SOBCon08 is my first (abbreviated) blog conference. Lots of fun! I like talking to Chris Cree through blog comments, but talking to him and his wife Lisa on Lake Michigan looking out on the Chicago skyline at night — even better. Phil Gerbyshak makes everyone feel welcome … a finer social director you could not find. For impressive hats, look no further than Bob Hruzek, Steve Sherlock, and Director Tom. It was a thrill finally meeting Bob, and we had plenty of time to get really acquainted in the Friday afternoon rush hour traffic from O’Hare. I enjoyed listening to Steve and Director Tom share their insights on social media, a pretty hard topic to get your arms around at times. Enjoyed getting to know Karen Hanrahan — turns out we have a lot in common and should be talking more. Also need to continue getting to know (oh yeah, another great hat) Susan Quandt – she’s amazing. Yesterday I joined Twitter and Rick Mahn quickly reached out to me … a few hours later we’re having a drink on The Summer of George. I was happy to learn one of my blogging idols, Wendy Piersall, is practically a neighbor. Enjoyed meeting Erik Potter, a blogger I’ve known pretty much since he started blogging and is always so much fun to read. Didn’t meet Christine Kane, but wow, did I enjoy her music.

Lots of other folks I wish I had met and talked to more … Liz Strauss, Terry Starbucker, and company have done a great job of pulling this together. Unfortunately, I have to miss the rest of the convo, but today my daughter is graduating from college and truthfully, there’s no place I’d rather be than that. I hope everyone has a wonderful time and unlocks all the secrets of business blogging.

Picture courtesy of Joanna Young. Joanna, Bob, and I have been blogging buddies for a long, long time. Can’t tell you how much fun it was to meet LIVE, but I guess you can figure it out from the picture!