Last week, I had the pleasure of representing My Take Radio at Blogworld and it was an awesome experience from start to finish. While everyone was enjoying E3 and being a part of a cut and paste race, I was learning the finer points of not only making my show better but making the site better as well. I am not shitting on E3 by any means, but I felt that Blogworld was more informative and beneficial to MTR at this time. On the first day, I helped set up booths with our friends at the GFQ Network and the IAIB. Blogworld was the coming out party for the IAIB and I was proud to be a part of that. The IAIB is a trade organization created for internet broadcasters by internet broadcasters to promote the growth of the medium into new areas. We are not just talk podcasting but vidcasts, vlogs and other online shows as well. I was honored to be welcomed into an organization built by my peers who want to grow this medium honorably without lining their pockets.

After the booths were built, I sat in on a few of the offered panels and learned about monetizing and improving MTR. I learned quite a bit of great information and wrapped it up for the day. Along the way I met some of the other great talent behind the IAIB and GFQ. With Day One in the books, it was time to prep for what was one of the best days. Day Two came and went so fast that I wished I could replay it. Our friends at GFQ were broadcasting live and I got to meet more of their on-air talent like Coco, Kunal, Rock and Kieran. Unfortunately, I missed Chaunce Hayden to due to my attending a panel. Besides hanging with the GFQ and IAIB crew, I met representatives from so many great organizations. Here is a list of some of the great brands I got to check out and meet with:

Spreadfast
HostDime
Spreecast
Tout
Outbrain
Yahoo
Lijit
SimulTV
Guest Blog It
Coummun.it
Rawporter
Social Chorus
Pond 5
Stitcher
Slingshot SEO
New Media Rights
and many others.

Meeting with these individuals opened my eyes to so many awesome products and services.I made it a point to meet as many people as possible everyday in some way or form. I felt great to be amongst so many passionate hardworking individuals. Besides meeting with so many great companies I got meet a ton of luminaries and household names in the world of podcasting and new media. Guys which I am a fan of like Robert Scoble and Daniel J. Lewis, as well as industry vets like Cali Lewis who worked her ass off from start to finish. Day Three was wind-up day with people breaking down booths and networking amongst themselves. In between all the panels I also wandered upstairs to the Book Expo to meet some great authors. I have to thank the ladies from Insert Geek Here for informing me that I could wander up the expo and cause some trouble. From start to finish, Blogworld was a remarkable experience. It wasn’t about the panels or the swag given out by companies, at the end of the day it was about meeting passionate individuals motivated to grow new media.

I need to extend some special thanks to some folks. I want to thank Debbie Ng for her handwritten postcard prior to the event. It spoke volumes about her professionalism and courtesy, plus who doesn’t like getting stuff in the mail that aren’t bills. Lastly, the crew from GFQ/IAIB for embracing me as one of their own and making the event a whole lot of fun. I am sure after reading this you are asking yourself where are the pictures of Blogworld? Here ya go! For more photos, visit the MTR Facebook fan page.