Social Media Simplified in Ventura, California
Filed Under: Educational · Seminars · Travel · Updates
Filed Under: Educational · Seminars · Travel · Updates
Hello from Ventura Technology Development Center on the filming set of the Social Media Simplified Web 2.0 Master Class in Ventura, CA!

Social Media Simplified Presenters Mari Smith, Deborah Micek, Linda Taylor, Denise Wakeman, Simon Leung And Nancy Marmolejo
Even though I only had one hour of sleep that I snuck in during my 6am flight from San Jose to Ontario, I was too excited to be tired as my partner Andy Huang and I then made a 2-hour commute to Ventura to take part in Social Media Simplified filming.
As a late addition to the Social Media Simplified team of talented presenters, I was extremely stoked to accept the invitation to join the ranks of Linda Taylor, Deborah Micek (AKA CoachDeb), Mari Smith, Denise Wakeman (one half of the BlogSquad team with Patsi Krakoff) and Nancy Marmolejo to speak on Google Optimization through Social Media.
Throughout the day, we learned a ton of great information about marketing with social media, utilizing Web 2.0 tools such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and CoachDeb’s own Blog i360 system as a blogging platform.
During my time on stage, I was excited not only to share some of the social media tools, widgets, plugins and strategies that I personally use for my own blog to maximize the quality and quantity of traffic coming into my website, but also to have some fun and share some laughs with the great audience, as well.




In fact, we had so much fun that most of the attendees at Social Media Simplified felt that my presentation was more entertaining than it was informative! (Haha… just kidding…)
All joking aside, I’m confident that every one in attendance had a good time and hopefully, have already begun implementing some of the effective social media marketing strategies shared on the Social Media Simplified stage.
Towards the end of the shooting, all the presenters got together on stage to organize an expert panel, where we conducted live critiques of attendees’ blogs and answered questions from the audience.


After the Social Media Simplified event was over, we brought the party over to our VIP dinner at a nearby French restaurant, where we had the opportunity to network more with one another.
Before leaving town the following evening, I spent the day hanging out with CoachDeb, Andy Huang and James Lee, taking advantage of some of the best dim sum in town, as well as organizing our own “working party,” complete with sake and snacks!

Overall, I had a ton of fun and made a bunch of new connections at Social Media Simplified, so I am definitely glad I was able to make it out to Southern California for the one day event before returning to Singapore next week for The SMART Seminar.
If you weren’t able to attend Social Media Simplified, the entire event has been recorded and the DVD set will be made available within the next week, so stay tuned for more information about how you can get your hands on the amazing social marketing content so you don’t miss out!
In the meantime, you can keep up with posts, comments and photos from the Social Media Simplified presenters, attendees and fans on the #SMSV Twitter stream.







































Hey Simon, I loved meeting you and hearing you speak. You have so much great experience and knowledge to share with everyone but you do it in such a casual way that it’s impossible not to absorb everything! Your blog is a great benchmark that everyone should follow and copy if they want to optimize for SEO. I so loved hearing your story of being an intern at Google the night the AOL deal was signed and coming back to work with 100,000 google ad word deals to work through. What an amazing experience. Thanks for leading by example and showing the world how happy one can be when you truly do work that you love every day! Also, thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. You rock! Angie @aaswartz on Twitter!
Had a great time mtg you as well, Angie!
Your blog is very cool as well…
I’m glad I stopped by to see how cool you are
Appreciate your feedback on my presentation!
Happy to hear it was productive for you.
Definitely stay in touch ok?
We’ll be tweeting each other, I’m sure
Simon, it was great meeting you in Ventura for the Social Media Simplified event. I really enjoyed your presentation and am very impressed by your AdWords knowledge and sense of humor.
I can’t wait to use some of your presentation tips on my site and blog.
Looking forward to future tweets! @jesseluna on Twitter
Jesse – wassup dude!
Had a blast chillin w/ you bro
Definitely be in touch on Twitter
Thanks so much for coming to the Social Media Simplified event! You were all the 3 “E’s” that Denise Wakeman of the Blog Squad = Educational, Engaging AND especially Entertaining. Loved the SEO on “prostate massage”.
Thanks for being part of the DVD. We look forward to learning more and doing future shoots together!
Linda P. Taylor
http://www.SocialMediaSimplified.com
http://www.LindaPTaylor.com
Thank you again for having me, Linda!
I had an amazing time at Social Media Simplified
Can’t wait to work with you again!
We’ll have more fun for sure
Simon, awesome post and pics!
I’m happy to know that you enjoyed being one of our famous guests almost as we enjoyed having you with us. And really, you were entertaining AND educational, personal and professional – a great example for the rest of us
Thanks for making the trip down here and I had fun hanging out with you, CoachDeb, Andy, and James at dinner. Wish there had been more time…
tty soon.
@kirstindavy
I see you Simon baby boy…You look better than Martha Stewart on her TV shows, looking like the host and all…lol
http://www.ShawnDrewry.com
Enjoyed hanging out w/ you too, Kirstin!
You were lucky we ran out of time…
We would’ve gotten you into some trouble
Simon:
You were great. Informative and funny! Love your sense of humor and laid back style. I love the 12 seconds feature on your blog, that was a crack up. I’ll send pics soon.
Nancy
Simon – you totally rock, man.
You’ve written up an excellent
summary of the Ventura day. I love
your style. Uber smart dude & so
humble & funny to boot!! LOL
The DVDs are going to be HOT!
Cheers,
Mari
@marismith
Hey Nancy and Mari..
Honor to share the stage w/ you ladies!
You both rock… can’t wait to hang out again!
Hi Simon,
I wasnt at this but just found your blog and looks like it was good !
Just starting out in business myself and got Alex Jeffrey’s as my mentor
Should be an exciting time !
Will be sure to visit her often
Thanks
Dean
http://www.DeanHolland.com
Thx for dropping by, Dean!
Look fwd to connecting…
And tell Alex I said wassup
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