Social Media Breakfast Minneapolis St. Paul

Julio Ojeda-Zapata of the St. Paul Pioneer Press asked the Social Media Breakfast (better known as SMBMSP) crowd for feedback on why we love SMB. Here was my response (with some links thrown in for good measure): As you know, I am a librarian at Hennepin County Library. I don’t have a professional development budget (nor does the library), and I usually scrape enough money from my personal coffers to attend the American Library Association conference once a year. That said, library conferences are not always focused on emerging technology, and there aren’t many library events that attract the likes of the Minnov8 gang, Tim Brunelle, Scott Pete, Mykl Roventine, Connie Bensen, or Thomas Knoll.  SMBMSP has given me a free outlet to access information that enhances my career and the larger library world. I have now spoken about social media at a national conference (Public Library Association Spring Symposium), three local non-profit sessions, and MinneWebCon based in large part on what I have learned at Social Media Breakfast (through presentations and discussions). My personal network has blossomed, and in the past year I have spent dinner parties, karaoke nights, knitting afternoons, even New Year’s Eve, my birthday, and the Fourth of July celebrating with friends who I met through SMBMSP. I had no idea when I attended the third SMBMSP at Concordia how life changing that event would be. In fact, I have a personal brand, a website, a new blog, a professional headshot, 2,000+ followers on twitter, and a full rolodex.