Business and Blogging

Big Blogging Show for Las Vegas 2007

by Des Walsh on November 14th, 2006

Thanks to Frank Barnako’s MarketWatch alert today (may need subscription - free), I learned of the BlogWorld and New Media Expo scheduled for Nov 8-9 next year in Las Vegas.

Once I started to search for information, I found that today’s media release had been foreshadowed by posts by Paul Chaney and Ted Demopoulos and no doubt others.

The idea seems to be to have the mother of all blog-focused get-togethers and have an expo for which vendors will ante up, so as to be able to sell their wares to bloggers and others interested in blogging.

The official pitch promises:

The first and only tradeshow, conference, and media event dedicated to promoting the dynamic industry of blogging and new media.

The attendee target group is by no means exclusive:

If you are currently blogging, vlogging, podcasting, producing some other form of new media content, thinking about joining the exciting industry of new media or just want to know what this whole blogging phenomena is all about then you need to be at BlogWorld.

For people from the corporate world or interested in blogging in the corporate space there is to be an “exclusive corporate only event” on the previous day, Nov 7. The online registration form offers early bird attendance at “CEO Conference” level for $500, compared to a $125 “general conference” fee and $50 for basic.

No one can say the attendance fees are excessive!

In one of his pre press release posts on the subject, Paul Chaney refers to the event simply as “BlogWorld” and urges promoter Rick Calvert to consider expanding the event’s scope to include social media explicitly. And interestingly coming from one who has so ardently championed business blogging, Paul observes:

By November 2007, blogging will be old hat. Social media is the next next big thing. That’s not news. Rick, don’t overlook that fact.

Whether or not history will bear out the perceptiveness of that observation, and without getting into a debate on semantics, the inclusion of “New Media” in the title of the event does not really cover the significance of “Social Media”. Looks like there will not really be a focus on social media as such.

But a question I have not seen addressed so far is where the prospect of this mega event leaves other established and well-regarded events such Blog Business Summit?
I believe there will still be plenty of room for such events, precisely because they are more focused.

As to the big Las Vegas blogger and new media show, I have to wonder about how much business value I and others could expect to get from an event that aims to cater for everyone in the blogosphere, political bloggers, business bloggers, godbloggers and every other conceivable variety of blogger, not to mention podcasters, vloggers and others of the New Media ilk. Not saying I don’t want to go, just wondering…

No doubt the lineup of speakers at the CEO conference on Nov 7 will help in providing a clearer picture on the business blogging aspects.

Writing this post has reminded me that one of my intentions for this blog has been to keep an eye out for information about conferences that look like being of interest for business bloggers and/or business owners interested in blogging. So I intend to provide a static page here, where I can list the more attractive events in the business-and-blogging space - not a fancy interactive database, but hopefully a useful list.

No idea of an editorial policy to determine what’s going to be included in such a listing or excluded from it. While I’m figuring that out, I welcome suggestions - preferably with good links so I don’t have to track down the information.

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