Last night Mashable came to Atlanta for a social media get together.  The event was co hosted by Regator, a local company that aggregates web’s best blog posts.  The event sold out and had to move to a bigger venue to accomodate the interest.

From my vantage point, the event was very successful.  400 people registered to attend.  Mashable’s national media brand means a lot in helping to validate Atlanta’s dedicated, but fragmented social media community.

I had a chance to connect with social media types including entrepreneurs, web developers, designers and a few folks from Turner.  I wished I had seen a more visible presence from other  national brands based here in Atlanta as well as the largest interactive agencies.  Their active support and participation would go a long way in putting Atlanta on the social media map.

To get a better understanding what others thought of the event, I took my camera and notebook asked some of the attendees three basic questions:

• Why are you here?
• What impact will an event like this have on the social media in Atlanta?
• What is your favorite social media tool?

Here is a sampling of their responses.  As expected, Twitter was the overwhelming tool of choice among the folks I talked to.

Alan Pinstein:  “Support the community, looking to meet new people.  This event demonstrates why the tech community is as good as it now is.”

Toby Bloomberg: “To see who in Atlanta is doing social media.” Traditional Blogs

Denise Elsbree: “People think we are not on the map. It helps to show that Atlanta is a hot bed.. Atlanta is the one of the biggest markets in the country in attracting young professionals.  They are the biggest users of social media.”

Greg Shrader:  “To support the Atlanta startup community…Maestro needs to be in touch with the people in attendance.  I don’t get out often enough to make these connections.  There needs to many more events like these.  A lot of little things are happening.  This shows what is going on.” iPhone

Duncan Freeman:  “Great to see friends.  We are a sponsor.  This has never happened before, and Mashable is a marque name…Nothing but positive…Just the publicity leading up to the event is important.” 

Paul Stamatiou:  “You have to be here. I wanted to see what Atlanta could do. The event brought in different people.” Friendfeed

Jennifer Bonnet: “Here for fun. It’s a connecting event.  It’s beyond the scope of the typical startup scene [in Atlanta].” Tweetdock

Scott Lockhart:  We are co-hosting the event.  We wanted to bring together different areas of the Atlanta tech scene…I hope it encourages people to get together and form real relationships in person.”

Jayson Flint: “I went to the SXSW Mashable event…I have met different people on Twitter.  It’s great to finally meet them face to face…We don’t have a big presence. We need more exposure.”

Wei Yang:  “Networking…I have been wanting Mashable to come here.  We sold out faster than other cities.”

Wayne Sutton:  “I came here from North Carolina. I met the Mashable team and saw people I haven’t seen in years…It helps gives exposure to the entire South and brings people together.”

Jared England:  “See what other startups are doing.  Hype Bandmetrics…moving from online to face to face…Events like these rejuvenate people.  In this economy, it’s inspiring.”

Jeremy Porter:  “If you are startup, this is the place to be today.  Mashable provides the most useful information.  It will help galvanize Atlanta social media scene.” Tweetie for iPhone

Here is to sharing everyone’s optimism.  Hopefully it’s a sign of bigger events to come.

Let me get back to you.

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