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May 11, 2007

SOBCon07: Day 1 Impressions

I've spent a good day heading to and spending time at SOBCon07, and wanted to capture a few impressions here before I head to sleep.

The people at the conference are just amazing. I mentioned knowing only Phil coming into SOBCon, but it didn't take long to meet many friendly, warm people.

I met Tim Johnson and Director Tom (Clifford) over lunch, Mike Sansone and Clare Celsi in the restaurant, Terry Starbucker and Franke James in the lobby... and the conference hadn't even started!

I'd have a hard time naming everyone I met here, but in general everyone treated me warmly and as one of the crew right away. I feel right at home in this crowd.

Christine Kane provided a wonderful performance tonight. She's a great singer and musician, with an on-stage presence that made me feel at home and relaxed.

After the music we had a delicious light dinner, including pastries and veggies, cheese and sushi, all of very high quality. After eating, we had an open mic time, where we each shared a little about ourselves and what we do on our blogs.

After the kickoff even ended, I spent time hanging out in the room and then in "Le Bar" with many of the bloggers here at the conference, listening to their stories and how they blog. There's a common theme I see emerging from every attendee: a general amazement that this convention is really happening and that it's awesome to finally meet these friends in person.

I think it's fascinating and encouraging to watching online-only relationships expand and deepen in face to face connections. Coming in as an outsider of sorts, I'm able to see this dynamic occurring between people.

After only the first day, I've concluded I've made a great choice in attending SOBCon07, simply to meet so many wonderful, friendly people.

I can't wait until Saturday! :-)

May 11, 2007 11:45 AM | Blogging | add to del.icio.us

Comments

Mike, it was great meeting you at SOBCon. What a terrific group of people! I not only learned a lot, I made connections with talented, friendly people I'd love to hang out with more.

Posted by: Connie Reece at May 14, 2007 6:16 AM

Connie, it was fantastic to be at SOBCon and meet you! I wholeheartedly agree with your thoughts — I'm already reading attendee RSS feeds and preparing thank you emails this week.

I can't wait for SOBCon08! :-)

Posted by: Mike Rohde at May 14, 2007 8:23 AM

Mike! It was so very cool to meet you. I am very glad we had time to talk and get to know each other a little bit. I look forward to continuing the conversation. BTW, great sketches, etc... And nice pic of the little guy. Later!

Posted by: troy worman at May 14, 2007 10:10 AM

Thanks Troy! It was a blast to be at SOBCon, and meet you too. I can already see you're working on re-branding your site, so all the talk about branding must have had an impact! :-)

Posted by: Mike Rohde at May 15, 2007 6:57 AM

Glad you enjoyed the time Mike. It was very awesome to get to know you a bit more. I look forward to continuing our off the blog friendship even more as years go by!

Posted by: Phil Gerbyshak at May 15, 2007 11:04 PM

Thanks for introducing me to your 110 closest friends Phil! I had a great time heading to Chicgo with you — can't wait to do it again!

Posted by: Mike Rohde at May 16, 2007 8:25 AM