The annual Converge South conference in Greensboro, devoted to "creativity on the web for all people," is always a place to meet interesting people and learn new things. This (October, 2007) is the third year I've attended. So far, Jason Calacanis, successful entrepreneur, pioneering blogger, and founder of Weblogs, Inc. has been the star of the show. He was initially quite skeptical of social networking sites like Facebook, saying he was drowning in trivia and was planning to close his account. But he reconsidered. As of today, he has 1972 Facebook "friends" that help give visibility to his new start-up, www.mahalo.com, a "human-powered search engine." He has also become a user of Twitter, a way to stay connected with friends and followers through short instant messaging. There, as of this date, he has about 4,000 followers. He demonstrated the value of Twitter during his presentation by sending a message out to his Twitter network asking people to call his cell phone asap. Almost immediately, his cell phone started to ring from people he met at conferences and elsewhere. "How do I know you?" he asked. In front of the crowd at Converge South, he proceeded to interview one of the callers about a job as a programmer for his new web site.
Dan Conover of Charleston, S.C. reported almost live on the opening session.
As a result of attending this conference, I've increased my respect for online social marketing. I now have 30 Facebook.com "friends" and 44 LinkedIn.com connections that feed me interesting information on subjects we share an interest in.
Ed Cone has a good wrap-up on the future of Converge South, with lots of interesting comments from participants.
Technorati tracks all the blog posts that have been tagged Converge South, showing the power of an online community of bloggers who enhance real community.
Previously:
- Conversation is Ongoing from Converge South Blogging Conference
- Elizabeth Edwards, Attending the 2006 Converge South Conference. Living Life to the Fullest
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