I had known about the event beforehand, and thought it seemed cool enough, but the reality was so much more impressive that I have now asked my two colleagues to come with me and attend the next one – from Kansas City in the US. This event has the potential to drum up that kind of interest, and the after-effects of having the video to point to, and blog posts about details of what people said, etc. all contribute to the marketing of Like Minds both in Exeter and elsewhere in the world.

All this to say, I think the live-streaming, live-blogging, tweets and pics all help create desire to be there in person. They contribute to those of us watching online feeling “left out” and wanting to do something to change that, not the opposite (oh, no need to go now.) That’s how I view it, at least, from my perspective WAY across the pond as I observed the event and people’s reactions that day.

There are certainly some ‘amateur’ moments visible but the content is interesting enough, and the network opportunities rich enough that I’m considering attending the next one. It will depend on the date set.

Did I feel hard done by when I learned the whole event was being streamed? Not at all. The connections I made during the breaks, after the event, on the train home and in the last week plus feeling ‘part of it all’ makes me certain that those watching the live stream only experienced part of the likeminds story.

Will I be going next time even though it could be live streamed again ? If I get as much out of it as I did this time, without a shadow of a doubt. I want the full story. These guys are doing a good job of tackling a huge and still uncertain topic in social media ROI and I’m keen to be part of that discussion. For me it’s a great investment in my business.

I agree that things like use of the Twitterfall could be sharpened up a little as it can be distracting for some, but for a first event of its kind, I think they pulled it off.

Great idea for a panel discussion about small business use of social media by the way. The more the audience can connect real life examples to their own businesses, the more likely they are to make sense of it.

In my view people who really wanted to engage with the likeminds event would come no matter what – I would question the ‘buy-in’ of anyone that feels watching an event online is anywhere near as valuable as being there in the flesh, talking to other likeminds and being a part of the day. Two great reasons for keeping the event streamed:

1). For my business as a sponsor (admittedly this is a slightly biased) it opened up the event to far more people that ever could have attended. This is important as it helped the buzz online and made it something bigger than just that room. I would go as far as to say that even companies that didn’t sponsor should see this as beneficial because again, they become part of something bigger than just the room – the experience.

2). Including me, we had 3 people from Optix at the event. I had interest in attending from at least 5 of our team and one of our guys was away at an important client meeting that day (which we couldn’t have re-arranged). Luckily for us the streaming allowed our guys back in the office to have the event playing on the plasma and keep up-to-date with what was being said so that when we all went back to the office and started talking about the day, they weren’t left out. I’m sure that we weren’t the only company in this position.

To conclude, I honestly believe that anyone who thinks they should save £25 for a ticket (and other costs) because they can watch it online is probably not the kind of person that would get the most from a ‘social’ event such as likeminds anyway….but thats just my opinion

Look forward to meeting you in Feb – maybe to discuss in more detail

As for ticket touts – hadn’t thought about it. Thanks for the heads up. Any suggestions on monitoring this?

I will certainly be at the next one and the quality of the content plus the value added benefits (networking, sharing, engaging) are considerably cheaper at £25 a pop than attending a similar event in London. It is also commendable you are keeping the rate the same. Many social media events in other locations would hike the price after the first one. Of course you will now have to monitor Ebay and the like for ticket touts…

As you say, the idea of streaming was to have the same kind of social thinking offline as we have online.

It’s easy to talk about open source, freemium, being altruistic, etc etc – but few organisations do this is offline. So for me, this was an important thing to do, and I stand by my decision.

And it worked. Yes, over 500 watched. Yes, people loved that we streamed it. But I’ve also had our very experienced keynote speakers, and other leaders in the industry, commend our actions of making online concepts into offline reality.

You are right that it raises questions about “why people should come” if they event is online – but then this, in my opinion, shows the lack of actual social thinking by so-called social media practitioners. Being at an event isn’t just the content, it *is* the experience, the people, the connections, the stretching of your thinking – and all accounts, Like Minds delivered.

So for £25 – which we are keeping the rate at and not profiteering off of the back of our success – I am again making a statement.

I’m not in this for profit. I’m in this to empower new thinking to do new things and cause change that helps people connect to other people – and that’s what will guide all our decisions.

Eager to get to a spot to engage your thoughtful post more fully.

Until then, may I throw out a couple of thoughts and ask you to ponder?

First, in a sense, social media is more than media, a platform, or a tool—it’s representative of a worldview, a way of seeing and being. I’d suggest you’re well down the path to the worldview, but you might just be a station or two away still.

To switch metaphors: You define the edges of the missing piece of that worldview quite well in your post.

Second, and you’ll see this in my own Like Minds followup post which I started last Sunday but haven’t finished yet, you actually beautifully nail not only the “return” on Like Minds, but for nearly any other conference. And it’s the reason why TED can post all of their videos for free and still expect premium conference ticket pricing coupled with excess demand.

Third, it dawned on my when I paid our tab for a small gathering after Social Media in Business, Like Minds cost considerably less than an hour or so in a noisy pub with a few friends.

It’s folks like you who will lead the way in mining the value inherent in social media (I mean “value” and not “financial gain;” though there is a connection for sure). None of us of actually “there” yet. We have much work left to do.

Can’t wait to “talk” more with you on your blog. Your’s is one for stimulating, mind-stretching engagement. Also can’t wait to see you again in February.

Trey Pennington on Twitter