This week I attended the Social Fresh Nashville event, a one-day conference on Monday January 11th, where I met up with friends like @JasonFalls and @LisaMarieMary (right) and met a lot of interesting new people as well.
One of the highlights was learning about the Social Media Club which has several local chapters here in TN. You should check the site to see if there is a local chapter in your area, and if not – start one! It’s a great way to meet local people and business owners in your area that are using or are interested in using social media.
The event was chock full of content and included panels on Social Media for B2B, Twitter and Facebook Success (case studies), Social Media in the Music Industry, and more. Ben Bennett of CMA was there, Jason Falls, Dan Zarrella of HubSpot. It was an interesting mix of both local industry experts and social media experts…
I got to talk to @mDave of NashvilleFeed.com, a local podcast, and they actually did a live podcast on the scene. You can listen to it here: Nashville Tech Feed #5 – Pseudo-Live from SocialFresh Nashville.
I also ran into my friend Todd McCalla (left) of CoolSprings.com. We originally met on a red-eye flight back from Vegas a little over a year ago. I was coming home from one event, and he and Grant were leaving PubCon.
I got to meet Jonathan Kay of Grasshopper.com, and shared a cab with him to the pre-event party on Sunday night. His company actually sponsored the party. Super cool guy, and I really love the company concept.
I’ll be doing a full review of Grasshopper’s service, so you’ll be hearing more about them in future posts. 
It was really interesting to hear how local business is adopting social media, and how employees are introducing the new media marketing concepts to their companies.
I was most impressed by @HubSpot’s The Science of Social Media Marketing presentation, which I attempted to tweet highlights but Dan Zarella is one fast talker (lol). I also really liked the open discussion with @JasonFalls and @LisaHoffman on Social Media Policy & Procedure. The Q&A brought out a good conversation on when to delete comments and when to address them – and how.
I have to give props to @MillenniumPR. Fabulous room service (heh), very attentive staff, and great food. They were monitoring the activity on Twitter and responding to any requests or comments there within minutes. Impressive, and very suiting during this particular event!
The event was great, and I will definitely be attending more Social Fresh events in the future. I must say though, after cruising to the Bahamas and then flying straight in for SF… I’m super glad to be home, and look forward to catching up here for the next couple of weeks. 
Best,
p.s. The next Social Fresh event is in Tampa Florida on Monday, February 8th. For details and registration, see Social Fresh Tampa.
