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I can’t say enough good things about The Spoke Club, at 600 King Street West in Toronto (416) 368-8448. The layout is excellent, the prices are affordable and the staff is exceptional. They’re super accommodating. These people really try to help their members get the most out of their memberships.  I’ve been impressed with this organization every single time I visit.

Deb Lewis of Toronto City Events also deserves the strongest accolades in preparing and executing another flawless event. The Smojoe Social Media Workshop at the Spoke Club went off without a hitch on Tuesday March 31st 2009. Over twenty people attended the two hour workshop where I spoke nonstop about basic, and advanced social media marketing from the blog up.

Because I maintain that blogging is only 1/3 of the job, I focused my presentation on blog widgets and community building exercises, and used a power point presentation in combination with a printed and professionally bound 36 page Smojoe social media manual to hammer home some fundamental concepts. The search for experts drives the internet, and keywords unlock the door to SERP traffic - an hour later I was explaining to how to use blog friends, comments, discussion forums and articles to make yourself an expert, and how to write and create rich media for better keyword ranking.

Thanks to everyone who stuck around and joined us after the workshop. The round table discussions over a beer in the lounge of the Spoke Club are the most enjoyable aspects of the event (for me). That’s when I usually learn something, and Tuesday was no exception; thanks to Gary Puppa of Epixome who schooled me in the business of owing and operating a dot com start-up.

Noon Friday March 20th, 2009 Rob Campbell of Smojoe social media enjoyed a working lunch with the Petite Fashionista at her blog workshop at Eglington and Yonge, uptown Toronto.

Petite Fashion Blog Workshop

Speaking to a packed room, Christa Jean highlighted the finer points of blogging and emphasized interactive widgets, video components, and how to obtain helpful analytics to know and better target random readers. She made it personal by talking about her own experiences growing her blog, including her June 22, 2008 charity event where she raffled off dresses from a celebrity designer Hayden Panettiere for her Save The Whales campaign. That one event tripled Petite Fashionista’s traffic and online reputation as it pushed her Google page rank to PR5.

Here’s a shot of me enjoying a cucumber avocado on whole wheat sandwich. I was caught half puckered trying to appear surprised in a not-so-candid photo. It didn’t really work out.

Three bites later I set my sandwich down and snapped a lovely shot of Christa describing the process she uses to shoot, edit and post videos on YouTube.  She’s having lots of fun streaming videos and packing powerful messages into moving images. Check out her video gallery on her Petite Fashionista Ning community website.

Overall I was impressed with Petite Fashionista and her cozy little information exchange. The fun and friendly gathering is another reflection of her charisma and experience. In so many ways Christa is wise beyond her years; she’s an absolute expert at building online communities and growing a dedicated readership.  Some of her web tactics are downright brilliant. She impressed me with her ideas about joining small groups, and how important it is to find and build a core community of genuine friends that read and connect with each others’ blogs everyday.