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Once upon a -social- time...

Being out of blogging for such a long time will not distract me from telling you a few words on "THE" extraordinary event I was lucky to attend to last April in NYC. Blogger Social was indeed such a unique, breathtaking event, that I was left literally speechless when I came back to Belgium. Believe me, I've been trying to find a way to relate how intense and authentic this moment was and just couldn't find the appropriate words. So I will simply share with you here how HAPPY I was to meet...

  

- Gavin Heaton (brother, buddy, mate, mindmelded... alien friend),
- Todd Andrlik (in Jurassic Park big Dinos vs Velociraptors phase),
- Matt Dickman (the gentle O-SO-techno marketer talented photographer),
- Anna Farmery (...with an even lovelier live voice than on her podcasts),
- Heather Gorringe (brought me a fascinating eco-Vision of social media),
- Sean Howard (dude... you rock smart, man! Man... you smart rock, dude!),
- Ann Handley (such a pleasure meeting the MarketingProfs Milady),
- Cam Beck (well, a real-real honor finally meeting you Cam!),
- Lori Magno (Wow! SO pleased to meet the O-so-fabulous YOU!),
- Steve Woodruff (a man of experience who should be Q-Listed, really!)
- Doug Meacham (wish we could have had more time to talk, Doug!),
- Darryl Ohrt (... or punk gentleman helping team finish the gift packs),
- Paul McEnany (now why was that Redbull around that shot again?)
- Arun Rajagopal (my dear friend, we simply owe you the Moon!),
- Toby Bloomberg (... the elegant Diva, with a World Wide Heart),
- Steve Roesler (conversation grows better with a sense of humor!),
- David Armano (The "Digital comrade" from the Wild Wild West),
- Thomas Clifford (Namaste Tom! Close-up on panoramic talent),
- Tim Brunelle (the effervescent-mind man with a hat - the other one!),
- Mack Collier (inspires respect and redefines the word "authentic"),
- Mark Goren (really enjoyed our chat... while spotting Duvel in NYC),
- Katie Chatfield (dear dear... it has been so flaaa flaaa flaaan-tas-tic!),
- Ryan Karpeles (discovering the brightness the of light bulbs, wow!),
- Nathan Snell (like a brief conversation being SO insightful),
- Mario Vellandi (...mon ami, Monsieur smart polyglot visionary),
- Greg Verdino (luckily didn't spill coffee on my iPhone keyboard),
- Scott Monty (the voice over of ooVoo with great news for the FPF),
- C.B. Whittemore (...mais quel plaisir de vous rencontrer, Madame!),
- Connie Reece (the amazing Lady Liberty leading us in conversation),
- Ryan Barrett (yesss...finally we met, and it was indeed a real pleasure!),
- Kristin Gorski (so brief, but just enough to trust that time does not matter!),
- David Berkowitz (David, so sorry I missed more time to share with you too),
- Jennifer Berk (great chance we could brunch and walk and chat together),
- Rohit Bhargava (too short to talk much, really... thank you for the book!),
- Susan Bird (really sorry we didn't have much time to talk Susan),
- Shashi Bellamkonda (missed time to share with you, sorry Sashi),
- Jason Falls (boy, I SO wanted to chat with ya Jason, sorry too!),
- Chris Kieff (Chris, your BS Cookies idea was excellent, thank you!),
- Matt J McDonald (short indeed... but very nice meeting you, Matt),
- Tim McHale (boy... I spotted your Ketchup bottle, but couldn't reach it!),
- Linda Sherman (Linda, it was a pleasure brunching with you!),
- Marshall Sponder (now... I just discovered your art... wow!),
- Seni Thomas (too short to really talk, but just enough to have fun, hé!),
- Alan Wolk (SO sorry we didn't get a real chance to talk live, Alan),
- Geoff Livingstone (couldn't talk with ya, but #Jaffe will tell me all, right!),

 

And of course, the friends I had already met before...

  

- Drew McLellan (brother, my friend, I really feel blessed to know you),
- Suzy McLellan (so nice meeting you again Suzy, such a pleasure!),
- Lewis Green (Lew my friend, so when do we meet again?),
- Kris Hoet (Duvel has its loyal King! Spent a fantastic time with you, buddy!),
- David Reich (such a pleasure, again, David. And what a cap you had!),
- Valeria Maltoni (O SO delighted, again... fantastica Principessa!),
- CK (the one and ONLY, magic-CK... merci for all you do and all you are).

  

And all of you BS08 attendees that I missed (shame shame shame!), but wished I could have had live conversations with. Of course this was just a first contact, a first step, a first ACTION, from "online conversation" to "reality". Time was flying as fast as ideas and discussions. "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", version brainwaves to live frequency phases. But this time, voices became faces and eyes could read the smiles between the lines. And THAT was indeed unique and will never to be forgotten. Yes, CK... you, Drew, Lori and all the BS08 team really made the world be a smaller place... through a unique, human and rich experience. THANK YOU !

  

Blogger Social 2008... 90 days left!

   

So how do you like this cool looking photo-video edit Mark Goren just made to give you a visual idea of who will be coming -so far- to Blogger Social 2008?

Readers of this blog know that next April 4-6, 90 days from now, bloggers from around the world will meet in the first event so far exclusively dedicated to... GETTING SOCIAL. In other words, no seminar, no ppt presentation, no keynote, no protocol. A unique opportunity created, led and embraced by marketing and communication specialists bloggers who after meeting virtually, thought that it was about time to meet live.

Australia, Oman, Italy, England, Belgium, Canada, USA... many countries will be represented, making the event a rich and unique human experience. Here is the list of the people who registered so far and a very nice collage of the faces behind them (you may find a pdf version here - thanks to Mark Goren again).

 

 

Susan Bird - Tim Brunelle - Katie Chatfield - Terry Dagrosa - Matt Dickman - Luc Debaisieux - Gianandrea Facchini - Mark Goren - Gavin Heaton - Sean Howard - CK - Valeria Maltoni - Drew McLellan - Doug Meacham - Marilyn Pratt - Steve Roesler - Greg Verdino - CB Whittemore - Steve Woodruff - Paul McEnany - Ann Handley - David Reich - Tangerine Toad - Kristin Gorski - Mack Collier - David Armano - Ryan Barrett - Lori Magno - Tim McHale - Gene DeWitt - Mario Vellandi - Arun Rajagopal - Darryl Ohrt - Joseph Jaffe - Rohit Bhargava - Anna Farmery - Marianne Richmond - Thomas Clifford - Lewis Green - Geoff Livingston - Kris Hoet - Connie Reece - CeCe Lee - Jonathan Trenn - Toby Bloomberg - Seni Thomas    

   

So if you have not registered  yet, the great news is you still have some time to do so. Yes ! ! ! But beware, the limit is set : NO LATER than February 15. Shortly said : hurry up and just... BE THERE !

 

Image originally uploaded by dingdingwang