Here is what I envisioned:  I would post the definitive, penultimate, consummate recap blog post about SOBCon 2010.

After all, it was my first time attending the conference.  Who doesn’t want to get a “totally new and fresh perspective” from someone as new and fresh (not to mention witty) as myself?  It would be like looking at SOBCon with brand new eyes!

As the newbie often learns, there’s a better way to do it.  One of my favorite SOBCon panelists, Steve Woodruff, posted the official-and-conclusive best SOBCon recap yesterday with “The Official Post-Conference Re-Cap Blog Post Template”.

I was disappointed that I only got the chance to briefly introduce myself to Steve during the conference.  Now I’m crushed.  Yes, the post is brilliant, but there’s more.

What he had to say on the panel about battling depression mirrored my own experience.  I know that I’ve never heard anyone so open and honest about it, and neither have you (here’s his background post, “Clearing Clouds”).  How refreshing.  And BTW, this is the first I’ve ever said anything about my own battles with depression.  Steve’s example showed me that I really have nothing to hide.

So, you want to turn “transparency” from buzzword to real life?  Follow Steve Woodruff’s example.

Which is exactly what I intend to do with this post.  He wrote a template; I love templates!  And I know he meant it with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, but I’m running with it.  So here goes, with Steve’s template as a point of reference…

I Laughed, I Cried, I SOBCon-ed

I had a wonderful time.  That’s a blunt way to start, but if I’m summarizing the whole SOBCon experience, I can’t be any more plain than that.  It was awesome.  Fabulous.  If I was a guy that used exclaimation points without irony, I’d use them, without reservation, about SOBCon 2010 (!).

Terry Starbucker and Liz Strauss started the whole thing off with the word “love”.  And I have to say, never having been before, I thought that was setting the bar, um, kind of high.  You know what I mean?  I was thinking business.  Community building.  Learning.  Not love.  I was wrong.  My thanks to them and the sponsors for hosting, sharing, and teaching some love.

Here’s what I learned:  Action makes the difference.  Nearly every speaker echoed this sentiment in some way, most by example.  Sheila Scarborough and Becky McCray did it with a session on how they invented and launched their business Tourism Currents.  Extreme Leadership author Steve Farber did it by diagramming his Greater Than Yourself program.  Chris Brogan did it by being Chris Brogan.  And reformed Master Of The Universe Hank Wasiak did it best for me by giving away these 4 beautiful, actionable words rooted in Asset Based Thinking:  Tell The Truth Fast (it’s the “fast” part that makes all the difference).

One real shocker was the uber-prevalence of a totally new technology in the digital marketing world:  paper and pen.  It starts up every time (another @sheilaS-ism).  Going to have to check it out when it’s out of beta.  Other than that, not much to report, except that I got silly putty all over my iphone case and had to get a new one (long story).

(skipping optional paragraph 5, if you’re following along at home -Ben)

Oh, and one more Chris Brogan thing:  You can’t eat a hug.  Chris was pretty up front about his ramen-noodle, living-on-a-prayer past which I didn’t know about (I think I was the only one there that didn’t maybe?  I don’t know), and I love the paradox in his work that’s central right here:  the more you give, the more you get, even when you’re dirt poor.

I didn’t get to hang out with nearly the number of people I wanted to (I’m looking at you, Julie Roads).  But rather than focus on the misses, I’m going to say that I was amazed that I got to spend time with a ton of brilliant folks (Shashi Bellamkonda,  Lorelle Van Fossen, Dave Barger, Jay Jay French (!), Steve Sherlock, George Kruger, Mary-Lynn Foster, Estrella Rosenberg, Angel Djambazov) including the incredible Glenda Watson Hyatt.  I walked back to the hotel with her from the party on night 1, and read through her I’ll Do It Myself blog later that night.  Holy.  Moly.  If you don’t know her, you should.  And SOBCon 2011 can’t come soon enough.

Anyway, there’s a community out there for everyone, and I’m pretty fortunate in that I think I found mine at SOBCon.

Remember, you can’t eat a hug.  But you can come pretty close.  Thanks, SOBCon.

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