The Sweet Sounds of Techkaraoke Detroit – November Edition

Detroit’s tech and interactive community came out in force for last month’s Techkaraoke event, drawing our largest crowd yet.

After six months, word is starting to get out about this great event.  I actually had people at the TEDxDetroit afterglow mention to me that they heard plenty of stories about our crazy jam sessions.

While I had hoped to capture the entire night on camera, my Flip died shortly after the event started.  However, Ryan Meray happened to grab my cover of The Proclaimers song, “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).”  Enjoy!

Side note:  Henry and I are actually Scottish twins.  No lie.

To view the other great photos from Techkaraoke Detroit’s November event, check out the sets posted by Icontic.com’s Brian Ambrozy and Dave Peckens on Flickr.

To learn more about Techkaraoke Detroit, check out our Facebook group.

Filed under: TechKaraoke Detroit, community, events, techkaraoke , community, events, techkaraoke, TechKaraoke Detroit

Social Media Club Detroit October Meeting – How to Avoid Presentation FAIL

Co-organizing Brand Camp University has been one of the most rewarding and time-consuming projects I have ever undertaken.  Hajj Flemings and I spent countless weekends discussing content, identifying speakers, strategizing promotion and experimenting with format changes at Caribou Coffee in Royal Oak.  We constantly bounced ideas off each other. Proposals were challenged.  Every so often, moments of brilliance surfaced, followed by a few facepalms.  Luckily, after every meeting, we left excited knowing that we were now one day closer to the big event.  As Hajj would say, “we were cooking with gas.”

During the six plus months spent developing Brand Camp University, we learned a lot.  This Wednesday, we are going to share some of that knowledge with the Detroit social media community at the Social Media Club Detroit October chapter meeting.

Some of the questions we hope to answer include:

1. Why do large social media conferences matter to the Detroit region?
2. How do you grow a conference idea?
3. What are ways to approach creating a conference?
4. What’s the appropriate balance between content and personality?
5. Why should you match conference content to the region/market?
6. How do you create reasonable conference expectations?
7. What are the complexities of dealing with rock star speakers?
8. How do you create “need” and make sure your conference stands out?

As an added bonus, we will also be holding a drawing for free tickets to Brand Camp University 09, which takes place this weekend at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield.

The Social Media Club Detroit October meeting will be held at Java Exchange in Detroit near Wayne State University. To RSVP, visit the Facebook event page. To learn more about upcoming Social Media Club Detroit meetings and events, become a fan on Facebook.

Filed under: Michigan, community, conferences, detroit, events, social media , brand camp university, conferences, events, Hajj Flemings, personal branding, social media, social media club detroit

TechKaraoke Detroit – July Hottness Edition

The Detroit Chapter of TechKaraoke held its first official event on Friday, July 24th, at the Royal Kubo in Clawson.  The picture above only captures a fraction of the awesomeness that went on that night.  So, enjoy the video!

Important things to mention:

1. The lighting was crazy, which had an impact on the video quality.
2. @Farms loves to dance on stage.
3. MC @HubertGAM knows how to pump up the crowd!
4. Be sure to check out Icrontic’s great event recap and visit their Flickr page to view some fantastic photos.
5. We decided to introduce a new element to TechKaraoke.  We are presenting a trophy to the “Best in Show” performer of the night at each event.  Mr. @digitalvision was our first winner and will be tasked with adding something to our awesome trophy.  He will also serve as judge at the next TechKaraoke Detroit event.

To be honest, TechKaraoke is quickly becoming one of my favorite events.  The feedback has been stellar and there have already been numerous inquiries about the next event.

Currently, we plan to hold TechKaraoke Detroit every other month at Royal Kubo.  Our next event will be on a Friday sometime in mid to late September.  To stay informed, be sure to join the TechKaraoke Detroit Facebook Group.

AWESOME UPDATE – 5:23PM 7/31/2009

Our friends at Royal Kubo loved the photos and videos.  In fact, they liked them so much, they plan on throwing in a $30 bar tab for the “Best in Show” winner at the next event!  SWEET!

Filed under: TechKaraoke Detroit, community, detroit, events, iDetroit, tech, techkaraoke , events, icrontic, iDetroit, karaoke, Royal Kubo, social media, tech, techkaraoke, TechKaraoke Detroit

The number one reason why Detroit social media events rock

Coutesy of MontageMan

You’re never in a room full of salespeople.  Just good people.

Filed under: detroit, detroit tweetups, events, social media, social networking, tweetup , social media, business, business relationships, detroit, events, connections, networking events