For the last 48 hours I’ve been bombarded with the same question from seasoned journalists, “What the heck is SOBCon?” With a mischievous squint of my eyes I answer, “If I tell ya, I’ll have to kill ya.” But after contemplative thought I came up with this:
“SOBCon is a gathering of social media avatars infused with a passionate purpose to change the landscape of human interaction on the web while building community.”
For three days I engaged in conversation with some of the most expansive minds in social media. Somewhat of a neophyte, I felt intimidated, but I was determined to be open to this new experience. To be quiet and be the student. A difficult role for a broadcast journalist who has reinvented herself in a brave new world where journalism is morphing rapidly into a business model that has yet to find its footing.
The Prescient Human Factor
SOBCon was an intense experience in the self preservation of the ego. I felt like I was heading into the first day of junior high school with a really bad haircut and the wrong jeans. But here’s the difference. These experts in social media didn’t want to see me fail. Instead, they embodied what I consider to be my personal vision and mission here at WorkLifeNation.com – the exaltation of the human experience in work and in business.
Right out of the gate, I reached out to Shelly Kramer of V3 Integrated Marketing (@ShellyKramer) on Twitter and she took me under her wing (along with HER wing woman the “snarky” Erika Napoletano (@RedHeadWriting). It was the first of many such fun and dynamic encounters.
Over dinner Shelly told me to get over the fear of being the beginner, to instead drink it all in, and realize that success in this playground was not about knowledge base per se, or about tossing around my personal brand in this crowd; it was about relationship building.
Her words were the harbinger of things to come over the weekend as a predominant theme was getting past fear – toward success. One of the solutions: don’t be attached to doing it alone.
It takes a freakin’ village when you hit the fork in the road
Co-founder of the conference, Terry Starbucker (@Starbucker) struck a pose and a note when he belted out, You’ll Never Walk Alone. His tone massaged by words of wisdom from Liz Strauss (@LizStrauss) who is also a co-founder.
“If you build it – it’s not “they will come” it’s “they will bring their friends.”
Once again echoing the power of relationship. That’s why they call it social media. It’s supposed to be social. The deeper message here: understanding the core value of human relationships, interacting in an authentic way and staving off fear-based thinking.
The power of critical mass in tackling fear of success
The speakers reflected that message in their own original voice. This critical mass of minds weaved a tapestry of outside-of-the-box thinking that had my friend Cali Yost of WorkLifeFit.com (@CaliYost)and me in a perpetually frozen “ah-ha moment.”
Humor from the likes of Chris Brogan (@ChrisBrogan) and Jonathan Fields (@JonathanFields) lightened the load while we were injected with an intravenous sound portal, through which ran many other voices. That village I mentioned earlier. People like Hank Wasiak (@HankWasiak) whose Asset-based thinking forced us to reflect on our own inner demons with conviction: “Make desire more important than fear,” he told us.
And it wasn’t just those social media moguls who dished. I made new friends as we brain stormed together in between sessions at our tables. People like Ann Michael of Delta Think (@AnnMichael) who said:
“Fear is one thing being paralyzed by it is another thing.”
And Susan Radojevic of the Peregrine Agency (@SusanRadojevic) who offered:
“Step out on the edge and figure it out while your falling.”
And finally, on the third day, the mingling of minds and metaphors as this critical mass tackled marketing strategies for three non-profits hoping for that silver bullet idea that would boost their on-line presence. In that sharing of ideas, we all benefited and were touched.
All of us elevating one another, challenging one another to take, as Steve Farber (@SteveFarber) suggested, that “Radical Leap.” That fork in the road.
To read the never-ending stream of wisdom that is coming out of this gathering, check out the #SOBCon Daily on-line.
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