ADOTAS

Real-World Advantages

Meeting another blogger enables you to connect with the aim of becoming what Chris Brogan calls a Trust Agent, someone of interest and a valued authority in your field. The bloggers you meet that go on to write a post will hopefully reference and link to your blog.

There are several benefits to being referenced to by other bloggers:

Audience Share: the reader of one blog is likely to read many blogs and ultimately give yours a chance.

Trust Share: The readers trust blogs they are reading more if they were referred.

Google Trust Share: Google will trust your blog more if there are more links to it, which will lead to you getting even more traffic from natural searches.

Talking to Strangers

To succeed as a blogger off-line, you need to break the first rule your mother told you and talk to strangers. I recently met a famous journalist and successful businesswoman and she told me that one of her Golden Rules To Success was to talk to strangers; you never know what opportunities can arise. You are there to connect with other bloggers and the best way you can do this is to talk to as many as possible.

For the most part, they like meeting other bloggers too. You should seem confident and be the person who opens a conversation. Once you are talking with people, you should connect with them. Perhaps ask about their blog and be ready to give them a simple and interesting description of your own. If you can’t describe your blog, how are they going to remember or trust it as a source of information?

Try to enter conversation with people and be part of ongoing conversations. You should build friendships as well as demonstrate that you’re a valuable source of information and that your blog will be too.

The Information Exchange

“How can I help you?” is the best question in the world. Why? Because you are able to help lots of people. And the more people you help, the more they will help you back.

You will find the people that reciprocate and they are the ones you want to build relationships with because they will be the people connecting with other connectors. There are pools of connected people all working together—both on- and off-line—to help each other successfully. And you want to be in these pools.

Blogging about them, interviewing them on your blog, exchanging guest posts, introducing them to other people they can connect with who work in their area are all easy ways to help fellow bloggers.

I can’t stress the importance of exchanging information. You really need to have a business card with your contact information on it. If your blog is a part-time interest, get cheap cards with the details of your blog on it. You want to be able to follow up after the meeting and connect online.

And most important: follow up. Your offline networking will all be in vain unless you connect after the event. Ideally, you should follow up with an email or Facebook, etc. the next day.

While a blog can be used for simply outputting your ideas, most bloggers want interaction and communication. Attending blogging events enables us, as bloggers, to meet each other in real life which helps build personal relationships much faster than only through the Internet. I have made many friends over the years at conferences, parties and discussions and I encourage you to go out and do the same.

Speaking of hanging out and meeting face-to-face, I think all of you bloggers coming to PubCon in Vegas should come by and meet me at the party I’m throwing at Zuri Bar in MGM Grand on the evening of Wednesday Nov. 9. I really would like to meet you—that way we can figure out how to help each other. Please see more info on my blog and on Adotas.

I said hi to the Blue Phoenix Media crew, jawed a bit with the AdKnowledge folks, got into a discussion with the MediaWhiz kids, had a good back-and-forth with the Optizmo team and generally hobknobbed with the brightest bulbs of the performance marketing space. The AdConion guys grabbed a lot of attention (including mine) by offering free beer to passerby while the ClickBooth peeps were likely gushing about how awesome this year’s party was going to be. (In terms of schwag, I also picked up some much-needed sunglasses bearing a MediaTrust logo — stylin’!).

I happily ran into affiliate marketing blogger Murray Newlands, who should really be classified as an “author” considering his first book, “Online Marketing: A User’s Guide,” just arrived on bookstore shelves (and e-bookstore inventory directories). Looking stunningly fit (gotta ask him about his workout routine), he updated me on the happenings of the San Francisco Blog Club and The Affiliate Marketing Awards, and afterward I begged him to send me more contributed bylines.

And I would have been quite remiss not to say hello to Affiliate Summit cofounder Missy Ward herself — especially after that surprisingly intimate email Q&A we recently had. Ward was manning the booth for Affiliate Marketers Give Back and selling the few remaining bottles of her signature Signorina wine, proceeds of which go to the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. The wine lover/hard rock fan could barely contain her excitement that an Australian friend had secured her a bottle of AC/DC’s new signature cabernet sauvignon (called “Highway to Hell”), which is not yet available Stateside.

Come 6 p.m. when the various companies were rolling up the remaining schwag on their tables, it felt a lot less like closing down than time to head to the next party — after all, the first night of Affiliate Summit had just arrived.

(Sorry some of the pics appear upside down — I blame WordPress!)

In the newly re-opened restaurant in the Hotel Gansevoort, Tanuki Tavern is hip and sleek with a welcoming feel. It has less of a club-like atmosphere than Ono had, but has a secret room/entrance to a club in the back for regular Gansevoort clubbers such as Lindsey Lohan, who was partying with many models that evening. If anything, that brought the restaurant down a few points.

Overall however, the night was great. Many people had a good networking experience and just a really fun time toasting the end of a crazy year.

Lead Uganda is an organization that takes former childhood soldiers and AIDS orphans and puts them into some of the best boarding schools in the country. The intention of the program is to create educational opportunities for future leaders of Uganda.

Stephen Shames, a photographer who started the organization is specifically interested in creating a digital media sector of the program. He truly believes the future of Africa is in digital media, which has been proposed by many experts as well.

The two seminal pieces created for this event were donated by Shepard Fairey, most famous for his “Obey” brand and rendering of Barack Obama’s “Hope” graphic. The artist created two originals based on photos of two children in the program, which were auctioned off to benefit the organization.

Many other pieces were donated by prominent photographers and have been sold to put these promising kids through school in order to build the future of this African country. To find out more information, go to: www.leaduganda.org.

A clash between employers and employees was inevitable. According to a Deloitte LLP Ethics & Workplace survey, 60 percent of business executives believe they have a right to know how employees portray themselves and their organizations in online social networks. But more than half of employees said that say that their social networking pages are not an employer’s concern. Among younger workers, 18-34 years old, 63 percent say that employers have no business monitoring their online activity.

“With the explosive growth of online social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, rapidly blurring the lines between professional and private lives, these virtual communities have increased the potential of reputational risk for many organizations and their brands,” Sharon Allen, chairman of the board, Deloitte LLP, said in a statement. “While the decision to post videos, pictures, thoughts, experiences and observations is personal, a single act can create far reaching ethical consequences for individuals as well as employers. Therefore, it is important for executives to be mindful of the implications of this connected world and to elevate the discussion about the risks associated with it to the highest levels of leadership”

According to the study, employees understand of the risks, with 74 percent saying they know it makes it easier to damage a company’s reputation. But, maybe unsurprisingly, only 17 percent of executives surveyed say they have programs in place to monitor and mitigate the possible reputational risks related to the use of social networks. Additionally, while less than a quarter have formal policies on the medium’s use among their people, nearly half (49 percent) of employees indicate defined guidelines will not change their behavior online.

The complete results of the 2009 Ethics & Workplace survey reflect opinions of employees and business executives on questions on ethics, work-life balance, reputational risk and the prevalence of boardroom participation as it relates to increased employee social networking.

Opinion Research conducted a telephone survey on behalf of Deloitte LLP among a national probability sample of 2,008 employed adults comprising 1,000 men and 1,008 women 18 years of age and older, living in private households in the continental United States. Opinion Research also conducted an online survey of 500 business executives. The sample for the study came from a panel of executives across the United States, including company owners, directors, CEOs, controllers, EVPs, CIOs, VPs and board members.

– Express your opinion, comment below.

A very interesting addition to the event was the creators of MakerBots and the Cupcake CNC, a robot that custom frosts your cupcake. Not only does the robot frost your cupcake, but it does so in any shape you’d like. The technology works by taking an image and analyzing it three dimensionally. Then the machine makes a 3-D replica of that image out of frosting. Who knew even cupcakes would become so high-tech!

While Lebron James and the USA Basketball Team try to redeem themselves halfway across the world, thousands of affiliates, vendors, and networks will gather in Beantown for three days of education, networking and fun. Early-comers and those who aren’t too hung over from Saturday night’s Buy.at party can enjoy two hours of food, fun, and fellowship Sunday morning on the Christian Affiliate Marketing Association Cruise which will allow participants to see the city from Boston Harbor during a delicious brunch.

The Summit officially begins with its “opening ceremony” – the Affiliate Meet Market. I was thoroughly impressed with my last Meet Market experience at Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas, with over a thousand people in attendance, teaching, learning, networking, and closing deals. Summit registration is open all of Sunday, along with several sessions. If you’re looking to network on Sunday night, the Glam Interactive Group is holding an unofficial event at Lucky’s Lounge on Congress and A Street. It’s Sinatra Sunday, and the live music starts at 8:30pm.

Monday starts off with Jim Kukral’s opening remarks. After a performance by the Blue Man Group, Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, NJ, delivers the keynote speech. Then the Affiliate Summit, sponsored by Intela, LinkShare, oneNetworkDirect, and Advertising.com’s buy.at, kicks into high gear, with the exhibition hall opening and two days of educational and entertaining sessions. For those with a craving for crustaceans, or if you’re a “molluskmonger”, you may want to RSVP for the LeadFlash Lobster Bash taking place at the New England Aquarium on Monday evening. I’ll personally buy a drink for anyone who can produce a lobster harmonica for me.

Now, I haven’t been to Boston in about 25 years, so I can’t speak to its history, nightlife, or culture. So I’m employing the help of Ananda Gray of RNNetworks and Danielle Eager of ValidClick to lead the way. Both are natives of Boston… as well as obnoxious Red Sox and Patriots fans (sorry ladies!). Ananda’s favorite place in Boston is Fanueil Hall Marketplace, where you will find many bars and restaurants such as The Purple Shamrock, The Harp, McFaddens, and Cheers. I’m probably going to seek out Cheers Beacon Hill, which I hear is the inspiration of one of my favorite television shows of all time.

For nightclubs, Danielle suggests Suite Night Club in “The Alley” for Saturday night, as well as District Nightclub. For eats, Danielle says that Vox Populi is the place – plus her “super-hottie” girlfriend tends bar there. In the North End, she recommends Ristorante Fiore and Trattoria Il Panino. Finally, for you steak lovers, Danielle pimps out Grill 23 & Bar in the Back Bay area.
For you shoppers out there, Ananda suggests Copley Plaza featuring a Neiman Marcus, Barneys, and Jimmy Choo. Also, stop by Newbury Street where you can spend your hard-earned cash at Chanel and Lacoste Boutique – you can find a lot of day spas and salons as well. If you’d like to broaden your mind instead of empting your wallet, you might want to check out the Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Science. Also take a stroll through Boston’s famous Theater District, offering a variety of entertainment options, from musicals to Broadway-bound extravaganzas. Finally, the girls have found a couple more entertainment options – two places called Centerfolds and The Golden Banana. I have a feeling that you may find a good number of your clients and coworkers at these places come late night.

I’d like to thank Ananda and Danielle for their expert opinions on Boston’s many diversions. I look forward to seeing all of you in Boston this weekend … and for those of you attending the Sox-Rangers game on Tuesday, look for me – I’ll be the one in the throwback Yankees jersey in the bleachers.