Did we meet at a conference? Stay in touch!

March has been a great month for conferences. Early in the month, I attended FOWA and Barcamp Miami, then this past week I attended SXSW and Barcamp Austin. This post is not going to be about the panels or anything I learned at the events. It is going to be about how I improved my networking skills and talked to more people than I ever have. If you go to a lot of conferences and you are very social, than you can probably ignore this, but here was my strategy to get the most out of the events.

1. Fine tune your personal brand before the event
2. Make a list of people you want to meet
3. Don't pitch anyone, just talk to everyone about anything
4. Find the best places to go, that aren't listed in the schedule
5. Blog about your experiences and take a lot of photos or videos

Fine tune your personal brand before the event

Before I went to these events, I did have a chance to update my websites and fine tune my personal brand. I challenged myself to finally update my website and blog after a 4 year hiatus. This was important because I was also updating my business cards and my brand consistency didn't represent me well.

Make a list of people you want to meet at the events

The panels will educate you, the speakers will motivate you, but you will get the most from people you network with at conferences. I made a mental list of people I wanted to meet and I met them all, plus so many more. When you do meet these people, make sure you have something to talk about. Do you read their blog? Talk about it and give them feedback. Do you watch their videos? Tell them, they love hearing you're a fan. Seriously! To the right is a sample of the business cards I collected.

I admit, originally I was intimidated to meet some people. I thought that they would be egotistical and not want to talk to me at all. Not one person acted that way. Every single people I wanted to meet welcomed a great conversation. A lot of them even knew who I was from Twitter or my website. Here are a few of the people I was able to meet: Guy Kawasaki, Kevin Rose, Chris Brogan, C.C. Chapman, Paul Boag, Jeffrey Zeldman, Robert Scoble, Tim Ferriss, and Tommy Guerrero.

Don't pitch anyone, just talk to everyone (about anything)

We are all trying to market ourselves when we are networking, but don't pitch anyone, just talk to them. I find it annoying when I meet someone for the first time and they immediately try to sell me something. Keep that for trade show floor!. I experienced this a few times, either I was offered a job or they had a product to test/buy. This shut down the conversation and I moved on.

Find the best places to go, that aren't listed in the schedule

The best way to find the unscheduled events is to use Twitter. I found many unpanels and social parties this way. At these unscheduled events I was inspired a lot more than the normal panels in general. To find these events, you can track keywords using twitter, keyword search tools or just turn on notifications for specific people you want to meet.

Blog about your experiences and take a lot of photos or videos

If you really want people to remember you after the conference, make sure you blog about it. Exactly like I am doing here on this post. Also, take a lot of photos and/or video while you are there. Plus tag it with the right keywords. It is possible that your content may be reused on another blog. This could result people adding you as a friend on Flickr or just a traffic driver to your site.

For example, here is a video I took during a BBQ that was held by Robert Scoble during SXSW at the Salt Lick. I ended up meeting the Scobleizer at an unscheduled party the night before.

Did we meet at a conference?

Let me know and let's stay in touch!

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SXSW Screen Burn - See the Video Game Party

I am was very impressed by the ScreenBurn Video Gaming Fest & Party at SXSW. The 2008 edition of ScreenBurn, the gaming component of SXSW Interactive, is a five-day event providing up-and-coming gaming industry talent an opportunity to learn from more established professionals. Rise to the next level of your career through enlightening panel discussions, networking opportunities, and technical discoveries. ScreenBurn features four days of presentations related to the newest developments in the gaming industry, held on the Third Floor of the Convention center.

ScreenBurn 2008 also includes the ScreenBurn Arcade, taking place on the first floor of the Austin Convention Center on Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9th. The ScreenBurn Arcade, an open platform of exhibitors and game tournaments, is free to the public and connects consumers, independents, developers, and soon to be masters of the game world.

Here is a walk through of the screen burn event, plus a little hello from Jose Castillo.



Did you like Screen Burn - post your comment!
Or call-in and leave an audio comment: Call 206-888-0328

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In Austin, finally, for SXSW

What up people. I love Austin. People are great and the town is super chill. Check some of the new videos of me and my Twitter Travel experience. It's a classic story!


In this one I just walked off the plane. Look at me, I havent had any sleep in days.



Here is the conference has started and I recap the experience of meeting Marc Nathan and how he helped me get to Austin.

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Going to SXSW... Maybe... If lucky enough to get there!

Today has been an interesting day. I am making the journey from Ft Lauderdale to Austin, Texas for SXSW - South by South West. This is one of the top interactive conferences of the year. I originally booked my travel plans well in advance. I decided to fly a day early to avoid some of the flight delays of the weekend travel.

With my luck, it turns out I would have been better traveling tomorrow (Friday). Currently there is a snow storm in Dallas, Texas - my original connection to Austin. That scheduled on American Airlines, but the flight got cancelesd so I was moved over to Delta to try and get to Texas via Atlanta. Thanks to my Nintendo DS and my 40 gigs of music to keep me company.

Then of course there was a storm in Ft Lauderdale so my flight was delayed and I could miss my connection in Atlanta to Houston. In fact, I am writing this from the airplane (in the air) at 945 pm in hopes that I can get directly to Austin. My back up plan, if I get to Houston, is to rent a car and drive to Austin. I am not surprised that this is happening. I expect it. This stuff just happens to me. Things just need to be harder than normal. Yet, I keep pushing through and dedicated to reaching my goals, even if I have to sleep in the airport tonight.

One positive thing happened today. I was able to record my second video for my podcast. This time my girlfriend Sam was able to join me. She has been a lot of the motivated for me to try new things. We have already discussed a lot of ideas for our video podcast.

Great, we are about to land in Atlanta. All the people in the plane are going to get home and I still don't have a plan to finish my travels. I am totally going to get stuck, again. I know I will have to go to Houston and then drive to Austin. Urggg!

The new video is rendering now and I will upload it during the layover. Please keep the feedback coming and enjoy the video...

Have some feedback?

Please call the comment line: 206-888-0328
Or post a comment on this blog...

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SXSW Meet Ups, Tweet-Ups, Geek Parties and Events

I have been meeting a ton of new people that are going to SXSW. Are you going? Send me your twitter name or look for "Alex Harris" in the SXSW Registrant Directory. You can also find me on the SXSW Ning networking site.

As South By South West gets closer, there are a lot of social events popping up. Below is a list of meet-ups that I am considering so far. These events may or may not be listed on the SXSW website. I will also be in town for the Music portion as well. If there are any suggestions on events that I should consider going to. Post them here!

Friday, March 7, 2008

Coworking Meetup at SXSWi
Hotel San Jose - 7:00 PM
2008 is the Year of Coworking! Meet the movers, shakers, and stirrers making it all happen!
Details: http://freelance.meetup.com/65/calendar/7166011/

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Social Breakfast
Magnolia’s Cafe - 8:30am
Local breakfast, great people, start SXSW on a full stomach.
Details: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=20921710532

Kickball Kickoff
Palm Park - 10:30 am
KICK! is a fun, free playground-style kickball game that makes a great way for you to meet and mix with attendees of the Interactive festival.
Details: http://www.dashes.com/kick/

EllisLab Party
Moonshine Grill - 6:00pm
This is the "official" EllisLab community meet up!
Details: http://camp.ellislab.com/

16bit SXSW Party
Scoot Inn - 10:00pm
Sponsored by Joyent, Pownce, Rocketboom, ComicVine, Get Satisfaction, Laughing Squid, 30 Boxes and Dogster/Catster.
Details: http://sxswparty.com/2008/02/08/16bit-sxsw-interactive-party/

Monday, March 10, 2008

Austin On Rails SXSW Happy Hour
Ruby on Rails developers and enthusiasts Rec Room for pool, foosball, pinball, air hockey, PS3, Wii, XBox 360, and an all-around good time.
Details: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/416846/

SXNW - South by Northwest Geek Fest Party
Iron Cactus - 11:00 PM
There will be plenty of free drinks and cool people to meet.
Details: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/217376/

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First impressions on expanding your network

The network of people that I talk to, or work with, has been growing like crazy. If you present yourself the right way, it's easy to find people you want to start a conversation with. The tools just help you self promote your image. The interesting part is when you meet your peers face-to-face at a meet-up or a conference.

It's great to meet a podcaster you have been listening to. Or a company that you have been following. Or a designer's art you really love. Majority of the time, they are totally different that I expected. So, this year I look forward to doing it up with two huge conferences that I have never been to. If you are into web development, design or social media, come and join me. If you are going to be at either, post a comment below or Twitter me.

Future of Web Apps - Miami, Fl.

February 28, 2008 - March 1, 2008
This could be the best event of 2008. Not because it is in my backyard of South Florida. The speakers line-up and the small crowds make this a must see conference. Not to mention the ridiculous parties on South Beach. This will be new ground for South Florida when Carson Systems brings the following speakers to Miami: Kevin Rose - Digg, Cal Henderson - Flickr, Erick Schonfeld - TechCrunch, Kevin Marks - Google, Leah Culver - Pownce, Blaine Cook - Twitter and so much more.

SXSW Interactive - Austin, Tx.

March 7-11, 2008
I have never been to a SXSW, but I have high expectations. Will it live up to the hype? SXSW Interactive The SXSW Interactive Festival features five days of exciting panel content and amazing parties. Attracting digital creatives as well as visionary technology entrepreneurs, the event celebrates the best minds and the brightest personalities of emerging technology. Whether you are a hard-core geek, a dedicated content creator, a new media entrepreneur, or just someone who likes being around an extremely creative community, SXSW Interactive is for you!

Are there other conference worth going to this year?

Let me know - and lets meet up.

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