We are asking for your feedback again today as we are diving right into planning for the next TWTRCON event.  Below we will outline some of the key take-aways we got from the attendee survey that attendees filled out onsite, along with some feedback we have heard in conversations we’ve had with TWTRCON SF 09 participants .

Whether you attended TWTRCON SF 09 in person, participated online, or just found out about the event, we would love to hear any comments, ideas and suggestions that would help us in the planning process. Program ideas? Speaker suggestions? Venues? More snacks? Let us know if you agree or disagree with the comments below, and add in anything we missed!

Summary of the feedback we’ve heard so far — we are numbering the list so you can reference a specific point in your comments:

1. Overall, people felt TWTRCON was an amazing experience. One attendee used the word “electric” in describing the energy in the room.  The value of the conference overall was rated a 4.2 (out of 5) by attendees who completed the feedback form onsite.
2. Most of the panel sessions and keynotes received very high marks, too. The highest rankings went to the sessions that featured speakers who are actually managing Twitter business strategies for their company:  Marketing at the Speed of Twitter and Tweeting for Dollars were favorites, along with–of course–the MC Hammer / Stefanie Michaels session on Your Brand is a Person.
3. For the most part, people liked the fast pacing of the event, and enjoyed the fact that it was very interactive.  A couple of you mentioned that you’d prefer a longer event, but most people want to keep to one day.
4. Some of you commented that you’d like to see more in-depth case studies, with more of a focus on how-to content and step-by-step visual examples of how various brands ran specific Twitter campaigns.
5. For the most part, people liked the mix of business case studies, keynotes and a sprinkling of celebrities and “twitterati” (though a few suggested Kara bring a bar of soap the next time she moderates a panel with Dave McClure).  The last panel with Jeremiah Owyang, Paul Saffo and Dave McClure was very highly rated, but several people pointed out that it is too easy for the tech experts to “hijack” the conversation with buzz words and lose focus on the business value.
6. Quite a few people commented they would like to see the addition of case studies across a variety of industries, mixing B2B and B2C, different vertical segments, small/medium/large businesses, education, non-profits, media, services, health care and government case studies.
7. A LOT of people said they would like more advice on Twitter ROI, analytics and metrics. While recognizing that it is still very early for there to be real answers in this area, we will definitely look for ideas on how to incorporate good information we can find about this.
8. Quite a few people mentioned that they’d like to see more involvement from Twitter management.
9. A couple of attendees said the conversation was too technical. A couple said it was too introductory. Does that mean that for most of you, it was just right?
10. Many people commented that the conference was very well organized.  That’s great to hear!
11. TWTR Pitches:  people liked the concept for this, but it didn’t work too well in practice.  The “pitches” would have been more valuable if the speakers had a little more time to explain features and use visuals.
12. Lunch networking sessions: some people loved them, others didn’t. We’re open to ideas on how to make these work better as a way of connecting attendees who have shared interests.
13. Location: New York had the highest number of votes as a location for the next TWTRCON, followed by a tie between Austin, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. We also had suggestions for non-US TWTRCON’s in Germany, South America, London and Paris.  (Yikes! This will be a tough decision!)

What are your thoughts? What did we miss? Please let us know, and thank you to everyone who helped make the first TWTRCON such a great success!

TWTRCON SF 09 will sell out this week.  Once our Standby applicants are registered, there are only 20 seats still available. We kept these open because we had heard from certain people that they plan to come, and we are sending them a note today to let them know that they need to register or risk losing their seat.  If you want one of those seats, go ahead and register now!

Most TWTRCON attendees have given us permission to share their name, title and company on our web site, and we are posting that partial TWTRCON SF 09 attendee list today. As you’ll see, it’s an incredible mix of marketing and business executives, VC’s, developers and social media strategists.  We had hoped to include everyone’s Twitter user name, but are having trouble getting that database out of the reg system in a usable format.  If you’d like to get in touch with each other before the event, join the TWTRCON community.  And bring lots of business cards!

Don’t forget to RSVP for the Saturday evening pre-party with Operation Smile.   Set your alarm early on Sunday to come to our 8 am pre-conference with Laura Fitton.  You’ll learn a lot.   And, whether you’re participating in person or via #TWTRCON, make sure you have lots of questions ready for our speakers.  We’ll be taking questions from both live attendees and online attendees.

See you at TWTRCON!

1. The TWTR Pitch sessions:   we want to give start ups, application developers — and anyone with something to say — a chance to tell TWTRCON attendees what they’re working on.  There will be about 2 sessions with 3 TWTR Pitch panelists each (the exact number may still change based on last-minute program changes).  Each TWTR Pitch panelist will get 140 seconds to pitch, then there will be about 10 minutes where the audience gets to ask questions.  Got something to say?  Apply here.  Attendees will get to chose the panelists onsite!  (Kind of like American Twitter Idol.)  Tip:  Don’t over-think it – just have fun with it. We all wish we were cool start ups, too!

2. Lunch Networking sessions:  is there a particular Twitter business application or platform issue in which you’re interested?  Start a roundtable topic and invite other people interested in the same topic to sit at your table!  We’ll have a white board where you can suggest a topic or see what topics have already been created, you can start a new topic or simply join one that someone else has already picked.

All of our user-generated content sessions are hosted by David Berlind from TechWeb. A huge thank you to David and the TechWeb team; they’ll be running the voting for the TWTR Pitch sessions and helping to organize the lunch networking sessions!

We also plan to leave lots of time for questions all throughout the day, and we hope to take questions from both our in-person attendees and from tweeps who are participating via Twitter.   So, whether you’ll be there in person or following #TWTRCON online, take a look at the agenda and start thinking about what questions you’ll want to ask!

We are thrilled to report that thinktank, a market research consultancy specializing in the digital consumer, will be conducting a landmark survey around online users and twitter–and delivering topline results from the survey at TWTRCON!

The survey will highlight general online and social networking usage, in addition to in-depth insights into how consumers are using Twitter and recommendations about how organizations can successfully leverage the platform.

Initial findings from the survey will be released at the conference and available for free to all TWTRCON attendees.  A full report will be available for $995 with an in-person presentation.  A discounted rate of $495 will be available for TWTRCON attendees.  (UPDATED on 5/21)  If you’re thinking of registering, make sure to do so soon before we fill up!

We’ll also be tweeting out some highlights, so keep following @TWTRCON to see those online.

UPDATE 5/21:  In addition to the thinktank research highlights, we are also thrilled to welcome Aleksander Soender, who is travelling in from Roskilde University in Denmark, and who will be sharing toplines from his Twitter research with TWTRCON attendees, too.  You can preview his survey here: http://aleqz.com/.

In their applications, these TWTRCON attendees expressed an incredible passion for social media and, in many cases, a sense that they would be able to change the world through the power of Twitter. We are honored to have this group join the conference.

We were not able to accept everyone who applied today.  We are starting to get closer to our limit of 200 tickets, and there are still some speakers, sponsors and other attendees who have not yet registered, so we are trying to figure out how many seats we may still have left once we get that group signed up.

If we did not accept you today, or if you just found out about TWTRCON or our Go Standby program, you can still participate.

If you want to make sure that you have a seat, and you are able to afford the regular registration fee, register today.

If you would like to Go Standby, we are extending that program and will continue to accept applications until we have filled all our seats.  If room is available, we will issue another set of tickets a week from today, on Tuesday 5/26.

Let us know if you have any questions or if there’s anything we can do to make this process work even better!

Jeremiah Ketner

Jeremiah Ketner  (@smallandround | smallandround.com) is a Chicago based artist whose Japanese pop art influenced imagery portrays the casual and carefree side of life.  His work has been exhibited all over the nation, including currently in Seattle and Atlanta.    He paints charming little creatures floating through pastel dreamscapes.  We think they probably tweet, but you’ll have to ask Jeremiah at our after party.

Jonathan Nafarrete

Jonathan Nafarrete (@Jonathan360 | jonathannafarrete.com)  is an emerging photographer and social media activist based out of Long Beach, California. He specializes in fashion, reportage, and portrait photography. When he is not staring at Twitter all day, he enjoys just capturing the world around him one frame at a time.

Please  join us for a glass of wine, some fabulous art, and some interesting conversations at the TWTRCON after party. (Open to registered participants only — please register here.)

• We only have room for 200 attendees. On Monday 5/18 — one week from now — we are going to start accepting attendees from our Go Standby program.   If you want to make sure you can get in, or if you want to make sure you’re on the Go Standby list, then register now.

• You don’t want to miss the fun and the networking:  your TWTRCON pass gets you into the 140 Smiles launch pre-party, and it gets you into the after-party, featuring Art@TWTRCON. That’s two parties, plus breakfast, lunch and networking breaks.  You won’t be hungry or thirsty, and you’ll meet lots of really interesting people.

• Have you checked out our amazing speakers? We have Silicon Valley leaders to help separate fact from fiction. We’ve got speakers who have pioneered the use of Twitter for their companies.  And we’ll have speakers who are start ups and entrepreneurs through our TWTR Pitch program. And we have MC Hammer. And hopefully we’ll have you: the program will be really interactive & we want you to ask questions and participate!

• You’ll be really Twitter smart, especially if you can get up early and come to Laura Fitton’s free Twitter for Business 101 pre-conference keynote.  That’s included in your ticket, too!

• Get some hands-on experience and tangible take-aways:  Operation Smile is launching a new fundraising campaign at TWTRCON SF 09.  You’ll be able to participate in and experience a TWTRCON-based campaign first-hand.  And every TWTRCON attendee will receive a white paper detailing the campaign that we will write up and send out to you after it’s completed!

• We’ve got API.  We’re developing Twitter applications as we go, including the TWTRCON Community and several other apps in conjunction with Operation Smile and other sponsors.   You’ll be able to see these applications in action at TWTRCON, and in the weeks and days leading up to the event.  We plan to share our experience with participants afterward. We also want to check out your applications, so please join the community and share.

The Twitter for Business Conference Packs Business, Developers, Non Profits, Culture and Networking Into One-Day Event (+ Pre-Party) on May 30 – 31 in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, May 8 /PRNewswire/ — TWTRCON SF 09, the first conference entirely focused on the use of Twitter in business, today announced a series of additions to a conference program. The new program elements include a Twitter for Business 101 pre-conference keynote by social media business expert Laura Fitton; an audience conversation with Twitter’s Anamitra Banerji; a series of TWTR Pitches designed to showcase startups and innovative Twitter-based applications; a live case study of a Twitter-based marketing campaign in which the audience can participate; and Art@TWTRCON, an exhibit of Twitter culture curated by Natasha Wescoat.

“The Twitter community is incredibly rich and diverse, and that’s what makes Twitter such an exciting and powerful platform for business,” explained Modern Media founder Tonia Ries, who is co-hosting the conference with author Gina Smith. “Business people who want to tap into this community need to understand this diversity and we are thrilled that so many parts of the community will be represented at TWTRCON: developers, artists, non-profits, investors, academics, marketing and PR professionals, the media and Twitter itself will all be participating in the event.”

Newly announced additions to the TWTRCON SF 09 program include:

• Twitter for Business 101 Pre-Conference Keynote by Laura Fitton, Founder, Pistachio Consulting and Co-Author, Twitter for Dummies. This tops-down session, designed for attendees who are new to the Twitter platform or looking to sharpen their skills, will answer basic questions about how to use Twitter for business.

• A Conversation with Twitter, Anamitra Banerji, Product Management, Twitter. Twitter is currently researching business uses and how organizations are using Twitter to create value. Anamitra will share insights into the process and solicit feedback from TWTRCON attendees.

• Open Mike TWTR Pitch sessions and TWTR Alley demo area. Startups, entrepreneurs, developers and anyone with a big Twitter idea will have a chance to apply for one of a limited number of opportunities to deliver a 140-second pitch. TWTRCON attendees will vote from the submitted applications at the event. Details and an application for a TWTR Pitch session can be found at http://twtrcon.com/2009/05/06/the-twtr-pitch/. Additionally, TWTRCON will also feature a sponsored demo area called TWTR Alley; a new TWTR Alley Total Bootstrap Edition sponsorship creates a very affordable opportunity for start-ups to participate. For details about sponsorship opportunities, contact Carolyn Carson at carolyn@modernmediapartners.com.

• A live Twitter campaign case study: 140 Smiles (in 140 Characters) from Operation Smile. Operation Smile will launch a new fundraising campaign, 140 Smiles (in 140 Characters), at TWTRCON, creating a live case study in which attendees can participate. The mission of the 140 Smiles campaign is to raise donations to fund reconstructive facial surgeries to repair childhood facial deformities for 140 children. The campaign will kick off at a 140 Smiles pre-TWTRCON launch party, co-hosted by Adventure Girl Stefanie Michaels, on Saturday, May 30, the night before the conference. (Details at 140smiles.org.)

• Art@TWTRCON, Curated by artist Natasha Wescoat. The TWTRCON after-party will showcase several artists who have successfully used Twitter to find an audience.

To register for TWTRCON SF 09 go to http://twtrcon.com. For sponsorship information, contact Anne Weiskopf at anne@modernmediapartners.com. TWTRCON SF 09 is being produced by Modern Media, in partnership with First30 Services and Technologizer.

About Modern Media
Modern Media (http://www.modernmediapartners.com/) builds, produces, markets and sells business conferences and media brands for both established business media companies and for media entrepreneurs and bloggers. Modern Media is also the producer of the Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup (http://mashup.ypulse.com/), which is taking place adjacent to TWTRCON SF 09 on 6/1 and 6/2 at the Hotel Nikko, San Francisco.

About First30 Services
Founded by veteran VC Mike Edelhart, First30 Services (http://first30services.com) builds companies. It partners with angel investors, VCs, founders and corporations to help entrepreneurs-evaluating new ideas for practicality, uniqueness, protectability and scope, and assessing people and operations to ensure the right skills, attitudes and processes are in place to build a solid foundation for growth. First30 Services has expertise in fundraising, management consulting and web design, working with member companies to ensure a smooth transition from start-up to long-term teams and processes.

About Technologizer
Technologizer (http://technologizer.com/) delivers Harry McCracken’s authoritative, opinionated, hands-on advice on the whole world of personal technology, from the Web to digital entertainment to PCs and Macs. The former editor-in-chief of PC World, McCracken was named to the Folio:40 list of media industry movers and shakers and won the Jesse H. Neal award in 2008 for his editorials.

Contact:
Mary Zagrobelny
Modern Media
mary@modernmediapartners.com

Twitter-centric Campaign to Raise Funds for Children’s Reconstructive Facial Surgery in a Live Case Study for TWTRCON SF 09 Participants

SAN FRANCISCO, May 7 /PRNewswire/ — TWTRCON SF 09, the first conference focused on the use of Twitter in business, today announced that Operation Smile would be launching a groundbreaking new fundraising campaign, 140 Smiles (in 140 Characters) at the conference, creating a live case study in which TWTRCON attendees can participate. The mission of the 140 Smiles campaign will be to raise donations to help fund 140 reconstructive surgeries to repair childhood facial deformities, including cleft lips and cleft palates. The campaign will kick off at a launch party on Saturday, May 30, the night before the conference, which will be co-hosted by Adventure Girl Stefanie Michaels, and will continue to build momentum during the TWTRCON SF 09 program, creating a live case study of a twitter-centric marketing initiative.

“We are thrilled that Operation Smile has chosen to launch 140 Smiles at TWTRCON SF 09,” said Tonia Ries, co-host of TWTRCON SF 09. “It’s an opportunity for us to support an initiative that will help deliver a life-altering benefit to 140 children, while also providing a live case study to TWTRCON attendees of the power of Twitter to mobilize support for a cause.”

The launch party will be co-hosted by Operation Smile, TWTRCON and media entrepreneur, travel expert and Top 100 Twitterer Stefanie Michaels (@AdventureGirl). The campaign, which will be hosted at www.140smiles.org, is being created by Common Knowledge, in partnership with Modern Media. The 140 Smiles launch party, which will be streamed live by Twooting.com, will be held May 30 from 7-9pm at Le Colonial San Francisco. Registration for TWTRCON includes an invitation to the 140 Smiles launch party.

“Operation Smile is so excited to be partnering with TWTRCON and other industry leaders on this landmark campaign,” said Renee Hamilton, Operation Smile’s Social Media Strategist. “We know the Twitter community is a generous, dynamic, and diverse group of people who can make a difference in the lives of children. This is a great opportunity to deliver our message through the power and reach of Twitter and we look forward to helping to change 140 lives, 140 characters at a time!”

To attend the 140 Smiles pre-TWTRCON launch party and find out more about the 140 Smiles campaign visit www.140smiles.org, and follow the campaign on Twitter at @operationsmile. Register for TWTRCON SF 09 at http://twtrcon.com. TWTRCON SF 09 is produced by Modern Media, in partnership with First30 Services and Technologizer.

About Modern Media

Modern Media (http://www.modernmediapartners.com) builds, produces, markets and sells business conferences and media brands for both established business media companies and for media entrepreneurs and bloggers. Modern Media is also the producer of the Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup (http://mashup.ypulse.com/), which is taking place adjacent to TWTRCON SF 09 on 6/1 and 6/2 at the Hotel Nikko, San Francisco.

About Operation Smile (www.operationsmile.org)

Operation Smile mobilizes a world of generous hearts to heal children’s smiles and transform lives across the globe. Founded in 1982, Operation Smile, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is a worldwide organization that helps children born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities and the organization has a presence in 51 countries. In addition to contributing free medical treatment, Operation Smile trains local medical professionals in its partner countries and leaves behind crucial equipment to lay the groundwork for long-term self-sufficiency.

Contact:
Mary Zagrobelny
914-834-4214
mary@modernmediapartners.com

Participate in the TWTRPitch Open Mic competition and you may win one of 6 opportunities to deliver a 140-second version of your story onstage at TWTRCON, followed by time for the audience to ask questions.  Whether you’re a developer, agency or simply have a great idea, this is a chance for you to show your chops in front of serious prospects, investors, social media industry leaders and reporters.

Make your entry as good as you can:  we will publish them online as they come in.  At the event, TWTRCON attendees will get a chance to vote on who they want to see onstage.

Here’s how it works:

1. It’s open to anyone who is registered to attend TWTRCON.
2. To enter, just fill out this simple form.
3. We’ll publish entries as they come in on a special page on this site.
4. The TWTRCON audience will get to pick the winners by voting on site the day of the event:   we’ll have ballots for them to review the entries, and a table where we’ll keep score.
5. The TWTRPitch sessions will be hosted by David Berlind from InformationWeek, and the InformationWeek Business Technology team will help manage the voting process.
6. Winners will be invited on stage in groups of three during TWTRPitch sessions.
7. Each winner will get 140 seconds to pitch live, followed by 10 minutes of audience Q & A.

Questions? Let us know.

Also want a chance to demo? Ask about our sponsorship opportunities or participating in the TWTR Alley sponsor area.  We even have a new Total Bootstrap Edition sponsorship level. For details, email Carolyn Carson.