Mamacita says:Because I do a lot of writing for various businesses, and because I become very attached to “my” businesses, and because it’s extremely important to me to do a better-than-average job for them, I go to a lot of conferences.  My clients trust me, and I want to do a GREAT job for them.

This is one reason why I go to so many conferences.  At each conference, I learn something, and often many things, that will enable me to do a better job for my businesses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No one conference can do it all.  Some conferences specialize in networking; others focus on the tech aspect.  Some are more “social” than anything else.  Some are mostly opportunities for brands to connect to people.  At all of  “my” conferences, I focus mainly on social media and connections, which, to me, are the most important of all.  Remember, though, that I write about different things for different kinds of businesses, and I perform all kinds of services for my businesses; it’s just that social media and connections are what I focus on.  Don’t forget that nobody can possibly know everything about anything!  However, I strive daily to learn more and more about things I can do for my clients.

I’m leaving for The Combine tomorrow morning, and later this summer I plan to attend MixWest. These are both smallish conferences, but don’t ever judge a conference by its numbers!  These two are among the very best conferences out there, hands down.

 

 

 

 

 

My briefcase is packed and ready, my alarm is set, and my email is full of messages about social media and connections.  My clients are so interested, and I’ve got a sweater laid out because conferences are almost always cold.  Or maybe it’s just that I’m so full of anticipation that I get shivery at the prospects – I’ve gone to conferences for years now and I still don’t know for sure.

Have all conferences been a rousing success for me?  Interesting question.  I have learned something supremely important at every conference I’ve ever attended, so yes.  I’d call that a rousing success.  Social media is what I was born to do, even though it didn’t exist when I was born, and nobody ever knows enough about anything, let alone a business that changes every week.  A good social media liaison has to keep current, and a conference, full of experts and learners, is an excellent way to do that.

As for those emails, and all the emails that will be waiting for me after the conference:  I will answer every one of them, except the ones from that persistent Nigerian prince who wants me to cash a check for him in return for half of it.  It might even be that one of those emails will inspire me to do even more for my businesses!

That’s the thing about my clients, you see.  Each client I’ve ever had as been uniquely special to me.  I’ve learned more while researching and writing for these companies than I learned in all the years of grad school, in fact.  No university degree has ever represented as much hard work and actual knowledge than the research and learning necessary to work in social media.  Remember: it’s not possible to write knowledgeably about a business, or anything else, unless one knows a considerable lot about that business.  I use my clients’ products and services, and I like them.  If I did not, I would not be able to represent them.  When my clients profit because of my contribution, it’s a matter of great pride and thankfulness to me.

Freight, shipping, insurance, hospitals, digital signage, funerals, furniture,  foods of all kinds, makeup, shoes, tattoo removal, yearbooks, counseling, plastic surgery, death, dying, marriage, children, parenting, teaching, crafts, toys, movies, pepper jelly, BBQ sauce, grilling, sewing, science, education, writing. . . and these are just the tip of my social media experience iceberg.  If I majored in any one of these topics at college, I couldn’t have learned half as much as I learned in representing and writing for these businesses.

Sometimes I go to a conference to be a presenter; sometimes I go to a conference to be a learner.  Either way, however, I learn.  If one goes to a conference and pays attention at all, there will be learning.  Ohhhh, yes.

 

 

 

 

As for this summer’s conferences on my calendar, I know that I shall meet some of the most awesome, knowledgeable people, learn an amazing lot of useful, fascinating things, and have a fantastic time.

I hope to see some of YOU there.  That would be bloody awesome.