CREATE South

Update April 14th: Today is the day for the 5th annual CREATE South held annually at the Myrtle Beach campus of Horry Georgetown Tech. 

While the conference should be kicking off in just a few minutes, late comers will be welcome throughout the day. So stop on by, say hello and learn something cool.

Read all the details below in our first report. 

Update April 11th: Just a friendly reminder that CREATE South is happening this weekend, Saturday April 14th from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

There is still space available to sign up, so hop on over to CREATE South's website to register. Read below to find out all the great presenters that will be at this years CREATE South. 

Additionally, TheDigitelMYR will be throwing a little after party for all those who attend CREATE South to celebrate another awesome year for them and as a little anniversary party for us as well. 

First Report April 4th: In it's fifth year CREATE South announces two keynotes that showcase success in the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) self-made public stardom. New Zealand native turned naturalized Southerner, Philippa Ballantine and CREATE South's own Heather Solos, one of our homegrown success stories.

Philippa Ballantine was the first podcast novelist in the nation of New Zealand and used new and social media to create a thriving career as a novelist, with three novels from major publishers coming out in 2012. Her talk entitled "Reckless Optimism" covers the mechanics and the mindsight of how she began with her reality of being a Kiwi librarian and eventually realized her dream of being an American novelist. For anyone with a dream yet to be achieved, this talk is required listening.

Heather Solos has been at every CREATE South since its inception and has helped as an organizer on most of those. She is the proprietor of the Home EC 101 website, which she also parlayed into a book from Betterway Home Publishing. Recently she also co-founded Spin Picks, one of the first sites and apps to integrate with Pinterest. Her talk will be on creating and protecting your brand online. As the creator of multiple successful brands in the last few years, including one right now, she has much to teach for beginners and experts alike.

Registration is open for CREATE South 2012. It will be at the Horry-Georgetown Technical College Conference Center at 950 Crabtree Lane in Myrtle Beach SC. They have the full slate of sessions posted on the website at www.createsouth.org and are putting the final touches on the fifth year of the Grand Strand's only grassroots organized tech conference.

Follow them on Twitter at @CREATESouth and like their page on Facebook to keep up with the news as the conference approaches. Don't forget to register. It is only $10 for the basic entry which includes a delicious BBQ lunch catered as always by Proud Purveyors of Pork. The personal sponsorship level is $25 and also includes a t-shirt. They'll have to close registration for that level in advance of the conference to print the shirts, so sign up soon!

CREATE South will be on Saturday, April 14th from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

Tentative Schedule

Main Ballroom

9:00 AM – Introductions
9:15 AM – CS success stories from the past
9:30 AM – Phillipa Ballantine keynote, "Reckless Optimism"
10:25 AM – quick break
10:30 AM – Heather Solos keynote, "Build and Protect Your Brand Online"
11:30 AM – Elevator pitch lightning round
12:00 PM – Lunch

Afternoon sessions

Front of the Main Ballroom

1 PM – Tee Morris – "Safety in social media reprise"
2 PM – Dorien Morin-van Dam – "User Engagement in Social Media"
3 PM – Juliet Johnston Topic TBD
4 PM - Bobby Williams and Seth Alcorace - "Revolution in Music / DomeCandy"

Back of the Mail Ballroom

1 PM – James Sturgeon, "DIY Metallurgy"
2 PM – Kreg Steppe – "Wordpress: Zero to Expert in 60 Minutes"
3 PM – Andre – "The Art & Science of cooking BBQ"

Side Room

1 PM – Robert Harvey – "Visual FX – Compositing video using a Green Screen"
2 PM – Paul Reynolds – "Budget Barista"
3 - 4:45 PM – Mike Nagan - "Home Brew 101"

Cafeteria

Mikkel Green – Arduino hands on sessions
Dorien Morin-van Dam – after her talk, she will hang out and do mini-workshops