Createsouth 2009

This last Saturday I attended Createsouth in Myrtle Beach SC which was hosted at the Horry-Georgetown Technical College campus. I was able to car pool with several of the lowcountry bloggers out of Charleston SC so the trip was pretty interesting. It was nice to rub elbows with folks that I have seen on Twitter and Facebook online. Some of these folks I had also met at a couple of the local Blogger Meetups as well.

This Createsouth event was the second event in two years but my first to attend. When we arrived the weather was awesome and even though there were forest fires approximately 10 miles north of us I did not see any hints of smoke or ash in the air or sky. There were approximately 100 + people registered to show up for the event and it looked like quite a few of them had already showed up.

The first key note speaker was Tiffany Trent who is a writer and author. Tiffany spoke about the importance of creativity and being willing to do whatever it takes to pursue that creativity whether that be writing, drawing, painting etc. Tiffany handed out small sea shells to everyone in the conference and asked us to think about how we would feel if we were that sea shell. How would we stand out and what would be our best attributes.

Tiffany stated that creativity is play and that we should be passionate about our creativity and be willing to work hard at it. Tiffany encouraged us to get the book called The Artists Way which is a book about writing and tips for creative people. Tiffany said that we should be willing to engage in commitment, vision, action and networking. What is our vision? Am I willing to commit to that vision and take action? Tiffany said it is very important that we be willing to come out of our shell and network with other people who can encourage us in our creativity and to share in that creativity.

Tiffany challenged us to set goals with regards to writing such as 1000 words in the morning in the form of “morning pages”. Tiffany told us that we should be willing to make whatever sacrifices necessary to perfect our creativity. That means that our social life may have to take a hit and our friends and family may not understand why you can not participate in their social events just because you are committed to writing. Tiffany also stated that the path to publishing is different for everyone. Some folks start out writing and getting published in print first and then going on line and then some are just the opposite being published online first and then publishing in print later.

Tee Morris was the next key note speaker for Createsouth 2009 and he spoke more about the nuts and bolts of social networking. I was very interested to see that he used a notebook computer running Linux to project his multimedia presentation complete with audio. It was nice to see someone utilizing an operating system other than Microsoft Windows to get a point across. Tee Morris made us aware of the need to remember the “social” in social media. Tee also echoed something that Tiffany Trent told us and that is the importance of community. It was evident that most of the attendees of this conference were not only big on social media but they were all very in tune with technology. We were reminded that while we use technology tools such as Facebook, Twitter etc that we are connecting with a community of people who have a lot to offer.

Tee Morris reminded us that while it is ok to use social media tools like Twitter and Facebook to network and make money it is not alright to use social media tools to leverage donations. Tee Morris spoke to us about several celebrities in the news such as Oprah Winfrey who totally misrepresent social media and what it is for. In other words it is not important to see how many people you can get to be your friend. What is important is that what friends you have because of social media you are making real connections with them by being social. If you are not interacting with your community then you are doing noting more than broadcasting.

Tee Morris said that the secret to social networking is participation on a global stage. There are a lot of social media tools on the Internet and not every one of them will work for everyone. We need to learn about the tools and how to use them and see which one works best for us. Tee Morris reminded us that social networking can make us better communicators. He also said that Twitter is not just another way to promote your crap.

Tee Morris also reminded us that if we are going to use social media that we are going to have to be fearless. He reminded us of the fact that if we are willing to publish our thoughts on social media that we are not as much an introvert as we might think we are.

He encouraged us to step outside of our comfort zones and be willing to do whatever it takes to be successful.

Social media is about reaching out and connecting with your communityand sharing your talents with others. This same community in Myrtle Beach SC recognized that there are a lot of talented people in Hory County that utilize social media and have a lot to offer in that community. They banded together with a common desire to see that community grow and to share that community with other users of social media in the Carolinas. It is good to see the different people who have banded together with this vision to bring about this conference which is no small feat in itself. The conference was created for and supported by the same people who use social media.

James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net