Orangejack LLC

BlogOrlando was one of the best conferences I’ve ever attended.  It wasn’t just about the content (though it was great!), it was about the connections.  It was pretty easy to make connections and the conversations were easily started and continued with ease.

I was fortunate enough to be part of the team to pull the conference together.  Going into the conference I contributed with blog and twitter duties.  During the conference I was around to make sure things like power cords were in place and helped the speakers in the PR/Communications track stay on track.  It was easy because Josh Hallett was in charge and ran a great ’show’.

I was also fortunate to be part of a pre-conference, invite-only ‘think tank’ to kick around some of the thoughts and ideas of what is currently going on in the social media spaces – and what will be more and more important in the near future.  I came away with a fresher perspective on listening and monitoring what is being talked about online.

Did you also notice who else visited us?  Unfortunately he wasn’t much help with understanding twitter.

Saturday was the big day for the conference (excuse me, unconference – my second like it). I decided to audio record a few of my initial thoughts.

Below are a select few take aways from a few sessions:

• Jake MeKee told us it’s better to have an environment of trust; that a non-disclosure statement communicates discomfort, lack of trust, and is there for protection (I’m uncomfortable with you, distrust you, and I have to protect myself)
• Spike Jones told us that 92% of Word of Mouth still happens offline but that 8% online are passionate, influential, and what they say is easier to track.  Social media helps take a person from a participant to a fan. It’s not just about companies and customers talking to each other – it’s about reframing the conversation.
• David Alston told us monitoring what is happening online is similar to a call center that listens to the needs and opportunities then routes it appropriately. The reminder is that an influential person can give you attention, but it’s the long tail (everyone else) that can give you awareness.  He also had the best twitter analogy: “Twitter is like a digital handshake” when you follow each other.
• Joe Thornley reminded us that the benefits of living in the open online must outweigh the potential risks and it’s not for everybody.  However, you can’t stand still and since social media is cheap, instead invest in the people who can make the most of it.
• Erik Hersman ended the day reminding us that the reason we go online and build relationships is so that we can meet offline and strengthen them.

Overall this was a great time for me.  I was albe to reconnect with some and make new friends.  With the above notes I haven’t even scratched the surface of what all happened at BlogOrlando.  If you’d like to get a pulse of what happened, you should scroll through the public twitter stream and blog posts.

I think the biggest take away for YOU is that it is imperitive to be involved in listening and responding to what is happening online around your interestes and brand.  If you feel unpreparerd, find someone (ahem, like Orangejack!) to help you figure it out.  We’d be more than happy to help.  In fact, it’s what we love to do!

Photo sources: hyku, alexdecarvalho, alexdecarvalho, markkrupinski, and markkrupinski

UPDATE: The official recap is live on the BlogOrlando site.