Izeafest 09 turns out to be more than sponsored tweets or sponzai

Izeafest was touted as an interactive event designed to educate, inform and connect social media enthusiasts. Meet the world’s foremost social media experts in a collaborative, fun and open setting.

Each word was true, while other conferences give you a ton of information that seems to speak well about what you the attendee will learn and gain. Most never deliver the goods, with so much fluff the attendees leave the conference upset, wanting more, or their money back.

Izeafest did an excellent job of sticking to the agenda and giving more than they touted. In the materials it also stated

Learn how to grow your traffic, build your brand and make more money online.

Of all the conferences I’ve attended I do believe this one gave me the most information to take home with me and apply to my blog specifically.

So why did I want to attend, knowing I’m in transition at this time

I just moved to Orlando recently and came across this conference by chance a friend of mine from twitter @ifroggy was talking about attending and it caught my eye. So we passed a couple of messages on twitter. At the time I didn’t see myself attending so I was trying to see if me, Patrick, and some other friends attending could catch up with each other sometime while they were in town. We set some time to meet up and while I was looking around the Izeafest website I found that there was true value in what they where saying was going to take place on October 1 – 4.

Looking at the speakers let me further know that this was a real conference not something that was just thrown together as a promotional conference for some new products that Izea wanted to drop on attending bloggers. I was surprised by the speakers that were attending the conference each of them have success in there own way and by attending I knew they would give me true value for my hard earned money.

I saw the following names Liz Strauss of successful-blog.com, Geroge Smith the Social Media Specialist for Crocs, Inc, Chris Heuer founder of Social Media Club, Chris Brogan of chrisbrogan.com and NML, Rae Hoffman of sugarrae.com and my friend Wayne Sutton of SocialWayne.com & Ourhashtag.com Each one of these individuals I have followed, or been following for a very long time, some of them I call friends. This was another reason attending this conference made since to me, all of the above I look to for advise weather it’s through their blog, or the many other conferences they have attended and I’ve been able to get a copy of what was said.

What value do I see in such conferences

Part of the value I see in attending these social media conferences is the networking and captivating ideas you gain from hearing someone’s perspective on the current market of blogging and social media. The money while it can place a financial burden on your pocket also, is a source of income in the long run if you choose to implement some of the ideas that are given to you. Izeafest showed me a couple of great points:

• When it comes to your image/photo hire a Pro

• Capture your personality in those photos | Get the rights for publication in all media

• The most common mistake of a blogger is to use a standard theme

• Design your blog w/clean code and a true purpose

Those are just some of the tips you gain from attending a conference like Izeafest. That was just a small amount of the nuggets I gained by attending. Some of this stuff is a little common sense but at the same time it always helps for someone from the outside looking in to drive that point home.

What I think the future holds for Izeafest

Izea while I know it’s not just about business I think they want to give back to the community and at the same time be able to tell the world about new products or services they launch. I do believe the future hold bright for the Izeafest event. Orlando is not the biggest place for social media but I do see the need for some hard nosed back to basics that are taught during all the sessions. It was stated by @tedmurphy that last year 200 or so attended Izeafest, this year 400+ attended. I would presume that next year 800+ will attend and we might even get multiple sessions going on at the same time which would be a win, win for both conference planners and attendees.

Why I’m gonna attend Izeafest10 next year

I will attend another Izeafest because it’s worth my time to gain new insight and to network with other people who are blogging, or vlogging on the internet. Communications is key when you talk about what do you expect next year or would you attend again next year. My answer is “Hell Yes” I will attend again next year. By that time I know my skills will be further along but just like technology,  Social Media is changing everyday. We bloggers, social media strategist, vloggers, and others are paving the way. By paving the way we all get to shape what social media is about and where it is going. I plan on being part of the process and getting my feet wet in the social sphere.

What others should learn from conferences like this

One thing you gotta do when attending a conference you must know what sessions your going to attend. Some of these sessions will talk about things you have no knowledge about and others will speak about things you already know. It’s worth your time to map out what your going to do before you get there. Make sure you look at the following nuggets to help you get the most out of the conference:

• Try to stay at the attending hotel (Great networking at the in house bar or restaurant)

• Bring sneakers, you never know how much walking your going to do

• Make sure you have business cards a head of time, no last minute cards created with avery like I seem to do right before every event I attend.

• Carry some cash with you for the small purchases

• Ensure your website is working

• If you win a gift please trying to pick it up immediately since giveaways are limited you ensure your item is still there

Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, everyone is attending for the same reasons to learn and meet like minded people
Those are just some of the nuggets I like to tell people when they are attending a conference, if you have more to add, please leave them in the comments.

Tagged as: izea, izeafest, izeafest09, orlando conference, seaworld conference, social conference, social media conference