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Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in Semphonic's first annual Web Analytics X Change in Napa Valley, California.
This conference was structured a lot differently than a traditional Internet marketing conference, in that sessions (called huddles at X Change) consisted of 8-13 participants and promoted active conversation from all participants. The setup with the huddles allowed other experts in the room to offer their advice to the discussion as well as newcomers to understand strategies and processes. There was a wide range of experts from Agencies, Consultants and SEM Clients which brought many different perspectives to the table.

I actually lead a session called "Blog Promotion: Execution and Measurement" where as a group we tried to answer the following 6 questions:

• What makes your blog different?


• How do I promote my brand?


• What can I do to grow my blog?


• Should I try that next marketing trick?


• How do I engage my visitors?


• What metrics should I be tracking?

I really tried hard to take each point and offer a strategy which participants could take home and apply to their own blogs. Near the end of the session I thought it would be a good idea to throw one of the participants' blogs on the screen in order to offer it some constructive criticism. In the end, the feedback I received was positive and I had a fun time doing it.

I commend Gary Angel and his team at Semphonic for designing a very unique and useful conference experience and hope that they can make it even a bigger success next year. One thing I also have to mention was the spectacular 3 course Taste of Copia Lunch the X Change conference concluded with which included an interactive cooking demo, garden talk and lunch with wine.

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