Woodworking In America Embedded Reporter

The fine folks at Popular Woodworking have always been so approachable and friendly, but it is still a thrill when I get an email from one of the staff. I mean the editors are kinda like woodworking celebrities you know. So it was with great enthusiasm that I opened an email from Megan Fitzpatrick last week and began to read…

Very quickly I found my heart rate climbing and had to physically pick my jaw up off the floor. Popular Woodworking was asking me if I wanted to be the social media mouthpiece for the Woodworking In America 2011 conference! Was this a joke? Am I one of several hundred on a blind distribution list? Nope, this was addressed directly to me.

I quickly dashed off a reply email to Megan and the following morning I was on the phone with Megan and Christopher Schwarz bouncing ideas around for ways to promote the conference and ensure comprehensive coverage before, during, and after the show. For those of you who don’t already know, I spend my days working in Internet marketing and that experience combined with a need to share every little woodworking related thing that happens to me brought me to mind when the editors began thinking about finding someone to help them in the social media world.

Then phrases like “all access”, “interviews with presenters”, and “back end site access” were thrown around a bit. Something happened after that, but I don’t remember, I think I blacked out from excitement. Basically, Popular Woodworking wants someone to share the conference from an attendees eyes and this is when Christopher Schwarz threw out the term “embedded reporter”. Cool, all the perks of being on the ground with complete access without the Kevlar vest and assault rifle. (that would be cool actually, Megan can you arrange that?)

So here is the deal, I’m going to be talking a lot about Woodworking in America both here and on the Popular Woodworking blog in the coming months. I plan to step up the live coverage in a big way to help those of you who can’t make it to the show feel like you are there. Think about previous years and let me know what coverage you liked and what you wanted to see more of. Who should I put on the top of my list to interview and what questions would you have me ask? What do you want to know about the conference now? Consider me your man on the inside with no qualms about tearing back the curtain and showing you the little man at the controls.

So first things first. I know many of you are waiting with bated breath to hear about registration opening and the list of courses and speakers. The conference folks are working hard to get registration up and running by the first week of June and I have in my possession the complete list of courses and extra-curricular events. They are awesome and as usual the hardest part of WIA will be deciding how to budget your time so as not to miss anything. There is a nice blend of 2009’s Design conference mixed in with practical technique how to this year. The after hours events range from the esoteric to the raucous and the list of instructors will make you want to bring an autograph book.

So in typical showmanship fashion, my friends and I at Wood Talk Online will be “leaking” the class list on our next show. We expect the show to be out either late Wednesday or Thursday morning. This is one show you won’t want to miss.

By the way, did you know that Woodworking in American now has a Facebook page? Yeah that was my first official idea. Megan did all the work, but I can at least take credit for the idea right?? If you are on Facebook, go like us and stay up to date with news there and say hello. If you are not a Facebooker, then will all the extra time you have without that addiction you can check out this blog or the Popular Woodworking blog for the latest and greatest news.

In my business, we call social media “conversational marketing”. This means that I need your input to make this the best coverage yet. I have plenty of ideas, but if you let me go unchecked all you will hear about is obscure hand tool techniques and in depth rants about historical influences on tool manufacture and furniture styles.

You have been warned…