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Geeks and Entrepreneurs converge in Oklahoma

By Becky McCray

Last year at the Oklahoma Entrepreneurship Conference, we had two people tweeting: me and @stargardener. When we announced the hashtag we were using for the event, we got the oddest reactions. We had a tweetup, with just the two of us, and it was great. And the brand-new-at-the-time @OKCCoCo was there.
Speaker Dr. Ernesto Sirolli, being introduced by Vikki Dearing
This year, there were 20 or so tweeters, and we had a tweetup with 17 people. Of course, @stargardener and I were back. The @OKCCoCo crew live-streamed video of many sessions. Conference organizer, the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, picked an official hashtag: #OKEship, and tweeted a few photos. We had someone live tweeting from the audience in all the break out sessions. Heck, I live tweeted from the stage in one panel.

What changed? Convergence: more geeky entrepreneurs, more entrepreneurial geeks.

Chris Brogan and @Tym77Plus, the conference this year emphasized social media. @chrisbrogan keynoted, and he drew in many of his local fans. Several local social media stars also spoke, including @malenalott, @deedradeterman, @blogging4jobs, and even me. I know I left some of you out who spoke! Remind me, and I’ll fix it. (@Stargardener just reminded me that I left out @skygrrrl1272, who came over from Arkansas to speak.)

Where do we go from here? Who knows; but it will be exciting.

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Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.

www.beckymccray.com
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February 25, 2010 Filed Under: social media Tagged With: events

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Comments

  1. MissDazey says

    February 25, 2010 at 12:26 pm

    “Convergence: more geeky entrepreneurs, more entrepreneurial geeks.” That would make a really good book title. Hint, hint.

    How many people attended the meeting?

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  2. stargardener says

    February 25, 2010 at 2:57 pm

    I agree, Dazey! It would be a terrific book title! ;-) Entrepreneurs are naturally geeky because they embrace change and all things new! We learned that last year when we held mini how-to-twitter sessions, didn’t we, Becky!

    My take-away from this conference was to brainstorm “home bases and outposts” and “bridges not icebergs” {from @chrisbrogan’s keynote}. An affirmation of a path I was already skipping on.

    Don’t forget @skygrrrl1272! Although not an Oklahoman her work benefits our state; she was also a speaker/contributor. {She is also a geeky entrepreneur as well as an entrepreneurial geek!}

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  3. Becky McCray says

    February 25, 2010 at 5:15 pm

    Dazey, there were about 150 there, I think. I haven’t heard the official number. (oh, no! not another book I need to write!)

    Stargardener, that is exactly right: our impromptu Twitter sessions last year were a terrific example of convergence. I’ll go back and add @Skygirrrl1272 in the article, too. Thanks!

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Trackbacks

  1. May 2010 Tourism Currents Newsletter - Let's Meet IRL (in real life) says:
    July 11, 2013 at 3:11 pm

    […] As we follow tourism events via Twitter hashtags, we see the thumbnail avatars of a growing cadre of social media-conversant tourism pros, but we’d like to see more attendee diversity (like CVB/DMO representatives) at tech conferences. Technology is for everyone, not just wired geeky types.  Many smaller conferences are already springing up to bring tech to all niches; here’s the new Small Biz Social Media Summit in Hutchinson, Kansas in June (Becky is one of the speakers) or a recent gathering of entrepreneurs in Oklahoma. […]

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