Thursday, 2nd September 2010.

Indiana’s annual conference of bloggers (a.k.a. Blog Indiana, a.k.a. #BIN2010) wrapped up a few days ago and though I have yet to assimilate or act on the info and ideas from this event, already I’m looking forward to next year’s. Conferences are my kind of thing. To a fault. I don’t want to be a speaker but if there was some way to attend these things and get paid for it (full time), I’d do it. People are my preference. Sitting in front of the computer is my preference over manual labor. bill-bean-at-work

As many veteran conference/seminar attenders will tell you the most valuable stuff happens in between sessions in hallways, lobbies, and restaurants (like Scottys Brewhouse and Houlihans, if your BFF’s show up)This dynamic was certainly evident throughout the weekend. It was fun to meet so many people I’d only met via Twitter.

One drawback with this kind of crowd is that everyone stays tethered to their devices (guilty). This means that “free time” often becomes time for actual work. Unfortunate but understandable. Perhaps that’s an opportunity for a different kind of sponsor. Maybe a spa or massage therapist should sponsor a disconnect or off-the-grid room.

Though it might seem to be about blogging, and it certainly has an emphasis on the subject, BlogIndiana featured a wide range of session topics. There were plenty of social media marketing specialists holding forth and spouting off. Lots of web design and SEO tips. All topics quite relevant to bloggers, both professionals and hobbyists. Local celebrities like Paul Poteet and foreign marketing experts like Jason Falls (he’s from across the river) were on hand. Local social media superstars were out in force as were soon to be famous authors: Douglas Karr, Chantelle Flannery, Kyle Lacy, and Robby Slaughter.

Some of my favorite sessions:

Why Your Site SucksDouglas Karr * Excellent tips to help insure an effective website. And Doug’s a seasoned, if not well-prepared, presenter.

Off The CuffPaul Poteet *Paul’s very entertaining. He’s an old media guy (not old, media guy) that’s made the transition to a new medium. Check out his YouTube channel.

Producing Content Without AgonyRobby Slaughter *Super practical tips for bloggers. Numerous expressions of, “That was worth the price of the weekend.” Notes and slides on Scribd.

There were other sessions I attended that yielded some good ideas but I’m too lazy to give a run down of everything. One I missed that got rave reviews was Kenan Farrell‘s on legal issues related to blogging and social media. Hopefully it will become available on video. I’d pay for it.

Overall, the BlogIndiana team did a great job. Seemed to me the weekend was just about problem free (other than Paul Poteet’s tragic eMachine fail, maybe a fundraiser is necessary). Props to them for all the hard work. But since they asked for it, here are my suggestions:

  • Do more to facilitate the “in between” times. Time and space are the important factors.
  • Ditch the swag bag. Have the sponsors come up with digital swag.
  • Come up with more targeted tracks (blogging, small business marketing, social media, web design).
  • Keep improving quality of session content. Expectations are only going up.

If you’re interested, here’s more from and about BlogIndiana 2010.

Blog Indiana Photos from Bob Burchfield

Blog Indiana Photos On Flickr

Blog Indiana 2010 Speaker Slides

John Uhri’s BlogIndiana sketchnotes (my favorite!)

Jessica Journey’s review of BlogIndiana 2010

The hashtag that was #BIN2010

 

Please leave links to more related info in the comments.

 

bill-bean-jason-bean-blog-indiana

Image Credit: Bob Burchfield www.aroundindy.com

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Posted in Indianapolis, Social Media | Comments (0)

Posted on Wednesday, 25th August 2010 by Bill Bean

Help Paul Poteet raise money for the Pat Tillman Foundation

Mr. Poteet addressed the friendly crowd of social media and blogging experts at Blog Indiana 2010 (#BIN2010). Very entertaining. Quite savvy. Paul seems to be nearly omnipresent, at least omniINDYpresent, and he’s all over the webz.

www.paulpoteet.com
http://twitter.com/paulpoteet

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Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)

Posted on Saturday, 21st August 2010 by Bill Bean

There is more than corn in Indiana. We gots blogs!

Tomorrow is my first Blog Indiana. I’m looking forward to stewing in some especially creative juices. As at any conference, the informal, hallway sessions will probably be worth the price of registration. Let’s hope the coffee is good.

There are many great session on the schedule and I’ll probably have a tough time sitting in one place for very long. It’s still interesting to me that conferences like this one, full of ADHD types, still have formats where people sit still, face forward, and hold their questions til the end. But hey! If you can sell tickets, more power to ya.

BTW, the first person who comes up to me at the conference and says, “Gerald Ford”, will get some sort of drink on me.

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Posted on Thursday, 19th August 2010 by Bill Bean

The schedule is in for KSU Owl’s volleyball. We’re about to put some miles on the old “dad car.” See the schedule here.

Our first time seeing the team play will be in Chicago the first weekend of September. I can’t wait!

Chicago is definitely as far north as they come. Most everything is down south, though there is a weekend in Nashville.

Notice the big game on September 18. They’ll be taking on Ohio State (I love to see the Buckeyes lose.) They’re a big time team and will be the toughest match of the year. It’s a sign the program is already starting to get more respect.

Here’s Emily’s roster pic. She stays with #11. (like the amps in Spinal Tap)

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Posted on Monday, 16th August 2010 by Bill Bean

Spent a couple of weeks with our clothes dryer on the fritz. Finding an Indianapolis appliance repair service was not as easy as one would think. Let me rephrase that. Finding the right appliance repair service was not that easy.

I Googled, Tweeted, and Facebooked to no avail, though my dad suggested I might make the repair on my own. Not a chance! (turns out I had no chance of succeeding)

Finally, I got a good ‘ol fashioned referral via my friend, Mike Spencer. Just what I was looking for. He suggested Jon Mathew of Mathew Appliance Repair. I made contact with Jon. He was able to get to me sooner than expected, though the youngest daughter had to head off to school before the fix.

Jon was on-time, clean, and very thorough. He was obviously committed to making sure the appliance was working properly. He took the time to explain to me what was going on and how he was fixing the problem. The price was quite fair.

I highly recommend Mathew Appliance Repair. I’ll be calling Jon next time any of my appliances need fixing.

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Posted on Monday, 12th July 2010 by Bill Bean

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