OK, so Stephanie and I are in Nashville, preparing to run in the Nashville Country Music Marathon tomorrow morning. As part of the registration process of picking up our running bib/number and other material, we were able to go and check out the large Expo.

The Expo is a large trade show featuring hundreds of vendors of all things long distance running (clothes, running shoes, jewelery, energy gels and goos, etc. It is also an opportunity for the event sponsors to spotlight themselves.

As keen observers of all things marketing, Stephanie and I had some thoughts on opportunities won and lost. We would appreciate your ideas on other ways business could maximize their presence at trade show events like this one!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwopYxxkd4k

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei2Kc21FmtU

And stay tuned, methinks we will film another #HSSS episode while here in the great city of Nashville! See you soon!

Last night Todd and I attended an event called IgniteATL at the Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta.

If you’re not familiar with the concept it’s an evening filled with delicious snacks, drinks, and 15-20 presenters who each have exactly five minutes to pitch or sell their idea to the audience of several hundred. Their slides auto-advance every fifteen seconds whether they like it or not, which keeps the pace fast and the tone light.

Subjects ranged from music discovery to human trafficking to farming in urban environments.

It was our first such event and it sparked a conversation between us. 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GomEHCP_F3M

www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3PpQ2fVy4s

With all of that said…we’d love to hear from you! How do you generate new ideas? Do you work best in isolation, or when crowdsourcing?

Stay tuned for Round 14 (and maybe 15?) filmed live from Nashville, TN this weekend where we’ll be running the Country Music Half-Marathon. (A half-marathon is 13.1 miles.)

This is Todd’s first ever half, and my first in several years, and promises to be quite the experience!

Wish us luck…

This week our friend Joe Lavelle was in town for a conference and we had the opportunity to meet him IRL (“in real life”) for the first time.

We’d both originally “met” Joe via Twitter and have each had multiple conversations with him over the past few months on various subjects.

It was so great to finally meet him in person and to spend a few hours learning more about him, his family, his business, book, events, and future aspirations.

In this round of He Said, She Said, Todd and I discuss the power of Twitter when it comes to developing new and meaningful relationships.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l-oxhgkmBk

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id1_2Tk-zdY

How has Twitter changed your world / business / life?

Tell us about the most valuable new relationship you have formed via Twitter.

We’ll leave the comments open for 7 days, and the person with the best answer gets a free copy of Joe’s recently published book, Act As If It Were Impossible To Fail!

Ok, so Year 1 of the world famous He Said, She Said video blog series is now complete. We filmed 10 rounds, and consensus indicates that I was a solid 10-0. But you know, that doesn’t really surprise anyone.

But what we wanted to do to close out the year was have each of us select our favorite episode, and explain why. I will go first, since I was the undefeated 2009 world champion…

TODD SELECTS ROUND 7

I believe Round 7 was our most IMPORTANT episode, if not necessarily our best production. The reason I felt it was important is that I think the process of providing valuable content for your community is a CRITICAL step in the new marketing arena.

Now just because Stephanie and I each have our own respective radio shows, doesn’t mean YOU have to host your own radio show. There are wonderful products available in your local electronics store or Office Depot that will enable you to record quality podcasts. They are easy to produce, and VERY EASY to upload and share on the internet.

Providing this valuable content, and more importantly, sharing it and leading conversation around it, are essential steps in marketing your product or service.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQNRGQOiKe4

STEPHANIE SELECTS ROUND 5

Amazing that I could even get through 10 rounds of video with this guy given his smack attitude, isn’t it??

Yeah. So I win the Tolerance Award for 2009.

Anyway.

I think Round 5 was our best so far because, now more than ever, events and other networking opportunities are critical when it comes to our ability to make meaningful connections. We are becoming more and more connected via online communities with people we’ve never met -- or would have otherwise had the opportunity to discover -- and being able to meet them in person helps to cement that relationship and lead to even more possibilities…including further introductions, friendships, and business opportunities.

Todd had a different take on attending networking events…you can view that here!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=USVbdh4j-z0

Today Todd and I filmed Round 10 of He Said, She Said.

What a momentous occasion! We made it to 10.

Not that we didn’t think we would…but still, kind of cool!

So today it was my turn to ask the question, and I asked, “What do you think is the the greatest advantage of promoting an event via social media?”

Watch our videos below to discover our thoughts, and feel free to add to the conversation via the comments section!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl26hNaftDE

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l6P3T-m32M

Join us for the PunkRock Champagne Holiday Social + TweetUp on December 16th! Hope to see you at FuegoMundo Wood-Fire Grill!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJvKOmSaSpo

If Stephanie ever does this to me…

Today Todd and I filmed a special round of He Said, She Said while in the studio, live on the air on Dream Job Radio.

It was Todd’s turn to ask the question, and since we were, after all, on Dream Job Radio, he asked what I think is the best way for job seekers to build their personal brand using social media.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkbgwUskWkk

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwJvi1oh3NI

Although my radio show guest, Cay Gliebe, seemed to favor Todd’s answer over mine, I’m sure you will agree that my answer is much, much better.

Stephanie and I don’t agree on many things, but we do agree that interruption marketing sucks. Here, in Round 8, we discuss two different approaches to going a different way. Oh, and enjoy a little different ending to Round 8. Have fun!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSsF9BVsVdw

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ80Zt6skCc

A live shot of the filming | photo by Randy Barnes

Miriam Salpeter, Chris Brogan, Stephanie Lloyd, Todd Schnick

What a thrill to have Chris Brogan participate with us on Round 8. He truly is a class act -- and a very patient fellow! Thanks Chris!

Last night we had the opportunity to film Round 6 while at the first ever Red Shoe Project Tweetup in Atlanta, Georgia. Since we had been to the ATL Bloggers Meetup the night before, it seemed appropriate to talk about blogging.

You might have noticed that we both like to include various forms of media on our blogs, and we discussed the benefits of multidimensional blogging.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPjwZfWCrvU

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CBp3Q5ygKo

www.youtube.com/watch?v=W45gZ8TkOSo