My Social Capital Conference Experience; Or, How To Earn Klout About Sheep
I recently had the pleasure of attending the 3rd Annual Social Capital Conference, right here in my hometown of Ottawa. Due to financial reasons, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it out this year, but then out of nowhere, my knights in shining armour from Chevrolet Canada stepped in and offered to pay my way to the conference. I have no idea why they did this but I am grateful beyond words for the experience.
While I enjoy going to conferences for the content they provide, the real reason I love them is for the networking and social interaction, and SoCap certainly did not disappoint in that regard. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to mingle with some of my favourite online personalities and got the chance to meet some amazing new people that I hadn’t interacted with before. I tend to ramble on and on, so I thought it would be best to bullet point my highlights from the conference for you:
* Not five minutes into my time at SoCap, I had the pleasure of meeting someone I really respect in the social media space, in Susan Murphy. You might remember her from such twitter handles as, @SuzeMuse and @icanhazpodcast, and she was even nicer in person than I had imagined.
* Gini Dietrich’s opening keynote was excellent and I especially appreciated that she went through her whole blog writing and publishing process, as it’s something I have been struggling with lately. Also, I’ve been lurking on her, Spin Sucks, website and the community engagement is incredible. They welcomed me in group form after my first comment and I will definitely be spending more time there.
* Danny Brown was incredible during his closing keynote, doing everything but performing a rap number for us. Although he was informative and witty, I think my favourite part was the video with Dino Dogan and him, which spoofed on Danny’s unusually high Klout influence on the topic of “sheep”. That video alone gave me a ton of ideas and was well worth the price of admission.
* One of my main goals at the conference was to learn more about how to shoot and create proper videos for my blog. Both roundtable sessions I attended provided more information than I was prepared for and the conversations have continued to this day. For that, I have to say special thank you’s to a few people. First, to Kat Inokai, whose passion and energy for what she does make you want to jump right in and get started. Next to Heath Horejda for his expertise and amazing tips on how to properly conduct an interview. Finally, to Anthony Wong at Do More Video, not only for helping me find the tools I need, but also for offering and providing guidance outside of the conference walls. You were all brilliant in your own ways and I learned a lot from you collectively.
* The first time I met the Cocktail Deeva, Dee Brun, I was a shy, red faced newbie at Blissdom Canada. She made me feel welcome and even wiped the nervous sweat from my brow before posing for a picture that I would use to brag to my bloggy friends back home. Fast Forward 7 months later and I am a smart mouthed Dad blogger who isn’t afraid to jokingly mix it up with her during her presentation. Honestly, this was my favourite part of the conference. The engagement and laughs during her session is what I am all about and I’m glad I chose that one. Also, for those looking for my nude Google+ Hangouts, I’m working on it…
*Finally, just getting to spend time with my friends, to talk about our lives, our blogs and our causes, is what made this an amazing weekend. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Engagement with our peers. This was my third conference this year and the value I have gained outside of the conference walls has easily been worth the price of admission by itself.
In closing, I just wanted to thank the organizers for putting on an amazing show. Also, a very special thank you to Chevrolet Canada for allowing me to take part in this incredible experience. I will absolutely be back next year! Also, if you are reading this, please follow all the wonderful twitter accounts I have tagged in this post. They are all amazing and insightful.
