I’m finally back from the 2008 New Media Expo in Las Vegas, NV (AUG 14–17) and it was just what I needed to get re-invigorated and re-engaged with blogging and podcasting once again. So, I’m now really excited to get more posts out and podcasts published real soon! Not that I was fading before, but with my change of jobs and the new daily routine, I was feeling a little out of sorts and thrown off…

So, how was it? Well, let’s start off with my Top 5 List of Most Notable Changes at NME this year:

5. The Expo Name – 4th year running, 4th name change…No surprise I guess
4. The Venue – I guess there’s more places than the Marriott Bar to hang out this year
3. No French Maids – Guess they like Ontario, CA better
2. No Chris Brogan – No wonder my room felt emptier
1. NO LIBSYN PARTY - I thought we would see a revival for sure, but no such luck!

Yeah, it was in Vegas alright, but while there were plenty of slot machines, bars, and any number of other…er, “interesting subjects” to tempt you into something addictively sinful, there wasn’t quite the same ol’ LibSyn (now Wizzard) or Blubrry party-feel, like we used to have in previous years or the nostalgia of the traditional meeting of old friends at the Marriott Bar on the first night.

Despite all that, I have to say that this year’s NME was really good and there was no shortage of excellent sessions, starting with the opening keynote by Gary Vaynerchuk from Wine Library TV. IMHO, the main themes that ran throughout the expo were exactly what Gary mentioned in his talk about the two “C’s” — CONTENT & COMMUNITY — PLUS, the raw emotions that exuberated from his personality during his talk: PASSION – that is, passion for being part of the new/social media community.

For a brief summary of his talk, you can read about it on the Digiredo Blog (my new friends from Holland!)…Other great sessions that I attended include:

- Will it Blend?
  Day 2 Keynote by George Wright (VP, Blendtec)
- Developing an Engaged Community
  by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt
- Creating A Successful Government Podcast: From AIDS.gov to the CDC
  by Miguel Gomez and Fred Smith.
- Building an Audience-Thrilling Videoblog
  by Robert Scoble
- Tactical Transparency – The Profits of Getting Personal in Business
  by John Havens and Shel Holtz
- A Legal Thicket: New Media Production And Content Liability in the Digital Age
  by Colette Vogele and Jeffrey Hermes

I’ll try to post some of these recordings here on the blog in the upcoming weeks, but for now, I will end here — Reflections on NME 2008 Part II coming soon…

TO BE CONTINUED!