History

The First Like Minds

Preparation for the inaugural event on October 16th started in earnest on September 1st 2009. A website went up at the address alikeminds.org, the price point was set at £25 early bird, and the speaker lineup consisted alone of Trey Pennington and Olivier Blanchard. The first tweet went out on the #likeminds hashtag, and now it was a case of getting it together in 6 weeks – and hopefully selling tickets in between!

The first local partners came on-board within the first week: Rokk Media, Bluegrass IT, Optix Solutions, Greenland Studio, with Every’s Solicitors confirming a few weeks later. Addiply and UKNetWeb soon came on board too, with Business Cornwall joining as media partners. Starbucks agreed to do the coffee, and Club Wi-Fi said they’d handle the Internet connectivity. Meanwhile, further speakers were confirmed in the form of Daren Forsyth, a former BBC Executive and key connector in the London Social Media scene, and Maz Nadjm, Sky’s Community Product Manager.

As the 16 October date closed in, ticket sales increased and buzz spread. The subject, “Measuring Social Media” attracted attendees from across the country, and come that Friday, the queue stretched around the corner from the Exeter Conference Centre. The numbers came in; over 200 in attendance, over 560 watching online, and proof that a profitable event can be organised and marketed successfully solely by using Social Media.