In October 2010, I was invited to speak in Mexico at Tweet to be Heard, the international social media marketing conference.  It was my first time in Puerto Vallarta, and what an experience it was.  Rightly, this is now my favorite spot in Mexico, and I still haven’t stopped raving about since my return.

Last year’s conference was an absolute blast and extremely worthwhile for all attendees who voiced that they wanted another conference.  I also walked away with some truly wonderful life-long friendships.

Well, the excitement continues! I am enormously flattered to be invited back for Tweet to be Heard 2 on May 12 – May 15, 2011 in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. Again, I will be sharing the stage with some exceptional speakers:  Guillermo Perezbolde, Trey Pennington, Victor Garcia, Marco Ayuso, Richard Snyder, Jay Handler, and William Michael.

Like last year, I am treating it as another well-needed vacation.  If it’s time for you to take a break the routine and want to learn about social media, then this is “the” conference to attend.  I hope you consider joining us for a remarkable learning experience, fun in the sun, and some great adventure. And if you do decide to attend, please reach out to me for a VIP discount code that I can offer to special guests.

I interviewed conference originators and founders of Vallarta Escapes, Robert Dry and William Michael, to get the scoop on their thoughts of social media after gaining more knowledge from the first conference.   I also wanted to learn more about their plans for the upcoming conference.  Check out what they had to say below:

Despite Mexico being the 2^nd largest Internet country in Latin American after Brazil, its Internet penetration at 27.2% is lower than many other countries, but growing at a faster pace due to many early adopters.  What do you think the future of social media will be like in Mexico?

Social media is the largest adjunct to traditional marketing in wide use today.  Mexico, which lagged behind in the past regarding mail and telephone marketing has embraced Internet marketing and is soaring!  Not having the prejudices of older marketing ways allows Mexico to speed ahead of other countries still bound to archaic methods.  Social media will be the cutting-edge marketing tool for Mexico’s strength in the world economy.

Do you see many businesses in Mexico embracing social media?

Businesses in Mexico embrace youth and the young at heart; therefore, they are positioned to embrace social media.  Mexico is a hidden force that is ready to compete with the world on the Internet, regarding marketing and business.

Although you don’t work in the social media industry, you were one of the early adopters to launch a social media conference in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in October 2010.  What prompted your decision to hold an educational conference?

No, we do not work in the social media industry.  Vallarta Escapes as one of the leading agencies in Puerto Vallarta for vacation rentals and real estate sales.  After embracing social media and online marketing for our business and found success in them, we realized the lack of social media education in Mexico.  It made sense for us to bring qualified speakers to learn and share the knowledge with our friends in paradise.

What made you decide to launch Tweet To Be Heard 2 coming up in May 2011 and will only the residents of Mexico benefit from this conference?

At the end of the first conference, we asked the attendees if they would return the next year.  Not only did they say yes, but strongly encouraged us to do it in six months and have it as a continuous bi-annual conference.

We also conducted a survey after the conference that reinforced that we were doing the right thing.  Additionally, we learned how to improve the Tweet To Be Heard conference to make the upcoming event even more exciting, enlightening and well worth everyone’s time.

Since social media is on the World Wide Web, we naturally invite people from around the globe to join us in our tropical destination while learning from incredible international speakers.  This conference is structured to benefit everyone who uses a computer for business.

The first day, the speakers cover Facebook and Twitter for beginners; the second and third days are for attendees who know the basics of social media and want to graduate to a more advanced level, so they can truly leverage the power of social media in their business; the final day is designed for business and marketers that wish to walk away with a sustainable plan, which will help maximize business results.

What changes have you made with your online presence or social media efforts after the first conference, and what were the most important takeaways of the conference?

After the first conference, we created our long-term plan and applied search engine optimization with social networking tactics to increase our rankings in Google.  Our detailed marketing plan included integrating social media into the entire marketing mix.

The most important takeaway of the conference was the social media marketing plan as well as the incredible life-long friendships we garnered.  We are looking forward to seeing last year’s attendees again as well as meeting many new ones.