Summary: Last year, as many of you know I attended BlogWorld (http://www.blogworldexpo.com), where I got to meet up with many of my online buddies, as well as interview a ton of great people for this blog and its sister-podcast. One of the people I met, albeit briefly, was BlogWorld's founder, Rick Calvert. I contacted Rick as I wanted to get inside his head a little on why he set this badboy-of-an-expo up (easily the best expo I've been to in many, many years), and what his and his team have got set-up in terms of plans for the future, in the even-changing landscape that is now simply referred to as 'New Media' (blogging, podcasting, social media, online video, etc.). Since last years expo in Vegas, the BlogWorld crew (phenomenally well put-together and orchestrated team of professionals, I was sincerely impressed!) put on an East-coast outing (in NY) of sorts, which was incredibly successful, with the West-coast conference now being held in LA, this coming November. I have actually submitted a proposal to speak at the LA event, and hope to share good news in regards to that with you soon. However, even if my proposal is not accepted, I will STILL be going to LA to spend time with friends, network like a dynamo and soak up the atmosphere. During my conversation with Rick, we discuss, amongst other things: * How Rick got started in blogging himself. * Why he set up BlogWorld after finding a huge gap in the market place! * The difference between traditional, or 'old' media and 'new' media. * How Rick and his team are heading a revolution in the media world through his expo. * Why Rick is going to put in a good word with Gary Vaynerchuk (the ONE GUEST that has eluded this podcast, but will hopefully succumb to my invites, too!). * So much more golden stuff! Play or download the audio of this VBL Podcast (http://www.virtualbusinesslifestyle.com/vbl-podcast/) (below) to listen to it on your iPod, iPhone, or iPad and be sure to subscribe on iTunes (http://itunes.apple.com/ph/podcast/virtual-business-lifestyle/id377846535), too! I always talk about my biggest take-away from my interviews in the post version here on the blog. In this case it was that Rick is quite obviously a fountain of knowledge on the subject of everything 'media', not just online. His understanding of traditional media, coupled together with the 'new media' approach to marketing, promotion, networking, building relationships and doing business in general is about as second-to-none as I have seen from anyone online. Not much of a shocker, I know, as the man responsible for creating without a doubt the premier related event, but nonetheless, impressive! As the next round of BlogWorld fun is now under heavy preparation, if you're interested in attending the expo in LA in early November, simply check out their website (http://www.blogworldexpo.com) and sign on up! You might want to follow Rick on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/blogworld), too. Like I said, I'll be there, and I look forward to meeting any of the VBL Tribe that come along! As always, if you enjoyed this chat, all I ask is that you please mention to your friends and followers, by clicking on those sexy little buttons below! And if you have any comments and questions - well, you know the deal by now!
