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
The minute we finished SOBCon2010, people were asking when 2011 would be. So we hustled our rear ends and got our acts together. We talked to Louise, the owner of the Summit Executive Center, and nailed down the dates.
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
On Sunday May 2nd, SOBCon 2010 will highlight four charities (501c3) that have volunteered themselves for a social media coaching session from its attendees. We have the great honor of Zoetica Media Geoff Livingston serving the conference as the NonProfit Give Back facilitator.
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.
Check out the FREE “Preview of SOBCon2010″ webinar on February 15, 2010, from Noon to 1:30 EST, hosted by Chris Garrett and featuring:
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
Also, please sign up for our newsletter (link in the sidebar) to get other special offers and up-to-date information.
Suppose you could take a weekend retreat away from the noise of the Internet …
Imagine a weekend work retreat with these people totally invested.
Would you write a blog post to get a chance to win a FREE SOBCon Weekend?
I’m delighted to announce that Terry and I get to make this offer …
We had such fun last year with the SOBCon “BlogIt, EarnIt” discount. We’re bringing it back again. Again this year, we’d like to hear from you — this time about what “The Virtual Meets the Concrete” means to you. We want to celebrate how our relationships online help our lives and businesses online and off.
Tell us why online and offline relationships and strategies matter.
1. Write a blog post about a person (or people) online who has (or have) made a difference in your life. Celebrate how they have made your life easier, better, smarter, more productive, more meaningful.
2. Then let us know by tagging your post #SOBCon2010 and leaving a comment on this post. Include a working email with your comment and as a thank you for sharing your story, we’ll send you a special code to take $250 off the $895 FULL conference rate – that’s over a 25% savings! (We won’t use your email to spam you.)
We’ll also tweet your blog post so that we can celebrate the folks we all think make us stronger.
Get your posts up before Noon EST on February 14th, 2010, and noon EST pm the next day (February 15th), to kick off a special SOBCobn2010 Webinar with Chris Garrett, Chris Brogan, Amber Naslund and Liz Strauss (details coming soon), we’ll put all of the entries in a random drawing and choose one lucky winner who will receive:
A total package value worth as much as USD $2000 – nontransferrable, nonrefundable
Blog your thoughts …
Share it, link it back to this post, and broadcast it on Twitter (hash #blogitearnit).
We’ll also encourage you to comment on the SOBCon blog for others to see and learn. And remember as a thank you for sharing your story, we’ll send you a special code to take $250 off the $895 FULL conference rate – that’s over a 25% savings!
Or, if you can’t make to SOBCon2010, you could “pay it forward” and pass the discount on to one of your friends — or offer it back to us as a gift for us to pass on for you.
We’re doing everything we can to bring you all the value, the experts and expertise, and the time to work and network that you need to make your business outstanding and extremely profitable in 2010.
We’re all coming for the same reasons.
I picked up a copy of “Rules of Thumb” by Alan M. Webber in our local bookstore last week, and it has some interesting ideas. First of all, being a fan of all things index card, it was fun to read about the stack of 3x5s that he has been collecting throughout his career.
“I’ve recorded these lessons on three-by-five cards that I carry with me every day at home and on the road. (This wonderful system is something that I learned more than 20 years ago from Harvard Business School professor Ted Levitt, one of the mentors you’ll meet in this book.)
Not long ago, I reviewed all the three-by-five cards I’d written on and saved. This time my goal was to capture the rules I’d learned.”
Well, I (Stephen) certainly didn’t go to Harvard Business School, but I have been carrying notecards and notebooks around for a pretty long time. After I finish reading this book I am going to have to dig into those archives and see what pearls of wisdom I can recover.
In the meantime, let’s take a look at rule #1: When the going gets tough, the tough relax.
I can get behind this idea! In fact, it reminded me of something I had read somewhere before, especially as Webber expands on the idea, “Anytime you approach a task with fear you are a double loser.” and “Don’t let fear undermine your chance to do that one thing you’ve wanted to do.”
Indeed, fear can make a mess of things. Fear can also cause you to not make a mess, because you just might. Quoting from Frank Herbert’s Dune: (wikipedia link)
The litany against fear is an incantation used by the Bene Gesserit throughout the series to focus their minds and calm themselves in times of peril. The litany is as follows:
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
(I trust that this isn’t getting too deep.) Fear is the mind-killer. The dream-killer. The slayer of ambition and innovation. Fear of the unkown has killed more good ideas than we can probably count.
Don’t get me wrong, there are times when prudence is called for. But there are also times that you need to “feel the fear and do it anyway“.
Even George Costanza was able to overcome his fear and start making decisions. Completely opposite decisions to what he thought – knew - were right:
What fears have you overcome? Or, put another way, what would you attempt to do if you believed that you could not fail? Share in the comments.
Join social media and business mavens, pr and interactive agencies, big brands and ecommerce specialists working together on building the business of the Interwebs.
Speakers speak for 40 minutes. Then you work with your team applying what they said to your business.
Calum MacLean, of the Summit Executive Center, has made a videocast of the space where we meet. Click through to see what makes the working environment of SOBCon so special and enticing.
Click through and check it out!
We’ve added a keynote panel on Saturday. Wow!
AND even more is happening behind the scenes.
I’m SOBCon serious about that.
Planning a conference is a lot like planning a wedding reception. Everyone thinks, “Oh it doesn’t matter if I RSVP.” But business is about being able to make a decision. We made our decisions. Can you make yours?
Would you invest one day of experts, models, and teamwork to build your business around your strengths, your situation, and where you want to be?
Success is a decision.
Karen at bestwellnessconsultant [@] gmail [dot]com has volunteered to help coordinate a list of roommates for those who are looking.
Southwest has come great airfares. They also require a decision.
SOBCon08: Stop the Noise, Drop the Details, DECIDE YOUR BUSINESS
Hi everyone – now that we’ve picked the most excellent place to hold SOBCon08 (and its fabulous program) this year, the Summit Executive Center, it’s time to talk about hotels.
Yes, the Summit Executive Center is JUST a meeting center – it doesn’t have a companion hotel to put overnight guests.
BUT…(and here’s the really good news), there are nearly 4,000 hotel rooms within walking distance of the Summit (yep, it’s THAT good of a location!).
You have a lot of choices. On the other hand, sometimes too many choices is not such a good thing. It’s like the menu at the Cheesecake Factory – so many things to pick from, that it takes forever to decide (so THAT’s why there’s always such a long wait there).
So, we’re pleased to declare a couple of “preferred” hotels that are offering special prices for SOBCon08 attendees – Club Quarters and Hotel 71.
The Hotel 71 price is $225 per night – you can reach them at 312-346-7100. It’s best to call them during normal business hours, 9AM to 6PM CST M-F, and 9AM to 5PM on Saturday. Ask for the group rate for “SOBCon08″.
The Club Quarters rate is $139. You can call them at 312-357-6400, and it’s also best to call them during the day. Say that you are booking the room in association with an event at the Summit .
If neither of these hotels suit your fancy, there are many more – check out the Summit site for just a sample of the other options.
If you have any questions, just let me know at terrystarbucker(at)gmail(dot com).
Go ahead and register – NOW!!