TQNYC - a roaring success

[Morriss Partee]

There was a flurry of activity (and twittering) leading up to TQNYC, and the event did not disappoint.

Being at the Grand Hyatt was worth attending in itself. Never mind getting to meet a number of very sharp TwitterQueens in person.

Highlights of the adventure:
• Having tables reserved for the TwitterQueens on the 2nd floor of Latitudes night club.
• Sitting on the top of a double decker sightseeing tour bus on the way to the Apple plaza where the CBS Early Show was being filmed. (I forget what that plaza is really called, but I'm calling it the Apple plaza since the entrance to the store is there.)
• Positioning Lesley right in front of me in a gap between the kids choir being filmed on the morning show so those with HD TV could clearly see her TwitterQueens shirt
• Taking a picture of Maya and Diane with the CBS weather dude
• Michelle Lambert leading the group in some Gyrotonics to keep us alert after lunch - very enjoyable, and it worked! I felt wonderfully stretched out afterwards. Relaxed, yet awake too!
• @Repcor's presentation on Inbound Marketing - it was even better than I hoped it would be
• Learning and discussing social capital, social contracts, and social objects in Bill Lublin's Whuffie session.

I'm sure there is lots more that made this event special that I'm not remembering at the moment. I will share more, along with photos of the items mentioned above.

What was your highlight of TQNYC? What did you love about it, hate about it? What were you surprised to discover or learn? Your impressions? Favorite tweets?

Even if you weren't there, you can get some of the highlights by reading the TQNYC event tweets. Also TQNYC photos on Flickr!

[Bill Lublin]

Sonya; I am so pleased that I was able to exceed your expectations (and I'm glad that they were low enough to help me)
In the future, if you can keep your expectations low enough, I promise to always try to exceed them-
;-)
It was great meeting with you and the rest of the TwitterQueens present and share this inaugural event.

[Morriss Partee]

Hey Sonya! Great stuff! I agree with you on Bill's session... it was excellent, and Lesley did a magnificent job tweeting the highlights, so I RT'd some of hers as well.

On the NYC thing, glad you are finding it less scary. My mother never took me and my brothers there as a kid, so it's only as an adult I've come to learn it a bit. If you have your whole trip planned out ahead of time I bet that makes it more comfortable too. I recommend the Top of the Roc at the Rockefeller Plaza... magnificent views there. Also, I've been hearing about this awesome sounding rock-n-roll speedboat that takes you to the Statue of Liberty that Lesley did with her girls last year... I'm jealous and want to try it myself!

[Sonya J Mills]

Since I missed Friday night and the Saturday morning CBS trip, I can only comment on the last three. To which I offer: ditto!

I had no idea what to expect for Bill's session and admit my expectations were very low, especially since leading up to the event it was almost starting to seem like a real estate in social media event. Having said that, it would have been easy for Bill to surpass my expectations, but I really enjoyed his session! The interactive, please share your thoughts, nature of this conference was fabulous!

My favorite tweet: "listen, comment, engage...no matter what the medium: it works @billlublin #tqnyc" from @LesleyLambert I was getting ready to tweet the same but she's a much faster tweeter so I simply RT. It's just stupidly simple but so many don't understand...notice that the first word is listen, so important.

And as a side note from me personally: NYC is WAY less scary when it's not a weekend just before Christmas. My fear of crowds seems to be fading away and I'm eager to get back with my 14 year old daughter who keeps begging for a trip. We'll have to stop @ Ciao Bella on our way home for some more of that Hazelnut Biscotti gelato.

[Kelly Galanis]

Ok, you have twisted my arm...I will write a blog this weekend!

[Lisa Oden]

I'm with Kristen! Really wanted to go. However, posts like these are a great way to bring the experience to the rest of us! Thanks for writing. Can't wait to see more pics!

[Kristen Anclien Jones]

I am so jealous. I am glad you all had a great time and can't wait to join you one day!!!

[Lesley Lambert]

Kelly, we were thrilled to make you our VIP and had a blast with you in the city! I would love to read a blog from you, too!

[Morriss Partee]

Kelly- so wonderful that you won the TQ VIP treatment - I would LOVE to read a blog post by you about the whole experience, start to finish, from your point of view. Start with why you wanted to win, through your tweet process to win the VIP pass, through your trip into the city with Tom, to your experience in NYC of the event and everything surrounding it, to your thoughts and feelings on the way back and afterwards. Inquiring minds want to know!!

[Kelly Galanis]

The VIP win was a highlight for me, as I wanted to attend so badly! It was all I expected and so much more...these events always bring in some of the brightest and best, and everyone is so encouraged to share their knowledge...I doubt anyone ever leaves one of these events feeling anything but amazing!

Thank you to everyone who made it a success and a BIG CONGRATS! **HUGS**