Dear Des: Why the Old Blog Business Summit is Dead, Long Live the New BBS
Thankfully, blogging gurus such as Des Walsh have posted and emailed me about the mixed signals we’ve been sending about the status of the BBS conference. After reading the commentary, it’s obvious that our position needs to be better communicated.
A little background info may help. Since 1991, I’ve been hosting conferences on a myriad of publishing and Web topics. The last company I owned — Thunder Lizard Productions, hosted the following events in a single year: Photoshop Conference (2,) Dreamweaver Conference (1,) Web Advertising Conference (1,) Web Marketing Conference (1,) Macromedia Web World (1,) and probably two or three others that escape me. So, my being a host of multiple unique shows at one time is not unusual.
In the past I have relied on “disruptive” technology changes and the flocking of businesses to embrace them as central to the events we host. The idea was to find something that will likely transform how businesses operate and create an event that that teaches them how to get on top of this shift. This was the original model behind the BBS. Sometimes it works well (Web Advertising Conference 1996) sometimes it tanks (My “Push” conference in 1997.)
Like the Lambada, I don’t believe my original, 1990’s era event model is nearly as viable as it used to be, and certainly not so for the BBS. The BBS really never attracted the huge numbers of marketing and PR types that clearly *needed* to learn this stuff. I tried very hard with the Chicago event to attract that demographic and our efforts washed up on shore like a dead fish.
In addition, we emailed, snail mailed, and telephoned 250 CTOs and CIOs and invited them to come and learn how Wikis and blogs can enable internal knowledge sharing. They were terrified, and only 3 signed up. A couple even said they were “too busy” with their current efforts to reign in email overload to take the time to attend(!)
What we learned is that (at least in Chicago) most corporate types that don’t get it (or are scared) just aren’t going to come. The ones that were already blogging seemed mostly interested in speaking.
On the other hand our event has always been strong at bringing in the *community* of existing business bloggers. Much of that Chicago community IMHO was already served this summer by SOBcon and BlogHer. I believe this arena is where we have a real opportunity for the future. I believe the enthusiasm and desire to commune that existing business bloggers have is what’s important now. Sharing knowledge and socializing is the powerful force — not the “disruptive-ness.” The feedback I have received from previous attendees and partners lately confirms this.
So, yes — the Blog Business Summit as a change enabler for corporate slowpokes may indeed be dead. The BBS as a place where dedicated business bloggers can come together is the future. We are excited about reinventing this show and focusing on what the community wants, not on what we think corporations “need.”
To all our attendees, speakers, readers, and sponsors. Please keep the comments and criticisms coming, we’ll need them to create a blogger gathering that truly resonates.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
In the posts of the past two days, one can see that you feel hurt by spending so much time and effort to evangelize something you believe in, only to have to make tough choices that may, on the surface, appear contrary to what you’ve evangelized over a period of several years.
It will probably be hard, but try to not blame people who “don’t get it”. It is just as likely that people failed to do a good job of educating folks as it is that people “don’t get it”. You’ll never know which of those two issues is the right one.
Teresa mentioned that companies that don’t get this are “sunk”. They aren’t. They are simply missing an opportunity to improve the performance of their business.
When the conversation turns to picking on the ones who you are trying to evangelize, you make it that much harder to be successful in the long term.
Don’t feel bad about having to cancel something you so strongly believed in. Spend your efforts moving forward, showing folks that they can benefit by doing what you’re suggesting, and that what you’re suggesting is evolving and changing every day.
I sent two folks to your conference last year. One of those folks made a difference in her organization, armed with the knowledge she gained. Know that your efforts do help others who have an interest in your subject matter.
Steve
Thanks for being a good sport and especially for sharing your experience and thoughts here. It’s great to have your perspective on where business blogging is at and where it might be heading. And good to know you will still be doing events in the broader space.:smile:
Kevin and Des: it’s true that I do feel some frustration over the continuing hesitance of corporate America to embrace what I feel is such a beneficial technology. But I realize that I need to assume ultimate responsibility for creating something that the market didn’t flock to.
Also, I know that electricity is a technology pivotal for corporations, but you’d be a dope to host the “business electricity summit.” That may also explain what we’ve seen here. Many companies are and will build Web sites using blogging engines without actually “blogging.”
I think that what I mostly meant by “sunk” is that businesses that overinvest in social network engagement without having a blog — their own hub for information and community — are at a considerable disadvantage.
Not an outright sinking perhaps, but a genuine problem.
[...] We have seen it in our own business model here at One By One Media and Bloggers For Hire. We really didn’t have to sell real hard to get companies that were contacting us about business blogging and hiring bloggers. They wanted to adopt the technology and they wanted to make it a part of their online presence. They were already sold on the idea. All I or any other social media consultant had to do was implement the tools necessary for the company to join in the social media world. We had the good life then, and our sales were self fulfilling prophecies. Now we are in the education stage of the rest of the world. These companies and corporations are not yet sold on the idea of social media. In fact, I think it was stated best in a post and thread at the newly canceled Blog Business Summit. [...]
I for one believe there is a bright future for the BBS and will be pulling for you Steve. You and Teresa and the rest of the team put on a great event last year. Time is on your side and the amount of businesses interested in the education you are offering is only going to grow.