Grabbing my sandwich lunch just before everyone else, I then started to charge up my laptop. I took out my iPod Touch, and found out that I had wireless Internet access available. It wasn’t a strong signal, nor was it fast, but it allowed me to check my e-mail and post some stories. Of course, this lead everyone to come over to where I was and start using the wireless.

Jenn Lowther was the one that stuck with me the longest and used my laptop as a way to charge up her quickly dying iPhone. She works as a social media strategist for invoke and was probably my best conversation thus far.

She also let me know that Northern Voice is definitely on again this year, as I had previous doubts about that conference. I am not yet sure how or if I will be able to attend Northern Voice, as it is held in beautiful British Columbia, which is on the other side of the country. They have done a refresh of the website, and it looks very nice, and so I can’t wait to see it launch, which Jenn said should be any hour or day now.

The other lunch time thing of note was something Jenn pointed out to me, the lack of organization for digital promotion of this event. nextMEDIA organizers should have had wireless Internet in the conference areas, and started by letting us all know we should be using Twitter under a certain event hash tag. When Jenn asked a few people, she got a surprising response: “what’s a hash tag?”

It is also interesting to see the divide between media companies and those that service media companies through social media promotion, advertising, and brand management.

Lunch wasn’t amazing, but it worked out rather well, and there is nothing wrong with a “free” lunch. It was a variety of sandwiches and wraps, but because they were pre-made, I couldn’t find one that would meet all of my normal “likes”. I had to take one that had mayonnaise, which I am not a fan of, but without any other choice, I just ate it and drank a Pepsi.

In the end, lunch felt a little rushed, but being that the conference was thirty minutes behind schedule, it made sense to me that they would try to get things back on track a little bit by curtailing the length of lunch.

I am looking forward to how the day progresses.

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There are a limited number of couches though for those that are unable to take the discomfort any longer, but those are placed far from optimal viewing angles of the stage, and part of the experience is always to be able to see the slides and presentations that these companies put together.

Not only that, but there was an even bigger issue that really aggravated me: there was no open wireless Internet connection. There is a wireless connection available, but it was locked down and only staff for the event seemed to be permitted to use it.

This frustrated more than just myself, as a new media event, with speeches on social networking, and monetizing digital media, many people assumed that there would be access for them to use. How could they invite new media specialists, bloggers and more, and not have any open wireless Internet for us to use? Very strange.

Worse still, because of the thick concrete and brick walls, we are unable to connect to Toronto’s city wide wireless network which, while costing money, would have still been an alternative to use.

They did provide two small laptops hooked into wired Internet connections as an Internet station, but placed large signs limiting us to a maximum of fifteen minutes at a time.

One other thing to note is that they didn’t seem to have the same kind of exhibitor booth space that they had last year, and so there most likely won’t be any cool displays of new technology. The two companies that I saw were Casale Media, an advertisement agency, and a local school of arts and design. Both are interesting, though somewhat uninspired choices.

The breakfast provided was nice though, with a wide assortment of drinks, and snacks. I have to commend them on that aspect. Also, all of the staff at the event seems to be well trained, very friendly, and efficient. Which for events as complicated as this one seems to be, is key.

Will nextMEDIA turn out to be an event to remember thanks to some great presentations, or will it end up being a flop worth forgetting? As we wait for the delayed opening speech, I am very concerned.

For more information on the nextMEDIA conference, and every post I am making regarding the event, please check out BrandingDavid.com.

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After our messages, people started using the same tag for their Twitters, and other things, until we got to the event, and the organizers let us know that the hash tag should be #wct08. Despite this set back, I continued to push out as many tweets as possible under the one my cousin had created, and when Joseph Thornley took the stage, it only got more complicated as he announced that the hash tag for the event should be #wpto08. We then had three event tags on Twitter, for a single event. It was safe to say that many people were confused, and slightly annoyed.

Questions started circulating if people should just add two or all three tags to their Twitters so that they are easy to find. No one wanted their tweets to be ignored for the event, especially as it was a great bulletin board of communication.

Over time, thanks to my constant messaging on Twitter, and my work at converting others, the #wcto08 hash tag showed up on the trending list, as an event tag that was being used fairly often. The other tags not getting a mention at all, and so over the course of Saturday, messages went out with the #wcto08 tag at a rate of ten to every one message that included the “official” #wct08 tag.

The second day began with the same confusion, as it was stated at the start of the day that we should be using the #wct08 hash tag on Twitter, and ideally on all sites we post WordCamp Toronto content on. It then became apparent that, while we still had many supporters, the #wct08 hash tag might win the day. It quickly appeared on Twitter’s Trending list, and over the course of the day the two fought out for their spot.

Interestingly enough though, my cousin, a few others, and myself continued to use the tag that Mark had come up with, and we were the heavier Twitter users, so by the end of the second, and final day, I think we had created enough messages that the #wcto08 tag was pushed out at around a rate of three or four messages to every one that was tagged as #wct08.

I know this all seems silly, but the issue could have been fixed quite easily. Since the #wcto08 tag was trending higher, and faster, the organizers, instead of sticking to their guns, could have adapted and promoted the more popular tag, so that people didn’t feel the need to tag their messages with both hash tags for the event.

Next time though, I think the tag for the event will be chosen much earlier to avoid such confusion, but for histories sake, I want to say again that my cousin, Mark Wood, selected the Twitter hash tag that became more popular than the official one, at WordCamp Toronto 2008.

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Let me know what you think of it. And thanks again to all of those that came out to the event, it was a really great time, and I will have a few posts about it over the coming days and weeks.

WordCamp Toronto 2008 – Running Your Blog Like a Pro with David Peralty from Mark Wood on Vimeo.

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A nice compact 230MB Quicktime Movie version.
A MP3 version and a M4A version as the audio is the most important part.

Very cool stuff for those that haven’t checked this out yet.

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I wanted to give a quick shout out to the people that gave me their card, and the companies they represent.

Thomas M. Vail – Cart-Away Concrete Systems
Over in the corner of the exhibits there was a concrete mixer, and two guys with very bold green shirts. They were there promoting their business outside of its normal niche, and in doing so, became one of the highlights of the event for me. It made me wonder if other businesses will begin to catch on that Blog World Expo could be an amazing opportunity for businesses that don’t normally interact with bloggers to find a whole new group of potential customers and if nothing else, be noticed by a crowd that is well connected online. Check out their Typepad blog.

While they weren’t giving away any concrete services, not that they service Canada anyways, it was still really great to see them there, and their approach was amazing. I really hope that they do well as a business just because of their outreach to us bloggers.

Zac Johnson – ZacJohnson.com
Out of all of the affiliate marketing experts that were at the event, Zac Johnson was really the only one that talked to me at any reasonable length, despite not really knowing me before the conference. He was an approachable guy, with a very calm attitude. I don’t think he realized how much of a celebrity he has become for a very wide group of people online, as some of the things he has done with integrating advertising and products has been far ahead of the curve. It was a real pleasure to have met him.

Thomas J. Hoehn – Kodak
One of the coolest things that I learned while at Blog World Expo was information on how big name brands and companies are integrating social media, blogging and online story telling into the corporate culture, and while Kodak might have been considered slow in really fighting for the digital camera scene, they are jumping in with both feet with regards to the web. Thomas was great to talk to and really seems to understand blogging as a form of story telling over top of just a marketing tool. I was really impressed with his insights and hope to hear more of Kodak and their online efforts over the coming months.

Sarah East – The Pop Crunch Show
I am a married man, but I still have a horrible crush on Sarah East, the host of the Pop Crunch Show. I hate celebrity news, but I watch it anyways and so when I found out she was at Blog World Expo, I wanted to meet her. We both work for the same person, but I have to admit, I had a little bit of celebrity worship going on when I met her. She was very down to earth, funny, and charming. In the short conversation I got to have with her, she really seemed to know her stuff outside of just the online video realm, and understood the business of producing content.

Angela Lauria – Commission Videos
If there is one person that I recommend every blogger, blog network, and online thought leader seek out, it would be Angela. I had met her before in Vancouver at Northern Voice, and I was impressed with her then, but she has continued to step up her game and Commission Videos looks great! I really enjoyed talking with her and if you are putting video on your site and not monetizing it, then you are getting it from the wrong source, and I recommend checking out Commission Videos. Angela understands advertising, business management and their interconnections with the web, and is building products where her limiting factor is not the advertising side, but finding enough publishers, and in my opinion, that is a great problem for and advertising service to have.

Eric Golub – The Tygrrrr Express
Aaron Phillips – FastServers.net
Mario Phillips – gooseGrade
Greg Kuiper – layeredtech
Debby Phillips – Market Leverage
Kate Heffernan – outbrain
Jack LeVine – Uncle Jack’s VeryVintageVegas.com
Rion Morgenstern – mindtouch
Connie Bensen – Connie Bensen
Becky Jutzi – SodaHead
S. Neil Vineberg – Vineberg Communications
Michael Rubin – gaspedal
Angie A. Swartz – Six Figure Moms Club
Scott S. Lawton – Blogcosm
Dana Rockel – Content Robot
Ezra Butler – Ezra Butler
Andraz Tori and Jure Cuhalev – Zemanta

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I am still processing all of the video I have taken, and will upload it all to Vimeo as I have the time.

Here are some videos for those that missed the event.

A Piece of Dave Taylor’s Keynote Speech

Dave Taylor’s Keynote Speech from David Peralty on Vimeo.

Lunch at Blog World Expo

Lunch at Blog World Expo 2008 from David Peralty on Vimeo.

Gary Vaynerchuk Getting Ready to Speak

Gary Vaynerchuk Speech Prep at Blog World Expo 2008 from David Peralty on Vimeo.

A Few Well Known People at Blog World Expo

A Few Well Known People at Blog World Expo from David Peralty on Vimeo.

Midway Between the Conference and the Hotel

Panorama Near the Las Vegas Convention Center from David Peralty on Vimeo.

See all of my Vimeo uploaded videos.

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I will have an embed, flash version soon, but for now, here is the full quality, unedited AVI for consumption.

Gary V’s Blog World Expo Keynote Video – Note: 787mb, 35 minutes.
Mirror #1 – By Erik Boles

I have also added it to Vimeo, and so now have a lower quality Flash version for people to watch. It is about one third of the file size, so it should be easier for those of you that are sick of the nearly 800mb version I uploaded previously.

Gary Vaynerchuk Blog World Expo Keynote Speech from David Peralty on Vimeo.

For more sizes, and downloads of the video, check out Erik Boles blog, where he’s put up a mirror of the large 780mb version, and a Quicktime version that runs in at 207mb and an iPhone version at 22mb.

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So far I’ve met Lorelle, Vic, Jim Kukral, Deb Ng, and others. I’ve been Twittering like mad on Twitter.

More to come when I pull out my laptop.

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There are so many things I still have to do to get ready to go, but I wanted to explain a bit of the silence as of late, and why things might be a little quite here over the next few days.

Tomorrow morning I leave home and head into London with my wife. She has to go to school, and I have to start going through the airport security fun. I am bringing a minimal amount of stuff in order to make sure I can get through as efficiently as possible, and I won’t be checking any baggage if possible.

I will be bringing a very small suit case and my laptop bag and trying to manage both as I fly from London, Ontario to Toronto, Ontario, which if you know the area well you’ll notice is the wrong direction, but Toronto is a hub here and where Air Canada does their international flights. I haven’t had very many positive experiences in flying with Air Canada, and so hopefully this time it goes better.

After a few hours in Toronto, I then board a plane to Las Vegas. Hopefully, during this part of the trip, I will be able to get some writing done, and relax as right now I am a bit wound up thinking about the people I am going to get to meet and where I am going.

I really wish my wife was coming with me, but we just couldn’t afford it at this time. It seems like we are forever going on different trips to different places, though mine are always work related.

One thing I checked out was which planes I would be flying on, and which seats I might want to avoid. I found that on Seat Guru, a site that I had heard about a long time ago thanks to either TechTV or Revision3 at some point or another.

I haven’t been in the Unite States for almost ten years now, and the last time I was in Nevada, we only didn’t stop in Vegas so this should be quite the experience for me.

I want to thank Jim Kukral and the Blow World Expo organizers for having me speak and Ryan Caldwell, my boss, for giving me the time off from College Crunch to attend.

If you see me at the event, please come and say “hi” as I’d really love to meet as many people as possible.

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