CenPhoCamp, first devised by me and Yuri Artibise is late 2009, was created to help greater downtown Phoenix small businesses use the tools and access the communities that are readily available to them. From social media to philanthropy groups and weekend brunches to clever, word-of-mouth marketing campaigns, we know that greater collaboration benefits everyone. Phoenix, especially what we consider CenPho and downtown, can’t afford to act as separate entities any longer.

But researching what works takes time, it takes money and it often takes a level of understanding that doesn’t come natively to most people. The skills that businesses need to succeed in the new economy need to be taught to those willing to listen.

CenPhoCamp is that solution. Designed for small businesses to learn from other local companies, area leaders and media professionals, CenPhoCamp, now run by me and Si Robins, is here to promote collaboration, exchange ideas and strengthen the local community.

–CenPhoCamp is free of charge to any attendee
–Speakers are chosen based on what they can offer the entire community
–Sponsorships pay the rent at Cronkite and appetizers at the after party
–Food and drink are provided by the attendees
–Organizers work on a volunteer basis only

Welcome to the second CenPhoCamp. We’ll have the speaker schedule confirmed the week of Labor Day.

Thanks, and see you October 9!

Looks like we’re not the only ones who think that specialization and focus is good.

Great article from Wired on why smaller is often better.

Great ideas for next time so far.

–Shorter time frame (4 hours)
–Moderators for roundtable discussions
–Have food and registration table in OWN room
–Keep one room open for impromptu presentations
–Keep the presenters fresh
–Nobody presents more than once

There’s more, but those really stood out. Keep it up!

While we work on getting the videos and slideshows up, please help the next CenPhoCamp out by giving us your thoughts.

Be specific. “I wished it was better”, “parking sucks” and “I would have like more info” aren’t helpful. Give us ideas that we can run with.

Nothing great ever happens in a vacuum. It takes effort from everyone. CenPhoCamp was no different.

Thanks to every single person who helped with CenPhoCamp, including Katie Charland, who took charge when it was necessary, Stephanie Simmons, who ruled room 314 and Andrew Knochel, who never moved from room 252 because he was constantly manning the camera and guarding the food. You stepped up and we thank you for it.

We, meaning Tyler Hurst and Yuri Artibise were more than stoked at the conversations, the sharing and the atmosphere enjoyed from 2pm to nearly 11pm last night. It was fun, it was useful and it’s worth doing again.

So keep up with us. Tyler is constantly on Twitter, Yuri is more of a Phoenix coffee shop guy, but you can easily track either down. Give us suggestions, feedback and offers to help. We’ll take them.

Videos are being processed know, expect to see those popping up, in separate posts, this week. We’ll also include links to presenters’ slides on SlideShare.

Plans are already in the works to have similar events in Scottsdale and Chandler, and a follow up CenPhoCamp in October.

Stay tuned, stay talking and most of all, get to know your community.

The rooms have been paid for.

Thanks to Phoenix Innovation Foundation (PIF) for their help with that.

The agenda has been set.

Thanks to Mark Dudlik for making that pretty.

The sessions are ready to go.

Thanks to the session sponsors for that.

In addition to their donations, Rhonda Bannard of Inspired Connections and JoMarie MacDonald sent out information to their distribution lists (Rhonda sent it to 500 contacts alone). Nick Bastian wrote a great blog post on Raillife.com. CenPho.TV mentioned it in their weekly vlog. Downtown Phoenix Journal published a really fantastic story. Joan Koerber-Walker opened her network to us.

We thank you for that.

Jim McPherson and Steve Weiss from Downtown Voices Coalition invited Yuri to present to their monthly Steering Committee Meeting as well as the Visioning Conference. Jim also posted the event on the DVC website. Jeff Moriarty mentioned us at Social Media Club.

Thanks for that.

Izzy Video let us borrow one of his camcorders. Gangplank lent us two coolers.

Thanks to you both.

Also, thanks to Don Crossland and kontaktmag for getting me to care about downtown Phoenix in the first place.

Thanks to Katie Charland for editing the session descriptions.

Thanks to Dean Callahan for trusting us not to tear up his building.

A HUGE thanks to all the speakers and panelists. They are the shining stars of this event.

See you on Saturday!

Social Media Integration
Chad Swaney
It can be frustrating when you are the only one in your business who seems to get social media. In this presentation, Chad will talk about strategies that have worked for him to help get everyone on board and excited about the possibilities that are available when you connect with your community.

Facebook apps
Kimber Johnson
Kimber will discuss how to let technology do the work for you in the realm of social media. With Facebook up to 132 million unique visitors in the United States alone, a Facebook app just might be the marketing boost your business is looking for.  Kimber will focus on the all to important planning and design phase and give you some great insights into how to create an app that gets used and shared and creates real results for your business.

New Media Discussion
Nick Martin, Si Robins, Brahm Resnik, Matt Wynn
Roundtable talk centering around the future of newspapers, journalism, TV news and blogging as a news source.

Telling your business’s story
Shane Cathers
Just as the stories you share about yourself help people identify and build rapport with you as a person, sharing the story of your business will help people identify and be interested in your business.
Essentially, your business is connecting with current and future clients while planting the seed for viral marketing, getting people talking about your business via word-of-mouth and social networking sites.

Low– to no-cost sales methods
Chris Conrey
Sales is a pain in the ass, doubly so when you’re trying to run your business, do sales, and produce whatever it is that you’re doing.  There are lots of tools you can use to help make this whole process easier from day 1.  I’ll spend some time talking about some of these and how you can use them to your advantage while still doing what you love to do. 

From suburban to returning customers
Matthew Petro
Your Central Phoenix business needs a solid base of repeat customers to achieve lasting success. But how do you get people out of their suburban homes and into your business on a regular basis? Tools like Twitter, Facebook and Yelp provide tremendous opportunities for business owners looking to turn first-time customers into regular patrons. The session will discuss many of the ways you can leverage social media to stay connected with customers and build a loyal base of patrons.

Building Event Buzz
Oden Hughes, Jeremy Smith, Katie Charland
Roundtable discussion on how to plan, promote and execute an event with limited funds using readily available tools.

Intro to Twitter
Jack Smith
Twitter seems to be everywhere — newspapers, celebrities, athletes and your next-door neighbor.  But why should you and your business care about this new online tool?  In this session, we’ll talk Twitter basics, where it’s being used in business and how to get started and some popular tools to help you manage it within your business.

Activating passionate groups
Derek Neighbors
How to make passionate, highly-connected people do something that benefits them.

Benefits of working with higher education
Nina Miller
Connecting and supporting higher education is a long-term solution to problems our community faces. Come learn how to connect with the systems in place at Arizona’s universities to help your business and your community.

The 3rd Place
Nina Simmons, Sunny Thaper, Real Joe, Zack Newsome
Roundtable discussion focusing on the impact that 3rd places (destinations that are not work or home) have on our social lives, our community and our growth as individuals.

Intro to podcasting
Debbie Walker
Podcasting for you! Simple steps to get started and the philosophy behind making your podcast great.

Online Risk Management
Paul Valach
Can you just be you online? Can you just tweet away every little thought that enters your mind? Who really cares who you follow or who your friends are on Facebook? Can you be a fan of The Ugly Big Bear and still maintain a professional image? What about all those party photos on Flickr? We’ll take a look at these things and see what we can come up with. By the way how many social sites can you name? Maybe we will have a contest. Prizes!

Performance as a Community Pathway
Jose Gonzalez
Part performance, part presentation, and part exploration of community-building & connecting with people in the Valley of the Sun, Team ABC seeks to stir up your spirit of playful danger, get your ideas out of your head, and get moving. None of what will be covered is guaranteed to grow your business or maximize your profits because nothing in life is guaranteed. Once we all get comfortable with that idea we can stop fearing uncertainty and look at all the possibility it affords us. That’s what Team Adventure Beta
Collaboration is all about, Charlie Brown!

Get on Track with public transportation
Tony Arranaga, Nick Bastian, David Bickford
Roundtable discussion on the importance of using mass transit as an advertising and event vehicle.

Mobile Apps
redPear
We’re a culture going wireless–going remote. We’re working less from a desktop computer and more from our laptops, Macbooks, netbooks, and mobile phones. We need access to our contacts, our essentials, our everything from everywhere. We’ll tell you about the apps that already exist that you shouldn’t live without. And we’ll tell you how you can build new apps that work just for you and your business. 

Niche Blogging
Kate Benjamin
Kate Benjamin is the founder and editor of popular cat-style blog Moderncat.net. Since its creation two and half years ago, Moderncat has grown to become a leading online resource for design-conscious cat lovers. The site currently receives 150,000 page views per month, reaching an international audience. Kate will discuss how Moderncat got started, as well as what she learned about turning a passion into a successful online business.

Civic Involvement as Advertising
Sam Richard
Community service has always been a large part of Richard’s life. This presentation will cover the foundations of service he has learned throughout his life including; responsibly caring for the earth, the foundations of leadership, civic engagement, and group dynamics.

Analog to digital and back again
Kyle Jordre, Catrina Knoebl, Morgan McNally, Kimber Lanning
Roundtable discussion on how to take traditional methods and apply them to a digital market, then using those connections to build a greater offline following.

Intro to blogging
Paul Martinez
Introduction to blogging will cover information on some of the tips and techniques that you can use to get your blog up and running with full steam. From choosing your domain name to marketing your blog, this presentation will provide you with all of the information that you need to get your blog started on the right foot.

Relationships and the web
Katie Charland
With social media exploding at such a phenomenal rate, the general public is left scrambling to keep up not only with the technology, but with the rewriting of traditional social scripts and human interactions. This session will explore how social media is changing the way we form relationships in all instances – from dating, parenting, in the office and when making friends.

Make business memorable
Justin McHood, Susan Baier
Learn the key to being memorable in business. Find out how to have top of mind awareness with your target customers who will want to buy, buy more and come back and buy again. In today’s business world, if you are not memorable, you are going to be forgotten — and being forgotten means (at best) barely staying in business. The essence of being memorable can be found in one word… and you have to be present to learn what it is!

Small biz strategy
Brandon Stout, Nick Bastian, Petit Fromage
Roundtable discussion on marketing strategy, overall implementation and questions from the previous presentations.

Intro to video blogging
Clintus McGintus
Let’s talk video. Video blogging, online shows, video marketing… there are tons of ways to use video on the web. We’ll explore a few of the more popular ones and why you should use it too.   

Community events are never possible without the support of those they aim to serve. Thanks to the following four companies, we had our room sponsorships taken care of in less than a week. We and all the attendees are looking forward to seeing what they’re going to do with their rooms.

Big kudos to our four room sponsors. Without Tony’s Light Rail Blogger in room 252, Kimber’s Verve Co taking over room 202, Derek Neighbor’s Integrum slapping banners up in room 444 and Jane’s Practical Art decorating room 314, this event wouldn’t have been possible.

The event will start at 1:30pm, with a keynote by organizers Yuri Artibise and Tyler Hurst.

Look on the right sidebar. Yep, right where it says donate.

If you’re a sponsor or philanthropic citizen, that’s the best way to get your hard-earned cash to the Phoenix Innovation Foundation (PIF), who is working with us to handle the financial complexities of CenPhoCamp.

Your money, while not tax deductible, will pay the $500 fee Cronkite is charging us, while the rest will go to our after party. Sponsors, please email Tyler a copy of your receipt so we can record it.

If you’d like to pay by check or cash, please email tyler@tdhurst.com and he’ll be able to help you out.

Thanks in advance for your support!