Case in point? My post yesterday on "Three Things Chris Brogan Didn't Teach Me."

And oh, why yes... yes, I did in fact just submit this to Urban Dictionary.

I had the distinct pleasure, also known as had my socks rocked off, last Thursday to hear Chris Brogan speak at a local Social Media Club of Dallas event hosted by (see corporate plug here): @tripcase.

I won't list off the five or ten things I learned at this event - tens of others have already done that quite well.

Instead, I'll list the three things Chris Brogan didn't teach me and leave the inverted learning process up to each of you.

1. Nice guys finish last... aka close to MySpace on any list of 2010 social media "must-dos."

Maybe he is the best actor in the world, or simply has spoken at so many darn events over the years that Chris's ability to make even the guy hiding in the corner to "be seen" in the same light as even the loudest social mediologists in attendance is uncanny. He makes you feel at home, while proclaiming boldly that you don't have to be a creepy networker or a sales douche to be successful and to make meaningful, lasting connections.

Instead, he charges you to do something quite different with an eloquence, wit and humble naivete that not many of even the most experienced speakers in the marketing world have ever been gifted with the ability to do. It leaves you wanting more, while still giving you enough to take action as immediately as that evening at home in front of your humble computer... your megaphone, your platform to connect with and truly "see" others as this "nice guy" has implored you to do.

And all of it, at the end of the day, has left him with what I consider to be a significant level of success... and finishing last is quite the opposite of what Brogan has done while keeping friends - good friends - all along the way.

2. The point-of-sale is where it's at, biotch.

Simply because we have full business units that contain "Point-of-Sale" in their names makes #2 an interesting pillar of my business that even I have to read twice to question.

However, what Brogan pointed out about 3/4 of the way through his discussion last Thursday was that POS may have more meaning similar to what it did when it was used to refer to my first crappy car versus a product cornerstone of my business today. For me the light bulb went off when he said something I have heard a million times - be with your customers and build trust before the sale. It's not the point-of-sale that matters... it's the point-of-need.

Certainly, there are times when this may be the same thing, but if we pigeon-hole ourselves into thinking point-of-sale first as our religion, we most assuredly will miss the moving target that is point-of-need somewhere along the way. I'm worried to think there are projects where this is happening even as I type...

3. It's about stickiness & brand recognition. Not the almighty $crilla.

For the love of all that is good and holy, THANK YOU for someone with the right platform finally saying this. I think I may have been one of the only greedy marketers in the audience whose laugh didn't wreak of uncomfortable "oh my God he's talking to me!" vocal cracks after he called us all out for pursuing followers over dollars.

In my company, I'm used to being the nemesis in the group who has to use self-depricating humor any time I put what I call my "Cruella" hat on in meetings with my company's creatives... but I have no choice, because I'm also the person who has to answer to the keko keepers of the scrilla upstairs.

Maybe it's my MBA that beat it into me, because I'm certain that in my old ad agency days I wasn't even close to being "that" person. But today, I proudly am. Always with ridicule and my virtual "so not cool enough to be a hipster" sign following close in-tow.

For once, though, someone everyone respects and admires finally validated the intent with which Cruella continues to be so uncool with a simple, sweeping statement of "Daddy don't eat followers."

No, Daddy don't. And Daddy is fortunate that the future marketing leaders of Dallas are being called out on this early... and really, not even early. If we're lucky, this is just in time.

Followers, friends and fans are only means to an end. And that end, when it comes to any for-profit business, is... wait for it... PROFIT.

To my peers in marketing, please don't dare stop doing what you do best, but you better frickin' believe that the day of social media monetization reckoning is coming soon, and a shoddy Google Analytics PDF most certainly won't satisfy that reaper.

If you live in the glorious world of ad agency beer carts and pool tables, your experience in marcomm execution and creative marketing problem-solving couldn't be more valuable. I attribute much of my success as a marketer to the skills I picked up during that time in my career and I've never worked with more inspiring people. But I strongly recommend that, while continuing to hurdle over fiery marketing chasms for your clients, you also begin bursting your own bubble. And do it now.

Surround yourself with entrepreneurs, with people who live and die on that shiny green, rent-paying, payroll-enabling dollar. Talk to people at large corporations to whom marketing = what Brogan reminded us it used to be, way back in the day - a way to increase sales. Begin your creative problem-solving in the future with the end-goal no longer as just followers and traffic, but with the serious question of "how can this translate into an almighty, editable dollar in the short, mid and long-term?"

I went to this event as a Chris Brogan observer, and I left as a fan.

He's real. He's genuine. And he loves lacing his speeches with enough sarcasm and off-beat humor to hold my attention. How my attention will one day feed the Brogan $crilla Reaper is up to Chris... but until then, I'm listening. I'm reading. I'm following. I'm friending. I'm being seen.

Thanks, @chrisbroganand @mikedmerrillof @smcdallas again for the best speaking event I have been to in months.

-SKE