Unsummit Minneapolis

Today I will be liveblogging from the Unsummit (un)conference in Minneapolis.

So far, I have bumped into all sorts of superstars from the local blogging and online social media scene, which is always fun.  I am looking forward to attending:

“Launching a Startup in Your Spare Time”
“Getting Good Ideas When Ideas are Tough”
UnPanel
“Make WordPress Work for You” (I’m hosting this session)
Ignite Speed Presentations”
“All the News that’s Fit to Click” (Citizen Journalism)

It’s only 9:49 a.m., and I have already met all sorts of great people, which is really why I value these events.  Events like this bring out all of those people that I wish I could chat with and work with on a daily basis.  All sorts of “online social media” discussions and online marketing discussions are taking place at any given time.  Another favorite topic seems to be “the future of online social media” – at least that’s one of my favorite topics.

10 a.m.

I am in Joseph Rueter’s personal online branding session.  I’m actually not that interested in personal branding as a topic, but I do think it is important in that if you don’t define your online presence, someone else will.  I have friends who have asked me to remove comments from my blogs, because they are in “job-search” mode.  This is ridiculous, because if those folks were pro-active, they could dictate what prospective employers see about them online.  These folks could bury any blog comments they might have made by creating a personal blog and branding it with their names.  It’s the difference between being pro-active and being reactionary.  But all this undercuts the fact that I believe employers shouldn’t give a damn whether or not someone made a stupid or political comment on one of my blogs.  😉

“You don’t need to be everywhere.  People just need to know where to find you.” Regarding Extendr.com

11 a.m.

“Getting Good Ideas When Times are Tough”

How do we get good ideas?  I like ideas and consider myself to be a brainstorming and idea-type of guy.  …now if I could only figure out the “follow-through” part of the equation.  😉

“Companies pay $500,000 for idea sessions.  – WOW!!!