THE Place to be this Friday!

OK, remember a couple of weeks ago when I said you should come out for the Delaware Happy Hour event? Well, if you were there, then you know - if you weren't, let me just give you a rundown of some of the people who were there:

• 19 entrepreneurs and business owners
• 2 prominent members of Delaware media
• various officials with the State Chamber of Commerce
• various officials with the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce
• 3 government officials (state and federal)
• 7 artists
• at least a dozen other people that I don't know how to categorize

Seriously, this was a better event than I thought it would be!

Guess what - it's happening again!

This Friday - come out to meet people and enjoy the Wilmington Art Loop! We'll start off at 5:00 at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts -
click here for more on the Art Loop

WHAT: Wilmington Art Loop/DE Happy Hour
WHEN: Friday, April 9 - 5:00 - 9:00
WHERE: Start at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts - 200 South Madison Street, Wilmington

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COST: FREE

There's more going on than you can imagine!

There's some truly incredible things happening here in Delaware!

• yes, it's kind of centered around social media - but it's more 
• yes, it involves the success of our businesses - but it's more
• yes, it involves arts organizations - but it's more
• yes, it involves the building of community - but it's more

OK, I'm going to touch on these things further down in this message - but before I do, I urge you to click here and sign up for this Friday's Network Delaware Happy Hour at Scratch MaGoo's in Wilmington - I don't care if you've never used social media, I don't care if you're planning on getting together with other friends (bring them along), I don't care if you don't like me, I don't care where you are or what you do for a living - you should come to Scratch MaGoo's this Friday AND you should mark your calendar now to prepare for the next gathering on Friday, April 9 (which will also be Art Loop night - you won't want to miss it)!

OK, now that you've signed up for Friday's event, let me touch on the great things happening here in Delaware - then give you the compelling reasons why you want to come out on Friday.

Last Thursday was an absolutely incredible, awesome, unbelievable day for Delaware - I'm just going to quote from Dave Burris here:

I drove to Wilmington to attend the first Trust Summit presented by the Archer Group with bestselling authors Chris Brogan, Julien Smith (authors of Trust Agents) and Mitch Joel (author of Six Pixels of Separation). First of all, the magnitude of these people coming to Delaware, together, for an appearance is greater than most people realize. I took to telling people that if there was a Mount Rushmore for social media, they'd all be on it.

What amazed me most of all is that three people who have emerged as leaders in this space, when each given 40 minutes or so to speak, brought three different perspectives - Joel's passion, Smith's depth & Brogan's showmanship. I learned a massive amount from each, and I'm not exactly new to this stuff.

Click here to read the full post - Dave captures so much here!


Governor Markell and Chris Brogan on the Social Media Initiative

Thanks to the Lee Mikles of the Archer Group, Whitney Hoffman, Ken Anderson with the Delaware Economic Development Office, and Governor Jack Markell and his people (I'm looking at you, Felicia) - Chris Brogan not only came to Delaware, but also agreed to spend some time with key government, business, non-profit, arts, and media representatives to explore how we in Delaware can use the tools available to us to connect every part of our society and take things to a whole new level.

This time I'll quote from Governor Markell's blog:

Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking with a few social media thought leaders, including Chris Brogan.  Chris graciously spent time meeting with many of our online innovators to discuss how we can make Delaware the "First State of Social Media."  The feedback I've heard so far-and read through Twitter-has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.

...

There are so many amazing things happening in our state, and we need to get the word out. Join the grassroots discussion through Twitter, using #NetDE, or at this Facebook page.

Click Here to read the full post and view an incredible 4 minute discussion between Governor Jack Markell and Chris Brogan

AND

Click Here to see Chris Brogan's take on his visit to Delaware

Ignite Sussex Videos!

Thanks again to the Archer Group, we've enjoyed a couple of great Ignite Wilmington events. A couple of weeks ago, an incredible line up of speakers came together for Ignite Sussex - and they posted videos!

Watch host Dave Burris, publisher of Coastal Sussex Weekly magazine, and presenters like Cassandra Tororian of Bell Rock Capital, Bill Sammons of Watermark Productions, Matthew Peterson of Element Design Group, Audra Marotta of Dogfish Head, Andrew Mason of Bayshore Community Church, and more by clicking here.



Where In Delaware?

Have you ever wondered where to go for specific home repairs in Delaware? What about looking for fun activities near where you live? Well, Phil Woods has created an incredible tool called "Where In DE" - you can ask any question, and you can answer questions from others. Seriously, check this out by clicking here.


Co-Working in Delaware

Steve Roettger and Wes Garnett are out to change the state of Delaware. They are in the process of putting the finishing touches on their Co-Working space (first of many) called COin Loft - trust me on this one, if you have a dream, a business plan, an idea - you want to meet with Steve and Wes! Click Here to find out more about the coIN Loft


Community Matters Networking Group on WHYY

Laurie Bick, Volunteer Director of Community Matters Networking Group, was the featured guest on WHYY's Radio Times - the topic: "What are the jobless doing to take back their employment?"
Click Here to check out the show!
If you want to know more about the incredible work being done by this volunteer organization, please check out the web site here and come on out to Hockessin Baptist Church on Friday mornings at 9:30 to see for yourself what's happening!


Be a part of the Action!

OK, back to the reason you want to come out this Friday.

As you can see throughout this message, there's a world of potential that's starting to form into tangible things (new businesses, new relationships, new jobs, etc.). And believe me, I haven't even scratched the surface here - there's Unite Sussex and Family Promise and our chambers of commerce and exciting things happening in mentoring and so much more happening here!

This thing, this movement, is happening here in Delaware - you should be a part of it - your participation, your help, your voice is valuable - please come, meet the men and women who are making things happen here, ask questions, add your insights, help create new opportunities!

This is more than a social organization
This is more than a business group
This is more than a discussion

This is our future!

Click Here to sign up for Friday's event

Click Here to find out more about Network Delaware

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Social Media Train is moving!

REALLY NEW UPDATE: The good people at Talk Fusion and Network Delaware have loaded some great videos - click here for Congressman Castle's talk and click here to see the first human bar graph video

NEW UPDATE: Check out this cool 70 second video from the event by clicking here

UPDATE: There's 7 videos from this event available by clicking here

Friday, February 19, 2010 - More than 200 people gathered at Bella Vita at Cavaliers Country Club to learn, share, and discuss Social Media for more than three hours - if you were there, you know how incredible the event was - if you couldn't make it, you were missed and we hope to see you in the near future at some more events.

So, here's a quick recap:

First, I need to clarify something - many people are giving me credit for doing a lot of this stuff - the fact is I just run around talking about what other people are actually doing. In this case, the people doing all of the heavy lifting are Rodney Jordan and Laurie Bick. They laid the tracks for this train, set up the station, purchased the tickets (along with some much appreciated sponsors!), and invited all of us to jump on board - I'm grateful to be a passenger. If anyone walks away with tools and insights that help them grow their business, non-profit, arts organization, or even personal life, know that Rodney Jordan and Laurie Bick are the people you should be thanking!

Opening Speaker: Ken Anderson, Director, Entrepreneurial & Small Business Support with the Delaware Economic Development Office. Ken did a phenomenal job in helping us better understand Delaware's place in the national economy, our challenges, and our opportunities. Ken blew the crowd away!

Next, we heard some great success stories from Chris Marchak who is organizing the Red Robin Rocks event for the Ronald McDonald House, Kim Kostes from the Food Bank of Delaware, Wes Garnett, Jr., and Steve Roettger of COin Loft and Verge - then I got to create my first human bar graph to demonstrate how social media helped my company grow!

That's when we got a surprise visit from U.S. Congressman Mike Castle who was reading about the event on Twitter and decided to stop in and share his experiences with this new media.

Oh, did I mention that a whole bunch of people were twittering about the event - posting photos (some you see here) - and engaging in conversations with Governor Markell, State Representative Tom Kovach, and several others the whole time - this really was a cool event.

So, after Congressman Castle spoke, we heard from Whitney Hoffman about legal issues surrounding social media. Then we heard from Maya Paveza with TQI Consulting, Phil Woods with 2 Fish Group, and Carl Immediato about Talk Fusion.

By the way, the food was delicious!

Again, huge thanks to Rodney, Laurie, all of the sponsors, speakers, participants, and all who followed on twitter.

OK, people - let's welcome our new friends!

If you are reading this, you are most likely:

1) engaged in social media
2) in some way connected with the state of Delaware (live, work, play in or around the state)

If you don't fit in either category, that's OK - you're welcome to keep reading.

If you do fit in the above categories, then I have a special request that will benefit you, me, and the whole state.

Wednesday evening and Friday afternoon there will be two social media training events (check them out here and here).

Here's the thing - at these events we will have people helping attendees "kick start" their social media presence by signing them up with a Twitter Account and immediately following everyone in the Delaware Twibe (note, if you have not yet signed up to be a part of the Delaware Twibe and you fit into the two categories above, click here and join now - it's quick and free - you'll thank me later).

So, if you are part of the Delaware Twibe (and you should be by now - see paragraph above) - then you should notice that a lot of new people are following you in the next few days - please follow them back, welcome them to the world of social media, encourage them, suggest others for them to follow.

Yes, I am inviting all of you to be a part of this big welcome wagon - it's all part of this Delaware Social Media Initiative - and it's only working because of YOU!

Thank you for your time and attention - and for all you are doing to help grow this vibrant community!

DelTweet 3.0 - the debrief

Wednesday, February 3, 2010 - Kildare's in Newark - easily one of the greatest nights in the history of Social Media in the First State!

Approximately 175 people came out for DelTweet 3.0 - raising more than $700 and 243 pounds of food for the Food Bank of Delaware.

And, Gov. Jack Markell started Twittering!



Here's the great thing - this gathering was a true representation of Delaware - there were people from all over the state, representing every part of the political and social spectrum. We had business leaders, politicians, artists, community activists, entrepreneurs, young people (I think my 17-year-old son was the youngest) and seniors (not going to guess on the oldest person there).

Oh, and here's a video from the News Journal:

But the feel wasn't of a business mixer, or political rally, or self-help seminar - this felt like a family reunion! The connections made were more than just superficial business card exchanges - people really connected here! The only real complaint I've heard since the event is that people didn't get to meet everyone they hoped to meet because there just wasn't enough time (we'll take that into consideration for next time).

Besides the video above (thanks Rodney jordan!) there was some great media coverage and a ton of photos, here's some samples:

From the University of Delaware Review - great article and photos!
From the Delaware Business Ledger - more photos and another great article
WDEL's Hi-Tech Watch - click here to go directly to the audio
The_BORG interviewed on the Rick Jensen Show
Check out Maya's blog post here

Social Media Training for Everyone!

So, you're a small business owner trying to figure out how to use social media to grow your business - or you're heading up a non-profit and you want to know how to use this medium to increase awareness for your cause - or you're working with an arts organization and you want everyone to know about the upcoming show, recital, or play...

I'm happy to report that there's several opportunities coming up to learn from the best and mix with others in the Delaware Social Media sphere:

Tuesday, Feb. 2, 8:30 - 10:30 AM - The Delaware State Chamber of Commerce presents Small Business Alliance Workshop: Social Media Questions Answered - Click Here to learn more and register

Wednesday, Feb. 3, 5:00 - 9:00 PM - DelTweet 3.0 - Trust me, you want to be at this event! Click Here to learn more and RSVP

Wednesday, Feb. 17, 5:30 - 8:30 PM - Delaware BioScience Association and Technology Forum of Delaware presents the Social Media Revolution - this event is a must attend for anyone in the Bio/Pharma industry as well as the Technology Industry - Click Here to learn more and register

Thursday, Feb. 18, 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM - AGS University - Marketing with Facebook: Fans, Friends, Apps & More - Whitney Hoffman will teach the essentials of marketing through Facebook. Generate more ROI by applying the right Facebook tools to achieve your goals. Click Here to learn more and register

Friday, Feb. 19, 12 Noon - 3:00 PM - Delaware Small Business Social Media Train - A collection of some of the top Delaware Social Media experts ready to share with you - FREE - Click here to learn more and RSVP

Wednesday, March 10, 5:00 - 8:00 PM - Ignite Sussex at Dogfish Head in Rehoboth Beach - you have to experience this! Click Here to learn more and register

Thursday, March 18, 8:00 - 10:00 AM - New Castle County Chamber of Commerce ChamberWorks: Social Media Revolution - a step by step on how to do it - FREE - Click Here to learn more and RSVP

Delaware Business Ledger story on Social Media Initiative!

The Delaware Business Ledger has just published an awesome article about the Delaware Social Media Initiative!

Here's some excerpts:

It is already apparent that Delaware may be ahead of the curve, based on the widespread use of social networking tools, with large companies such as DuPont, ING Direct and AstraZeneca having a Twitter presence. State government is also on board with various agencies using Twitter.

“I think it is a wonderful idea for Delaware to innovate, as a small state, and as a close knit community we have a lot more opportunity to do that than most states," writes Maya. J. Paveza, a Realtor for Coldwell Banker Preferred, who also does social media consulting work.

One of the more enthusiastic supporters of the initiative is Rebecca Faber, president and CEO of the World Trade Center of Delaware. Faber uses Twitter to keep in touch with a far-flung network of world trade centers and is known for tweeting at conferences and networking events.

"Consider that just by having that (social network) message being told and repeated via social media, itself an innovative tool, this message of Delaware being friendly to innovation and business will look to be quite valid. Consider that this message could reach people looking for a place to do business in the U.S. or to invest, to send their children to school, to move their company," Faber writes

Click Here to read the complete article!