Itâ??s Saturday night in New York â?? arrived Thursday, leaving for home early tomorrow â?? my family is sleeping after two long days spent walking. I canâ??t tell you how much I love this city.
After last night, I have one more reason to love it too. I had the privilege of being here for a blogger meetup. The opportunity to go was too good to be true, given that Karen and I only decided to make the trip three days before.
Today, after meeting some great people, Iâ??m feeling very reflective about the whole experience â?? and thankful to have met some of the people who have had a special influence on me and others who have been a great source of support. Often, in fact, theyâ??ve been both.
People like CK, whoâ??s just as genuine and nice in person as she is through e-mail. We got to talk business and books and tons of other stuff. Her story of how she got into blogging was inspiring and just, well, cool. This is one resourceful marketer, let me tell you. (Check out her post about the meetup.)
Then thereâ??s David Reich, a New Yorker familiar with Montreal â?? and all the great things about it. David just started blogging a little while ago, and heâ??s a natural. We talked about how he started his business â?? and his story is similar to what Iâ??m going through now, as is his business model. Just a great guy whose brain I can now feel free to pick.
The one and only Conversation Agent, Valeria Maltoni, was there. Sheâ??s been a wonderful supporter of mine and I got to thank her for it. Valeria has a contagious energy and confidence â?? after meeting her itâ??s no shock to see why her blog is so meticulous and well done. Her rise in blogland is certainly well deserved.
I also had the opportunity to meet another blogger I was familiar with, but had not yet started a dialogue with. Toby Bloomberg, the Diva Marketer herself, and I talked a little and itâ??s clear why sheâ??s a superstar in this space. I was honoured when she invited me to participate in her Blogger Stories project and canâ??t wait to do so.
It was also great meeting Matt Dickman from Cleveland. (My first question: do you know Cleveland Mark Goren? He knew of him.) He Twittered from the dinner. Nice guy at a similar life stage as me, we shared many like opinions. (Check out the photos from last night over at his Flikr page.)
The Blog Squad was present and provided a real-life example of just how small this world really is. Denise Wakeman, now settled in California, lived a couple of blocks over from me in Ottawa a few years back. Really. Small. World.
And I think thatâ??s what struck me most about the whole evening. You walk into a room full of people youâ??ve never met and itâ??s like theyâ??re old college friends. If social media is about conversations and connections, I canâ??t imagine a more powerful example than that.
Thanks, NYC. Once again.
P.S. If I missed you, please feel free to point it out. Particularly you, Red, I’ve searched high + low for you online, but I haven’t found your site. I must’ve committed the wrong URL to memory. My sincerest apologies.
March 25th, 2007 at 12:25 am
This is such a moving post. I will treasure this one and return to it often. I love that you wrote it while in the city still. We make you walk a lot here, eh?
It is a special place and to think the stars aligned and we had so many good people in town just blows my mind. I was sooo happy to meet you that I just jumped up and down when you walked in. I’ll never forget that.
Also, so proud of your biz success, too (and can’t wait to see the FC logo soon!). Thanks a million for all you contributed last week at BC, too. I’ve learned so much on branding; it’s incredible. Best to your family!
March 25th, 2007 at 12:25 am
Dear Mark:
I so enjoyed meeting you at the Bloggers Ball. It’s sweet of you to continue the celebration on you blog.
It make my heart sing to know that you spent extra time looking for me online. You can find me at: http://reds-world.com. See you there and if you look real hard I’ll sing for you. ;)
Red
March 25th, 2007 at 1:07 am
Mark - thank you for your kind words. It was a delight to meet you last Friday at dahling CK’s bloggy party. My only regret was that the time was too brief. Next time longer!
Looking forward to reading your blogger story!
March 25th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Mark:
Although I was really early on Friday I am late to this party. My post will follow shortly. As Toby said, time was too short… but we certainly weren’t out of practice with each other.
I’m really touched by your kind words. Since I haven’t been to Montreal yet, I will make it a point to visit some time in the near future. NYC is magic and a short train ride away for me. I was glad CK organized this meet up.
I really enjoyed your stories as we made our way to dinner and am only sorry it was too short a time. Let’s continue the conversation!
March 26th, 2007 at 10:25 am
CK: Again, thanks so much for the support and for having the foresight to know we were coming to town!
Red: Funny, I tried all the obvious ones: reds-web.com, reds-blog.com, never thought about “world”, though. Don’t quite know why.
Toby: Agreed, next time we’ll have to talk more. Looking forward to it!
Valeria: It was great meeting you in person, the walk ‘n’ talk was great! If you ever make it up to Montreal, count on me to be your tour guide.
Actually, that goes for any of you!
March 26th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Mark, indeed it’s a small world and it was great meeting you in NYC at the bloggers meetup. Also enjoyed catching up on Canadian and Quebec politics. I’ll be watching to see what happens in the elections today.
I too, love this blogging, social media/networking world. It truly is like meeting old friends even if we’ve never met before.
Blog on!
March 26th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Mark, I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to talk more, but I look forward to meeting you via your blog and to another get together. Peut-etre a Montreal?
March 26th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Denise: Thanks for dropping by. Right now, the race is way too close to call!
C.B.: Couldn’t agree more. If you’re ever in town, please let me know.
March 27th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Mark, it was great to meet you the other night.
I was looking forward to the Montreal bagels and deli you were going to bring. Too bad they didn’t let it through Customs. I’ll just have to make do with NY fare.
See you online. Let us know when you’re coming to NY again.