Just wanted to blog quickly about some of the more interesting things that happened at #SMB12. First off, the abundance of coffee was fantastic, as was the free parking. I got to listen to some cool peeps and learned a lot. Plus it's always great to put faces to tweets...lets be honest.
First Speaker, David McLaughlin was from Thinking Boston. The most interesting talk of the day, IMO. The Thinking Boston community is an attempt to get all the Boston students, residents, and Boston Ex-Patriots connected and talking. The coolest point about his talk was @CappyPoppy's take on it: "Every West coast start up knows about each other and helps each other out...out in Boston you have a few biggies and then you just don't know much about the start up community developments in unless you are really plugged in." So true. I've been on the ground three weeks in Boston. I was promptly called out on this by @Ariherzog for using this line about 10 million times this morning in my elevator pitch... and I really still don't have a grasp of the true lay of the land. I'm not quite sure where I will land.... as of right now I'm guessing at a start up. Although, if I joined an agency I think @LenKendall would have a heart attack so this could potentially be hilarious.
The second speaker was Peter Levine from Tufts University who talked about his new start up, YouthMap. My initial thought was that this would be the perfect match for @EveryBlock. Aggregate data plus connecting software? Seems like a marketer's dream to me. Granted the software for both are not intended for such types of market research. With a few tweaks, a really cool system could develop from both of them. It is will be interesting to see the progress of YouthMap and see what @EveryBlock does.
Justin Levine was the keynote. He pretty much nailed all his points and reaffirmed a lot of what I was thinking was important. Passion in Niche=Success. Preaching to the choir on that one Justin 
Two cool things I should mention. @MDurwin has a great idea with a lot of potential for revenue streams. I'm excited to see how it goes and whether or not he can get the semantics, coding and practice of the web app to his blue print. If he does...it's a potential game changer.
Another great conversation was with @JakeCacci. GoSwoop has an interesting demographic target: international students. How do they make their money? From colleges seeking diversity. Pretty much a win- win and a potential marketing gold mine, dependent on where he goes with the service. Plus it serves a need AND a good cause. Not bad .
Oh...and now I have to go to the Forrester Tweet up @ Redline in Harvard Square. I should probably go Google Maps that. See you there if you are going. Remember, I'm the one talking the loudest about some marketing nerdiness...or at least trying to talk the loudest .
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tagged as Advertising, Agency, GoSwoop, Justin Levine, networking, Personal Branding, SMB12, Social Media Breakfast, Tweetup
