The lineup of speakers and presentations is impressive to say the least. My good friends Patrick O’Keefe and Wayne Sutton are giving a talk titled “Personal Branding & How to Break Into Social Media” which I can’t wait to hear. There will also be a videoconference with Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist and of course, the keynote with Brent Payne, SEO Director for the Chicago Tribune. There’s a little bit of everything, from business and marketing to social media and development. Check out the schedule to see the full lineup.

Registration closes Wednesday, September 29 so if you’re interested in attending don’t wait! Check out the ConvergeSouth 2010 website or go straight to the registration page.

Several speakers are also hosting dinners on Friday night. There is no fee to attend a hosted dinner, but you do have to buy your own meal. I’ll be hosting a dinner with Jeff Cohen and Trey Pennington at The Summit Station. It’s a great opportunity to network with the speakers and other attendees and enjoy a great meal. If you’re coming to ConvergeSouth, you should definitely register for one of the hosted dinners.

I’m also looking forward to Sunday, where we all get a free pass to SeaWorld for the day. I can’t wait, because I’m surprising my son… Sunday happens to also be his 4th birthday and I’m taking him (and the rest of the family) to SeaWorld.

Online voting amounts for 30% of the decision making process, with the advisory board having 40% and staff picks having 30%. Since online voting counts for so much of the decision, I’m asking everyone to take a look at these panel and session submissions and please vote “thumbs-up!”

Note: Even though my name isn’t on the Panel Picker website for each of these, I am a speaker on each of the panels below.

Marketing By Design: Practical Advice For Better Conversions

Great design is about getting visitors to take a desired action, whether that’s placing an order or clicking on an ad. Learn how to use proven marketing principles to increase conversions and ROI. I’ll discuss how to improve usability, navigation, calls to action, home page layout, error pages, & headlines.

How to Pitch Social Media to Your Clients

Odds are your clients have already asked about Social Media. They’ve heard about Blogging, Twitter, and Facebook and want to know how they can effectively use social media in their marketing strategies. We’ll discuss what questions to ask, how to charge, and how to pitch social media to your clients.

Other Panelists: Jason Falls, Principal at Social Media Explorer; Chris Brogan, President of New Marketing Labs and Co-Author of “Trust Agents.”

Marketing and Online Communities: Oil and Water?

Online communities represent captive audiences, having conversations that you want your company to be a part of. But, communities are built upon trust and respect that is earned and are rightfully protective of their space. So, how do you connect with them? That’s what we’ll discuss.

Other Panelists: Patrick O’Keefe, Owner of iFroggy Network and Author of “Managing Online Forums”; Darren Rowse, Founder and Editor of ProBlogger, Digital Photography School and TwiTip and Co-Author of “ProBlogger: the Book”Shayne Tilley, Marketing Manager at SitePoint and Co-Author of “Online Marketing Inside Out.”

Shameless Self Promotion Without Looking Like an @#$%^&!

Too often, individuals and businesses take advantage of someone else’s turf and excuse it as “shameless self promotion.” It’s not acceptable and it can lead to you being labeled a spammer or worse. In this panel, we’ll tell you how to promote yourself without turning others off.

Other Panelists: Patrick O’Keefe, Owner of iFroggy Network and Author of “Managing Online Forums“; Twanna A. Hines, Founder of Funky Brown Chick Corporation, freelance writer and blogger and Owner, FunkyBrownChick.comDarren Rowse, Founder and Editor of ProBlogger, Digital Photography School and TwiTip and Co-Author of “ProBlogger: the Book”.

When Does the Conversation End and the Selling Begin?

Social media is now critical in the modern marketing mix. However the emergence of a social media corporate etiquette is creating real barriers between a conversation and direct sale. So how do you effectively transfer your conversations to a sale without risking your online reputation? That’s what will be answered.

Other Panelists: Patrick O’Keefe, Owner of iFroggy Network and Author of “Managing Online Forums”; Darren Rowse, Founder and Editor of ProBlogger, Digital Photography School and TwiTip and Co-Author of “ProBlogger: the Book”Shayne Tilley, Marketing Manager at SitePoint and Co-Author of “Online Marketing Inside Out.”

I should probably have written a SxSW recap when it was still fresh in my mind, but after being out of the office for more than a week I was swamped. I also came back to a few small changes for the book, which didn’t take long but still added to the overall workflow.

Four of us from Kelsey Advertising & Design trekked down to Austin this year, up from just two last year. It was myself, Brant Kelsey (Principal and owner of Kelsey), Brian Handley (illustrator and web developer), and Roman Alvarado (graphic and web designer). Overall, I would consider South by Southwest to be a big success. I really didn’t feel the conference itself was as energized or had the impact it had on me last year, but the people and parties definitely made up for it. I spent a lot of time just hanging out and meeting people, one on one in small personal settings.

I met a ton of people, and saw a ton of friends and acquaintances from other conferences. Some of the highlites are below… I’m sure I’m forgetting someone (it has been over a month). If we met at SxSW, drop me an email! I probably just didn’t have your card and my memory is aweful.

I spent a lot of time hanging out with Brant Kelsey, Patrick O’Keefe, and James Dasher, especially in between sessions and at lunches. I met up with James, who I knew back in the early days of SitePoint, and ended up hanging with him for a good part of the trip. Patrick introduced me to Wayne Sutton at Mohawk at one of the first parties. Wayne’s a cool guy, and I’m looking forward to seeing him speak at future conferences.

I saw Wendy Piersall of Sparkplugging at a party, and even though we’ve met twice at other conventions, last year at SxSW on the Chitika Beer Bus and again at Blogworld, she still didn’t remember me! It was actually pretty funny, and I don’t think she’ll have as hard of a time remembering me at the next one… I actually think Wendy felt pretty bad about not remembering me. At any rate, I enjoyed talking to Wendy as usual, and look forward to seeing her again at Blogworld in October. I saw Rick Calvert of Blog World Expo at the same party, and also met him at SxSW last year. Rick talked me into going to Blog World Expo last year when I met him, and I was glad he did! I only spoke to him briefly, but look forward to talking to him more at Blog World this year again.

I saw Jason Falls at one of the many parties at Mohawk (a bar in downtown Austin). He threw a small unofficial party for Maker’s Mark. I said hello, but it was nearly impossible to hear due to the loud music. I did run into Jason later in the Blogger Lounge at the conference, and enjoyed talking with him about social media and picked his brain for a few minutes about the best way to “pitch” a blogger. I’m hoping his tips will come in handy as we promote the book in the months to come.

One day at lunch, Ted Murphy, founder of IZEA, tweeted that he was looking to grab some lunch. After a series of tweets and DM’s back and forth, we finally met up with him and Ashley Edwards of IZEA for lunch. We tried two or three different locations (one closed, others packed) and ended up at Buffalo Billiards. Ted’s a really cool guy, and also runs IZEAFest conference, which I’m seriously considering for this year.

After an amazing panel, I spoke to Gary Vaynerchuk who was kind enough to give me a quick 30 second video interview. I still haven’t gotten the video up, though remembering it now I think I’ll go do that… I also met Gary at Blog World Expo where he was keynoting. Gary is an amazing speaker, but he’s a more amazing person. See him on camera? That’s Gary, all the time. I met him in the halls of BWE and walked with him to his keynote. He’s truly one of the most down to earth “superstars” I’ve met, and I wish I had 10% of his DNA. I’d love to be able to stay that positive and always “kill it” as he says.

I almost got through the entire conference without meeting up with Aaron Brazell or Jeremy Wright, two old friends from SitePoint. There are so many different panels and parties, it’s entirely possible to never even be in the same place at the same time. Fortunately, the last day of the conference I ran into both Jeremy and Aaron in the Blogger Lounge. Though it was a hectic day with people in meetings and such, I really enjoyed talking to both Jeremy and Aaron. I was able to pick Jeremy’s brain for a bit about book marketing, a subject he knows well having published Blog Marketing way back in 2005.

Chris Brogan was hanging out at the Pepsi Podcast Lounge one morning and sat down next to me at the bar. I think I met Chris last year at Blog World, but I can’t remember for sure. Anyway, he’s a very approachable guy

I’ve been an author, member and Community Advisor of SitePoint for 8 years now, so when I heard Matt Mickiewicz, the founder of SitePoint, was coming to SxSW I was pretty excited. For some reason, we just couldn’t seem to hook up at the conference. I’d see Matt tweet that he was at one room, and I’d be on the exact opposite side of the convention center. On the last day of the conference, I heard someone talking on a mobile phone… he said “This is Matt with SitePoint.com…” He was sitting right next to me. It couldn’t have worked out better. Matt didn’t have a lot of time, he was running off to a scheduled appointment in about 10 mintues, but we talked for a few minutes and he introduced me to Jason Aiken of 99designs. Matt also interviewed me about my new book coming out in May, published by SitePoint, “The Art & Science of Online Marketing,” co-authored with Shayne Tilley. It was great to finally meet Matt in person.

I almost met Guy Kawasaki. I’ve seen him at several conferences, and he’s a very engaging and entertaining speaker. When we were at the airport waiting on our flight home, Guy was sitting at a terminal just down the way from ours. He was on a phone call when I walked past to grab some lunch, and when I came back he was already boarding the plane. I would’ve loved to have met him, but I’m sure I’ll get a chance at another conference or event. My favorite quote from his keynote, “If you live for the weekends and vacations, your shit is broken!”

In addition to all the great people I met, we also had a few funny or embarrassing, all captured on Twitter for posterity of course! The first full night of parties (which included the Madison and Mohawk) we ended up at Stubs. I don’t remember it all too well, and not because it’s been a month since SxSW. I do remember eating the best smoked wings I’ve ever tasted, which seemed to arrive 30 seconds after we ordered. I also vaguely remember offering to take a photo of two ladies with their camera… and apparently I couldn’t even figure it out because after about 5 tries they just took their camera back. I think Brant may have gotten it on tape, too, but fortunately I haven’t seen the footage.

The next night after a few hours at the Google party, I ventured out alone and ended up at the Pure Volume Lounge. I made it back to the VIP area without a VIP pass, just wandered back not knowing what it was. The second time I tried to walk back I was stopped by a security guard. He was really cool and gave an interesting perspective about how locals perceive SxSW’ers. I did manage to find my way back to the VIP area again, just before someone apparently sprayed a fire extinguisher, ending the party early (at 3:20 AM). I walked about a block before realizing it was really late. Fortunately the cabbies were out in full force, so I made it back to the hotel fast and safe.

Brant rode a mechanical bull at the closing party, which was caught on video! Unfortunately, I’ve been told I can’t post it on YouTube, but it is posted on my Facebook. All you have to do is friend me to see it… The closing party was a pretty good closing to the trip. We had a great time, even though I had a lot of party left in me it’s probably best that I called it quits a little early (i.e. 2 AM). Travel days are no fun.

I was pretty excited about this particular trip to South by Southwest because it couldn’t have come at a better time. With my book being released in May, it was a great chance to talk to people who’ve done it before and get some advice. I’m extremely thankful to everyone that stopped for a few minutes to answer a question or just lend a word of wisdom. I learned so much and met so many great people! We had just a blast, and every day (and night) was an adventure.

New Year’s Resolutions are made in good faith, really. Most people think they’re doing something positive by making a goal to get something done (or stop doing something, or start) in a new year. The problem is simply that life moves at you so fast, things change and you may be in a completely different place in another 365 days.

Ever year I do revisit my goals… I revisit the same short and long-term goals that I had in the previous year and re-evaluate whether they’re still appropriate moving forward. Maybe I don’t really want to keep learning the guitar, or maybe I want to start kickboxing instead of running a marathon. So what? You shouldn’t feel bad about breaking a “resolution” you made with yourself just because you changed your mind, or because life threw a curveball at you.

So around the beginning of each year I like to look back at the previous year, review my successes and failures, goals and accomplishments. And I look forward to the next year to see what might be in store.

A Look Back at 2008: Pure Awesomeness

2008 was a great year. In the words of Po, it was “Pure Awesomeness.” New Year’s Eve marked 10 years since I met my beautiful wife. After a decade together, and 6 years of being married I have to say I’m the luckiest man on the planet. I’m fortunate enough to be married to my best friend and have two wonderful children.

We more than doubled revenues in our big shoe business 2BigFeet.com, smashing record after record, and hired our first employee, Katie.

I was promoted to Interactive Director at Kelsey Advertising & Design, along with increased responsibilities and exciting challenges. I developed a mobile web application for McDonald’s and was invited to Orlando to show it off to owners from all over the world. And in just a few months, it has been adopted as the official mobile website of McDonald’s.

We went to SXSW and Blog World Expo, had an absolute blast, and I was able to finally meet two good friends, Patrick and Chris, in person. I won the “E-Commerce Guru of the Year” award in the 2008 SitePoint Community Awards. I really started using Twitter.

Of course there were some downs too. I made the difficult decision to stop writing for The Apple Blog. I just had to cut back on my commitments. I also didn’t complete several of the sites and projects I had planned to work on this year. Some I just decided needed to be postponed, some I decided not to do at all. Others I really wish I’d have had more time to work on, but that’s that.

My Thoughts on 2009 and Beyond

I’m so excited about 2009 I can’t stand it. I just have so many great projects I want to work on, so many ideas. I’ve always been an “idea man” though, and I know, realistically, I won’t get half of them done. That’s okay, though. If it’s anything like 2008, even completing one of them will be wildly fulfilling.

Some of the things I’m looking forward to in 2009… 

• Steady Growth. We have big goals for 2BigFeet.com this year, but I know we can grow steadily in 2009 despite a slowing economy. We’ve set really challenging goals and I’m looking forward to smashing them again.
• Challenging Projects. We have some really interesting projects at Kelsey this year and I’m excited about working on them. I’ll be pushed to be both an innovator and a leader, and that excites me.
• Getting Out of Debt. We’ve realized that consumer debt is crippling, and the only way to build true wealth is to earn interest, not pay it. We won’t be completely out of debt in 2009, but we’re on the path. I look forward to paying off the credit cards and auto loans, and only having a mortgage left!
• SXSW. I can’t wait… it was an absolute blast and I can’t wait to see all my friends and colleagues again.
• Opportunities. 2009 is going to be the year of opportunity. We aren’t given opportunities, you have to find them and take them! Keep your eyes peeled for them, because I have a feeling they’ll be everywhere this year!
• Family. I’m looking forward to spending time with my wife and kids, and all my family and friends this year. They’re why I do all this.

Words of Wisdom

You can get depressed about the future (especially looking at the news media) but it’s important to take it all in perspective. According to some, 2009 will be the worst year ever… and if you listen to them it will be. Forget all the drivel about the economy and think about what you can do in 2009. Think about what you can change.

I can’t do anything about the economy, the weather or world politics. But I can work on being a better person. I can always strive for perfection, and learn from my mistakes when I fail at it. 

I’m looking forward to an awesome 2009. If I were to make a “New Year’s Resolution” I think it would be to try to take 2009 one day at a time. Loving, learning, living life. Okay, so maybe resolutions don’t sound so bad after all…

If you’ve got a community on your website, then you need to read Patrick O’Keefe’s book, Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards. I have started a handful of (rather unsuccessful) communities in the last few years, and wish I’d had Patrick’s book then. Maybe I would have done a better job.

Patrick pours years of community management experience and firsthand real-world examples into what could be called the manual for online community managers or owners.

The book is broken down into chapters in almost the same order as the lifecycle of a community… planning & development, guidelines, promotion, staff & user issues, keeping it all running, and (finally), making money. In each section, he outlines best practices while also giving personal advice just as he would if he were talking to you face-to-face. His candid, personal writing style makes you feel like you’re reading advice from a friend more than a typical management book.

The chapters are broken down into sub-headers, which make it an excellent reference book later, when an issue comes up and you just need a little advice. Just flip to the index and you’ll instantly find out how to deal with vulgar language or find an interesting idea for promoting your community.

Managing Online Forums also has numerous examples of forms, guidelines, notifications and more and they are all downloadable from the book’s website.

If you run or are thinking of running an online community, you owe it to yourself to buy Patrick’s book.