Since I attended the very first gathering, SOBCon has always been about taking the time to think through the trajectory of both my business and my life. If I like the direction, how can I do even better, and if I don’t like the direction, what are my practical alternatives? Twice after coming back from Chicago, I’ve launched a business partnership. The first one eventually petered out, but I learned a lot from it and those lessons have continued to be helpful as I run the second business, Tourism Currents with Becky McCray.SOBCon has also been absolutely key to my evolution as a blogger, aka a multimedia online publisher. I had no concept of the value of my social media skill set until one of the conference speakers (in 2008, I think it was) looked out across a roomful of attendees and said, “As a business person, I can tell you that we in mainstream business want what you bloggers have in your DNA; the ability to communicate effectively online. And make no mistake – we’ll pay you for it.” That’s when I got serious about figuring out what I needed to do to make a living doing what I love. Much of what I am today, I owe to Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker St. Marie.
Liz said something at the very first SOBCon – “At the bottom of every draft blog post is a button that says, ‘Publish.’ You’re a publisher. That’s pretty powerful.”
As usual, she made my brain connect to an idea in a brand-new way. I think of her every single time I hit that button, publish on my blog and send thoughts out into the world.
Sheila Scarborough, Tourism Currents
Awesome observations, especially about trajectory and personal accountability with making choices in our own lives (as they relate to attendance at SOBCon). As someone who values efficiency, I have been overwhelmed at both events I’ve attended at the “concentration” of brain power, drive, empathy and energy present among the attendees. It’s like plugging into the sun – 100% current. What’s even more powerful is the sustained effect that energy has, post conference. If SOBCon is the “jump start”, during the days, weeks and months afterwards, periodic contact from the people you have met provides the energy boost to keep you moving forward. I meet partners at SOBCon that I never knew existed. Wow, huh?
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