#140conf12 – Part 3

 

When we got the the 92 Street Y on Thursday we were greeted by Kat Armstrong. She wanted to tell us how Chris had inspired her to start her own business a year ago. She is happy and doing well. Wow! What a great way to start the day.

Being Chris Brogan’s Mom is a special position in life. Some times I feel like a celebrity. When I met Alan Weinkrantz, he asked me if I was proud of Chris. He was all smiles and his face was radiant. I knew he wasn’t being a wise guy, but the question was strange to me.

Alan Weinkrantz is a great guy and is well known and loved. While at dinner with Ric Dragon, Alan’s name came up. I relayed the story about how nice Alan was to ask me about Chris, but I didn’t understand the question – of course I am proud of Chris.

Ric then explained the Jewish culture. Alan was giving me the opportunity to “brag” about Chris without making it seem like bragging. The practice is called “Kvell.” That is so kind. Life is beautiful. Alan you are so kind. Thank you.

The #140 conference was well curated. The speakers were well chosen. The subjects were interesting. What I experienced on the side lines was the icing on the cake.

A lot is packed into the two day conference. That means the day starts early. It just so happens my friend Joyce Sullivan was first up on day 2 at 8:05am. As Steve and I rushed to get there in time for her speech, Steve asked what Joyce was speaking about that would make me so intent to be there so early.

I told Steve it didn’t matter what she was talking about, I was going to be there for Joyce. She gave an excellent speech with Linda Descano about “Financial Services and Social Media Innovators.” Later we talked.

Joyce told me she gets more interaction on Twitter from the personal tweets than her business tweets. I told her, I got out of bed bright and early to hear her speak because she is a person I admire and I didn’t even know the subject of her talk.

Joyce introduced me to her friend Josef Haslam who gave me his business card created by Jonathan Brewer. He then went on to tell me about the awesome Mr. Brewer. I relayed my story about the awesome Mr. Brewer and our meet up at #SOBCon12. Can you see the people to people to people thread here.

Another great person is MISTY BELARDO @MISTYGIRLPH She is a sister #BA75 and it was so great to see her at the #140conf12.

DAVID MITCHELL or @DEPUTYMITCHELL

He comes from England. He talks about children blogging and how it encourages them to be more than just TV watchers. He is looking for people to help by reading the kids blogs and leaving comments. Please help – MULTITUDE.NET

 

 

Stephanie Montreuil gave a wonderful speech entitled “Everybody Hurts…. sometimes” The big take away for me was, “Have courage to tell who you are with your whole heart.”

MOUSELINK

Matteo Wyllyams also known as @Mouselink is described as a Beatnik super-human disguised as geek. His talk: “Phoneography: Mobile short-form multimedia transforms a formerly lazy dad into a passionate camera phone artist.”

Matteo has an iPhone that he has transformed into a super machine. The great part is that he can tell you how he did it. He graciously shares information and he is fun to talk with. I am hoping to learn more from you.

 

Lil JaXe is a Rapper. He has a bit of a stutter when he speaks, but that is totally wiped away when he raps. He gave a great interview on stage and his performance was outstanding. When I met him in the lounge later, he was warm, and welcoming. I hope he has a very long and successful career.

 

 

Some speech titles are a bit tricky – such as “Everything I need to know about social media, I learned in prison.” Julia Rosien talked about her work in prison as a counselor.

She told us to be ourselves and not do a remake to fit in. “Keep your weirdness.”

Julia Rosien is a great person and a brand ambassador for the #140conf.

ADAM BELLOW

“Life, Loss, Love, Learning” is a story about Adam Bellow and his wife losing their twin daughter shortly after her birth and how they spent three long months visiting and reading to their twin son in the hospital. Adam took this tragedy and turned it into a life giving experience by writing a children’s book explaining it all. It has lots of pictures of bears as characters. Adam’s speech was a very life giving experience.

LIZ NEAD

Introduced by Becky McCray, Liz Nead is inspirational and fun to listen to. She also talks about SEX so everyone perked up and listened to her talk about “Everything I learned about social media, I learned from my grandfather.” Like her grandfather, she is “inspiring people to find and live their purpose.” She is host of Life Dare TV at Lifedare.net

 

 

Johnny Diggs and Willow Brugh gave a stunning presentation entitled “Geeks without Bounds.” Johnny is a master piano player with an awesome voice. He sang “Hallelujah” and then played in the background while Willow talked. In the middle he played “Let it Be.”

The crowd went wild. Let It Be was the topic of JODI SONODA’s presentation yesterday in “Learning to be me.” She said she learned that “If you can’t physically change it “Let It Be.” It was such a powerful learning to her, she had Let It Be tattooed on her back.

Johnny soon learned they weren’t screaming for him because the crowd was screaming Jodi, Jodi, Jodi.

The singing stopped. The crowd settled down. The speech continued. Johnny ended with “Hallelujah.” Then the crowd started cheering for Johnny Diggz and Willow Brugh.

I could go on an on, it was a wonderful experience. See for yourself at http://ustream.tv/nyc140conf

Thank you Jeff Pulver and all the staff of the #140conf for letting us share this wonderful experience. I so enjoy meeting wonderful people and hearing their story. If I were in need, I would much rather have a hug than a financial report.

Mom Pop Pow – Where You Can Do It If You Try