Last night I attended the Social Media Club Chicago Holiday Party. That’s me on the right there wearing what can only be described as the world’s ugliest Christmas sweater. Yuck. I actually make Shaun Hildner (far left) and Tim McDonald (middle) look pretty good by comparison. Anyway, I had a great time and met a lot of great people. Here, in no particular order, are my thoughts on the night.

• Am I now officially known in the Chicago social media circle as the “Ugly Sweater Guy?” I certainly hope not. Not that I’m ashamed to have worn the sweater (that bad boy won me a $100 gift certificate to Morton’s), but I’d rather be known as the cool, friendly guy who is also a good copywriter and blogger. Next time I come to an event like this I’ll have to wear an Armani suit or something to regain my cred.
• Shel Israel and Erik Qualman both gave excellent presentations on the far-reaching implications of social media for individuals and businesses. Granted, they were preaching to the choir, but their insights were nuanced and they each offered enough specific examples to show quite clearly that social media is no one-trick pony. It also occurred to me that Erik Qualman played on the Michigan State basketball team at the same time as Shawn Respert and Eric Snow. To some people that doesn’t matter at all, but to a Michigan-born basketball fan like me, it’s pretty awesome.
• I finally got a chance to meet Danny Prager from The Ocean Agency in person. I’ve been meaning to talk to some of the cool people at Ocean since I moved back to Chicago, so I’m glad to finally be able to check that off my list. Also, Danny was one of the few people who actually wore an ugly Christmas sweater, so he was sort of like a brother-in-arms.
• One of my favorite things to do in life is introduce two people whom I think might get along. Last night, I got to do that with my friend Shaun (who I already mentioned in the above picture) and Beyond The Pedway creator Tim Jahn. Shaun currently works as a digital media producer for Flashpoint Academy,  a digital media arts college here in Chicago. Tim produces weekly videos about creative Chicago companies at his website, Beyond The Pedway. Anyway, we three had a nice chat and now Tim may be profiling Flashpoint in an upcoming Beyond The Pedway episode. I love when stuff like that happens, don’t you?
• When I first started blogging back in 2006, one of the first marketing blogs that I latched onto was David Armano’s Logic+Emotion. I’ve always admired how David synthesizes his unique perspectives on business, social media, and community through such simple and visually appealing diagrams. (A personal favorite is the Holy Trinity of Digital Experience.)  Anyway, David happened to be at the party last night and I was very excited to meet him and talk to him in person. I’m happy to report David is a super friendly guy and that I didn’t come off sounding like a weird blogger fanboy. I’d say that’s a big win for me.

All in all, the party was a great success and I was glad to be there. Kudos to Jeff Willinger, Amy Rovit Korin, and Barbara Rozgonyi, along with all of the SMC volunteers for putting together an awesome event.