Sobcon: Divine Opportunity, Experience & Connections

Sobcon (Successful & Oustanding Bloggers Conference) was a divine  opportunity, experience,  and amazing connections. First of all, I was very grateful for being awarded the ticket to Sobcon by Naomi Dunford, one of the presenters from England who had passport delays and was unable to come to the US for this event. That was an  unfortunate situation but thanks to Naomi for this divine opportunity!

I  live in the Chicago area and with just a little over a week of finding out about this opportunity, I didn’t need a flight to get there. Majority of the attendees flew in from all over the US and a few even came from other countries which says that Sobcon is recognized world-wide. The buzz about Sobcon was filling the Twitter stream and I noticed it attracted several of my Twitter friends from all over the country, as well as Social Media A-listers as keynote speakers.

I’ve  been following some of these A-listers, and they’re referred by many as Social Media Celebrities; although they don’t acknowledge themselves as such: Chris Garrett, web-geek and co-author of Problogger from England; Chris Brogan, President of New Marketing Labs from Boston. Brian Clark, known as Copyblogger; it was a few of his tweets about WordPress that convinced me to make the move over from Blogger. And of course Liz Strauss, Founder of Sobcon from Chicago, a  brilliant woman in business who has turned companies from tanking into multi-million dollar profits.

These individuals are not only influential in the digital world, but are also magnets in real life. They may be dubbed as Social Media Celebrities,  but my friend Beth Rosen, blog owner of The Mid Life Wife calls them Realebrities (check out Beth’s post and find out why she calls them Realebrities)-love it!

This was my first Social Media Blogger conference and a coveted one to attend. Not to mention as a mother of three kids, having three nights  in the city alone, with a spectacular view and socializing in Batman’s apartment (where The Dark Knight was filmed) was like being on a mini-vacation. Now that’s what I call divine!

I’ve selected some quotes by a few of the speakers during the sessions that I  wanted to share with you. Quite honestly, there are probably several more that I should list, but I’m trying to keep this a post and not a book.

@Liz Strauss: Founder of Sobcon

• Numbers are important if you get the heart behind them.
  
• Focus and decide who you are.
• Conversation, Connect. Have a powerful network of relationships. Choose wisely.

@Chrisbrogan & @Julien:  (Authors of Trust Agents)

• Reputation comes from empowering others.
• Be humble, helpful, and share.
• Share with the world about people that matter.
• The web is the ultimate leverage engine…use it or lose it!
• TRUST AGENTS are successful people on the WEB.

@chrisgarrett: (Co- author of Pro-blogger) “Social Media is people and people can see what you are doing.”

@Geoffliving: (Strategic Advisor for Live Earth ) “Old School Marketing-includes Web URL but NO Social URL: Add Social URL!”

@kdpaine: Queen of Measurement- Measurementofsuccess “HITS = “how idiots track success”"

@TheImageStudios: Kali Evans-Raoul, Founder of The Image Studios

• Connection Between The Hidden Online World and the Real Physical World is Critical.
• Do you look, sound, behave in the manner of your attributes?

@ChrisCree:

• Social media is not the end all, beat all. But it’s a way to amplify your message to get it out further and louder.
• Links in your blogs is what Google sees as currency. Plant lots of outbound links and you’ll harvest inbound links.

@glendawh:

• An accessible blog is Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust
• 18% of population are disabled. That’s a market share bigger than tweens.
• Disabled market spends $1275 Billion- twice the tween market. Can you afford to miss out on them?

Glenda Watson Hyatt is an amazing woman who truly inspired me at Sobcon. She not only touched my heart but many others also.  Glenda is living with cerebral palsy and is a very successful blogger. She types with her left thumb! Glenda captivated my attention in her power packed presentation, How Pour Is Your Blog. She brought some astounding awareness to websites and blogs that are not  accessible to the disable. It was quite humbling and an eye opener to what we might be missing out on, in terms of our service to the disabled.

I loved what Jon Swanson, ( Social Media Chaplain) shared in his blog after Glenda’s presentation: Making Me Cry. I was moved just by reading his post and reflections about Glenda’s presentation and how it affected him as a minister.

I was in awe when I heard Glenda rode her scooter 2.5 miles  from our hotel to Harpo Studios (in the rain) hoping to meet Oprah. She shares that journey in Close Encounter with Oprah. Glenda is extremely intelligent,  independent, and fearless.  Her disability has not disabled her from living her life to the fullest! What excuses do I have? What excuses do you have? Please visit Glenda’s blog and get to know this incredible woman. You will surely be inspired.

Sobcon was educational, encouraging, and inspiring. It was a blessing to spend a weekend with some brilliant minds all in one location. I met several of my Twitter friends that I had been exchanging tweets with for several months for the very first time as well as form new connections. I could write a post about each of the people I interacted with, but I am going to mention just a few.

If you are not already following these individuals on Twitter, I encourage you to: Gail Goodwin, Founder of The Global Hug Tour, Lewis Howes: Author of Linked-Working (learn to maximize Linked-In); Jon Swanson: Pastor, Social Media Chaplain, John Haydon: Social Media Marketing for Small Non-Profits. Lastly, my new friend from Canada, truly a divine connection: Kelly Bouchard (Motivational Speaker).

Thanks to the Founders of Sobcon, Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker for hosting such a memorable event. Not only was Sobcon a divine opportunity and experience, but also a time for making some divine connections!

Feel free to view the rest of my photos from Sobcon on Flickr.

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2. Going To My First Blogher in Real Life ...
3. Blog Award: My Top Ten Social Network Connections ...

Tagged as: Blogger, Chris Brogan, Chris Garrett, Digital, Liz Strauss, SOBCon, Social Media, Trust Agents, Twitter