I’m Going to BlissDom’13

I am delighted to announce that I will be attending the BlissDom 2013 Conference being held this year in Dallas, Texas. What is BlissDom about, you might ask, here is a brief introduction:

BlissDom is the premier conference for women who find and express their bliss by publishing online. BlissDom ’13, our ninth conference (including three BlissDom Canada events held in Toronto), is a welcoming oasis in the ever-changing blogging world. Speakers and panels featuring the best blogging, public relationsand social media pros will be gathering to mentor new and old friends alike.

I created a RebelMouse page to collate all my BlissDom conference posts from 2012 and new information regarding the 2013 conference. BlissDom photos, blog posts and videos can now be found all in one place.  Enjoy and keep checking this post for updates as the conference draws near.

[rebelmouse site_name=”TaniaBlissDomConference2013″]

PodCamp Philly

Podcamp Philly

October 1 & 2, I attended PodCamp Philly.  What is PodCamp?  It is a barcamp-style unconference focusing on blogging, video casting and social media.

Podcamp Philly hosted a series of excellent lectures filled with information that I have begun to integrate into the blog. Some material presented can also be cross-walked into my professional career. This was a weekend well spent in the pursuit of knowledge.

The conference was held at Temple University Tuttleman Learning Center where we were granted temporary wi-fi access via Temple University – what would a blogger conference be without internet access? I made the choice not to access the wi-fi as I wanted to take detailed notes of the lectures and discussions. The plan worked well and I am happy to share the notes with my readers.  Although this conference was held in the beginning of October, I’ve been making changes to the blog based on information provided in the lectures. Since October, I’ve added a disclosure policy and updated the blog policy with more changes in the works.

I’ve shared notes from seven lectures within this post making it a very long, but valuable read. If you found information provided useful, please leave a comment and/or 1+ this post.

Right Online 2009 Recap

This past weekend, I attended the Right Online 2009 Conference, sponsored by Americans For Prosperity. This year, the city of Pittsburgh played the charming host for this conference. I have to give props to Erik Telford for his dedication in building this conference.

Additional kudos go to AFP for sponsoring a bus from Philly to Pittsburgh. There is nothing like a road trip with 45 of your fellow un American patriots!

Pittsburgh was the perfect venue to underscore the peril faced by hard working, tax paying Americans. This is a city forged by steel and coal industries, the same industries that the Obama and Al Gore environmentalists are working to bankrupt.

If you want to learn more about conservative issues, glean new ways to use social media or network with movers and shakers in the conservative movement; Right Online is the conference to attend. The agenda was packed with outstanding lectures from experts in the conservative grass root movement. For those just stepping into the online world, there were lectures that reviewed the basics of blogging and social media. To quote Melissa Clouthier, winner of the 2009 Al Gore Award for Online Excellence – it’s all about information pollination.

photo by John Hawkins. More photos can be found HERE. Video can be found HERE

As tech oriented as this conference was, I found myself using pen and paper to record my notes. Note to self – power cords are essential items to pack!

Let me share a few lessons I took away from this conference:

1. There is no such thing as privacy on the web. You think your group email is private? I suggest you check out how this administration recently added email addresses without permission. Think before you post online.

2. Net Neutrality – HR 3485 is getting little coverage, but has stunning implications by allowing the government to get involved with online activity. This bill will stifle innovation and eliminate all choice by consumer. This is the elephant in the room that no one is talking about – net neutrality is about the government controlling the internet, not the public. Just like our healthcare scheme.

3. Wikinomics – kudos to Aaron Marks for sharing ‘peer production’ ideas. Essentially this means masses of people collaborating openly towards a common goal. I’ve already bought the book and am developing my own ‘wikinomics’.

4. You are never too old or too young to engage in online media. I met a few participants that seemed overwhelmed by the tech topics that laced every conversation. My one suggestion for improvement of this conference would be to have more defined beginner courses that have a hands on component. Additionally, I’d like to see lectures on effectively communicating your message via a blog post or social media site.

5. I was blown away by the documentary – Not Evil, Just Wrong. I first encountered the creators of this film, Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer, at their booth at CPAC. I came away with the impression that this film would be equivalent to the fluffy polar bear campaign environmentalists have used to push their global warming agenda. That particular campaign is big on fluff and low on fact, definitely not my cup of tea. I prefer to dwell on statistical data, ice core sampling, and satellite temperature information. During the conference, I took in screening of this documentary and was astounded to discover the producers had put a human face on implications of misguided environmentalism. Stats alone cannot make such a compelling argument, yet when combined with a human face, it brings the environmental issue and the hypocrisy surrounding it into crystal clear clarity. It is a must see movie to gain wider knowledge of the environmental debate. Hey, why not host a premier of the movie on October 18! Interested? Click HERE for more details. FYI – I am hosting a premier party.

6. It was a pleasure to meet Tabitha Hale, Sarah Pepple, John Hawkins, Aaron Marks, Katie Favazza, Melissa Clouthier, Elizabeth Terrell, Ethan Demme, Steve Eggleson, Colleen O’Boyle

You never can tell who will show up at an event like this. I caught an 11 year old paid GOP hack speaking at a rally sponsored by AFP:

Trailer for ‘Not Evil, Just Wrong‘

Rachel Campos speaking at Right Online:

Erick Erickson’s provocative statement: “We need a Coup of the Political Party”

Right Online 2009

I’m in Pittsburgh for the 2009 Right Online Conference which is running concurrently with Netroot Nation, the ‘CPAC’ of the leftosphere. Pittsburgh has a charming, Philly-lite feel to the city.

Arlen Specter was conspicuously absent, while Pat Toomey hit a homerun with his address to the conference attendees.

I’ve many videos to upload and photos as well, so stay tuned to MidnightBlue

140 Conference Live in NYC

140 Conference

While the original scope of the event was to explore “the effects of twitter on: Celebrity, “The Media”, Advertising and (maybe) Politics”, the scope of the event has expanded and we will be covering these topics and a lot more. #140conf will be taking a look at twitter as a platform and will be taking a look at some of the industries which have been disrupted by the advent of twitter.

A Vlog from the organizer of 140 conf: