Sessions

Based on attendee feedback from last year, your comments and suggestions this year, and the work of a planning team – we’ve come up with what we think will be a great series of sessions this year.

We’ve reduced the number of formal sessions, focusing on quality over quantity. Additionally, there will be informal workshops with experts on various platforms – if you want to learn more about WordPress (for example) and simply want to ask questions and troubleshoot, we’ll have pros ready to help.

Registration will open at 8 a.m. and the opening session will begin at 9 a.m. Of course you can plan on witty remarks and announcements, and then you’ll hear a keynote we believe will be interesting and inspiring (to be announced soon).

Keynote Speaker:

Blogs to Riches – A Journey from Blogging Luddite to Successful Business

Lee Odden

toprankmarketing.com
@leeodden

Lee will share 5 lessons he’s learned from over 7 years of writing over 2,500 blog posts. Hear the story of how one MN blogger turned limited writing skills, an addiction to Caribou coffee and a passion for learning and being helpful into a successful online marketing business that’s recognized from New York to Hong Kong, brings more clients than he can handle and a book deal.Oh, and he still can’t write his way out of a wet paper bag. Shhh, don’t tell his publisher.

Sessions include:

Protecting Your Hard Work and Yourself – Hot Legal Issues That Impact All Bloggers

Teresa Thompson

netWORKedlawyers.com
@techsolaw

Do you ever worry about people lifting your work?  Have you ever come across a website prominently displaying your work without your permission?  What can you do?  Speaking of that, who owns your blog content?  What happens if you are writing for a business, can you also use that information? And finally, what happens if you take your commentary one step too far?  Could you be liable for defamation? This session will address these questions which impact all bloggers!

Bloggers Attending This Session Will Learn How to:

1. Take steps to protect your blog content;
2. Limit liability for defamation claims due to blog content; and
3. Define/determine ownership for your blog content.

Teresa is the Chair of Fredrikson’s Non-Competes and Trade Secrets Group, and an MSBA Certified Labor and Employment Law Specialist. She counsels business clients on risk management and policy development relating to all employment issues, with a focus on employee use of technology.  She also litigates client’s business and employment disputes. Teresa trains, writes and lectures extensively on legal issues arising from business use of technology and social media. She and colleague Norah Olson Bluvshtein launched Fredrikson’s first blog, netWORKed, this year.

Scene and Story: Make Your Writing Sing

Kate Hopper

www.motherswhowrite.blogspot.com
@MNKateHopper

Have you ever written a blog post that felt flat? This session is for bloggers who want to improve their writing. We will discuss ways to ground your stories in concrete details and bring the people in your posts to life. We will try a couple of writing exercises, and participants will leave with a page of writing prompts to try at home.

Bloggers Attending This Session Will Learn How to:

1. Focus their writing
2. Ground their writing in concrete details
3. Bring the people in their posts to life

Kate Hopper holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Minnesota, and has been the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship and a Minnesota State Arts Board Grant. Her writing has recently appeared in Brevity, Literary Mama, and the New York Times online. She is finishing work on Small Continents, a memoir about learning to live with uncertainty in the wake of her daughter’s premature birth. Her first book, Use Your Words: A Writing Guide for Mothers is forthcoming from Viva Editions (Spring 2012). She teaches online and at The Loft Literary Center and writes the blog Mother Words: Mothers Who Write.

Vlogging: Lessons to Learn from TV

Erica Mayer

pukerainbows.posterous.com
@ericamayer

Whether you are a video virgin or have a few vlogs  in the can, this session will help you find the proper starting point.

Bloggers Attending This Session Will Learn How to:

1. Increase the odds of someone watching your entire vlog.
2. Perform to your greatest potential.
3. Make inexpensive equipment work for you.

Erica Mayer is an Emmy-award winning director/editor/producer for WCCO-TV Creative Team. Directs music videos in her spare time. Owner, Puke Rainbows photo/video. #JMU612 co-founder, and weight loss blogger on the side. 2-time North American Promax award judge (judging the work of networks like Discovery Channel, Bravo, HBO), and 4-time Promax winner. Winner of the national “Klout for Good” award for her work with charity: water. 2010 twin cities top “under the radar” leader. GeekGirlsGuide “Geek of the Week.”

You may have already written a best seller.

Patrick Rhone

patrickrhone.com
www.minimalmac.com
@patrickrhone

Have you always wanted to write a book? Do you have a blog?  Perhaps, if you think about it differently, you already have written a book, you just don’t realize it yet. We will discuss that, the various options for getting it published, and how to get the word out so people can buy it.

Bloggers Attending This Session Will Learn How to:

1. Learn to look at their blog with a whole new eye and discover the potential book within.
2. Learn the various options available for publishing from self publisher, to micro publisher, to major publisher (and the pros and cons of each)
3. Learn the answer to, “OK, so I published a book. Now what?”

Patrick Rhone is a Writer and Editor in Saint Paul, MN.  Through his online work, he creates and curates a mixture of media, on a variety of topics, and attempts to deliver it in ways that are both topical and rational.  He is the author of Keeping It Straight – You, Me, & Everything Else, published by First Today Press and available at http://keepingitstraightbook.com. Links to all of his work can be found at http://patrickrhone.net.

15 Essential WordPress Plugins (& Some Easy-To-Customize Themes)

Mykl Roventine

myklroventine.com
@myklroventine

Plugins and themes are the power under WordPress’ hood. Are you using the latest and greatest? In this session you’ll get a rundown of today’s must-have plugins, why they’re important and how to use them. In addition we’ll review some free and paid themes that make customization a breeze. All it takes are a few simple steps to make your blog look and perform better than ever.

Bloggers Attending This Session Will Learn How to:

1. Identify, install and use 15 essential WordPress plugins
2. Find quality WordPress plugins in general
3. Customize a selection of free and paid themes

Designer of things, lover of coffee, blogger, coordinator for Social Media Breakfast – Minneapolis St. Paul (SMBMSP). Mykl designs things like websites, WordPress blogs and social media strategies. He has a special passion for the social web, online communities and the potential of the internet to educate and inspire.

The Pictures With Your Thousand Words: Supporting Your Blog with Photos

 Mandy Dwyer

glimpsesofsoul.com
@glimpsesofsoul

Regardless of your blog topic, photographs help to capture attention and illustrate your point. Learn how to create your own interesting and unique images to supplement your blog posts by creating art out of everyday moments. Partly creative, partly technical, we’ll also go over basic editing and tips for presenting photos online, strategies for sharing them and resources for the times you can’t create your own work.

Bloggers Attending This Session Will Learn How to:

1. Create compelling photos with the equipment that you have
2. Edit and prepare photos for online use
3. Use photos effectively within your blog

Mandy Dwyer is a professional photographer. Her company, Glimpses of Soul Photography, specializes in custom, candid portraiture for children and families. Mandy also contributes event photography to several local publications on a regular basis, including Edina Magazine and the Twin Cities Daily Planet, as well as serving as a volunteer photographer for organizations like Home For Life Animal Sanctuary and The Family Partnership.

Blogging from mobile devices

Julio Ojeda-Zapata

ojezap.com
@ojezap 

If you have tried to do full-scale blogging from a mobile device, such as an iPad, you’ve probably wanted to rend your garments. It ain’t fun, folks. With a few tricks and workarounds, though, you can git ‘er done. And mobile blogging tools are starting to improve. In a how-to session, Julio Ojeda-Zapata will blog up a storm from his iPad, and walk you through how he does it.

Bloggers Attending This Session Will Learn How To:

1. Blog from mobile devices without;
2. missing their laptops, and;
3. needing to take migraine medication.

Julio has been on the front lines of the Internet and technology revolutions as a columnist, editor and award-winning reporter for more than a decade. He writes about consumer technology at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, a MediaNews Group newspaper. Read his tech column and his tech blog. He is the author of ‘iPad Means Business” and “Twitter Means Business.” He is a nerd. A native of Quito, Ecuador, he was raised in San Juan, P.R. He now lives in St. Paul with his wife and son.

Blogging in the Black: How to start earning money with your blog – Sean Ryan and Dan Buri from TC Huddle
Whether you want your blog to become your fulltime job, or you’re just hoping to make a little play money – you have to start somewhere. In this session, we’ll discuss ways you can start earning money with your blog through advertising, developing SEO strategies, and determing which strategy will work best for your content.

Power Networking

Paul DeBettignies

mnheadhunter.com
@mnheadhunter

Paul DeBettignies is a Minnesota IT Recruiter, the VP Recruiting at HireCast Consulting, author of the Minnesota Headhunter blog and Co Founder and Coordinator of Minnesota Recruiters.

Paul is a frequent local and national speaker and article contributor on recruiter, HR, career, networking and social media topics. He is also involved in the Minneapolis and St Paul technology, marketing and social media community as a sponsor, volunteer and mentor.

Advertisements, Endorsements and the Casual ‘Like’ –  What You Need To Know (If you’re a celebrity blogger or not)

Hayden O. Creque Esq  crequelaw.com  @haydencreque

The rules have changed and recent headlines have put bloggers on notice. New guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission on endorsements have changed the way bloggers can talk about products and services,. Now, even something as simple as receiving a thank you gift for liking a Facebook page and then blogging about the item receives – can put bloggers at risk of fines, ongoing government scrutiny or even a shutdown.   Whether you are compensated in cash or in-kind gifts you must make necessary disclosures.

This engaging session goes beyond the legal speak to provide bloggers information on:

• What does it mean? Clear explanations of the new guidelines and their related laws.
• Common mistakes bloggers make – and their consequences.
• Specific steps to protect yourself and build an even better brand.

Hayden is the Principal Attorney at Creque Law.  He counsels clients in the areas of business, employment, internet, information security, and privacy law.  He also litigates selectively, primarily general commercial matters.  Hayden  writes and speaks on technology law and social media. In addition, to his legal practice Hayden serves on the Board’s of the Blandin Foundation, and YMCA of Central Minnesota.  Hayden also volunteer broadcasts the St. Cloud Times and other area newspapers to Central Minnesota’s blind and print disabled.  

 Panel: Building communities online and offline

Jen Emmert

priorfatgirl.com
@priorfatgirl

Jen Emmert is the owner and lead author of the blog PriorFatGirl.com, which she started to document her own healthiness journey of losing 100lbs. Although PriorFatGirl.com was originally intended to be therapy for Jen, PriorFatGirl.com has since turned into a community of support and motivation for readers. Jen’s story and PriorFatGirl.com has been featured in Shape Magazine andWomen’s Day Magazine, on WCCO-Minneapolis, Minneapolis StarTribune, AOL.com and many other media outlets. Jen lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her fiancé, Carlos and their furry child, Iggy.

Meghan Wilker

geekgirlsguide.com
@irishgirl

Meghan Wilker is the VP, Managing Director at Minneapolis-based digital agency, Clockwork Active Media Systems and blogs/podcasts at geekgirlsguide.com. She is the author of Social Media for Humans: Minding & Managing Your Personal Brand Online and Interactive Project Management: A People-driven Process (available from New Riders in 2012). She started her first blog on April 6, 2002, met her husband via his blog, and has been active in online social networks since the Friendster beta.

Additional Sessions

Moving your blog to WordPress and the concept of self-hosting - Tim Elliot