubt they every would.
Grant: So some people reading this are going to ask, why hasn’t there been some kind of watchdog association yet?
Rick: Well, there have been several people who tried a blogging association. We tried when we started BlogWorld and realized pretty quickly there is no critical mass to support that. For video, you know any type of video association there is, is only going to deal with traditional media entities, not independent publishers in any way.
This is something we always have to remind ourselves being inside the bubble of new media, is this space is still so new, and we really are still in the Wild West. We are, I think, years away from any sort of association type of governing body to lay down ethical practices and standards that anybody is going to agree on.
Grant: The FTC says in their documents that they apply the same legal standard for online media and offline media, or new media and traditional media.
Rick: But do they really? If that was the case, then people should be able to do things just like infomercials on television or on radio. I believe in having high standards for disclosure and transparency, but what I don’t want to have happen is the government impose that standard on us in New Media and not impose it on traditional media, and end up creating an unfair playing field.
Grant: What do you think that those of us can do in the New Media industry for improving trust and consumer transparency?
Rick: I think it is important for us as digital content creators to try and set a higher standard for ourselves; We have to remember why we came to the Web in the first place, I think it is incumbent upon us to create that higher standard and support it – however we do it is up to all of us.
By now you probably know about Chris Brogan’s three word challenge. Every year, Chris chooses three words to help shape the upcoming new year. Each year, Chris also challenges the rest of the blogosphere to come up with their own three words. Well, the BlogWorld team took him up on his challenge. On Sunday morning, we all woke to a “Happy New Year” email from Rick Calvert. An excerpt:
We wouldn’t be where we are today without each of you but I want to challenge you all to challenge yourselves to exceed even your own expectations in 2011. Not just when it comes to your BlogWorld responsibilities but in your personal lives as well.
Chris Brogan has a great blog post explaining a little twist on New Year’s resolutions. Instead of having traditional resolutions, he picks three words that represent an overarching theme that helps guide all of his goals for the year. I think it’s a great idea and would like to encourage each of you to think of three words that represent your goals for 2011.
As we all shared our three words via internal email, it occurred to me that you all might be interested in our three words as well.Not only does it tell you something about us, personally, but it will also show you our focus and determination for2011. So I asked for, and received, everyone’s permission to share their three words with you.
Behold, the BlogWorld team’s Three Words for 2011:
Rick Calvert:
Live includes several things for me, including getting healthier, spending more time with my family and enjoying and making the most out of every minute of life.
Learn includes reading more , keeping up with the latest technology and developments that effect our industry, playing my guitar, and mastering a foreign language among other things.
Lead includes trying to make the best possible decisions to help each of us and BlogWorld as a whole to succeed, positioning BlogWorld as the leading event in our industry and leading by example.
Dave Cynkin
(Who also considered adding “brevity” to his list):
Fitter: Last year, I resolved to get into great shape. I put forth some effort, but didn’t really achieve what I’d envisioned (I injured myself multiple times and it kept me from exercising consistently). Still, the small, incremental forward steps I made amounted to a platform I can continue building upon. I’m resolving this year to get myself into better shape than last year. I started a fitness post series on our blog, but got so busy with the event coming up, I didn’t continue. I’m now going to continue researching and improving my own nutrition, experimenting with new exercise and training regimens, and I’ll continue posting about fitness to help others as I help myself. The times when I’ve felt, thought, worked, created and performed best was when I had great health and fitness. My mind is tied to my body, and I’m resolving to improve them both as part of my daily life. I have some specific sports goals which are dependent on fitness, but that’s another conversation.
Friendlier: I’m generally a fairly friendly guy, always calling friends to keep in touch while driving on the freeway, emailing to say hello, inviting others for the rare dinner out, and I try to get out and meet up with friends when possible (meetups, tweetups)…but I want to be a better friend and family member. I want to listen better, strengthen my relationships with friends and relatives, and spend more time re-connecting with those who are dear to me (which can be challenging with business, kids, sports and keeping a household running). I often think the year goes by so quickly, but the way I mark time over the course of the year is with fun get-togethers spent with friends and family members. I don’t quite know how I’ll create more time to increase frequency of these occasions, but it’s important to find a way. I love social media because it creates a bridge to new relationships and conversations with new people, but it’s also important to appreciate and nurture the relationships I have and am grateful for.
Faster: This is really about organization and time management, rather than somehow getting faster like a superhero (although the thought of a cape is mildly intriguing). Like all of us, I’m busy and I never seem to have enough time to get everything done. I get up early and stay up late, yet there’s just a big darned pile of to-do’s waiting for me the next morning. Well, it’s high time that I get more organized and efficient. It’s easy to let emails and phone calls distract from getting things done efficiently, but this year I’m going to get better at focusing, completing, moving on to the next thing. Better to have 10 things done and another 10 on deck, than to have 20 things incomplete and insufficient forward motion. I think I’m pretty productive, but being more methodical, I’ll get tasks done quicker and free up time for the other 2 items listed above. Once I’m working more efficiently, I can also easier determine which items I cannot get to in a preferable amount of time, and I’ll seek help to get those things done and not wait for me! 🙂
Patti Hosking:
Health, Prosperity, and Balance. I’m sticking with them and will do my best to live up to them through my BlogWorld role. 2011 will be phenomenal especially if we keep working together!
Deb Ng:
Positivity: I take a vow of positivity each year. It keeps me from firing off at comments or emails in anger, and encourages me to find the “bright side” of every situation. It works.
Productivity: I’ve gotten more productive in the business sense, but not in the personal sense. This year’s productivity relates to my body more than anything else and I am going to work hard to get my body into shape and be productive in body, mind and spirit.
Patience: I hate waiting. Bad things happen when I wait. I need to fix that.
Nikki Katz:
Growth: I really want to grow in all aspects of my life – spiritually, learning, writing, traveling, working … From growth comes excellence and I always strive for the best!
Cherish: I need to learn to cherish my kids, my friends, my family, and the little things in life. I’m always going forward at 500% and need to take time to appreciate the present.
Patience: Sorry Deb, I have to take this too! Patience is a constant struggle with me. I have a temper and it is quick to flare when I’m angry – whether its waiting or whether its when someone else doesn’t understand something I’m trying to explain (that would be my children!)
Alli Boyer:
Focus: In the past, I’ve been going in a bunch of directions, but I’ve found that in trying to be good at everything, I haven’t really been excellent at anything.
Risk: I’m going try to push myself in 2011, get out of my comfort zone a little more.
Connect: I’ve made some awesome friends in the blogging, and in other parts of my life, and I want to do my best to stay connected to these people, rather than getting wrapped up in my own life too much and letting those friendships and business relationships die.
Did you blog about your three words for 2011? If so, please share in the comments.
Do you have an event, conference or meeting, besides of course our event which I just talked about, that you want us to know about? CES was a huge event in Las Vegas last week, and our very own Rick Calvert and Patti Hosking was in attendance along with the reported 150,000 other people all wanting to see what the next cool thing was in consumer electronics. We at BlogWorld & New Media Expo love to attnd these types of events and we plan to make sure we have someone that can make it to help promote our show and to also report on what we see in the industry and trends and news. The problem is, it is tough for us to keep track of all of the events in our industry.
Mashable, RWW, TechCrunch and others all have calendars of events and we tend to keep our eyes on those lists to make sure we see all of the events that are reported in those industries, but event they don’t have a handle on all of them. What I want to know is what are your events? Are yopu running something that we shoudl attend? Do you have a conference, or a show, or a trade event in an industry that doesn’t necessarily fit into the tech world or maybe it is on the fringe of social media, or other places you think we should know? What about in other countries, are you planning on having a show in your city and in your country not in the United States?
With the number of categories our convention and trade show covers, with real estate, business, sports, military service, technology, monetization, politics, etc, etc. What events are not being publicized that we should attend? Leave a comment and URL here if you have an event we should notice. I am also going to start compiling a list of events that are brought to our attention as we want to help you promote your event as much as our own. If we can make a hub for people to come and find events in the new media world, we would love to help.
I think the next big thing that we may be attending is Affiliate Summit West again in Las Vegas. Many of our friends and track leaders and speakers all attend that event on affiliate marketing. Will we be seeing you there?
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.
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!
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.
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!
It has been a long road or journey, one that I might pack for differently given what I know now, but a journey that has been fun. I first agreed to help work this conference as far back as 2006 when I first met Rick Calvert in Seattle at a blogging conference. I have seen our BlogWorld & New Media Expo go from an idea to one of the largest, if not THE largest conferences in this industry. I am very thankful for the opportunity to have worked in the capacity of Conference Chairman this year, putting together the lineup. I have some big shoes to fill with Dave Taylor having done this in previous events. It has been a number of 20 hour days and lots of phone calls and meetings and emails and tweets and pony express riders to get to this day but we are finally here.
The speaker “grid” as we like to call it has been posted and we will be discussing it at length today on Blog World Expo Radio on Blog Talk Radio. My guest on the show will be Rob Walch, the brains behind the podcasting and video tracks. The tracks Rob worked on were very important because they are a culmination of experts that will be representing our first blending of New Media Expo and BlogWorld& New Media Expo. As you may remember, we acquired that event that was similar in nature to ours and that announcement was made back in December of 2008. We hope that the lineup we have for this year will be as great as the podcasting and videocasting world has come to expect from that event.
Feel free to give us feedback on the lineup thus far. As you can see with its current state it is a living and breathing document. Believe me when I say I have tried numerous times to beat it into submission and make it behave, and most of the time it has beat me back. There are some tracks that we have yet to put into the system and some that are still be worked on and probably the most difficult items are yet to be completed, the keynotes for the event. I can assure you those will be dynamite!
Thank you for your patience, especially to all of the hundreds, of people that made submissions for sessions or presentations. It was very difficult to choose from the number of presentations. We did not have any difficulty in getting quality speakers from the many that submitted. I would urge you to get your ticket and register for this group of fine presentations. The speakers and experts we have assembled will allow you to justify spending some time in Las Vegas, October 15-17, 2009.
Recent Comments