BlogOrlando 3 Unconference

Wrap-up of the Social Media Conference Held September 25 - 27, 2008

Sitting in the Rollins College auditorium surrounded by bloggers typing away on laptops and others Twittering on their smartphones, I knew BlogOrlando was my kind of conference. In its third year, the unconference held September 25 -27, 2008 in Winter Park, Fla., (just outside Orlando) was a gathering of bloggers and social media experts looking to network, share ideas, and learn about the next generation of social media. If you weren't one of the 234 who attended BlogOrlando, here's a snapshot of what you missed.

BlogOrlando: Opening Activities
I confess, I didn't participate in the opening activities. Thursday, Sept. 25, was an invite-only think tank. I imagine it was a meeting of the social media minds where they planned to conquer the world or devise a plan for world peace. I'm kidding, I'm sure it was much more in-depth. Friday night was happy hour at Slingapour's in downtown Orlando and I didn't make it, opted for the opening of the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival.

BlogOrlando: Saturday, Sept. 27
This is what I considered the meat of BlogOrlando. Thirty-four sessions relating to blogging and social media plus general opening and closing sessions. The sessions were filed under five tracks: Public Relations/Communications, Media/Creative, Community, Technology-Basic, and Technology - Advanced. Since BlogOrlando is an unconference, meaning the conversation and topics are fluid, session leaders were tasked at generating dialog in order for participants to exchange ideas.

Jake McKee (communityguy.com) opened the unconference and Erik Hersman, (whiteafrican.com), who rolled off a flight from the Netherlands that morning, ended BlogOlrando. McKee spent five years as the LEGO Company's first community manager and discussed how LEGO embraced the philosophy from "The Cluetrain Manifesto," a book encouraging businesses to get on board and evolve with their customers and utilize the Internet.