Everyone is well-fed (I only had 2 or 3 plates, makes up for not eating)… there are 4 people in the room walking around with wireless mikes – the theme is “questions and conversations” and it’s kind of fun – wants to be awkward but it isn’t too much because we all know what this is and have participated in it already.

The music was awesome, our table chatted about Twitter, teaching companies to blog, talking about the difference between PR and Marketing and blogging, and how they intersect right now and how that will (and needs to) change.

I’m sitting at a table with a bunch of business bloggers (I’m surprised, I didn’t expect that, and even moreso (yes, bad stereotype) three of them are women (and seem to be quite successful and thought-leaders in this space). It’s cool, encouraging and I wonder if this is going to be an indication of the blogging demographics.

Speaking of demographics, it’s cool to be in this room with a ton of peeps with different background and demo’s – ages are all across the board (although I don’t see anyone that I’d call “old” here) – there are a number of young folks, I’d guess maybe half or more are women. The common thread is pretty strong her though.

So the question to everyone is “when you aren’t here, what do you do” or “what do you do when you are not blogging” – it’s actually a cool way to way to do the”me in 3 seconds” or “elevator pitches” or something like that. There is a lot of laughing/humor here and I wonder how different a chamber of commerce dinner would be if they did this kind of open mike thing there.

And, one last thing, just because they ask you once doesn’t mean they won’t ask you again, Ann Michael was asked twice the same question, even though she said it wasn’t fair, they still made her answer again.

Wendy Piersall (emom) just came in and was handed the mike, didn’t know what we’re talking about. Very cool first impression imho :p

People walking the mikes around are Liz Strauss, Phil Gerbyshak, Chris Cree, and Terry Starbucker.

Now talking about Basil the Codewriting Donkey (a fictitious character) that got the audience to boo in a big way (we all thought he was real). Ben Yoskovitz (the Instigator blog) – he sent Basil around the world and had a bunch of cool expierences, but it will likely retire.

Now blogging tips:

• enjoy the word play
• wendy eMom – how to title a post on getting laid off… and then come out ahead, or come out on top, or stuff like that. It was excellent for her SEO (dirty stuff, cha).
• Dave Dalka – been at internet conferences all over the world, speaker with 7k people, says this is the first time he’s been with JUST bloggers (seems strange to me). Best blogging tip is the askismet comment issues, he has a post to solve the problem (I have no idea what the problem is).
• Troy – says he’s the anti-blogger. Tips: (1) connect the unconnected and (2) don’t wait for permission to succeed (screw everyone else)
• Steve (?) – tip for new bloggers – pace yourself. It’s a long race (it’s not a drag race).
• Connnie Reece – from texas, every dot connects, likes to Twitter.
• Liz Strauss says to say hi to the twitter friends
• Clare says to go out and live life
• LiveYourBestLife‘s tip is to write from and follow your heart, be yourself and just write.
• Activists tip: time management (she starts working at 7:30 and goes until bedtime)… it’s hard to stop so figure out the balance.
• Don’t write for/to other blogs. Write for/to PEOPLE.
• someone else: consistency (I’m really nervous talkng with a mike here, but give me a guitar and I can sing it)
• TheGoodBlogs – when you right a blog entry, think “there are actually 50million other bloggers that really don’t know what they are talking about <laughing>” – the ones that are most powerful and compelling are the ones where they are passionate and feel very strongly about what they write about. If you think “am I good enough” then go ahead and blog.
• Doug Bulleit: Social networking now is where seach was 10 yrs ago – believes the more serious social networking will comefrom the things that we all blog
• StickyVideos guy – been consulting with corps, says the bigger the company, the more petrified they are with blogging. They are all about control – and afraid to use control. The tip is wirte the best content you can right and share as much insight and knowledge as humanly possible. This shows you as “brand you,” passionate, etc. Be aware of your brand. VideoSticky is the new deal (he is a sponsor of SOBevent.com) – it is the evolution of videos, blogs, community and connections. Will be in public beta in about 30 days.
• OfficePolitics.com and FrankieJames.com (I don’t know the spelling) – by joining together and spreading the message around the web, we can actually help change the world <applause>
• tip from the fashion-concerned guy: SPELL CHECK FOR PETE’S SAKE
• Derrick Sorles – writes for BusinessBloggingTips – loves working for his own business, not having commute and all that jazz that goes along with working out of the home. He wants to give back and so what he’s doing is helping non-profits blog, that’s his charitable efforts. Started helping a guy May 1 of this year. Consider helping others as a way to give back (with free blog consulting).
• Mark Goodyear – a non-profit blogger – (1) don’t play the technorati rank game (2) blogs need to be well-written – if you want to be a good writer, you need to read a lot of good books (unplug and read books)
• Drew Mclelland – Don’t drink unless you are in draft mode, (2) if Liz calls you and says “I have a crazy idea,” beware
• Blogging tip, it’s all about your reader. He learned the hard way.
• in blogging, “they” are the authority, and “they” are all of the bloggers!

Ok, something fun to throw out there – everyone name a song with Love in it, but no one can name the same one… we’ve gone through about 20 right now and no one is skipping a beat.

I’m signing off, darn laptop battery. Now I got meet people face-to-face and stop hiding behind this laptop. Buenas noches :p