Mark Cuban Keynote at BlogWorld Expo

Once I heard Mark Cuban was keynoting at BlogWorld, I was extremely excited. Besides that Mark Cuban is an internet marketing, billionaire, blogger and owns a basketball team, he is also a very cool guy. Here’s how the final session of BlogWorld went down.

It was awesome to personally meet with Mark Cuban.

Many people were excited to see Mark Cuban speak at the BlogWorld, but I’m sure I was at least in the top 3! I made sure to arrive a good 45 minutes before his starting time and I was one of the first in line to enter the room once it was opened. There was already a session going on in the same room, so everyone had to wait for them to leave first. The line to enter the room was now a couple hundred deep and it was time to go in. Reena and I secured two nice seats in the center of the room and second row from the stage. We were both sitting down as people started to enter the room, and then I noticed Mark walk in with a few others. He then sat down on the corner of the stage as others walked in and passed him by… I guess most people just didn’t realize it was him at the time. From past experience, most keynote speakers do their bit and bolt from the conference, let a lone spend any time to talk and meet with attendees. There was a couple minutes before he was going to speak, so Reena and I ran over to try and meet with him before everyone realized he was here. I introduced myself and we shared a few words, (he also said he liked my new jacket! :)). I managed to give him my business card and grab a photo with him, it was really great. I was surprised and really appreciate that Mark didn’t run out right after his keynote, he spent a good 10-15 mins speaking with everyone afterwards, even Reena was able to get a picture with him!

It was now time for Mark’s introduction. My good friend Jim Kukral had the opportunity of making the introduction. You can read the full story at his blog. In short, Jim made a site called MarkCubanPleaseCallMe.com and tried to get in touch with Mark Cuban. It got picked up by a paper and then they called Mark’s assistant and was given the response “Mark Hates You and Will Never Call You!“. Jim mentioned to me there was a chance he might get to introduce Mark and had some ideas in his head for what they might do. Before the keynote Jim was able to throw together a funny slideshow of how he compares to Mark Cuban… and in the end they are both bloggers, like everyone at BlogWorld. It was a really great intro and I’m very proud and happy for Jim for being able to pull this off.

Jim’s introduction to Mark Cuban was creative, funny and awesome!

During Mark’s keynote he talked about how he got into blogging, what motivates him, his recent time on “Dancing with the Stars” and so much more. What I love about Mark is that he is such a personable guy, but what’s really cool is that even if he wasn’t a billionaire or the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, I feel I would be able to talk with him at any internet marketing conference and he would understand and be able to relate to me. Mark has been in the game for over 10 years now, just like me… and it’s funny to see him talk about how Google Adsense works, what YouTube/Google are doing wrong and just other stuff us bloggers and marketers talk about. Mark Cuban is definitely living the dream and as he said during his keynote, “I hope no one ever pinches me, because I don’t want to wake up”. Mark is a great example for all of us to look up to. You can read up on what Mark is up to at his own personal blog,www.BlogMaverick.com.

Below is the full 1 hour and 13 minutes intro and keynote to Mark Cuban at BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas.