Final Thoughts on Social South (#soso)
I’m finally back home after two weeks of vacation and conferences (and back to internet access that actually works!!) and I got to say – even though I’ve been working for the past week in a different location, it’s still nice to get away from the daily grind and get out of your zone for a bit. I feel really renewed and I can’t wait to get back into the swing of things tomorrow.
Social South, in case you haven’t heard me talk about it, really changed the way I look at the business I’m in. Number one, being a designer that speaks developer and marketer is a great thing to be – it’s almost like I’m the trilingual translator in the room – whether it’s CMYK or CPM or C++ (OK, so I don’t know C++ but I do know what it IS) I can usually hold my own in conversation.
But, beyond that, I have had a lot of my faith in humanity restored by what I saw this weekend. Esra’a Al Shafei’s keynote was absolutely amazing. Any review I would say wouldn’t do it justice. My final takeaways, although not nearly as as profound, are still important to me. They are:
- There’s some amazing talent out there, both from Birmingham and beyond. I’ve emailed a lot of people from here who do a lot of things – a truly diverse group.
- Social media isn’t just about the technology. Anything we do, whether online or offline, plays into our personality. And having the offline is just as important as the online – there will never be a substitute for an in-face meeting or real interaction with real people. Social Media enhances those relationships.
- I really need to break out into the church space. I never realized how passionate I am about it until the Saturday session about Church and Social Media – can’t wait for those slides to come out so I can pour over them again.
- There are some great people in Birmingham. If I had to choose another city to move to, it’d be that.
I’ll add to this list as I find more, and as people remind me of more, but after a vacation, I need a vacation 😉 (or at least a good night’s sleep).