(PG: This is straight out of the pen of Brent Leary. Brent for those of you who don’t know him is….oh, wait, everyone of you knows him so I don’t have to explain. He is hosting the first ever SocialBizAtlanta. conference on Feb 3 and I think that you need to take advantage of the free registration and show up there. I would if I were you. Know why? Let me let Brent tell you.
Take it away Mr. Leary!)
I have the opportunity to go to a lot of CRM/Social events during the course of the year, most of which are held in cool places like San Francisco, Boston and Orlando. And while I love going to those places, I’ve always wanted to have one of those events down here in Atlanta. And while I’ve threatened to do
it, I would always find an excuse (or 200) not to do it. Not the right venue, not the right time of year, nobody in the industry would come, nobody likes me… man I better stop before I really depress myself.
Anyway, thanks to my friends and some great sponsors, I’ve completely run out of excuses. So I have no other choice than to say that on FridayFebruary 3rd I’d love for
you to join me in Atlanta for the Getting Down to Social Businessconference being held at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) Conference Center. It’s also being called Social Biz Atlanta because the event site is SocialBizAtlanta.com. And it is free to attend if you register online in advance.
This is a full day event that will focus on the need for companies to transition their approach to “social” away from a narrow, reactionary set of disconnected activities, to a full-fledged corporate culture strategically aligned to build long-lasting relationships with today’s empowered customer. And it's aimed directly at small and mid-size businesses - and even you enterprise folks working at the departmental level of your organization operating like a small business.
Now I said my friends deserve all the “blame” for this making this happen, and let me tell you why…
A Venue I Couldn’t Pass Up
I’ve said to many people that I’d only organize an event if I could get a space like the GTRI Conference Center, because it’s a great location in Midtown Atlanta, has great amenities for attendees, and even has free parking. This made for a great excuse for not doing something, until Donna Ennis of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute said I could use the GTRI venue. Gee THANKS Donna!
Incredible List of World Class Thought Leaders Volunteering to Come
Now that I couldn’t use the venue excuse, I really was relying heavily on the “nobody would come to Atlanta” excuse. And, of course, not only did people want to come, many of them even offered without me having to ask. I mean, who would’ve thought a group of thought leaders, experts and influencers like this would say yes:
- Anita Campbell, CEO and Publisher, Small Business Trends,
- Robin Carey, CEO, Social Media Today,
- Ginger Conlon, Executive Editor, 1to1 Media,
- Bert DuMars, Vice President of Digital Marketing and eCommerce,Newell Rubbermaid,
- Donna Ennis, Project Director, MBDA Business Center,
- Paul Greenberg, President of the 56 Group & Author of CRM at the Speed of Light,
- Art Hall, Director, Alvarez and Marsal,
- Cory Hartlen, Product Marketing Manager, Radian6,
- Jeanne Hopkins, Vice President of Marketing, HubSpot,
- Adam Naide, Executive Director of Social Media Marketing, Cox Communications,
- Jeff Nolan, VP of Product Marketing, Get Satisfaction,
- Larry Ritter,SVP & General Manager, Sage CRM Solutions,
- Michael Thomas, Customer Success Manager, Microsoft,
- Matt Trifiro, SVP of Marketing, Assistly,
- Lauren Vargas, Community Management Strategist, Aetna,
- Emily Yellin, Author of Your Call Is (Not That) Important to Us
OK so I knew Paul G. would come and do it even if it were just me and him…which would have made it a CRM Playaz episode anyways. But who knew all these great folks from great companies would say yes? Now I was down to my last excuse…
I CAN Have Regular Guy (or Gal) Food For Lunch At One Of These Things?
This is the biggie. Having been to a number of cool events, the lunch situation can sometimes be dicey. And I said to myself if I ever organized an event I’d have to have some “regular guy” food available. Something I could sink my teeth into like some Chick-fil-a; a chicken biscuit perhaps... And just when I thought it was illegal to serve this kind of food at a business event, I found out that I could actually do it.
No More Excuses…I’m Talking to You!
So now I’m all out of reasons for why I shouldn’t host a social business event here in Atlanta. And due to having great sponsors like Microsoft, Radian6, Sage, Assistly and Georgia Tech, we’re able to make this whole event free! So if you work at a small or mid-size business and live in or near Atlanta (or you’ve been looking for a good reason to come here) you’ve run out of excuses not to attend. Let’s see:
- Great Speakers – Check!
- Great Venue – Check!
- Great Location (with free parking) – Check!
- Great Eats (if you’re like me and dig Chick-fil-a) – check!
- Great information on an important topic – Check!
- And it’s free – Check! (or is that no check since you don’t need your checkbook )
In all seriousness we really do think we’ve put together a great day of content coming directly from experts, practitioners and vendors who can help your organization transition to becoming a social business. So here are the details:
Title: Getting Down to Social Business: The New Business as Usual in the Age of the Collaborative Relationship (AKA Social Biz Atlanta)
Date: Friday February3rd
Time: 8:30-4pm
Place: Georgia Tech Research Institute Conference Center
250 14th Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
Cost: None with online registration
Event Site: SocialBizAtlanta.com
I hope to see you there!
So what was the result? Did anyone attend?
Posted by: ResponsePoint: B2B Lead Generation | November 27, 2012 at 04:16 PM
Social Biz with this gang AND Chick-fl-A? Tring like heck to get there.
Posted by: Bsdalton | January 22, 2012 at 10:40 AM