Apr 29
Love0

BlogVille: a Full Day of Social Media Goodness

By Social Media

I have been to several blogging conferences and many industry conferences with elements of social media included. The first blogging conference I ever attended was BlogOrlando in 2007 and before that, there were more informal blogger gatherings I attended in St. Louis. Since then, I’ve added BlogHer on the national list and Show Me the Blog St. Louis for a smaller, regional meetup.

Yesterday, I attended and spoke at Central Virginia’s first social media and blogging conference, BlogVille.

I have to say — I was pretty impressed. The content was great — excellent speakers with topics that covered specific social media areas and philosophical concepts (like time management) that so many bloggers desire. For me, the experience was especially gratifying because so many people I know or who I admire were there and engaged in the day’s events. It was also enjoyable to be at a blogger conference that was a manageable size (one of my complaints about BlogHer in recent years is the behemoth crowd it has become — at 800+ it’s a mob and more than a little overwhelming).

I couldn’t attend all of the sessions, as there is only one of me, but I particularly enjoyed meeting (at last) Billy Hunt and learning from his presentation (which is a blog and available to you, as well).  I was inspired by Denise Stewart who has to be one of the most entertaining speakers I’ve ever heard. As ever, Christine Hohlbaum (who I love, love, love), the author of the Power of Slow helped us learn how to become blogging rock stars with staying power. (I have written about Christine and the Power of Slow before.)

Great connections were made and everyone left inspired and encouraged. This was the first year for BlogVille and I anticipate a fantastic second year — and beyond.

Apr 28
Love0

Today’s the day: BlogVille is here!

By Social Media

Today I’ll be with fellow bloggers and social media enthusiasts at BlogVille, Central Virginia’s first comprehensive, day-long social media conference. I hope to share recaps throughout the day for those unable to attend. You can follow me on Twitter (@Marijean) for short updates and quotable moments.

I’m excited, not just about the conference content but about the people this event has attracted and how much fun it will be to have so many like-minded people gathered together.

I’m speaking toward the end of the day in a session for beginners. If you’re going — I’ll see you there, if not; follow the buzz on Twitter and I’ll offer some recap blog posts and links to others’ thoughts in the next few days.

Apr 27
Love0

Would you eat at a restuarant? Yeah, me neither.

By Public Relations

I’ve been driving by this sign for weeks and finally managed to snap a picture yesterday. If you live in Charlottesville, this may be a familiar view to you. I don’t feel bad about dissing the “restuarant” in question as it’s closed (I don’t even recall a time when it was open).

This kind of mistake drives me up the wall. I always wonder how the heck something like this happens. How many pairs of eyes looked at a sign like this before it was hung? Was the printer asleep at the wheel? Argh!

My point in sharing this is that I know I’m not the only person who has this violent reaction to grammar gaffes, particularly the permanent, publicly visible variety. What kind of reputation do you think a place like this earns with those of us who are driven mad by poor attention to detail?

How about you? Does this stuff drive you crazy?

Apr 23
Love0

Tornado Hits St. Louis Airport: When Crisis Communications Training Pays Off

By Crisis Communications, Media, Public Relations

We woke up to reports of a tornado hitting Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. It’s hard to look at footage of a place so familiar, a home-away-from-home in my former home. The devastation to the area is still being uncovered in the daylight this morning. The airport is closed, they’re saying, indefinitely. The economic impact of that is difficult to calculate but will no doubt, be years in recovering.

The footage of passengers being evacuated to the safer, lower levels of the main terminal are amazing; everyone seems calm, there’s no shoving or panic in evidence, even while in the background, it appears scenes from the Wizard 0f Oz tornado are playing through the windows. The shot of a Southwest jet moving away from the jetway in the wind is hard to believe. From an outside perspective, and based on the fact that no one was killed in the crush and damage of the storm, it appears that the airport team is to be commended. Without airport employees training for crises like these, conducting drills and managing consistently to keep up with continuing education, it would be almost impossible to manage a crisis of this magnitude with the speed and efficiency required. From all I’m seeing on TV and online, this crisis was managed as well as could possibly be expected.

I’ve been in the main terminal at Lambert many, many times. I’ve flown in and out of St. Louis probably more than 50 times. That main terminal is made of a lot of glass. Reports say that more than 50 percent of the windows are broken and blown out. It will take some time to clean up and restore the airport to safe, working order.

Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, the airport’s director, is in a role she hoped she’d never have to assume, as the spokesperson for an airport hit with catastrophic damage. I just watched her in an interview aired on CNN. She’s handling the crisis communications beautifully and very quickly had Mayor Francis Slay and County Executive Charlie Dooley on the scene. It was touching when, as the CNN reporter asked the airport’s director at the close of the interview, how she felt about the tragedy. Hamm-Niebruegge smiled but was visibly choked up and said, “It’s sad. It’s just sad.”

Our hearts go out to the people in St. Louis affected by the storms; many homes have been damaged and lost — it may be a long time before St. Louis recovers from this Easter weekend.