Meet the Speakers: BlogPaws Videos

Video is a major influence in online communication, marketing, and sharing. The popularity of cute cat videos, fun dog videos, and a variety of animals doing what they do best – make us laugh – has created a TV-like experience to being online.

It’s not merely because we’re animal enthusiasts and/or devoted pet parents that we at BlogPaws love video so much. Video is more of a personal touch, whether the video is a 2-minute clip you saw on someone’s blog, or one you made for your own blog. To watch and share video is just one of the ways we, as human beings, touch each other’s souls.

Of course, video is also important in education. At BlogPaws, a major goal of ours is to teach. We want our bloggers to look to us for education in all areas of social media, including branding, photography, writing, blog platforms and plugins, keeping up with technology, SEO – or, Search Engine Optimization-, publishing beyond your blog, and even working with brands on programs. We don’t have all the answers internally, so we are always looking for speakers and presenters who bring years of training and experience, to both engage with our attendees at our national yearly conference, and to guide us on how to keep our bloggers abreast of the latest changes in the world of professional blogging.

This year is no different.

Meet the Speakers: BlogPaws Videos is my way of sharing in a simple blog post some of what I learned when I interviewed a number of the speakers coming to present this year. The embed links shared here are but a small part of the overall conference. I invite you to visit the BlogPaws  YouTube channel and watch ALL of the videos.

One particular interview, with Dr. Marty Becker, kept me laughing throughout. I have yet to meet Dr. Becker in person, so not only was I excited about this video interview, I was excited that Dr. Becker complimented us, and shared some insight into fearless veterinary work. I hope you’ll watch it and comment.

I also spoke with Adam Greenbaum, who lives here in Colorado. He’s a dynamic, fun-loving Coloradan who takes his work in the pet industry very seriously. We talked about his session on analytics. I promise that you will learn a lot from Adam. And, you’ll do some laughing, too. (I’m a firm believer that when you’re learning, laughter and joy make it both easier and more memorable.) BTW, Adam has two Boston Terriers…and one is brown, like my Little Olive.

Some of the best videos were with my own team. You’ll hear me shout out about my team a good bit. I’ve heard rumblings from the peanut gallery that some of the speakers we’ve chosen ‘aren’t good enough’ because of one reason or another. Sometimes the reason is that they haven’t been a professional blogger all that long. Sometimes the reason is that the person asking the question hasn’t actually looked at the background of the team member who is presenting. Sometimes the reason is … not worth sharing. Yes, occasionally, even pet people are unreasonable.

Here’s the truth – as the person most responsible for bringing on speakers, I review dozens (close to a hundred) of proposals. I weight the content offered with the background of the person submitting. I look at previous conferences to determine what worked and what didn’t. I look at what we need to accomplish to further the goal of responsible, professional journalism via blogging. And, I look at the success of each speaker. What does success look like to them?

There are other boxes to click, but this post isn’t about the process of choosing. It’s about sharing the speakers who offered, who responded with the right information, and who stood up to say, “I’m in!” understanding that the BlogPaws conference is a break-even event. We don’t pay anyone to show up. We donate to shelters and rescues. We support bloggers that put forth time, energy and $$$ to come. We want the speakers to learn more about us, and give our attendees a chance to learn more about them.

Within that goal, many of my team brought me professional, insightful and successful proposals. I chose them to speak for those reasons. And, yes, there is a bit of pride at work. Pride that BlogPaws has attracted these talented people to be part of our team.

I recommend these team interviews: Bernard Lima-Chavez and Amanda Yantos (Bernard is a Campaign Manager at BlogPaws, Amanda is a 2016 Ambassador), Aimee Beltran, our Director of Community Education, and Carol Bryant and Maggie Marton, two of the biggest voices in the pet community today. Learn more about them at our Team page, also. But, watch their interviews, please.

Up first, Bernard and Amanda.

And, Aime Beltran.

Last, but never least, Carol and Maggie.

The list of speakers for BlogPaws 2016 is far bigger than I can share in one blog post. Of especial interest may be the one I did with Steve Dale and Bill Schroeder, about their SEO Workshop. You want to hop over and watch that one for sure.

I advise you to jot down the sessions you absolutely have to be at, and share with a friend. When you take notes, remember you may be sharing them with a lot of other folks, so ask a few friends what they would like to learn, and keep their questions in mind.

I’m so proud of the agenda this year. I’m so proud of the hard work the sales team put in, directed by Chloe and supported by the talented Felissa Elfenbein to bring the fantastic sponsors you’ll see in the exhibit hall. I’m ready to enjoy the weekend of learning, networking, and fun, with new friends and old.

See you there!

Yvonne DiVita is a Co-Founder of BlogPaws. She is dedicated to storytelling and the human-animal bond. When not working on BlogPaws, she writes at Scratchings and Sniffings and The Lipsticking Society. You may contact her at Yvonne@blogpaws.com.