BlogWorldExpo 2008

What a Blast!

This last weekend I attended the BlogWorldExpo2008 in Las Vegas, and what a great trip.  There was the infamous drive from Salt Lake City, UT to Las Vegas, NV which with a 4year old, a 2 year old, and a 3 month old, and a stinky dog was enough to make someone crazy.  We did make it though, it took us 6 hours to drive down and only 3 stops.  Luckily no speeding tickets, we drove fast but didn’t get caught. Whaoo!

The Opening Morning

Being the fact that I had never been to a Conference as a participant, now I’ve been to expos before, like the home show, or the boat show, but there is nothing really to do other than walk around and look at cool stuff.  This expo was very different, I wanted to learn about the booths, and I wanted to listen to the speakers, but man, how to choose who to listen to. It was a difficult decision.

The People

I was able to see a few of the blogger that everyone wants to see, and I was able to meet others and there were two in particular there were two who went out of their way to make me feel comfortable and like they cared about me and wanted to become friends, and there were some who simply thought they were too cool, or too busy, or what every.

But these two guys weren’t too cool!

That’s right, Zac Johnson!

That’s right of zacJohnson.com. This guy is really genuine, I frankly was surprised by how nice and welcome I felt talking to him, he really was a nice guy.  I went into the Conference break room there they had free drinks and other items like cookies and little snack foods for free and while I was there, really before the show had started, Zac came in to get something and I basically went right up and introduced myself, and what a great guy he is, I asked for a photo and he was more than happy and we even spent a few min talking and he said to chat with him later.  He was getting ready for the Super Panel that was just a few min later.  Then later that day and the next he and his cute girlfriend Reena made me feel like a friend!  Thanks Zac your a stud!

Darren Rowse of ProBlogger

He was also very friendly and great to talk to.  While he was very busy in between all that he was doing he still took the time that he had with you to make you feel important, and frankly like he gave a damn.  It was really great to finally talk with him and to disucss the blogosphere and to talk shop. I was able to get a signed copy of his book “ProBlogger: Secrets for BLogging you way to a Six-figure Income”.  From what i’ve read so far, it a must have for any blogger just getting started and for those who aren’t.  In talking with Darren he flew over just for this conference, some 16 hours stuck in a plane and while he did have b5 media, he came to interact with other bloggers.  Darren you are a good guy, thanks for taking the time!

To all those who thought they were too cool, I won’t give you any attention nor will I give you any link love and the value of your stock just plummeted in my book.  While you might be rich and famous, I’ve found that if you treat people with disrespect it usually come around to bit you in the butt.  Just an FYI from me to you.

All in All

The Blog World Expo was worth the trip, while the expo part sure was much smaller than i had originally thought it would be, it was nice to see so many trying to make their way in the Blogosphere.

Nate Whitehill, Josh Mullineaux & Matt Blancarte of Unique Blog Designs, what studs, not only did they design this site, but they are young kids rolling nice cars!  Keep it up boys!

Two people in particular that need mentioning are Angie Swartz and Alan Underkofler, they were the first people I met while at the show and they were so friendly and helpful, that I owed it to them to mention them here.

I also met two guys who simply put made me laugh, their site is PimpmyNews.com which is cleaver enough, but what made me laugh was the fact that i actually own, Pimpmybro.com and pimpmyuncle.com.  So pimpmynews was simply a great memory for me to see how stupid i was in registering domain names.  But hey i see the potential, take Jerry springer and have some white-trash trailer honky come in and pimp out his uncle!  See you too can see the potential.

Till next year!  Hopefully next year I will have made enough from Market Leverage to make it to their Sweet & Fancy Dinner!