Sitting amongst a sea of iPads, notebooks, Smartphones, MacBooks, and yes, even laptops at Social Slam in Knoxville.

Congratulations to the organizers of this amazing conference and to my dear colleague Mark W. Schaefer for his up-to-minute hosting of the event.

For this first gathering, I’m impressed with attendance (some 400?); age range of attendee (from student to highly seasoned and senior folks 50+); from perhaps 14 states and Canada; and the free Wi-Fi(! — how could they not?).

I got to meet people I’ve tweeted with, and I was recognized by people who knew me from Twitter (via my avatar). I got to hear the A-list speakers present and actually rub shoulders with them, too. I connected live with Erica Allison of Allison Development Group, Jenn Whinnem, Billy Mitchell from Atlanta, Amy Howell of Howell Marketing, Anne Gallaher, Deb Weinstein, and so many others.

I met the vivacious CK Kerley who is the queen of mobile marketing and B2B, and we just heard a fab analytical presentation from Carpathia Hosting. On the dais to come are another panel and Jay Baer’s keynote presentation to go.

I encourage you to come next year; you will NOT be disappointed!