Chris Winfield is one of the most pleasant online marketing pros in the business.  Seemingly contrary to his East Coast roots, Chris has way more of a California-laid-back swagger. Don’t mistake this vibe for lack of intensity though. Dude is extremely passionate, has an impressive quiver of clients, experience, heart and business acumen to back the swagger up with action and results.
Focused on search and social media marketing, Chris’s long time company, 10e20, recently rebranded as BlueGlass. BlueGlass has been busy forging partnership deals, described as acquisitions, with respected small agencies and individuals.  Marketers involved in the BlueGlass deal are a veritable who’s who of mainstream social media conference circuit mainstays and big brand practitioners.
Recently, in preparation for BlueGlass’s upcoming search and social marketing conference, I had the opportunity to interview Chris about BlueGlass Florida and newly evolved agency. Industry insiders and cool business attendees will likely ignite the Hard Rock Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale November 2nd & 3rd for the event. For you folks inspired to trek down to FL for BlueGlass, Chris has been kind enough to share a discount code for AIMCLEARblog readers: “aimclear.”
This author will have the pleasure of speaking on the “Advanced PPC Tactics: Styling & Profiling” Manny Rivas and our new pal Michelle Ross, will cover conference for AIMCLEARblog. We’ll live-tweet sessions using the official hashtag: #blueglassfl.
[AIMCLEAR] What makes BlueGlass conferences special, substantially different from other mainstream offerings from SMX, SES, PubCon, etc…?
I am a huge fan of the SMX, SES, Pubcon and a bunch of other conferences series – they have helped me out in so many ways and I like to think that I have been able to do the same for them. Our goal with the BlueGlass conferences was to try to condense all of the best things that you get from a big conference and put it into 1 single track and in 2 days. So we hand-pick the best speakers, have new sessions each time and also focus heavily on the networking aspect. At BlueGlass LA, I learned as much from the attendees as I did from the speakers. I also had people come up to me after the show and tell me that they couldn’t believe how many business relationships they had formed in 2 days! That’s what makes it all worthwhile to me.
[AIMCLEAR] BlueGlass is an online marketing agency. What’s the motivation for BlueGlass in staging a conference series?
As I mentioned above, I wouldn’t be where I am today without the support of lots of people in our industry. BlueGlass Interactive was able to come together based on relationships that had been formed, in large part, due to getting to know each other at conferences. We look at our conferences as ways to give back and to also meet lots of great new people.
We aren’t in the conference business. We don’t want to be. If we were, we’d be in trouble because we lose money on every event we do. But to us, it’s worth it.
[AIMCLEAR]Â Who’s the ideal attendee? What do you want them to take away from Fort Lauderdale? What’s in it for them at #BlueGlassFL
The ideal attendee is anyone who is serious about taking their business to the next level on the Internet. We specifically hand-craft each session and day to cover everything that we think someone needs to succeed online. We’re really big believers that you need to have a diverse marketing strategy to succeed and that you also need to understand the business side of the web as well. That’s why we have everything from community building to domaining to buying & selling web businesses to PPC tactics. Every person that attends will leave with a better understanding of what they need to do to dominate online.
[AIMCLEAR] As a marketer, what’s your background, specialties and what you love to do the most?
My background started in SEO then shifted to Social Media Marketing but was always deeply rooted in PR (Public Relations not PageRank 😉 and driving buzz. I’m a firm believer that you should always let people do what they do best. That’s what I love about BlueGlass, there are so many people that are so much better than I am at their specialties (whether it’s SEO, SMM, etc). So it allows me to do what I’m good at and not have to worry about everything.
[AIMCLEAR] What do you personally see as the success metrics for BlueGlass?
As a company, I personally have a few success metrics that I strive for: On the services side, I want us to keep delivering high levels of ROI for our clients and show them why their investments in online marketing are not only an important part of their marketing budgets but also crucial. I know this is also something that you and your team at AIMCLEAR are passionate about!
On the products side, I want to empower agencies, in-house teams and all businesses with the tools to help them REALLY succeed online. Our platforms aren’t just built around telling someone what they should be doing but also about connecting them with people who can help them do it better (i.e. content creation, link building and much more). We want to empower people. When we open this up to everyone and they see how it will change things forever, that will make it all worthwhile…
As a conference, it’s simple. I want every person to leave with: (1) A better understanding of what they need to do to make their business better online (2) Partnerships/business relationships/friendships that will transform their lives (3) The thought that they got so much more than they paid for. As I said, we’re not in the conference business so we can make that happen by going above and beyond.
[AIMCLEAR] What’s your favorite Seafood, Asian and Italian restaurants in New York?
Seafood:Â Esca
Asian:Â Shun Lee
Italian: Babbo
[AIMCLEAR] Which is your favorite football team?
I bleed blue. NY Giants….
