Hello again everyone, Terry Starbucker here from Ramblings From a Glass Half Full

As you can see by looking on the right hand side of this page that I’m one of the speakers at SOBCon07 (register now!).

Actually, while I am going to speak at this event, my role is going to be different than the other fellow bloggers who will be on the podium.

You see, the only reason I ended up on that list is because I really wanted this event to happen, and was more than willing to offer my help to make it a reality. It was on one of Liz Strauss’ Open Comment Nights where I had the audacity to suggest that we try to get her Successful and Outstanding Bloggers (SOBs, as she calls them) together in Chicago.

I had so much fun corresponding via comments on a blog (and if you haven’t done this on Tuesday nights, you really should – it’s a blast) that I really wanted to meet these people – they all seemed so nice, so authentic, and pretty darn funny.

As it would happen, Liz had been thinking about this already – she wanted to do more than just have a nice party. She wanted to take this to a whole other level – where relationships could be deepened, blogging skills can be expanded, and our known world could be significantly expanded. She wanted to make it something special, in a way that only she (and other wonderful friends of Liz ) could.

How could I resist that? So I signed on, and on May 12 I will having the honor of introducing the other folks on the right side of the page.

Who is Terry Starbucker? Just a fledgling blogger from Connecticut, in his late 40′s and working full time in the service business world (and doing a lot of traveling to the Rocky Mountain West). I really enjoy blogging, and I’ve grown to cherish the relationships I have forged through it.

I like to look at life as a glass that’s half full, not half empty – in my blog I call it “looking at the literal world in a favorable way“. I also have wrapped “Half-Fullism” into a belief statement, inspired by Crash Davis in the movie Bull Durham.

As is my habit sometimes (I like to write lyrics and sing on occasion), I wrote a poem on my recent first blogiversary that I think sums me (and my blogging) up nicely:

It was one year ago today
I found a place where I had something to say
Talkin’ about the daily grind
And those amazing ties that bind

So I celebrate blogging, one year on
A labor of love that I chanced upon
And now I’m committed, and that ain’t no bull
To keep up with those Ramblings
From a Glass that’s Half Full

That’s why I’m going to Chicago – because I’m committed to find more of those “moments that matter“, and I know at SOBCon I will find them in abundance. I am willing to go to the top of any mountain and yell (or more likely sing) at the top of my lungs “Attention all bloggers: This is one special event you will not want to miss – it will be something you will remember for the rest of your lives!”

Register now!

David Armano

David has over 14 years experience in the creative field with the majority of his time spent in interactive marketing and digital experience design. An active thought leader in the industry, David blogs at Logic + Emotion which has taken the marketing, design, and advertising communities by storm. David’s blog has been covered by Forrester, The Boston Globe and landed in BusinessWeek’s “Best of 2006”. More importantly Logic + Emotion remains one of the blogging worlds most compelling success stories—combining healthy Technorati and Alexa statistics with an even healthier community of smart and passionate people who join the daily conversation on “L+E”.

Prior to his current role at Digitas, David was a Senior Creative Director with Agency.com where he led multiple initiatives for clients such as HP, Grainger, Con Agra foods, Bally Total Fitness and Abbott Laboratories. Previously, David earned his interactive stripes working with The Chicago Tribune on their site initiatives. David helped launch and upgrade site features, functionality and content for the Tribune’s flagship site. David also accumulated broadcast and direct marketing knowledge while working for companies such as Fox and Columbia House. David graduated magna cum laude with a degree in design (computer graphics) from the reputable Pratt Institute.

The Presentation

Designing Conversations: How “Conversation Architecture” can result in an effective, differentiated blog experience.

David, will combine his strengths in visual communications and experience design to show you how you can tap these techniques to help differentiate your blog and build a better experience for your community.

• The myth and reality of design and what it means to blogging
• How “conversation architecture” can strengthen your community
• How design effects our “personal brands” and can help you find your “voice”
• How visuals can enhance our conversations and spark meaningful dialogue
• How to upgrade your blog experience without alienating your community
• How you can get noticed by mainstream media and other influencers

About Liz Strauss and Successful-Blog

Liz Strauss is known as a relationship blogger, a person who answers every comment, and someone who never sleeps. If you ask her about it, she’ll tell you she lives inside your computer. Some folks have started to believe that. She believes blogging is about the people and, as part of her B.A.D. Blogger program, Liz calls a blogger a day to find out more about the folks who blog.

ME “Liz” Strauss has worked in print, software, and online publishing with small companies and corporate giants such as Pearson, Reed Elsevier, and Wolters Kluwer. She conceived and drove the reader-centered strategy that turned around a sharply declining company, taking it from $9M to sell for $35M in 3 years. Her presentations are known for being fun, insightful, and packed with quality content.

Successful-Blog Thinking, writing, business ideas. You’re only a stranger once.
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At SOBCon, we’re going all out to make this event insightful, memorable, content-rich, educational, different and fun! We’ve put together a powerhouse line up of presenters with one goal in mind – Help equip you to take your blogging to the next level.

So we thought you might appreciate a peek into who all these people are. We wanted to give you a savory taste of what you can expect from your interaction with each of them when you join us for SOBCon ’07.

Phil Gerbyshak – Relationship Geek

Phil Gerbyshak is a relationship geek who makes it great. Put simply, Phil creates and grows relationships on his blog, and in his world, and he’ll be sharing his tips on “how to be a relationship geek,” with 3 simple, but not easy, methods:

Know More – Learning more about your brand, and yourself, helps you to learn more about why others are attracted to you, and what you can do more of (and what you can stop doing)

Share More – Your knowledge…Your network…Your love…Your time…Your attention. These are things to be shared. Don’t keep them to yourself. Phil will share how he does that without burning out.

Grow More – At the end of the day, we all want to get better, to improve our life, to improve our relationships, to grow our knowledge to grow our network, to make our blogs, our business, everything, better, GREATER. Phil will share his tips on how to grow your life from good…to GREAT!

Reserve Your Seat Today

You don’t want to miss this conference. Come join us, interact with all our presenters, and learn how to take your blogging to the next level.

We look forward to getting to know you a little better there!

Like so many in the blogging world Mike Sansone is one of those folks who doesn’t sleep much.

But a guy maintains a powerhouse blog like ConverStations with over 2,000 folks subscribed to his feed, consults and coaches with business leaders to help them start and improve their business blogging sites, hosts the ConverStations Workshop Podcast, and has a family doesn’t have much time left over for sleep.

Mike is the unofficial leader and champion of a steadily growing group of Iowa business bloggers which some of us have been known to jokingly refer to as the Iowa blogging mafia.

Here’s some of what Mike says about himself in his bio:

My passion is to build community – offline and online. I’ve done this through property management, online community programming, volunteerism, and – for a short time – as an assistant pastor at a Baptist church in Maryland.

I earn my keep as a Blog Coach, helping companies and professionals launch and improve their business blog sites.

• I believe that we’re all contagious (whether we admit it or not) and we each choose which contagion to spread.
• I believe that at the core of ourselves, we are each still very much like the 5-year olds we once were, just wanting to be liked, have fun, and be curious.
• I believe that I’ve used the word “that” too much in this biography. I believe I can see you smiling as you read that. I believe if you’re not smiling right now, you will be after you say this out loud: supercalifragilisticexpealidocius (good thing that’s not a website).

What do you believe?

Mike will be bringing many of his Iowa associates to SOBCon ’07. And we’ve got him lined up as part of a powerhouse panel that will be covering marketing, branding, business blogging and more.

You aren’t going to want to miss it. Register to reserve your seat today.