I had a great time last week at Blog World. The turnout was great, at several thousand attendees. The show was buzzing the whole time, even on Day 1 which is normally a light day in terms of attendance. The sessions were *solid*. It was a “who’s who” of bloggers presenting. The networking (in the speaker lounge, in the hallways, at the receptions, etc.) was excellent. The WiFi worked great (at least for me). The only real negative in my opinion: the food was not vegetarian-friendly (grrr).
I had my 18-year-old daughter Chloe with me. She and I both were speakers at Blog World, she was on a panel about blog monetization and I was on a panel about SEO. Chloe monetizes traffic to her Neopets cheats site/blog with Google AdSense, and spoke a bit about that. I did impromptu site critiques in my session.
Then there were the shows. All I have to say was “Wow!”. This is one thing that Blog World is known for — is for hooking up bloggers with free tickets to shows (“Bloggers Night Out” I believe is what they call it). We did FOUR shows in two days! It was fun but exhausting. The first night was America’s Got Talent Live! and Blue Man Group. The second night was Jersey Boys and Cirque du Soleil “O”. My daughter and I had a blast.
All four shows were excellent. Jersey Boys is my favorite musical now. It was awesome. My new favorite Cirque du Soleil show is “O” (and I’ve seen 6 Cirque shows). It was spectacular! If you haven’t seen a Cirque show, you absolutely *must*.
Blue Man was bizarre and amazing. Surreal. I loved it! And America’s Got Talent Live was great too — I have to admit I had no idea what to expect with that, and I was pleasantly surprised. My favorite AGT acts were Recycled Percussion, Nuttin’ But Stringz, and Barbara Padilla (here’s a picture of me and Barbara, below). But honestly, they were all great. (I can’t believe how low Lawrence Beaman’s voice goes!)
Even though Vegas is not a family friendly town, my daughter and I had a great, clean time. As much as I wanted to see Zumanity, I passed on that one (not really an appropriate father-daughter activity!).
I also wish we weren’t forced to walk through the cigarette smoke filled casinos so much. No matter what, it seems, you have to walk through the casino to get *anywhere*.
My sincere thanks to the three shows that provided me and Chloe with the comp tickets — America’s Got Talent Live, Blue Man Group, and Cirque du Soleil. It’s brilliant blogger outreach to treat us bloggers to such great shows.
You really liked the America’s Got Talent show? I saw it last week and I thought it was garbage.
Comment by mary lewis — October 21, 2009 @ 10:10 am
If you like Barbara Padilla, why don’t you just go to opera? Barbara Padilla has a beautiful voice, but so do many others operatic sopranos and voice majors. If you want to know how some of the best known opera singers today sound, just listen for example how Angela Gheorghiu sings “O mio babbino caro” or Renee Fleming… Notice not only the voice but also how expressive and nuanced the singing of these stars is. Barbara Padilla is very good, but she is not outstanding, not at the level of top sopranos today. There probably are small opera theaters near you where you could pay a lot less than what you paid in Vegas and you could listen to some really good singers there. Singers that wouldn’t even think of going on an amateur talent contest like AGT. And as an added bonus in an opera theater you’d hear these beautiful voices unamplified… real voices, not miked as in Vegas (or POPera). Or just watch Met HD broadcast for real excellence in opera.
Comment by kitty — October 29, 2009 @ 12:44 pm
There is one thing that really annoys me and that is cigarette smoke, dirty, filthy habit, ban all smokers to an active volcanic island. By the way enjoyed your comments, regards voracious veggie.
Comment by dape — October 30, 2009 @ 4:01 am
Did my previous post disappear or did I simply think I posted but didn’t?
I admit I watch America’s Got Talent for summer entertainment – it’s not like there is much on TV in summer.
But really, to see it in Vegas? Barbara Padilla is probably the most talented of the bunch this year, and she does have a very good operatic soprano voice. But she is a trained opera singer, and by opera standards, she is good, but not outstanding. There are singers just as good in probably a small opera theater near you. And if you want true excellence in opera – if Barbara Padilla’s singing moves you this much then maybe you should try it – then why not just watch Met HD broadcasts or (what a revolutionary advice) go to opera to actually listen to these glorious voices unamplified.
When I want to listen to opera singers, I go to the Met. When I am in Vegas, I want some real nice variety shows – dancers, colors, musical-style singing, some magic.
@dape – totally agree about smoking. Hate it.
Comment by kitty — October 30, 2009 @ 3:37 pm
Wow you got a great kid over there buddy! keep us in touch with the latest news in blogging and other SEO facts
Comment by 2Go Media — November 9, 2009 @ 12:01 am