Blog World New Media Expo wound up last week, leaving hundreds in attendance happy and blogged out! The event was filled with exhibition booths, great panel speakers and an opening party filled with web celebs and up and coming stars! While the number of general people off the streets was relatively small, that made it easier for those who made the trek to Vegas to actually meet the vendors, speakers and media! Soon as I walked into the expo with JhaVoice and the band, (shouts to Alex, Jorge, and Ozmo!) I was greeted by Patti from BlogWorld. She guided us through the gates and we were soon mingling with some of the best bloggers alive!
We stood up front for second, listening to the live broadcast from Townhall.com, and Pajama’s Media’s booth both vying for attention! Later I was interviewed by Carmen of SiTV.com and LuvCarmen.com The hot and steamy questions that she asked me, got a little hot under the coller for a second but was a fun little bit thanks to Talitha and the guys behind the lens at Luv Carmen.com. Make sure you check her blog at Sitv.com too!
I spent the majority of Thursday evening, wearing the manager hat, as JhaVoice, our amazing recording act here at the Kayaro compound prepared for the performance at the opening party, held in the Hard Rock Casino. As we made our quick rounds through the expo and jetted back and forth from the hotels and The Hard Rock, I tried to stop and smell the digital roses that were the numerous contacts in the blogsphere! People from all corners of the internet were in the house that night, from movers and shakers like Matt Mullenweg and the guys behind Wordpress.com, Leo Laporte, Will Leitch and a host of others.
Once we got the show on the road, all the tension and jitters faded and we were able to relax and party with everyone in our hidden dressing room. If you were in the house that night, I must apologize for the sound crew at The Hard Rock, as they decided to turn down the main volume, half way through the performance that night, causing all in attendance to jerk their heads toward the BOH system in unison, with puzzled looks on their face like “What happened to the sound?” Seems like JhaVoice was overpowering the social mixer and people couldn’t hear themselves smooze. Once the minor setback was overcome, JhaVoice and the crew got back into the groove with an impromptu live session, as Deana Tha Poet, Sincere and Lioness rocked the freestyle spoken word set to the live guitar work. The night was topped with tremendous response, despite the sound setbacks!
The next day was just as exciting, I got to take a slower paced walk thru the booths and hang out with some of my BlogCritics & B5 friends for a bit. It was fun finally putting faces to the names of some of our editors here at the sinister cabal of superior writers, and when we all put together the next big event, you all really should try and make it out! If anything, I wish I had more time to hang with everyone as it was really cool to take a look at our little family, all nestled up together, watching some of the side companies blatantly try to take some of our shine! I mean was it me, or did everyone in attendance step up Blogcritics booth at least twice?? We were the cool kids on the block, hands down, sans poker table and stand up-comedians.
While Phil took a quick run to In & Out for burgers, I chatted with Dave Nalle a bit about one of the great loves of anyone southern, barbecue. He has a new book out that already has me getting ready to plan a trip to Austin, to sample the Texan BBQ grills! The whole conversation reminded me just how long it’s been since I’ve been to Memphis, I may have to head down there to do some research! Eric and I spoke briefly about plans to expand our horizons at BlogCritics, with podacst and video streams all being considered. The future looked so bright at the BC booth, that we all really should have had our shades! From there we headed to the panel, as briefly spoke at a pop culture panel, put on by Eric. We actually had a handful of people in our room, as I winged it and tried to sound like I had a clue. The conversation was fun though, and one of the highlights of the expo for me personally.
I had a chance to set up a radio interview on BlogTalkRadio.com, with JhaVoice and I sitting in with Sean for a second. The guys at BTR were very welcoming and we look forward to speaking with them soon! Thanks to Lisa for kicking it with us and the kind words, see you in San Fran soon! Be on the lookout for more from us at Blog Talk Radio.
The thing about going to an event like this one is that you want to try and meet everyone. The closer you get to meeting that goal, the more your head begins to spin! We met tons of great people at BlogWorld and hope to stay in touch with you all. After listening to the keynote address for a bit and managing to meet Lynne d. Johnson of Fast Company for about a second, I headed back to the hotel for some overdue lunch. Our plans to catch up to the rest of the BC crew fell apart due as the dinner started to weight in and slow our motivation. The 3 AM last minute recording session booked later that night also took some of the wind out of my sails as I called it a wrap on BWE.
I am compiling a list of all the assorted BC/BWE links of the event, to share with you. Feel free to share your links & pics from BlogWorld here! Thanks again to Rick, Patti and everyone at the expo for a great time!
See ya at the next one! Check below for a few pics from the expo!
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