Meet Liz and Terry at the #SOBCon hashtag to talk SOBCon.
Meet up with your SOBCon friends or make some new ones! Join us for the fun!

We’ll be sharing secrets and swapping strategies. You can bet on that.

Share your SOBCon memories and blog posts again.

Hear more about SOBCon Colorado and get your questions answered.

Don’t worry, I’ll make sure Terry doesn’t sing … yet.

Liz

I had never met Liz Strauss before. We had bantered back and forth on Twitter and I could tell she was of the same sassy nature as me. I was introduced to her by my good friend, Kelly Olexa…someone I had also met via Twitter. Come to think of it, I’m quite amazed that most of the relationships in my life are with people I’ve met on some type of social platform. Some, I can honestly call best friends.

The commonalities? We all have voices. We’re not afraid to share. But most importantly, we’re not afraid to give. These facts were just reinforced by a weekend with amazing people.

When you get 150 people in a room who are ambitious entrepreneurs, who make a living by teaching people how to rock their business in a, as Chris Brogan would say, “human” kind of way, the energy that feeds off one another is like no other. The people who sit in chairs beside you who want to know you, then want to know how they can help you is immense. The power in social media…the power of 150 is something that can change lives.

I learned so much about my friends in that weekend space. I learned so much about myself and my own voice in that space. But I could never be able to truly give the experience justice in a blog post. I could never relay the realness behind the voices you and I hear on a daily basis. No, it is only one to see for yourself.  Some things I learned…

1. It’s not about working hard. It’s about working smart - There is money to be made in this space, but there is much more than that. It’s about creating relationships. (Now, this is not necessarily something “new” I’ve learned. I’ve always gone about way in this manner, but for those who don’t quite get it or have a “what’s in it for me” kind of attitude, people will see through you.) But the bottom line: build relationships.

2. Focus on the positive – I don’t have to tell you the negative crap we all see on a daily basis. I’ve see not-so-nice blogs written about my friends as well as been subject to them as well. Don’t give negative more negative. You know? Hearing it said again just reinforced it. Sometimes we all need to be reminded of the obvious.  When I was able to see Hank Wasiak talk about teens and “asset-based thinking,” the ideology behind Change the Way You See Everything, I have to admit I got all fired up inside. Focus on the positive.

3. People have different perceptions of engagement – When Amber Naslund posed the “if people aren’t posting comments or giving you feedback, does that mean they’re not engaged?” question, it really shook something in me. No, no that doesn’t mean they’re not engaged. I read all kinds of blogs, love them, take stuff from them but I don’t post a comment to every one of them. You better believe I’m engaging, just no one really knows it.  (and PS…engage is such a lame term…I think we should begin using the universal ‘communicating’ word….because even when you’re not communicating, you’re communicating.)

That’s only the beginning. The best part of it all though was meeting everyone. Thank you Liz and Terry for making my SOBCon experience so great. Can’t wait until next year.

Photo by Steve Hall

Today my voice is gone and my two pairs of glasses still qualify as 1. lost and 2. broken. My head and heart are filled with meaning. Yet my fingers aren’t feeling so eloquent.

Sometimes words are inadequate. I trust you’ll read the spaces between them this time.

Wish more than anything I could reach through my computer to shake a few more hands, to underscore an idea, to give one more hug or handshake while a taxi was waiting.

Sometimes, words are not enough to share the impact of three non-stop, powerful days of sharing, caring, and strategies for helping us work better in our virtual business worlds on the web. To sum it up, let’s cast the net out to the participants who somehow found the words, the pictures, and the videos to share their SOBCon 2010 experience.

Not sure what the fuss is all about? Loren Feldman’s video interview “SOBCON Thoughts – 1938 Media” with Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker began with his definition of SOBCon as being about the people, blogging and social media and the intersection of all of those. Liz argued back that SOBCon is “about doing business. It’s about doing business online. It’s about strategies. It’s taking your brain out to play in a room full of really smart people.” Loren’s 15 minute “lovefest” goes on to discuss how his worldview of the web is based upon the harsh side of the web business world and how SOBCon is about sharing with the competition, allowing him to see “another corner of the Internet.” One of his favorite discoveries is how SOBCon gets people “in the room” and out of the hall, something he’s never seen at any other conference.

Jeannie Walters wrote about her five SOBCon promises to Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker, beginning with the theme of the weekend:

I’m not sure I’m ready to post this yet, but if there’s one takeaway from SOBCon, it’s this: Effing Launch It.” Don’t wait for perfection. Don’t expect everything to work the first time. Just get it done!

So instead of a recap, I thought I’d make some promises. Liz & Terry inspired this, but I know these promises are not really to them, but to me.

Among her promises is one that means the most to many of the SOBCon participants: Not just making connections, but friends.

5. I promise to visit The Netherlands.

Ok, so this one is really personal. But after spending 2 days with Erno Hannink and some time with Pieter van Osch, I really need to see how they grow ‘em up so smart, engaging and, um, directly honest there. It’s not often you go to a hometown conference and walk away with a new lifelong friend from across the ocean. But I did.

Destructo After SOBcon : 5 Ways To Change Your Life summed up SOBCon this way, then listing five invaluable ways her life was changed and how you can change your own:

After SOBcon, a three day social media/business/blogging mastermind convention in Chicago. I feel like the David After Dentist kid, it’s hard to step back into reality after three days of being surrounded by some of the most caring, innovative and successful people in the business. Here’s how SOBcon changed my life and the five things that you can do to change your life.

Michael McCurry was truly moved by his SOBCon experience. “Asset Based Thinking — How to Change the Way You See Everything!” and “Leadership With Love — A Potent Formula For Life and Business!” cover the inspiration two of the speakers, both authors, Steve Farber and Hank Wasiak, changed his way of thinking.

Drew McLellan of The Marketing Minute quoted fellow SOBCon participant Amber Naslund with “…sooner or later the mash potatoes are going to touch the peas” explaining:

…some people are clinging to the idea that they can embark into the world of social media and somehow maintain very distinct and separate personal and professional lives…There are no divided plates in social media. So you might as well figure out how to blend your worlds. I hate to break it to you… but they’re already blended.

Geoff Livingston shared “Realizing the Change Dream at #SOBCon 2010” with his experience of hosting the Managing Non-Profits sessions on Sunday.

If you could only see the attendees’ eyes during Non-Profit Day… Many were full of tears. You could see people felt the societal pains the causes were attempting to fix. There was an incredible sense of purpose in the room.

Everyone gave back on Sunday, but you got the feeling that, as Terry Starbucker said, people were transformed. In my mind, it’s likely that a good handful of the bloggers will do more than a day of service, and become change agents in their own right. That is an incredible thing. Whether that’s using companies to give back or on own own personal level, it’s always incredible to touch people so they awaken to their possible impact.

Career Adventure – Pay it Forward Starts Here: Free Career Mentoring for You by Kristi shared her thoughts on the presentation by Steve Farber speaking about mentoring. His presentation so fired her up, she’s now started a mentoring program on her blog!

I Go Right For The Blogular wrote “SOBCon – Launching the Effer” and described the event and the lessons learned, including setting long term goals with little steps – doing five things a day to accomplish the big goal – and how changing the world means beginning with yourself.

Ted Murphy shared his how he started with PayPerPost in a video capture of his presentation by AdRants. In the six and a half minutes of Ted Murphy’s presentation, he shared with the audience what it felt like to be on the wrong end of the stick that smacked him when PayPerPost was not embraced by the world with the enthusiasm he invisioned. It’s a story of how to face adversity and survive from lessons that would destroy a lesser person. How do you struggle back up to the top when you’ve been pounded into the ground? Lessons for all of us.

One of the most exciting parts of SOBCon is sitting in a room with 150 of the smartest people in web publishing, online business, and social media. Tapping into their heads for three full days is an amazing experience. For instance, Reve News interviewed SOBCon panelist Julien Smith discussing freedom and social media as a “gateway drug,” sharing his support of SOBCon and the status of social media and the future, something discussed by many throughout the weekend, along with a lot of other challenges that many businesses face in this new media. In other words, they need to come to SOBCon next year to get ahead of the curve.

Reven News also interviewed SOBCon co-founders, Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker on ethics, trust, and Internet famous, telling the story of how SOBCon started, but also how it’s evolved with the changes in the online business world, development of social media tools, with SOBCon helping to change the conversation on social media and online relationships.

Liz: It’s true. It’s like running a saloon. You want to have a lot of people in there who are having a good time. But if somebody gets out of hand you want to be in control so they don’t spoil everyone’s fun. Our role in the community, part of the intentional serendipity thing, is to set up the experience. You know everybody talks about experiences online well you can do it offline too. You set up the experience in such a way people are free to share ideas and have their conversations but not be rude or let things get out of hand.

What my dad did with a register in a bar, I do with a blog and a computer. There isn’t a whole lot of difference. He got out from behind his bar and went to the local restaurant and left tips for everybody in the restaurant as an invitation, an excuse, a reminder to come back and visit his bar. I leave my blog and go out to Twitter and Facebook and places like that as a reminder and excuse to come back to my blog. What’s the difference?

I think the word ’social media’ is going to go away soon enough. They’re using it to mean technology, well, crayons are social media and so is alcohol.

Speaking of awesome participants, you can follow all SOBCon attendees on Twitter with the help of TweepML with only a couple clicks.

Erika Napoletano of Redhead Writing asked “Are you a Tool?” in her post after SOBCon:

I’m here at SOBCon in Chicago, sitting in the middle of a room as Jonathan Fields digs into WHY bloggers are what they are:

we’re gap fillers, pothole fillers and problem-solvers.

We’re tools. While some of us are tools” in the pejorative sense, on a broader scope, we’re a means to help clients (and ourselves if you’re doing the RIGHT thing and treating YOURSELF as a client) achieve goals.

I’m going to throw myself into the conference and send you my recaps, but here’s what I’ll say at 9:46am CST: if you’re not here, you should be. Put this conference on your radar for next year. If you’re in the South, check out the Austin edition coming in September this year. I’ll post details as I find them for your reference.

Here’s your call to action today – a Redhead Nugget for thought:

Are you being a tool in the useful sense and carving-out a market for your self based on being a solution

or

are you being a tool?

Extraordinary Mommy summed it up in “SOBCon 2010: What I Know For Sure” with the overwhelming awe so many experience after leaving the event on the last day:

Five hours of silence. That’s the length of a car ride between Chicago and St. Louis.

That is simply the beginning of the stretch of time I will need to process the wisdom and heart that hugged me this weekend.

I am a new kid on this social media block….so, I walked in to SOBCon knowing I have a lot to learn. But I’m also smart enough to know that the learning really shouldn’t ever stop.

I took no pictures. And no videos. (except for some fantastic karaoke with @PhilGerb and @unmarketing ).

I just wanted to BE. To listen, To ABSORB. To meditate on the brilliance. To decide which of the gems applied most to me. Is it silly (and decidedly girly) to admit I had revelations that almost brought me to tears?

It was magic. And learning. And bonding. And deciding.

Her post has a wonderful collection of quotes from the event’s speakers. They are worth pinning on your wall, along with the ones by Barry Moltz in “The 20 Best Things Heard at SOBCON 2010.”

Barry Moltz of Chicago Now also reviewed SOBCon with pictures for his one day of the event, then shares more in SOBCON: Chicago’s Social Media Event of the Year.

Work Life Nation summed the event up with “It’s about human relationships! Success through the lens of #SOBCon.” Author, Judy Martin, responded to journalists asking about SOBCon, struggling to find the right words to explain it.

SOBCon was an intense experience in the self preservation of the ego. I felt like I was heading into the first day of junior high school with a really bad haircut and the wrong jeans. But here’s the difference. These experts in social media didn’t want to see me fail. Instead, they embodied what I consider to be my personal vision and mission here at WorkLifeNation.com – the exaltation of the human experience in work and in business.

Steve Woodruff of StickyFigure published quite a few posts after his round-up post, “I Went to SOBCon and All I Got Was…,” inspired by the weekend surrounded by some of the best of the best, and motivated by a deep seated wish to change his ways, too:

It’s my intent in 2010 to build deep, not wide; to get beyond 140 characters and really get to know fellow travelers on this network we’re building. SOBCon is a great venue for that – small (150 people), focused, and plenty of time for interaction. Having known Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker (the SOBCon king and queen) for quite some time, it was easy to conclude that the time would be well-spent at an event they were orchestrating.

SOBCON Day 1 — Success Begins Today by John Richardson featured only a few but invaluable highlights from the first day of the event, including:

Narrower the target, the bigger the opportunity…Be clear about what you do and who you do it with…Small shifts… big difference…Forget perfection…Knock someone’s socks off…

He then went on to share more indepth lessons in Telling a Better Story where he makes it clear that we need to tell our story and remove the filters of fear, Finding Phil about meeting Phil Gerbyshak who he says “represents the true meaning of blogging,” and A Million to One: Finding My True Voice, in which he explains how he’s processed the event a few days later and realized he has some work ahead of him to realign his passion and story, focusing on the “one true thing” for himself and his readers.

Intuit, one of the key sponsors of SOBCon, truly defined the benefits of being a SOBCon sponsor: You are one of the participants. Monica Appelbe shared that participant experience explaining her biggest takeaways:

1. Fail fast, fail often
2. Focus: Find your niche
3. Your people matter
14. Get to it already!

She quoted Chris Brogan saying “Stop collecting recipes. Open a restaurant and start cooking!”

Here are some videos of the event and interviews with participants, including the social media equivalent of the Back Street Boys for the “annual” karoke party.

Better Closer’s Bill Rice explained that SOBCon is about relationships and how SOBCon caught her off guard:

Every time you try something new there’s always some unexpected effect. SOBCon 2010 was something new for me. And the unexpected effect was relationships.

That may seem an odd statement. We go to conferences to network and build relationships. At least, that’s what we tell our bosses and our companies. Think. We often fail–don’t we?

I was happy about how easy it was to build relationships at SOBCon. It’s small, which makes it easier. It’s sessions are like workshops (mastermind groups), which makes it easier. And it’s designed to keep people together, intimately, for 36 hours or so–again, making it easier.

Work Life Lift wrote a love letter as her thank you to SOBCon explaining how love hits you when you least expect it:

This past weekend, I attended the SOBCon, Virtual Meets Concrete, social media conference. It was my first social media gathering. I was intimidated, because what I’ve done with my blog, twitter, etc. over the last four years has been amateur-intuitive, at best, and not driven by any informed strategy.

But I knew I wanted to take social media to the next level, and SOBCon seemed to fit the bill. I had no preconceived notions of what to expect other than show up, see what happens and learn. What happened? I fell in love. Literally.

Kneale Mann wrote that this is what change feels like, exploring the question “who are you?”

I attended an event in Chicago this past weekend which was a chance to work with 150 really smart people and I’m so glad they let me sneak in. To some this may have appeared to be a social media convention. Social media are tools. This was not a tool convention. This was a gathering of passionate people taking about business.

…SOBCon is about full participation. If you attend, you work. And magic happens. You make new friends and business associates. I had numerous discussions with people who were asking my advice right after I sought theirs and it was a soft place to land and share.

Also, check out the many videos and interviews by CateTV during the SOBCon 2010 weekend.

How do you find the words, Liz? You listen. These are your voices, sharing your original vision of a place to share and communicate on the web, brought home to Chicago, and now spreading out around the world.

Thank you to Lorelle for writing this!

Then Terry in the middle of huge business meetings, stopped long enough to put an event brite page so folks could reserve a seat. And folks signed up immediately!

Whoa! Thank you!

One of those folks was Eric who tweeted proud to be a SOBCon2011 pre-registrant!

I said, “It would fun to have a badge for that.”

And this came in my email today …

Isn’t it awesome?!!

Thank you Eric Lukazewski
Website: Echelon Design
Blog: Trade Show Insight
Twitter Name: @ericlukazewski

Laughing with gratitude. Thrilled with a smile.
Liz

Each of our four charities — Anixter, Ashoka, InvisiblePeopleTV and Vitamin Angels — will discuss their strategy, current social media efforts, and online hopes. From there the room, comprised of some of the brightest minds in social media, will match the mission and goals of the organizations with the tools, with the end game of providing meaningful social media strategy that can impact the world.

Like Zoetica CEO Beth Kanter likes to say, “Even better, what if we all learned from the process?” In addition to group sharing, we will have break-out sessions where each table

Sounds like a plan to me. The following is a brief description of each of our four participants. I hope to see you at SOBCON!

Our Participants

Anixter: The mission of Chicago-based the Anixter Center is to enhance the ability of individuals living with or at risk of disabilities to live, learn, work, and play in the community. Each year, at dozens of locations across greater Chicago, Anixter Center provides an array of effective, innovative services to more than 5,000 children and adults. These services include education, employment, life skills, communication, recreation, health care, counseling, and support.

Ashoka: The global association serves the world’s leading social entrepreneurs—men and women tackling system changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social problems. Since 1981, more than 2,000 leading social entrepreneurs have become Ashoka Fellows, providing them with living stipends, professional support, and access to a global network of peers in more than 60 countries. With its global community, Ashoka develops models for collaboration and design infrastructure needed to advance the field of social entrepreneurship and the citizen sector.

InvisiblePeopleTV: Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal on Twitter) will come and discuss Invisible People. For years mark used the lens of a television camera to tell the stories of homelessness and the organizations trying to help. The reports were produced well and told a story, but the stories Mark produces now on Invisible People are much different. These are the real people, telling their own, very real stories… unedited, uncensored and raw. The purpose: To make the invisible visible.

Vitamin Angels: This socially-savvy charity seeks to mobilize and deploy private sector resources to advance availability, access and use of micronutrients, especially vitamin A, by newborns, infants and children in need. Vitamin Angels reduces child mortality worldwide by connecting essential nutrients, especially vitamin A, with infants and children under five. Essential nutrients enable young immune systems to fight infectious diseases, helping children attain good health and the opportunity to lead meaningful and productive lives.

• Chris Brogan
• Amber Naslund
• SOBCon Founder, Liz Strauss

This is a great panel of Social Media rockstars (all on the podium in Chicago), and they will be offering you a little sneak preview of some of the fantastic content they will be showcasing at the event – and offer their takes on why SOBCon2010 will be the best one yet.

(We’ll also be announcing the winner of the 2010 “Blog It, Earn It” FREE ticket – more on that later)

This webinar is exclusive to attendees and newsletter subscribers.
2/15 Update: Since it is Webinar day, here is the registration code