Patrick O'Keefe

photo credit: woodleywonderworks

We’re nearing the end of 2010 and so I wanted to take a moment to wish you a happy holiday season and a happy, healthy and successful 2011!

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who has supported me this year. This includes the people who enjoy my websites, who like my writing and share it with others, who regularly read my sites and those who provide me with encouragement and inspiration. I really appreciate you.

As always, I have a lot of different plans and things I want to accomplish this winter and in the new year. Wish me luck. I wish you the best of luck in accomplishing your objectives.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Patrick

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of appearing on David Garland’s awesome web video show for entrepreneurs, The Rise To The Top. We chatted about my background, the power of online community and how to pick a niche and be successful. We also talked about how I built my brand and how I market my sites without a marketing budget.

You can watch the video below and he also has an audio only version available on his website. A big thank you to David for having me. It was a lot of fun.

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I am definitely excited about what is about to take place at BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas. Not just about what I am doing individually, but what I am doing in collaboration with others, as part of a team.

Not only my fellow panelists, but also The A Team (Brandon Eley, Wayne Sutton and me – we’re featured on 5 panels in all, with 2 book signings) and the SitePoint Podcast crew (Brad Williams, Kevin Yank, Stephan Segraves and me). This will mark the first time that the entire podcast team has been in one place at the same time, with Kevin coming all the way from Australia.

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I’m happy to announce that I have booked my first keynote presentation. It’ll be at Podcamp Topeka in Topeka, Kansas on November 6. The event will be held at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library. It’s an “unconference” where everyone is welcome to lead a breakout session – in essence, a discussion on a particular topic. I’ll be leading at least one myself, following the keynote.

The event is being organized by a team led by David Lee King, an acquaintance of mine, that also includes Brandon Sheley, Alissa Sheley, Lisa Coble-Krings, Bill Ludwig and Joe Cheray. I have been so impressed by the organization of the event and David’s leadership. I believe it will be a great unconference and it is a tremendous value, as well. For the day, including lunch and perhaps even a small breakfast, the cost is only $6.11. You can register online.

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BlogWorld & New Media Expo is less than a month away. For the third consecutive year (read my 2008 and 2009 recaps), I’ll be speaking at the event, but I will have more going on at the conference than ever before.

I’ll be speaking on three panels, two of which I developed and will moderate (note: it’s not the typical moderator format, I will contribute equally). So, that’s pretty crazy.

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In May, I spoke at WordCamp Raleigh, held at the Sheraton Raleigh in Raleigh, North Carolina. Now that I have my SXSW Interactive recap out of the way, I wanted to sit down and share my experience at this event.

It was actually my first time in Raleigh, beyond just driving through, and a bunch of friends and people I already knew were attending the event.

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I have been busy booking speaking engagements for the late summer, fall and early winter and as some of them are coming up, I thought that I would share all of them with you, in case you have any opportunity to attend. I hope to have even more to announce soon.

Modern Media Man Summit (Atlanta, September 9-11)

I’ll be delivering a solo presentation, “Jack Bauer’s Guide to Managing Online Communities,” at Modern Media Man Summit at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia on September 10. The conference runs from September 9-11.

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For the second consecutive year, I’ve partnered with BlogWorld & New Media Expo to promote the event on the iFroggy Network.

I have attended and spoke at the conference for the last two years and I believe it to be one of the most beneficial blogging, social and new media based conferences that exists today. I’m glad to be back this year to attend and speak once again as the event moves to Mandalay Bay (where I hope to be staying).

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South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive is a special conference for those of us in this whole tech, web, social media thing of a space. For me, it’s special because the networking is great. Everyone is there. Well, not everyone. But, most everyone. It’s impossible for me to walk from my hotel to the convention center without seeing someone I know.

This is pretty much the only place in the world where I have ever found this to be true. I live on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and I go about my life, run errands, whatever… and I don’t know anyone. But, at SXSW, I know plenty of people and that is a lot of fun.

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photo credit: See-ming Lee 李思明 SML

One thing I’ve learned over time is to make sure I cut a certain class of people out of my life. My label for them is opportunist, though maybe you can think of a better one. Being an “opportunist” by the definition is not a bad thing – one should always be watching for an opportunity to be successful.

But, what I mean when I say it is that I want to surround myself with people who want to be successful and want to help others be successful. People who just want to take and people who will cut in front of you or take an opportunity away from you are not your friends and are not good business partners. And so, I have no time for those people.

This post is borne out of real life experiences (such as the one below) and a conversation I had with my friend Wayne Sutton while I was at WordCamp Raleigh.

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