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Blog World, New York, 2012: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

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The Good

This year’s Blog World and New media Expo (or New Media Expo, NMX as the conference is now officially known as with the name change on June 6th, 2012) was simply the best place to network and meet other bloggers who came from all over the world and country to be part of the event. I met small business owners and new media consultants from London, Guatemala, California, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Texas and Pennsylvania to name only a few places. Some of the best discussions I had were around lunch, meeting up with other bloggers and attending the networking parties and events.

Since the virtual ticket gives you access to all the sessions, Blog World is essentially a great place to network and meet the crème de la crème of the blogging world. In the 3 day conference, I either spotted or interacted with celebrity bloggers such as Michael Seltzner, Chris Brogan, Robert Scoble, Rich Brooks and Dino Dogan.

My key takeaways from this event were that in order to build a blog that matters, it’s essential to know who your audience is and what they want and you can then create the products and content. Many bloggers do this backwards. Also, if you are serious about blogging for your business, it’s important to know the problems that your customers face and this will enable you to deliver products that sell themselves.

Top 5 presentations that I attended:

The conference sessions were divided into various tracks such as Content Creation, Business of Blogging, Monetization, Mobile, Publishing, Pod-casting and WebTV. Each of these tracks had simultaneous presentations and I missed a few that I would like to have attended. Here are the top 5 (not in any particular order) from the ones that I attended:

  • I received great advice from Chris Garrett and Derek Halpern’s Blog Critique Workshop. I came away with several ideas that I’ve been applying such as: an about description and email subscribe button on every page and a change in my About page focusing more on my audience’s needs and less on my story.
  • Marcus Sheridan is a brilliant speaker and his information was useful and thought provoking. His presentation on “10 Critical Blogging and Content Mistakes that Are Killing Profits and Brand Growth Worldwide” gave me tons of new ideas for content creation and highlighted critical mistakes which are easy to avoid to increase traffic and income for corporate blogs.
  • The one surprise presentation that I liked and learned from was by WP Beginner site owner Syed Balkhi. His presentation “From Zero to 5 Million Page Views in 3 Months Using Creative Lead Generation in WordPress” was chock full of ideas and he turned out to be a great presenter.
  • David Risley’s “Blog Monetization Options: What are ALL the ways to make money with a blog?” was informative, full of ideas for beginner bloggers and for those thinking of monetizing their blogs. Here are the presentation slides that David put up on his website.
  • Patt Flynn’s “Affiliate Marketing The SMART Way” was an eye opener for me. Patt Flynn is extremely well known in the field of affiliate marketing and I could see why he is leading the pack. His ideas though simple are powerful which evidently has grown his blog to monthly affiliate earnings of over $30,000. He talked extensively about building relationships first before selling and to always start with not a product idea but customers goals and how you can help them achieve it.

    • There were several exhibitors this year. I liked the concept of SimulTV (a social networking site where you can watch movies and shows with your contacts), commun.it (A Twitter community management tool) and Pond 5 (similar concept to istockphoto, but it lets you easily sell your photos and videos as well as buy).

    The Bad

    Overall, I had a good experience especially since I treated this less as an educational event and more as an opportunity to network and meet other bloggers.

    Here are the top opportunities for improvement:

    • There seemed to be an overall disconnect with the type of audience and the sessions. Most of the people I interacted with were new media professionals, small businesses and professional bloggers. Many presentations were for beginner bloggers. They came up short on sharing original ideas and tricks of the trade but contained info. that you could easily google and read about.
    • The Q & A were usually tackled at the end of each session, time permitting. It would be simply great to have the Q & A be the focal point for the presenters so that the presentations directly related to the questions people (who had traveled from far and wide) had.
    • It’s downright essential to have wi-fi for an event such as Blog World. Several bloggers like to live blog during the conference and there are several others who tweet the highlights of the event to their followers. However, the Blog World wi-fi did not work and the Jacob Javits wi-fi was pay as you use.
    • Jacob Javits Center although in the heart of Manhattan was still not the most convenient location. There were no yellow cabs waiting outside and the closest subway stop for me was Penn Station which was at least 10 blocks away. Buses were few and far between.
    • I know that the event was in New York which is an expensive city but expect to spend at least $15 on lunch in any of the food places within Jacob Javits just for the convenience of not having to leave in between sessions.

    The Ugly

    Well, there has to be an ugly side to everything and during one of the keynote sessions, a woman started parading around topless to a speechless audience.
    I overhead a conversation about the lack luster venue and that it reminded them of a prison! Since the sessions, were held at the basement level there were no windows which lead to a grim and dull setting.

    Lessons learned for the next time…

    • The virtual ticket holds value. I often had to choose between presentations and having a virtual ticket would have eliminated the confusion.
    • The 3 day pass allows you to move freely from room to room, so if you do not feel a session is providing value do not hesitate to walk over to the next one. I did that twice and was happy with the outcome both times.
    • Since Blog World is the best place to network, It’s always a good idea to take more business cards than you think you need as I exhausted my stock on the second day.
    • Know the twitter handles of all the presenters to get an idea on how good the presentation will be.
    • My 17 inch laptop weighed a ton and was bulky to carry around especially since there was no wi-fi for the three days that I was there. A notebook works just as well or better yet it’s time to invest in a tablet for better portability and less shoulder damage:)

      What are your thoughts? Please share them in the comments section below. Also, please share this article generously on all your networks. Thanks.

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Comments

  1. I love how you had a BAD and UGLY section. Most of these type of posts only point out the positives and I’m glad to read what you didn’t like as well. I astounded they did not have FREE working WI-FI. Makes me think about going to this next year.

    BTW, if you want to add an email optin form after your posts you might want to give my plugin a try =)

    http://www.get10000subscribers.com/add-to-post/
    Howie Nguyen recently posted..A Secret Weapon To Get More SubscribersMy Profile

    • Thanks for your feedback, Howie. Yes, the bad and ugly are important as well. Hopefully the event organizers will take note and improve the event for everyone with these simple suggestions. Will give your plugin a try:)

    • You are right – Reading good blogs and the virtual ticket would have been sufficient. I did enjoy the ambiance, the sense of support and the opportunity to network with other bloggers and talk about the common afflictions and problems we all encounter.

  3. Very interesting post, Gazalla. I had heard of this event in the past, and your summary paints a pretty good and critical picture. Love the fact that you point out both the positive and the negative. Like Hao, I am blown away by the fact that such an event would have poor wifi access, and that access is not FREE. What a rip-off.

    I just came back from an event in Miami last week and while there some issues with wifi on one morning, it was good overall. And free, as it should be when a conference is about online marketing, blogging or anything digital, really.

    Will be interested to see how you integrate your learnings in upcoming posts… 😉

    Cheers,
    Frederic

    • Thanks, Frederic. Yes, the wi-fi was unbelievable. Believe it or not, I’m interested too in seeing how much value the conference was in terms of providing more value to my future posts. Let me know if you spot a difference:)

    • I work in the event industry Frederic and you’d be amazed how poor venues are at supplying good wifi. I’m told that many venues have it here in Britain but it’s not a special connection, so generally low quality. In America though venues charge an absolute fortune for web access. Talking tens of thousands of dollars here, which is frankly amazing in 2012.
      Adi Gaskell recently posted..Does racism matter in football?My Profile

      • I did not know that venues charge soo much for web access!! That’s highway robbery! In the 21st, century charging soo much for web access is seriously like charging for the air we breathe or water. It’s an absolute necessity.

  4. Hi, Gazalla! I love that you so perfectly captured the Bad and the Ugly as well as lots of Good in your post. I worked with Johnny B. Truant to produce the Virtual Ticket (Yay, we made Good!) in NYC. We knew in advance that the wi-fi would be bad, given that Javits is essentially a concrete bunker and BlogWorld is in the basement over there, but I heard from Dave and Rick (the guys at the top) that they actually hired an expensive specialist to ensure better service this year. Needless to say, it just didn’t happen. I wonder if the challenges of Javits were just too much. It also makes me wonder if lots of big events will continue to book the venue, if they can’t improve the internet access… Thanks again for an excellent, well-considered wrap-up post.

    • Thanks for your feedback, Lisa. I’m so glad you enjoyed the post. Yes, you made good by producing the virtual ticket – good for you.
      Yes, I wondered the same thing (how on earth do big events book there?) all 3 days that I was there. I sincerely hope that Blog World does not consider them for the next year if their internet access continues to suck.
      Any idea if I could still get the virtual ticket? Thanks.

      • I have no idea if they will consider Javits again, but I’ll definitely pass along your thoughts (which lots of us share) about it if anyone asks for my opinion.

        Regarding the Virtual Ticket — yes, you can still purchase one! BlogWorld ran 12 sessions concurrently for all three days; just a ton of great speakers and panels, but hard to take it all in, right? Johnny and I also shot about 25 extra behind-the-scenes interviews for the VT, too.

        Anyone can buy a virtual ticket at http://www.blogworldexpo.com. Use the Virtual10 code in the purchase process to get 10% off, and *definitely* buy before June 22, because the price goes up the next day. But since you attended BlogWorld, the VT is a lot cheaper, so email Chris at [email protected] and he’ll add that to the account you already created and paid through. (Still ask to use the discount!)

        Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll be glad to help.

        PS: We’ve only just started the process of rendering and uploading all 100+ sessions, but expect them all to be up by June 22. And you’ll have access to all of it for the next year.

        • Thanks for passing along these thoughts. Based on the feedback, that I’m constantly receiving on my twitter feed, DM’s, email and comments here, it looks like a lot of people echo my sentiments. Thanks for all the info and the discount code – will definitely use it. I’ll be sure to contact you with any questions.

  5. Gazalla,

    Excellent post!

    I am glad that you were able to attend what sounds like a great conference for bloggers overall. Wouldn’t it be great if presentations always included at least 50% time for Q& A?

    • Thanks for your feedback, Peter. I’m glad you like it. Q & A’s are esp. valuable at events such as these because they give you an idea on the questions on people’s minds – so that you can tailor your future blog posts based on these questions. Also, you learn more as these are real world problems that people are facing.

  6. Love the feedback, Gazalla. I especially appreciate how balanced your post is. As much as we’d like to have perfect reviews every time, the truth is, we know there are areas for improvement.

    We did everything we could to provide fast, reliable WiFi. Just like in Los Angeles, we invested in an Internet consultant and he met with people from Javits and their providers several times through the year to make sure WiFi wouldn’t be an issue this time around. Unfortunately, the WiFi provider didn’t deliver as promised. As you can imagine, we’re not happy about this at all – I do apologize for the inconvenience.

    We also agree that the Javits Center isn’t in a convenient location and that NYC prices are just too expensive. Plus, our area was just plain dreary. Look for more affordable, content creator -friendly options moving forward.

    As for the ugly, the exhibitionist who made it into our keynote was unfortunate. Though we thought she was inconsiderate to our keynoter and attendees, she did provide us with fodder for humor as the conference progressed. Not excusing her at all, though.

    Please feel free to reach out with any other feedback. As you can image, this is incredibly valuable for us. We can’t put on a good conference without knowing the good, the bad, and, yes. the ugly.

    Please don’t be a stranger. I’m here if you have any questions or concerns.

    Deb Ng
    Director of Community
    New Media Expo/The Conference Formerly Known as BlogWorld

    • Thanks for reading and appreciating the post. Thanks also for putting on a great event and connecting new media professionals from all over the globe. I’m also happy that you received my readers and my feedback which as you noted will be valuable in all your decisions moving forward. I will be sure to contact you with any more valuable feedback that I receive as more people read this post and comment or message me.

    • I thought that your presentation was an excellent place to start for bloggers looking at various options to monetize their blogs. I can see that you have the link here for everyone to look at the slides and presentation. I’ll also add it to the post. Thanks. Looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts. We also have yet another vote for a change in venue.

  8. Hi, Gazalla! How lucky you were to attend BlogWorld and NMX! Thank you for the overview. I will definitely consider attending it next year – and hope that they pick a different venue! I hope we can catch up in person again soon!

    • Thanks for the feedback, Erik. I’m also realizing that you can also gain a lot from the virtual ticket (of which, I’m NOT an affiliate partner). You of-course miss out on the opportunity to network and connect with other new media professionals.

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