OK — so you might be a geek reading this.  Take no offense because we all have to be a little geeky these days.  In researching for this post, I came across a post about the largest blogging conference and tradeshow coming up in Las Vegas.  BlogWorld & New Media Expo held Sept 20-21 had over 150 speakers. The press release is posted below, but before you read it, there are a few things to look for.First, the conference truly is a group of people who, ostensibly, don’t need to be in the same room. Everyone is certainly tech savvy enough to watch a webinar — if fact, it would be safe to say that they are mostly advanced users who could fully take advantage of more sophisticated methods of communicating online. But there they all are — in Vegas, milling around on a tradeshow floor and attending conference. This is the part where I start to say: “See, you need face to face contact after all.”

Ironic isn’t it? Well, it is true that this conference proves that even sophisticated users of Web 2.0 tools need face-to-face. But I think what’s more intriguing is what those of us in less tech savvy business can learn from their approach to tradeshows. The show really invites people attending to participate in communicating about the show. The speaker and conference forums are, in a sense, amplified because social networking, blogging, and micro-blogging are encouraged and foster through the show’s website. Of course, it’s a show about blogging and Web 2.0 so that may be obvious, but it does show us some of the possibilities to use these tools for more traditional shows.Creating a social networking site (Myspace or Facebook or Linkdin) around your company’s participation in a tradeshow or blogging live from a show or even doing a podcast can connect you with visitors in new and unexpected ways. Better still, finding ways to involve visitors to your booth in these activities is an even better way to connect and reconnect after the show.

Passing fad? Well, that remains to be seen. But in a way, it doesn’t really matter. Sometimes fads are effective. Way back when Palm Pilots were the latest thing, I remember people swapping business cards through the devices infrared transmitters. It was new and cool and easy. It was the end of paper and the end of keying in a pile of cards. Almost no one uses them today. Even with iphones and blackberries, we still pass out cards and none of those devices transmit to each other in the same way. But at the time it was a good way to connect with someone, have some fun, and create a relationship outside the basics of business. From the press release:

Las Vegas (PRWEB) September 10, 2008 — BlogWorld & New Media Expo, the first and only conference dedicated to blogging and new media, is bringing an all-star roster of speakers to Las Vegas – with more than 150 thought leaders across every major industry. The Conference and Expo will be held Sept. 20-21 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Registration is open at blogworldexpo.com.

Read more about the show here: Link