Webmaster Jam Session 2008

October 6th, 2008 | Posted in Blog

Web Jam 2008 was definitely worth the trip. I met some great people, attended some interesting sessions, and came home with a few ideas I can integrate into my work immediately.

The theme of the conference, at least from my perspective, was of social networking tools and how they can be best used to promote not only your personal brand, but that of your company and projects. Having recently seen several attempts here at work to jump into this space, I’ve seen how easy it is to get lost in the social cloud and become just a part of the background noise. A social network can sense when a newcomer is insincere and trying to exploit the system for personal or monetary gain, so the secret is in not how many networks you can join, but how you deliver your message through each network’s own unwritten code of behavior. Success also depends on being consistent, and consciously crafting a persona that is engaging and genuinely interesting to your followers. I could ramble on and on about how my project is the best thing ever, but unless I can engage you in a dialogue that inspires you or at least gives you a chuckle every now and then, I’ll disappear from your radar as quickly as I appeared.

The conference came just as I’m finishing a refresh of my personal site, and I’ll be taking a little extra time to work in some of the lessons learned from other attendees and speakers. I’ve also got a list of blogs, products, and frameworks to check out over the next week.