I’m pleased to announce the launch of a new website for a social media conference called Oi! which I’m helping out with.

Note: Yes, I am flush from the success of the Port80 Web Conference which I ran in May (“pow-wows for web folks“) but this event is nothing to do with me really,  I just happened to bump into the organiser, Tony Dowling, on Twitter and, because I believed in the cause (more on that later) I decided to pitch in and help out. My contribution is mainly the website*.

(* The sharp eyed amongst you will note that, to save effort, we’ve re-skinned the Port80 website. The sparkling brand identity is obviously all new, courtesy of Russell Britton).

Why pitch in?

Mark Schaefer

Well, it’s funny. Tony & I are both fans of Mark Schaefer. Mark is an undisputed expert in social media and has written some fantastic books on the subject. Indeed, if I’m encouraging a client to start to tweet, I’ll always buy them Mark’s Tao of Twitter book as it not only clearly explains the mechanics of Twitter but it also shows useful cases studies as well as introducing Mark’s social media ethos.

Helpful Authenticity

Marks is very much into authenticity & authentic helping rather than pushy marketing & toe-in-the-door sales. This is music to my ears as sales/marketing has such a stigma – all that “always be closing” BS? I don’t want any part of that. However, if I can promote my business by just being genuinely helpful than cool, yes, I can do that.

Tony is a subscriber to authentic helping, as you can see from his completely free sales advice blog,  great content and fantastic interaction so when I saw Tony say that he would like to launch a low cost, social media conference in Wales to get Mark to speak at; I was only too happy to put my hand up and say I would help; no big pay day; no “what’s in it for me?“; just pitch in because you want to*.

(* I’m not advocating that every business deal should be conducted in such a free wheeling manner; just pick when it’s right for you).

Speakers

Apart from Mark there are some other fantastic speakers lined up including: Philipa Davies, Marc Webber, Jay Cooper, Emma Messe, James Cridland.

It’s a day long event running at The Celtic Manor on the 25th of September.  Tickets are £50 or £75.

I’ll also be around on the day but purely in a brain absorbing capacity.

Be there or be square.

Joel