I'm ready to talk about BlogPhiladelphia. The unconference was all that I had hoped for and then some. Were there things that I would do differently next year, given the opportunity to organize a year two event? Absolutely. Key learnings are to be expected with any event.

The success of BlogPhiladelphia should be attributed to the people who participated. I still can't believe that 270 pre-registered and we had to turn people away. Even better, I am thrilled that more than 250 people showed up. The biggest measurement of success in my mind, is the community that was forged at the event. All of these people who knew "of" each other - or didn't - had the opportunity to meet in person and collaborate, share and learn. That was the real goal of BlogPhiladelphia. Sure, as an employee of GPTMC, I hope that you fall in love with Philadelphia and this region that I love and promote, and I hope that the community embraces our social media tools and content, like uwishunu.comand Sound About Philly. However, as a fellow geek, I hoped that people would connect and exchange ideas and ideally, make contacts that lead to more work or improve their business services with new knowledge.

Selfishly, the unconference was also an opportunity for me to catch up with and learn more from people who have been teaching me for years: Josh Hallett, Dave Parmet and Howard Greenstein. It was a chance for me to reconnect with some really smart people I've met along my path: Alicia Dorset, Dina Kaplan, Whitney Hoffman and Doug Bellenger. It was also a chance for me to learn more about topics that interested me from experts in those areas, like: Dave Coustan, Scott McNulty, Lisa Marshall, Chris O'Donnell, Valerie Maltoni,Tony Guido and Don Bain. Many thanks also to our diverse panelists: Neal Stewart, Caroline Marks, Vince Veneziani, Emily King and the infamousA.J. Daulerio. A fist-pumping "yeaaaaah" to city blogger and friend Joey Sweeney, who rocked the panel with his moderation, and with his awesome Philebrity team, hosted the perfect wrap party.

And that brings me to BlogPhiladelphia's not-so-secret ingredient, the man whose blog couldn't be more aptly named, Alex Hillman of Dangerously Awesome. For as much as the blog world can be filled with snark and feud after feud, the geek world is filled with talented people who are rapidly propelling forward and making industry names for themselves globally with their innovation and yet not getting caught up in the ego that consumes so many. Alex Hillman is one of those people and if you know Alex personally, you're nodding your head right now while reading this. Accolades and rewards (personal and financial) are truly deserving to this smart, gifted, helpful and energetic guy. We connected early in the planning stages of BlogPhilly (thanks, Brian Oberkirk !!) and Alex made the mistake of offering his FREE help with anything I need to make this unconference happen. He was experienced in the world of Barcamps, fresh off the high of SXSW and newly committed to staying in Philly versus moving to SF and joining the well-established (tech) establishment. Alex's passion re-ignited my passion for a project that I was dedicated to but now planning with limited resources that at times seemed overwhelming to accomplish in the less than 3 months we had to organize. Alex didn't just bring ideas (like the open-grid, which was awesome) but he was a tangible resource for me; he was a team member and then a partner.

And then there are all of the new friends I met BECAUSE of BlogPhilly: Roz, the P'unk Ave guys, Philly Tipguys, Marisa, John Bilotta and his bro Vince, David Speers, the insane and brilliant dudes at Viddler who are totally going to bury YouTubeWho? and more!
I could go on forever about the people who pitched in and helped with organizing - maybe that will be a part II to my wrap up?

I hope I touched on all of the core participants in BlogPhilly, if I haven't, I apologize.

Thank you to everyone who attended for making BlogPhiladelphia truly one of the highlights of my life both personally and professionally. The social media community in Philly and beyond is a remarkable community of talented and good people and I am proud to count myself as one of you. Thank you.

I'm on a blogging break. Blogphiladelphia took the blogger right out of me.

Not to mention, it's just so much easier to twitter than blog.

But I will be back. Until then, look at the "tooned" annie that stan at Toonamation created! What a talent and program this guys has - and he can "toon" entire videos. And this isn't that mac program - it's patented and more So, as someone at BlogPhilly pointed out, we could have him "toon" the spiderman movie so we can watch it the way we *wanted* to see it. I can't wait to work on a project with Toonamation!



(Are the bags under my eyes really that bad? I think I was just very, very tired;p)

Wow, the last few days have been a whirlwind of activity. BlogPhiladelphia was a blur for me but I'm pleased with the outcome. Our session leaders were all excellent and the participation by attendees impressed me. The social media world has come such a long way since I entered the circuit a few years ago; marketers and citizen journalists are just so *smart* anymore. That's what really impressed me about BlogPhiladelphia. The last few social media "conferences" I attended in 2006 in NYC bored me. The speakers rattled off "tips" that were basics and even outdated. Often, I knew more then them but didn't have the opportunity to contribute.

At BlogPhiladelphia, the session leaders were smart and the participants were just as smart. It was stimulating just to be among the conversations.

More to come soon, but now, I have to head to the Wrap Party (Thanks Philebrity!)

Yet another reason why, David Pogue is one of my top 5 favorite reporters.

Ha. I lovelovelove Chris Pirillo's20 Reasons I'm not getting an iPhone today. Granted, I'm not an Apple disciple, but I don't get the hype for the iPhone. Maybe I'm too much of a mobile phone techie to buy in? Maybe it's my displeasure with my video iPod? In my opinion, the only thing great about the iPod is 1)the streamlined aesthetic and 2)the memory. Beyond that, I don't love the product. I hatehatehate the click-wheel. I'm on my third unit (under warrenty, thankfully!) because of unit malfunctions. Apple customer service has been the worst of my life and that's coming from someone who formerly repped a wireless handset manufacturer that required me to switch carriers to activate and test large numbers of new phones for at least two years; I've probably had more than the average person's experience with customer service AND I've worked with just about every carrier in the US. I would NEVER give up my Verizon service.

I guess the other issue is that I don't have a landline. I doubt I ever will again. And I live alone. I can't risk my phone dying or malfunctioning and have to mail it in for a replacement. I don't have that luxury.

It's funny, because I'm a mobile phone junkie. I upgrade ALL the time. I have so many friends in the mobile industry that they may send me a review unit to play with or I'll just see one that looks interesting and upgrade on my own. My friends & family accuse me of having a new wireless unit every two weeks and sometimes they are right.

However, while I admire the design of the iPhone from afar, I have to say, it's unlikely I'd purchase one now with AT&T service. Their coverage blows.

But I'm sure many people out there will snap them up and love that status it gives me. Me, I'd rather have the function and service;)

Someone pass the codeine - I just gave birth. The labor involved may set a new world record, but we did it for YOU.

Now hurry up and register, if you haven't already. Just one week left to sign up!

All this talk about the iPhone, enough already! Sometimes I get frustrated with the consumerism element of social media. We in America and the western world continually scramble to buy the next big "thing," but what happens to all of those old-next-big-things as we continually upgrade?? I saw a Twitter today with an awesome link to a blog that recycles the old Merlin Calculator into an MP3 player. How AWESOME is that?!? Man, I always wanted that Merlin, but I went to Catholic school and we weren't allowed to use calculators. We even had to SHOW OUR WORK in math - even in the high grades and more advanced math. I'm still convinced that if I hadn't been DEPRIVED (no bitterness here, folks) of the Merlin I would be a much better math person today.

In other, equally, exciting news, BlogOrlando registration is live! Wooohooo! I can't wait! Hurry up and register everyone, it's going to be AWESOME!