Coming June 4 - Governor's Entrepreneurial Business Conference

UPDATE: Early Bird Registration Extended!
You can still register for this event for only $35! (Early Bird Registration ends Friday, May 28 - you do not want to miss this opportunity!

CLICK HERE to Register NOW!

Last June's Entrepreneurial Business Conference at the Chase Center on the Riverfront was a day packed with information, resources, and networking. All indications are that this year's conference will be even better!

Before we go too far, let me just take care of this right now - here's the details:

WHAT: Governor's Entrepreneurial Business Conference
WHEN: Friday, June 4 - 7:30 AM - 3:30 PM
WHERE: Chase Center at the Wilmington Riverfront
COST: $35 Early Bird Special until 5/28 - then $50
RSVP: Click Here to register

Here's what to expect that day:

1. Networking
2. Insights from Wilmington Mayor James Baker, Delaware Economic Development Office Director Alan Levin, UD President Patrick Harker, U.S. Asst. Secretary of Commerce and Economic Development John Fernandez, Governor Jack Markell, and more!
3. A Panel Discussion on the Entrepreneurs' Tool Box
4. One of the most exciting presentations yet on Social Media and business applications from some of the most dynamic, insightful speakers in and around the state of Delaware - each speaker will have 4 minutes to deliver their presentation in a comprehensive, entertaining fashion, you'll hear from:

• Whitney Hoffman - Social Media 101 - let's get this party started!
• John McKown - Getting Started Action Plan - complete with cheat sheets
• Lee Mikles - how to join the social media party and not be “that guy”
• Maya Paveza - Why and how you should be there - discussing business strategy
• Jayla Boire - Content is still King - providing great content for your strategy
• Phil Woods - Measuring your social media campaign effectiveness
• Brenda Cheeseman - social media as the new chamber of commerce
• Jeff Zarge - Getting your company into Social Media when the boss doesn't want to
• Laurie Bick - the job connection in social media 
• Major Highfield - Mobile Tactics
• Gigi Peterkin - corporate responsibility and regulatory issues
• Laurie Gelb - Be DelAWARE for Fun & Profit
• Rodney Jordan - We're building a community here

If you want to see why I'm really fond of this event, just click here.

Seriously folks, you do not want to miss this event - sign up here and come on out to the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington to network, learn, and engage at a whole new level!

Exclusive Report: Whitney Hoffman's Secret Power Source Revealed

Photographic evidence of performance enhancement supplies, speculation of sharing powers with others

Whitney Hoffman: Podcaster, Attorney, Speaker, Teacher, Leader, co-creator of PodCamp - Superhero?

The Delaware Social Media Initiative News Network has obtained evidence that one of the most influential movers and shakers in the area may be using performance enhancing materials - and, interviews indicate she may even be sharing those materials with others.

Who is Whitney Hoffman? 

Whitney Hoffman "has been involved in New Media and Social Media for the past four years, both as a content producer and as the organizer of Digital Media unconferences. She has organized Podcamp conferences in Philadelphia, New York and Boston. She recently organized the Web2Open sessions at the Web 2.0 Expo, in association with O'Reilly Publishing and TechWeb. She is CEO of Hoffman Digital Media, a digital media consulting firm that produces podcasts for clients, including the LD Podcast, an internet radio show about learning and learning disabilities and OB-GYN To Go, a podcast focusing on resident and physician education. Her personal blog, discussing finance, business, social media and more can be found at www.whitneyhoffman.com. Whitney co-authored Public Assembly Facility Law with Turner D. Madden for the International Association of Assembly Managers and presented at their annual conference."

NOTE: the preceding paragraph was shamelessly stolen from Technorati - click here to read more, including a comprehensive interview with Whitney Hoffman - which does NOT include any references to her stash of super power materials. 

Recently obtained photos from Whitney Hoffman's garage show a combination of supplies that - for many - help explain how she is able to accomplish so much. these photos show containers of:

• Antimatter
• Mind Control
• Justice
• Intuition
• Omnipotence
• Gravity
• Intelligence
• Immortality
• Matter
• Invisibility
• Chaos 
• Black Hole

It appears most of these supplies were purchased from the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company.

Chris Brogan - a self-described friend, legal client, and co-conspirator with Hoffman, was dismissive of any speculation of wrong-doing by Hoffman.

"Whitney's doing some truly incredible work, she's not doing anything illegal - we don't even know if she's using any of these supplies or if she's just keeping them in her garage for a friend," said Brogan. When asked if he had ever used any of these materials, Brogan simply said, "No Comment" and disappeared from sight.

Public Officials see no reason for alarm 

"Whitney Hoffman seems to be providing great insights and assistance to many, many people throughout Delaware and the region," said U.S. Congressman Michael N. Castle. "I don't see a problem, none of these substances are restricted by state or federal code."

Governor Jack A. Markell agrees.

"At least she is putting her powers to use for the public good," Gov. Markell said. 

Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.'s Delaware home is located less than 10 miles from Whitney Hoffman's stash of materials. The Vice President could not be reached for this story, but sources say he has been overheard to say that if Hoffman is using these items, then "it's not a big f***ing deal."

Observations from Others

Maya Paveza was open to listing Hoffman's accomplishments but remained silent when asked if she had ever tried any of the materials herself.

"Look, Whitney is producing podcasts, teaching people about social media, organizing events, and making a ton of things happen in this area," said Paveza. "If she happens to use a mixture of extra Intelligence, Mind Control, and a pinch of Chaos to help make some of this... um, I mean, hypothetically if she were mixing some of those things... oh, screw it - good things are happening, no one is getting hurt - leave Whitney alone or I might have to break out some of the supplies in my garage."

Training an Army? 

From PodCamp Philly to AGS University to the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce to Community Matters Networking Group to the Tech Forum of Delaware and the Delaware BioScience Association to Network Delaware's Social Media Train - Whitney Hoffman has led seminars, spoken on panels, and influenced hundreds, if not thousands, of people.

The question is - is she using her supply of Mind Control in these training sessions?

"Whitney Hoffman provides our customers and friends with great insight and practical tips to help their businesses," said Charlie Copeland, President of AGS. Copeland went on to deny knowing anything about Hoffman using any extra substances before teaching at AGS University.

Investigation Continues 

Now that the world is aware of the stash of Super Power Supplies in Whitney Hoffman's home, the Delaware Social Media Initiative News Service is going to keep it's eyes and ears open for any evidence of the use of these supplies - not only by Hoffman, but also by her devoted circle of friends and supporters. 

Anyone witnessing acts of time travel, invisibility, extra gravity, or any other unexplained phenomena should contact the news service immediately.

Let's make some things happen in Newark!

OK, some great guys - Mark Kleinschmidt, Bob Chadwick and Paul Pomeroy - are making some things happen in the Greater Newark area - if you live, work, or play anywhere in or around Newark, PLEASE come out on April 27!

Here's the deal:

WHAT: Greater Newark Network event
WHEN: Tuesday, April 27, 7:00 PM
WHERE: Embassy Suites Newark - Click Here for Map
RSVP: Click Here to Register

Here's the message from Bob:


TO FRIENDS OF THE GREATER NEWARK AREA:

The Greater Newark Network will be hosting a public forum on TUESDAY, APRIL 27th at 7pm at the Embassy Suites Newark. As a reminder, the Network is an organization Co-Chaired by Newark City Councilman Paul Pomeroy and New Castle County Chamber of Commerce President Mark Kleinschmidt.  It is an informal group of stakeholders focusing on economic development issues in the greater Newark area.

This public session will focus on how the greater Newark area has the opportunity to not only rebound from the current economic downturn but also how and why it can provide leadership in Delaware's economic recovery. The event will feature a series of impressive presenters, each speaking for approximately 5-7 minutes, followed by a networking reception. Some of the topics that will be discussed include:

•             UD’s plans for the Chrysler Property
•             The new Health Sciences Alliance
•             How expansion at Aberdeen will benefit Newark
•             A report from the City of Newark
•             Arts & Culture in Newark

The event is free and open to all interested community members--university, business or resident.  All we ask is that you pre-register by sending an email to chadwickb@ncccc.com.  Please include you first and last name, your address and your email address.

Also, please feel free to forward this message to any other potentially interested individuals.

From Delaware to Nepal - here's how the Serendipity Engine works!

Last November Chris Brogan spoke at the Web 2.0 Expo in New York about how he sees social media as "The Serendipity Engine" - if you haven't seen this yet, here it is (you might recognize some concepts that have been mentioned on this blog before, like the 12:1 ratio):

Now, here's an example of the Serendipity Engine connecting a whole bunch of us in some incredible ways (and I think this is only the beginning of this story!)

I just had the privilege of shaking hands with Erin Guttenplan yesterday - Erin grew up in Delaware and has been travelling the world for some time now and has put together a group called Edge of Seven:

Edge of Seven’s mission is to support volunteer projects in developing countries that are sustainable and that respond to local needs. Edge of Seven believes that change is possible with collective action over time.

Erin and I connected on twitter - a friend asked her how that happened, and that's when I got to find out how this Serendipity Engine made this possible.

Erin said she recently read Chris Brogan's book and was so impressed that she subscribed to his blog,  and on March 25, saw the post about Chris Brogan meeting with Delaware Governor Jack Markell - based on Chris' link to my twitter page in that post, she decided to start following me.

One of the first posts she saw from me was a message about the Delaware Happy Hour event - she responded saying she was in Florida at the time, but really liked the concept - I asked her to send me information about Edge of Seven, that's when I found out about her efforts to build a school in Nepal (how cool is THAT?!) and how she's raising funds for that project now.

So, yesterday she held a fundraiser at Iron Hill Brewery on the Wilmington Riverfront - same location as DelTweet 1.0 last year - and we finally got a chance to meet. By the way, the plans for the school in Nepal are awesome - I encourage you to learn more and find out how you can help by clicking here.

Friends, this is what this Social Media Initiative is all about - we're connecting ideas, businesses, individuals, governments, and concepts throughout the state and around the world - open yourself up to the Serendipity Engine - and live this adventure!

Laurie Gelb's brilliant plan to promote Delaware

On Tuesday, April 6, 2010, the NEws Journal published a great article by Gary Soulsman about how Laurie Gelb of Trellist is calling on all of us to help promote Delaware through a variety of web sites - here's an excerpt:

Her pitch was to get Delawareans posting on portals like TripAdvisor, City-Data and Virtual Tourist as well as sites dealing with interests such as birding, boating and dining out.

That's because visitors to those sites, who will make decisions about travel and relocation, have little knowledge of Delaware, she says.

"We've all had unique experiences in Delaware that we can share," Gelb says. "I'm sure right now there are people wondering if they move to Delaware where they would be most happy.

"Or they're thinking, if they're driving through the mid-Atlantic what's worth seeing?"

So, we contacted Laurie and asked what sites should we visit and start posting to make this happen - here's her response:

The way I look at it, any user-generated content re DE is grist for the mill. So my list of UGC “types” includes pics, video, reviews, calendar listings, attraction listings, itineraries, tips, ratings, badges from portals (e.g. rated restaurants/lodging/attractions should d/l their badges from TripAdvisor and put them on their Web sites bc then people are more likely to click through to the portals), hyperlinks to other content, etc.

That makes the list of sites/potential cross-links pretty eclectic, but here’s a sampling:

• VirtualTourist, TripAdvisor and other travel portals
• Zagat, Chowhound and other eatery boards
• Eventful, When.com and other calendars, including calendars of concerts, festivals, art exhibits
• Yelp, Yahoo and other review sites
• City-data and other relo portals
• YouTube and anywhere else you can place video or links to YouTube [e.g. very easy to feature your vid in a Flash shell on another site]
• Flickr,  Picasa Web albums and other photo libraries
• Local photo streams like TNJ and natl streams like CNN iReport for news events
• Affinity portals for hobbies (birding, antiquing, hiking, golfing, fishing…)
• Link to your UGC by commenting on others’ articles, reviews and blogs, as appropriate, as well as links from FB and Twitter
• Use widgets for your platform(s), if available, that permit random display/slide shows of photos and/or links to other networks, e.g. Flickr Profile Widget on your blog

OK folks, let's make this happen!

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

View Larger Map
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