Matthew Snodgrass from ADM and Lippe Taylor interviews both Tim Bourquin of TNC New Media and Rick Calvert of Blog World Expo about the sale of Tim’s New Media Expo to Rick’s Blog World Expo. Separately, the two conventions were delivering a wide array of content and attendees. As the scope of the two shows started to overlap, Tim and Rick realized that the community would be better served by a single – and greater – convention. You can find out more about the combined show at http://www.blogworldexpo.com. We also get Tim and Rick’s thoughts on social media today and the use of it by corporations.

Tim Bourquin is Founder and CEO of TNC New Media, Inc., an online media company that has developed, launched and grown several advertising-supported podcasting sites.  Under Tim’s leadership, TNC New Media has also used podcasting and other forms of new media as a promotional tool for everything from corporate events and tradeshows to product launches.  In 2005, Tim launched the Podcast and New Media Expo, a convention and conference for podcasters and online video creators.  The event, was recently sold to BlogWorld Expo, is held annually and attracts thousands of podcasters who attend to learn how to create compelling shows and grow their audience.

Rick Calvert is the CEO and Co-Founder of BlogWorld & New Media Expo. He has been active the trade show industry since 1998 working on three Tradeshow Week 200 events including the SEMA Show (#4), AWFS®Vegas (#39) and the DEMA Show #(97), as well as one of the nation’s largest consumer shows, Comicon. He has been a voracious new media consumer since 2000, launched his own blog in 2005 and formed BlogWorld & New Media Expo in 2007.

For more information, check out these posts at Blog World Expo:
BlogWorld & New Media Expo Now One Super Huge Event!
BlogWorld Expo Acquires New Media Expo
 

…do everything I can to make the adoption of “new media” as easy for everyone as possible. We “early adopters” can’t forget that most folks are still digesting the internet as a whole, much less all it has to offer. There is so much more going on than Google, iTunes, and text messaging.

…remember there is a difference between sending a message and conversing. Spend more time talking face to face or on the phone with people. Text, e-mail, etc. are great for quick thoughts but can never replace the emotion of a great conversation.

…work to improve the quality and the content in my writing. I write more now than I have in years and I want my blog posts to be more than articles. I want them to inform, inspire, and entertain all at the same time. (Okay, this one is going to take a lot of work.)

…work to improve the quality of the audio online. I was listening to my son’s iPod the other day and realized that we’ve taught people to settle for audio quality that is, to put it politely, not so great. When we adopted the CD we sacrificed some depth to our audio, just as we did when we started using audio tape. Now that we are using the internet as our main source of music we have sacrificed even more or that sound quality. I heard a record the other day and I was blown away by the sound I had been missing. If you have some vinyl around you should do the same. (If you have no idea what a record is, please seek one out…maybe your attic?) I had become use to the sound of an mp3, probably downloaded a terrible bit rate. I will do whatever I can to hear more of what the musicians and performers worked so hard to put into their recordings.

…work to improve the quality of video online. The same challenge faces us with what we see online. With the advent of HDTV the bar has been raised even higher. What I see on my Smartphone should look just as good as what I see on cable.

…convince advertisers that the “new media” audience is of incredibly high quality and is worth more than a traditional media user. There are already scores of studies highlighting the incredibly high recall rates for online advertising (even higher with a mix of media), we need to get the advertisers to respect that and think beyond “cost per thousand.”

…enjoy more time outside the ether so that I can bring more reality into it. Pull myself out of the screen, away from the keyboard, and off the cell phone. I need to go outside and take a walk whenever I can. In fact, there’s a new layer of snow and a crisp morning waiting for me right now…

Happy New Year!

This post can also be seen at RemainComm.com