Barkworld Expo 'Petworking' Social Media Conference

This weekend I'm attending  'Barkworld', a national social media conference for the pet industry. It includes pet bloggers, pet enthusiasts, pet product companies, retailers, etc. You may recall when I attended last year ('cool dogs' post too). I thoroughly enjoyed the conference and made some wonderful connections which I still maintain. Working for Natural Balance, it made sense for me to attend, which I was happy to do with my friends from petco who were diamond sponsors of this 'petworking' social media conference.

The conference includes a range of activities, including events, presentations, guest speakers, panel discussions, exhibits, and fabulous networking opportunities for anyone interested in joining the fun fray of the social media space for pets and people who love them.

A special guest speaker was the popular Victoria Stilwell, the dog trainer whose show 'It's Me or the Dog' on Animal Planet is an enormous hit in the US and in her native UK. She gave an excellent, passionate presentation that held the attention of the entire audience. I was thrilled to have an opportunity to chat with Ms Stilwell and gush over her 'Positively' reinforcement dog training methods.

As you know, I'm never one to shy away from celebrities! I must say, she was lovely to speak with and very down to earth. She was also signing copies of her book 'It's Me or The Dog' which is a marvelous read, if you are looking for some easy tips on dog training. 

Here are a few quick photos I took from Barkworld:

A neat ice sculpture of a fire hydrant...cool huh?

One of the interesting things about attending Barkworld is the range of people who attend. Everything from 'mommy bloggers', to social networking professionals, to major corporations to small business owners, it truly attracts diversity, but most everyone has one thing in common; we all LOVE pets, which makes it easy to strike up conversations with folks.

Doggie Day Care at Barkworld. Should have brought Sheldon

I've been blogging since 2006, and active on Twitter since 2008 under the Twitter name: @RickRockhill. However a few weeks ago I finally created a Twitter account for Sheldon, called @SheldonGryffin and tweet in his voice as well as under my own Twitter account. (His full name is Sheldon Gryffindor, hence the Twitter name). Anyway, it is not unusual for people in the social 'petworking' space to Tweet in the voice of their pet. It seemed crazy to me a year ago, but now I manage two Twitter accounts (well maybe I am crazy, who knows).

Missing my poodles, I found this one to pet for love!

Some of you have multiple blogs- I cam barely maintain The Palm Springs Savant regularly but I do still love it.  

If you are on Twitter, consider following me @RickRockhill and of course @SheldonGryffin as well. We'd both appreciate it. And if you are at Barkworld and reading this post, I hope to meet you this weekend, let's 'Tweet Up'.