I am back from the MarketingProf’s Digital Marketing Mixer and, in a word, the feeling I left Arizona with is passion. I know the word passion is over-used and rarely meant, but I am sincere in its use.

The social media sessions were great and the ability to talk to the speakers to get their thoughts, advice and insights was really helpful.

I felt inspired after day one. But day two, well, that’s when passionate set in.

It was during the keynote that Gary Vaynerchuk delivered. If you don’t know who Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) is, you owe it to yourself to find out. His passion for people and social media rings clear as a bell and is contagious. When you hear how he reaches out to his customers, creates new customers, and follows up with customers who may not be happy it’s nothing more than astonishing. Did you read that correctly? I said “he.” Not his company, not his staff, not his interns. Him. And he tells it like it is, whether you want to hear it or not. If you weren’t at the conference, check out Gary’s video and then read the rest of my post.

[Video courtesy of Hubspot. NOTE: The video is a little shaky. If it's easier on your eyes, just listen.]

Prior to the conference, I had only known of Gary from his creative, crazy and educational Wine Library TV videos. At the conference I was able to speak with him after the ‘E-Mail and Social Media: True Love Always’ session where he was a panelist (more on that topic later) and also later in the night at Rohit Bhargava’s (@rohitbhargava) book signing for Personality Not Included.

That is what is truly amazing about Gary. He gets the importance of people and talking to them and that’s why social media has worked for him. He could have jetted away after his keynote, but he didn’t. He stuck around, spoke to people and hung out for the entire day-and night. That’s the social in social media.

Now, really this post isn’t about promoting Gary Vaynerchuk, nope, it’s about you.

Here’s what I want to say and promise to you. If you are feeling doubtful that social media is viable or have problems sharing your passion for marketing and social media within your company let me know. I will do my best to provide blog posts that prove the opposite (Gary’s success is a great example). My promise is that from now on—if you’ll allow me—this blog is about you. Together we are a community. So tell me how I can help you. What topics do you want me to blog about to help you become even more passionate or passionate again about marketing, communications and social media? I am listening.

Thank you.