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What I Learned at IAEE Expo Expo

December 16, 2009

I always arrive at IAEE Expo Expo with the intention to blog about the event each day.  I also always leave overwhelmed by the early morning meetings to late night 'networking' without having completed a single blog post.  This year any different?  No.

But I did learn a lot.  For my small brain, Expo Expo is always the injection of new ideas, new relationships and new business processes launching into the next year.

A summary of what I learned in Atlanta this year:

• Don't ever purchase a ticket on American Airlines without a confirmed seat.  Can't check in online and when long lines are formed, you are waiting for a slow ticket agent while your plane takes off.  Then they tell you it is your fault.

• When you build a large network of online connections, trying to remember people when you first meet in person is very awkward.  Got to figure out how to tether online connections to the face-to-face meetings.

• Keeping up with Shawn Pierce gets harder and harder for me every year.

• Michelle Aubuchon is one of the best behind the scenes facilitators.  She understands how goofy speakers can be.  Her patience for the unorganized, her ability to handle issues and her ever-friendly attitude puts her on my top 10 list.  I am going to miss her help at IAEE; I am going to be glad to see her at SPE.

 

• Michele McGraw @scrappinmichele is my heroine.  She has Sears power tools on her Twitter page, she is a Twitter back-channeling fanactic, along with @michellebruno and @MsStallings. Her blog Scraps of My Geek Life is an excellent example of how our world is changing and how to monetize social media endeavors.  I want her to give my wife some pointers.  Oh yeah - she is married to a great friend and a true 80's rock aficionado -  Jason McGraw.

• GES did a great job with the Humanity Rocks party.  I didn't get a single moment with Jeff Quade, but had the chance to meet some of the new faces.

• The IAEE tradeshow floor had more technology suppliers than I had time to get around the entire floor.  This was a real bummer since there were many booths that I wanted to see.  Always a challange, how do you keep the floor filled but also give everyone enough time to get around?

• It is always fun to connect with Chris Brown to banter about our industry.  He continues to serve as my mentor - just don't tell him.

• The registration company, Experient is launching a very powerful Social Media solution + services offering in 2010.  I should know, I am helping them launch it - full disclosure.

• The first ever IAEE Tweetup was a huge success.  Congrats to John Tisdale @expocall as the catalyst to make this happen.

• I have to keep connecting in 2010 with Dave Lutz @VelChain - he continues to challenge me on bringing my 'A' game.

• Chris Brogan deserves the reputation he has earned as a social media rockstar.  Look, I am not big into celebrity status, but Brogan personifies everything he preaches.  He is one of the most humble guys that I have met and honest about his own experiences and knowledge.  I really enjoyed hanging out with him for a couple of days.

• The Georgia Aquarium behind the scenes tour is fantastic.  @GeorgiaAquarium  Not only did I learn how they UPS shipped the whale sharks from Taiwan, I saw how their 234 pumps move 275,000 gallons of water a minute.  We are talking about some serious horsepower.

• John Curtis with Quotient and Ian Strain-Seymour of Apogee Search are rocket scientists when it comes to web site design and search engine optimization.  Great news for our session audience was they could talk in plain, comprehensible english.  John's TinyCDN solution is worth investigating for website content optimization.

• Carrie Ferenac with CNTV @carrieferenac is quickly becoming a social media fanatic.  I also love their video services.  They have sponsored two of our MTO Summits and generated huge buzz for us off their industry leader interviews.

• Rick Calvert @blogworld amazes me with his knowledge of the new media world.  His candid opinions on our industry keeps him as a Trust Agent in our industry (go read Chris Brogan's book Trust Agents if you need further clarification).

• Subscribe to Chris Brogan blog if you haven't already.  Did I mention I have become a real supporter of Brogan?

• Despite my concerns, Guy Kawasaki was an awesome moderator for our IAEE Tech Panel.  Kudos to Mr. Kawasaki.

If you attended, what did you learn or observe?  Come on - share with us.

Posted by Stephen Nold on December 16, 2009 | Comments (3)