While on my way home from work on Friday night, doing my usual routine of texting, checking emails and hitting refresh on my browser to update Twitter - all on my PDA - I suddenly stopped and looked around me. I looked at my PDA and then I asked myself, what did I used to do before I had a mobile device?

It's not that long that I've been part of the connected generation. I was one of those people who refused to join the cell revolution and was the last person you knew to have a cell phone; the only reason that I finally did get a cell phone was because I worked for a wireless handset manufacturer/marketer. I went wireless in 2001.

So what did I do, before mobile? I realized that I was more aware of my surroundings before mobile. I people watched. I paid attention to where I was walking. I looked up and around me. I looked into people's faces. I looked into store windows.

I don't do much of that anymore. I walk and text. I stand and text. I twitter in taxi's.

Once I realized that, it dawned on me that I am a walking target for crime because of my addiction to technology. I could easily be mugged and never see my attacker. If I passed a business being robbed, I may not be able to provide any information. I'm not paying attention.

Then I wondered about the link between crime and technology. Are there statistics or studies showing a rise in crime and its direct correlation to victims using technology at the time of the attack? I know I'm not the only person out there preoccupied with my devices. Are we at danger because of our constant usage of devices?

Is this a trend for our future? What do you think?

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.