The Nally Notes

The inimitable Ted Murphy is putting together Izeafest for Orlando in October. He's bringing a whole lot of social media people together in Orlando for learning and activities. (Maybe geekfest would be a better name for it…)

Hey, don't we all hang out together on the internet–on places like Twitter–all day, everyday? What on earth do we need a get-together for? Isn't that kind of redundant? Actually, no.

Hours on the internet, emails and tweets and direct messages, can't replace looking someone in the eye. They can't replace the intimate back-and-forth of real live conversation for building relationships and trust between people. It's at events like Izeafest that internet friends become real friends.

And that is why I want to go to Izeafest. To turn internet friends into real friends – and maybe make even more of both kinds.

(And LauriePooh can be my first new Izeafest friend if I win the tickets to it that she is giving away on her blog…)

On this Friday, Sept. 28th, I will be gathering together with bloggers from around Florida (and around the country) to attend BlogOrlando 2007, an unconference dedicated to sharing information and learning about blogging. (And there will also be some social events the night before and day after – Epcot with a horde of bloggers sound like fun, anyone?)

No, that was not a typo. I am attending an "unconference". What is an "unconference?" It is an event that for ease of planning, is free to attendees, offers limited services to attendees and has limited expenses that are covered by sponsors. For this event, meeting space is being donated by Rollins College, and other resources have been donated by a variety of event sponsors to cover schedules, t-shirts, logo design, and the domain registration. Speakers, many of whom are well-known in the social media field, will be uncompensated for their appearances.

The opening keynote will be by Shel Israel, co-author of Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers, and closing remarks will be by Chris Heuer of the Social Media Club. Between the opening and closing remarks, attendees will divide into four different tracks: PR/Marketing, Media, Technical, and Life/Local. A few slots have even been left open in the schedule to allow for "break-out" sessions that develop from the interests of the attendees as the sessions take place.

A wide range of bloggers, with professional and personal sites, will be attending the event. The format should allow for a great exchange of information and ideas, and I am looking forward to learning a lot and sharing a lot with my fellow bloggers.

Now if I could only decide which track to follow…they all look so interesting!