Blog World Expo This Weekend: The Best of Blogging
Blog World Expo is in Las Vegas this weekend, September 20-21, 2008. I’m going to be there with Woopra, Layered Tech, and WordPress, and from the look of the Conference Schedule, so is everyone else.
The list of Exhibitors in the Exhibition Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center this year is incredibly diverse. So many companies want to reach out to bloggers, and so many blog, social media, and web technologies are popping up everywhere – it’s going to be interesting to learn what’s hot, what’s not, and what will be the future of the web.
Some of the exhibitors I hope to meet up with include:
- Zemanta Ltd.
- Website Magazine
- TechZulu
- TechSmith Corporation
- SixApart
- SezWho
- ServerBeach
- Photrade
- Pajamas Media
- Outbrain
- Media Research Center
- Mindtouch
- Lijit Networks, Inc.
- Investor Village
- IntenseDebate
- ideablob
- Crowd Science
- Cool Conference Live
- BuzzLogic
- BlogTalkRadio
- Southwest Airlines
- Blogger & Podcaster
- Blogcritics.org / BC Magazine
- Blogcosm
- BlogCatalog.com
Whew! When am I going to have time to check out the incredible speakers and visit with the other attendees?
The event’s workshops and seminars are broken up into specialties. They include the core Blog World Expo Conference events and some “sub-conference” events within the conference.
Executive and Entrepreneur Conference is the core of Blog World Expo and highlights include:
- E & E CONFERENCE OPENING KEYNOTE: HOW WE GOT HERE: The State of Blogging and Where It’s Heading with Dave Taylor
- How to Seduce Your Tribe and Create Raving Fans by Deborah Micek @CoachDeb
- Corporate Blogging Myths & Reality with a panel of Paula Berg, Manager of Emerging Media and Southwest Airlines and Chris Baggot and Mario Sundar.
- Micromedia: The Next Big, Small Thing with Matt Dickman, Louis Gray, and Neil Vineberg
- Finding Your New Media Voice: Getting the Right Mix of Tech & Talent with Roxanne Darling
- 10 Rules for an Effective Podcast by Mike Harper
- Beyond Blogging: Stories & Social Media Lessons Learned in the Real World with a panel featuring Tac Anderson, Rohit Bhargava, Michael Brito, Kelly Feller, and Anne Plese
- Twitter: Building the Connections that Drive Traffic with another panel featuring Stowe Boyd, Laura Fitton, Tony Hsieh, Lucretia Pruitt, and Erin Kotecki Vest
- Making Money Online with a Blog with an impressive team featuring John Chow, Brian Clark, Zac Johnson, Jim Kukral, Darren Rowse, and Jeremy Schoemaker
- More Than a Podcast: Maximizing Reach & Returns of Your Video Content with Damon Berger, Susan Bratton, Schlomo Rabinowitz, Tim Street, and Brett Wilson
- Defensive Branding: When a Crisis Comes Calling, How Will You Answer? by Pete Blackshaw and Richard S. Levick Esq.
- Facebook Fortunes: How to Market Your Blog, Business & Brand on Facebook
- How to Track, Measure & Adjust Corporate Blogs for Maximum ROI
- How to Deal with Trolls, Spammers & Sock Puppets
- Studypool Review: On-demand tutoring startup
The Citizen Journalism Workshop is geared towards blogging journalists and bloggers who “report” the news. The workshops cover:
- Journalism Content & Style: How to Write & Sound For Impact with Professor Stephen Berry
- Finding What’s Out There: Searching, Sifting & Selecting the Best Information Online by Professor Jay Perkins
- Top 10 Ways to Blog Your Way Into a Lawsuit with Nina Yablok
- Getting Mainstream Media Attention: How to Reach Out to Journalists with Professor David D. Perlmutter
The Real Estate Blogworld sessions are jam-packed with a ton of great seminars on marketing, promotion, networking, technology, and more targeted towards the real estate market, but with many events that could easily cross borders such as:
- Video Marketing Tools & Strategies to Help Your Business Go Viral
- Master the Key Points of Web Client Conversion, From Click to Close
- Social Networking with Photographs
- How to Write a Blog that Firmly Establishes Your Expertise
- Getting Great Content Out of Your Contributors
- Creating Referral Networks
- What to Do when Google Doesn’t Love You
- Getting Traditional Media Exposure Using New Media
- The Pitch
The b5media Blogger Summit is targeted towards b5media members and those interested in being a part of the growing blog network. Their programs also include information on creating and working with a blog network, and blog business tips such as:
- SEO & Advertisers
- How to Find Readers for Your Blog
- Copyright & Image Use
- Social Media Tools & Tips
- Staying Focused & Healthy
An interesting collection of seminars comes under the title, GODBLOGCON. It’s focus is on the growing industry of faith-based blogs and they have some interesting programs including:
- The Missional Church in the Internet Age
- Renewed Minds Online: The Internet, Media Ecology and the Christian Consciousness
- Godbloggers & Hollywood: The Role of Godbloggers in the Entertainment Industry & Why They Should Care
- On the Art of Online Conversation
- Supporting Your Christian Blog (While Staying Saved)
- The New Media Frontier: Blogging, Vlogging & Podcasting for Christ
It appears that most of the focus of this section is for Christians. I do hope they will also include the other larger religions and how they are using blogs to set an example and promote their own religions. Part of the magic of blogging is how it crosses borders so everyone can learn from each other.
Find Me at Blog World Expo and You’ll Win a Prize
Sunday, September 21, from 3:00 – 4:00PM is The Stats of High Performance Content and Marketing which will feature myself and John Pozadzides and Liz Strauss. I will also occasionally be found in the Exhibition Hall in booth 220 with Layered Tech, Woopra, and WordPress.
I’ve only scratched the surface of all the amazing events and speakers. I’m having trouble deciding which one to go to. Which would you recommend?
And if you are going to be there, be sure and track me down. I’ll be handing out free hugs. :D
The author of Lorelle on WordPress and the fast-selling book, Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging, as well as several other blogs, Lorelle VanFossen has been blogging for over 15 years, covering blogging, WordPress, travel, nature and travel photography, web design, web theory and development extensively as web technologies developed.
Hey Lorelle and Blog Herald readers,
Mashable.com will be there in full force including Adam Ostrow, Editor-in-Chief and Pete Cashmore, Founder. Looking finally to meeting you and all of the great companies you mentioned!
(btw, we use Woopra and it ROCKS!)
Lorelle,
I too am really looking forward to the event and am struggling with which sessions to attend. There are so many great presentations and speakers.
Hi Lorelle,
While Publishers Union of Bloggers is excited about this event, we also advise you Publishers Union of Bloggers currently advise ALL Publishers hold off installing any Lijit Software on their blogs pending both Lijit’s promised upcoming transparency from Lijit concerning revenue and Lijit’s current ‘terms of use’ which gives Lijit free reign concerning use of your content once our Publishers install Lijit Software into their blog.
Any thoughts on these critical issues for Pub’s, pass it on, all appreciate it.
Barney
Founder, P.U.B.
Lorelle,
Lijit is excited to be attending our second Blog World and we definitely look forward to meeting you. Please stop by our booth (# 330) to say hi!
@ Barney Moran:
Interesting. I’ve heard about this, but I’ve also checked out your blog and find no updated information, news, or resources on this topic. As much as your point is valid, it’s hard to take seriously.
A union for bloggers should surely have a more active blog, right? I think what you are doing is great, but we bloggers stand behind active participants in the community.
I’m looking into this more, and do hope your site will be a resource and reference soon.
@ Tara Anderson:
I’ll be there. Can’t wait!
It’s going to be an incredible weekend.
Hey Lorelle,
Looks like you have a jam-packed weekend ahead of you. That’s a long list of exhibitors… let alone all the other conference sessions and networking left to do in 2 days.
I actually won’t be there this year, and I just wrote a post called “7 Things You Can Do If You’re Not Going to Blog World Expo”, for all of us left behind.. :-/ Wish I could be there for some free hugs… enjoy!
Lorelle,
P.U.B will release a compendium of links to blogs like yours concerning the Lijit Issue as its discussed to date. What better resource than our blog community do you recommend?
Thanks for the request for more info and posting P.U.B.’s advisory on your blog. If you uncover any related info, please pass it on….
Barney
@ Barney Moran:
Thank you and I look forward to new posts with more information on the P.U.B. blog.