#Blogchat is coming to SXSW!

UPDATE: #Blogchat LIVE at SXSW is officially SOLD OUT.  If you are on the waiting list please come anyway as this is SXSW and no one’s schedule is set in stone.  We’ll get in everyone that we have room for.  The location of the Social Media Clubhouse is 601 Brushy #107, between East 6th and 7th (one block East of Highway 35). The meet and greet with attendees and sponsors starts at 4pm, and the official #Blogchat will start at 5pm.  Please arrive as soon as you can so you can pick the floor/co-hosts you want to join, and to get a good seat!  I am SO excited about this and cannot wait to see y’all!

I don’t think I’ve ever been as excited to write a post as this one.  Two years ago #Blogchat started by accident, and now it’s coming to the largest Social Media conference/event on the planet: South By Southwest Interactive.

Next month in Austin, on Sunday March the 13th, #Blogchat will be LIVE at SXSW.  From 4pm – 6pm we’ll have a live #Blogchat at the Social Media Clubhouse.  This event is made possible because of two amazing sponsors, and I wanted to introduce both of them to you now:

Main Sponsor of #Blogchat at SXSW: 1680PR

1680PR is a specialized firm that provides advice in the particular fields of Public Relations and Strategic Marketing: positioning, branding, and imaging. Departments of State and government heads; music, film, and television personalities; entertainment industry executives; Native American Tribes and native enterprises; non-profit organizations; and entrepreneurs continue to benefit from the expertise of its consultancy.

The firm commands a distinctive presence in the global arena, leveraging the interdisciplinary strengths of no less than eight departments under the 1680 brand: Public Relations (PR), Social Media (SM), Talent, Motion Pictures, Digital Entertainment, Creative, Entertainment, and Artist Management.  They have offices in Albuquerque, Atlanta and Los Angeles.

You can learn more about 1680PR by visiting their website, blog, YouTube Channel and PLEASE follow them on Twitter.

Technology Sponsor for #Blogchat at SXSW – Dell

For more than 26 years, Dell has empowered countries, communities, customers and people everywhere to use technology to realize their dreams. Customers trust Dell to deliver technology solutions that help them do and achieve more, whether they’re at home, work, school or anywhere in their world.

Additionally, Dell is a corporate Social Media pioneer, with arguably the largest new media footprint of any brand on the planet.  You can learn more about Dell’s Social media efforts by following its Direct2Dell blog or on Facebook or YouTube.

The #Blogchat LIVE at SXSW Format

What we’ll do is have a live discussion at the venue about this topic: What can company blogs learn from personal bloggers?  Think about the ways that personal bloggers develop community and content on their blogs, for example, and how company bloggers could take these lessons and apply it to their own efforts.  If you’ve attended SXSW before and are familiar with the Core Conversation sessions, the format will be similar to that.  Just a bunch of smart people in a room together conversating and learning from each other.

#Blogchat will be held at the Social Media Clubhouse, which will be located in a 4-story(!) townhouse just a few blocks from the Austin Convention Center.  Special thanks to Chris Heuer, Kristie Wells and the good folks at Social Media Club for helping us promote this event.

Now the Social Media Clubhouse will be a fabulous venue for #Blogchat, but there were a couple of considerations.  First, due to its capacity, attendance for the event has been capped at 100.  So if you want to attend, please make sure you register here ASAP!  Second, the max capacity for any floor is about 40, so that means we’d have to spread the conversation out over 2-3 floors!  Which also means that I can’t be the only host here, I need some help!  So without further adieu, here are your FIVE co-hosts that will be joining me to lead the conversations for #Blogchat – SXSW:

Ken Lingad – The driving force behind 1680PR, Ken is referenced in the global media arena as a “visionary impresario.” Ken Lingad (Isleta Pueblo) is overwhelmingly acknowledged as the sole “architect” behind the most successful public relations and strategic marketing campaigns ever fielded in Santa Fe’s Contemporary Native Arts arena.  And he gets to work with clients in the film, music and entertainment industries.  Yeah, I want that job!  You can learn more about Ken here.

Richard Binhammer – Besides being a Senior Manager at Dell, Richard is one of the most influential people in the corporate Social Media world, and since 2006 he’s been helping Dell’s Social Media and Digital teams connect with Dell’s customers.  And he’s played no small role in Dell being an amazing case study in how corporations can use Social Media effectively.  As he likes to say about Dell’s efforts, ‘We’re Listening’.  Oh and he’s a helluva nice guy to boot.

Shannon Paul – Shannon currently manages Social Media for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.  Before that, she was the Social Media Specialist for Peak6 Online, and the New Media Manager for the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings.  Additionally, she is a former #Blogchat co-host, and remains one of the most popular and requested co-hosts #Blogchat has ever had.  And besides just radiating smartitude, she’s also one of my favorite people on the planet, and one of the nicest people you will ever meet.

C.C. Chapman – C.C. is truly one of the pioneers of social media.  He’s been immersed in using these tools for years, and was one of the first podcasters on the internet.  But that’s on the personal side of social media.  Additionally, he’s worked with some of the largest brands on the planet, such as Coca-Cola, HBO, American Eagle and Warner Bros to help them use New Media to connect with their customers and brand advocates.  He also co-wrote Content Rules with Ann Handley, the definitive book on creating amazing online content.

And we’ll be announcing one more co-host at the event!

From 4:00-5:00pm, we will have a meet and greet, just like we do every Sunday night at 7pm for an hour before the actual #Blogchat starts.  And here’s a hint: You’ll want to connect with Ken, Richard, Shannon and C.C. especially to learn more about the work they are doing.  Maybe you bloggers could even try to snag an interview with them?

Then at 5:00pm the fun starts and we’ll have conversations happening on 3 different floors of the Social Media Clubhouse, with Ken Richard, Shannon C.C. and myself leading the discussion on each floor.

So the schedule is:

Topic – What can company blogs learn from personal bloggers?

Meet and greet with sponsors, co-hosts and attendees – 4:00-5:00pm Central

#Blogchat LIVE at SXSW – 5:00-6:00pm

So please run (don’t walk) to the EventBrite page and register for #Blogchat LIVE at SXSW!  Remember, space is limited to the 1st 100 people, so please get in ASAP!  And if you can’t join us in Austin, don’t worry, Ken and I will be pulling double-duty on the 13th, and we will co-host #Blogchat on Twitter at its regular time starting at 8pm Central, covering the same topic, What can company blogs learn from personal bloggers?

Finally, let me close with this.

Thanks to all of you.  The past two years of #Blogchat have been a truly amazing experience.  It’s been truly humbling to see all of you embrace the idea of creating a place on Twitter where we can all come together and learn about blogging from each other, and together, create something larger than ourselves.  #Blogchat coming to SXSW is a testament to the power of your combined smartitude, and the size of the community that all of you have played a role in creating over the last two years.  I will miss every single of one you that can’t join us in Austin next month, but know that there will be more Live #Blogchat events in the future.  And I will also be bringing more amazing co-hosts and sponsors to #Blogchat that will help us all continue to grow what is the largest weekly Twitter chat on the planet.

All because of you.  Thank you.