To delve deeply into social media is an understatement when explaining the underlying theme of this year’s LavaCon conference in San Diego, CA, September 29 through October 2, 2010. Technical writers and social media gurus flew in from all over the world. It was, to say the least, absolutely phenomenal! There were nearly 60 sessions and pre- and post-conference workshops on content development, project management and social media marketing.
LavaCon creator and Executive Director, Jack Molisani, must have cloned himself for the conference because he was omnipresent—Jack was everywhere, all the time.
Prior to the conference, my perception of social media was that it was a way for teens to stay in touch and perverts to find new victims. By the end of the first day I had completely changed my mind and gained new respect for the subject.
LavaCon opened with Jolynn Atkins of Escoe Bliss Professional Resources helping attendees get acquainted before starting her talk, Introduction to Social Media. By the end of Jolynn’s presentation everyone in the audience had LinkedIn and Twitter accounts—yes, even me.
Social media guru and Escoe Bliss manager, Jolynn Atkins got LavaCon off to a great start by making sure attendees knew each other (in person and on line).
DK from MediaSnackers flew in from Wales in the UK to present on Social Media for Executives, Business Owners and Entrepreneurs and the excitement built. When DK was finished, we had been introduced to Animoto, Audioboo, bubbl.us, capzles, coveritlive, slideshare, ustream and of course, facebook, just to name a few. Our heads were spinning! So suffice to say, LavaCon was off to a great start.
Over the next three days our brains turned quickly to mush as we rushed from one session to the next, trying to absorb everything that was being offered to us. I could go on and on telling you about each and every presenter that I heard and saw, but I’d need to write a novel instead of a blog. The best way you can catch up on what you missed is to visit the LavaCon wall. Besides slide presentations of almost every presenter, you will find news, recaps, tweets, and much more.
LavaCon events cater to the experienced technical writer who already knows the basics and who wants more and more and more. They are certainly not for the meek. By noon on the last day everyone was better educated, well-connected, and totally exhausted. We had been entertained, amused, and over-whelmed. We learned about re-tweets, mash-ups, pipes, and aggregators. We picked up acronyms like UX and UA and RIM. And as we waved goodbye to friends, old and new, we all swore to ourselves that we would type up our hand-scribbled notes and document our takeaways so that when LavaCon rolls around next year, we will remember why we loved it so much and why we have to return.
Southern Californian, Pamela Coca of Write-On Communications says she has been writing professionally since dinosaurs roamed the earth. Penned items include magazine articles, news editorials, tech manuals, web content, medical curriculum, and anything else that allows ink to be placed on paper. She believes that writers live to write as well as write to live. She is well-known in local circles for creating the award-winning Escoe Bliss Professional Resources website.
