I got back from the 140 conf at New York and went on a cruise. How fitting. It was vacation after a vacation.

140conf was an incredible experience – not just the awesome connections, conversations and learning but the INTENSITY in the connections, conversations and the learning. I value learning and human connections more than anything, and Jeff made this possible through his conference by bringing together amazing set of people around some incredible topics relevant “NOW”. Paradoxically, a lot of what we spoke about will apply to the NOW always. Now, THAT is the real magic of this conference that appealed to me.

Some incredibly wonderful things about Jeff’s conferences and why YOU might want to go to one of them -

1. 140conf consisted of 69 (most of them panels) sessions! We spoke about the “State of NOW” with regards to newspapers, publishing, celebrities, trust, moms, music, geeks, scientists, non-profits …you name it! Which means I had conversations with people around all of these topics and more. I connected with people because of one single passion that I have buried deep inside somewhere…. which made for magic!

2. 140conf had sessions that were no more than 10-15 minutes each. Which means, you NEVER get bored and if the sessions are as great as they were – you are left wanting more. The energy of the people there was incredible – the panels, speakers and the audience keep each other alive, engaged and even loud and amused consistently.

3. Jeff’s ability to stick to the schedule is admirable. The schedule was packed into 2 long days and Jeff did an great job keeping it on track. And that made ALL the difference!

4. Jeff’s conferences consist of forward thinkers, geeks playing with technology, freaks experimenting with learning and leading disruptive changes in their domains. And they come together to share exactly that.

5. Jeff awards scholarships generously for his conferences. He seems to understand that not everyone who can add value and variety to his conferences can afford them. So, if you think you can add to one of his conferences in any way, don’t be shy about approaching him for a scholarship when he announces them.

5.And then, there was @AnnCurry who was part of a once in a life time experience.

Congratulations to Jeff on a truly phenomenal conference!

I have never been on the publishing side of things – and have always been vary of meeting with people who are in the industry. However, soon after I started Memetales, I began to realize that I have become one of the people trying to evolve the publishing industry. I have never been to a publishing conference, but at 140conf, I met a few people with backgrounds in the publishing industry and respected in their space very curious about Memetales. Their feedback was very encouraging. Their pointers will be very useful. AND they GOT what I was talking about. It was all pretty cool. VERY cool!

With all the social media tools available, it is really hard to connect with *thinkers* on a regular basis – something incredibly essential for an entrepreneur. At 140Conf, I had so many wonderful conversations about Memetales – I know that they will collectively shape the future direction for Memetales.

Thanks Jeff. Looking forward to 140conf in LA!

Video of my panel at 140conf -

Video of Jeff talking about 140conf (with regards to the upcoming LA conf)-

You can catch the other sessions here

At SocComm1, for the first time ever in my life, I realized how powerful experiencing a conference can be. SocComm really catapulted me into my entrepreneurship and use of twitter to build my community, my passions and a learning space. Just one day of intense talks, thinking and connections left lasting lessons on me – here and here.

Jeff Pulver is doing it again. He has a super conference called The 140 Character Conference, where he is bringing together the best of folk and having them talk around the most interesting of topics – all centered around twitter. For as real and intense twitter can be, I can only fathom how intense, immense and powerful this conference can be for someone as steeped into twitter as I am.

Of course, the conference is in New York and unaffordable for me. So here I am, applying for a scholarship for the #140conf. Wish me luck, and if you think I so deserve, so not forget to put a tweet out in my favor -

@jeffpulver I recommend @thinkmaya for #140conf because ……

And if you can make it to the conference, PLEASE go. Jeff Pulver knows how to do conferences.

And yes, I have a feeling I will see you there. I hope!

HERE GOES -

My relationship with twitter:

It is now 6 months since I started working on my own startup – Memetales – a children’s picture book bazaar. From the very first day, through the power of twitter, I have built a passionate community of writers and illustrators eagerly collaborating around children’s picture books. Thus began my intense fascination with twitter. While it seems like a numbers game from the outside, twitter has made is possible for me to create a community with passion and engagement. With the help of twitter, the everyday learning and real time feedback from the community, my startup has evolved from a simple book bazaar into a potential web 2.0 publishing platform for content centric experiences, marketing and learning. As I see the stories in the publishing space emerge on a daily basis, I learn, respond and plan for the new emerging space and work on how I want my company to evolve the space. Twitter is paving the way for disruptive technologies and ideas in the publishing space and it is incredibly fascinating and enriching to be a part of this journey.

Why would I like to be at 140conf?

Learning is perhaps the single most important thing for me in my life. I learn a LOT through twitter. But having been at SocCom1 and experiencing the power of real time learning and real time connecting, packed up into a short time, around intense and sensitive subjects, to me, is an intellectual experience with few parallels. 140conf has evolved into an amazing two days including a number of spaces I play in (news, book publishing, social good, user experiences, moms, digital, PR). Participating in this conference is not only key for me as an entrepreneur but also as a volunteer educator of Social Media at local colleges and as the Director of Education(volunteer) of the Social Media Club, Seattle and as Board Member of MomItForward (#gno on twitter). Being a parent of two little children, time is precious. Working on startup by myself, while putting in years of my own hard earned money makes money incredibly precious. While I would like to be at this conference VERY much, the registration+flight+stay+nanny makes 140conf completely unaffordable. A scholarship, which I would appreciate immensely, would really put the conference in my reach.

Why would you want me at SocComm?

For my passion. As simple as that I think. My passion and my ability to learn and share. Real lessons and real discoveries. I do think I have (from my years spent at getting 2 masters – tech and business) the ability to pick up things super fast and apply them to various fields at various points on the time scale. Twitter has been immensely valuable in my own venture  – I will be able to communicate and share my experiences and examine changes and the WHYs.  I am not shy about participating and am most energized by an intellectual conversation. And yes, I am willing to volunteer and help with anything you might need with respect to the conference as well – such as live stream the event, live blog it etc.

SO once again, if you are on twitter, here is something you can do for me -

@jeffpulver I recommend @thinkmaya for #140conf because ……

Thanks a LOT!