Kevin Urie, SMC Seattle Founder, kicked it off and David Escobar of H&R Block kept it flowing.

At first when I heard H&R Block was going to speak I could not quite figure out what they could say. Well, I was pleasantly surprised and can report that H&R Block has a set of services that relates very well to many of the Social Media Club members. The services offered include help understanding the implications related to taxes for the self-employed and those thinking of becoming a free agent. They also offer help to maximize benefits and write offs available for those that have been laid off and how to itemize deductions related to job searches. Finally they discussed what the 2009 Stimulus means to us. All of this in less than 10 minutes. David spent time taking questions and talking 1:1 too. Great speaker, great sponsor, great information.

Thanks H&R Block and David Escobar.

	In fact, Social Media Club and H&R Block have teamed up to create the Social Media Tax Center and will host 10 meetings across the US. If you want more information for a meeting in your region check here. Each city will host a 15 minute Q&A session with additional time afterwards for one on one discussions based off the following short presentation H&R Block: Tax Tips for Consultants

The SMC Seattle events are always a lot of fun and a great chance to meet new people, catch up with friends, and even celebrate a birthday. Tamara Weikel was serenaded by the SMC Seattle crowd as they sang Happy Birthday to her.

Behind the Scenes

• Pictures – Tamara Weikel and Kevin Pedraja were snapping lots of pictures. Pics will be posted to the SMC Seattle Flickr site.
• Another SOLD OUT event – Thanks to Rachel Bergstedt and Joann Jen
• Live from Sole Repair – Brian Westbrook was live streaming throughout the evening

A few things I heard and saw tonight

There are a few people I always look forward to seeing. Shauna Causey of Comcast is one – she is always willing to jump in and help and she knows everyone. Another is Kenji Onozawa he always brings great ideas to conversation. I always enjoy catching up with TJ Sopher and Veronica Sopher too. Together they have a great perspective on the Social Media scene. I also got a chance to catch up with fellow surfer (real Ocean Waves & Interwebs) Charl Pearce and met a long time Microsoftie and fellow California native checking out the SMC scene – Markee Foster.

It’s also great to see Warren Sukernek and Blake Cahill. Both work for Social Media Measurement firms – Radian6 and Visible Technologies, respectively – yet they are talking and chatting it up. They realize that the best way to work in Social Media is the BE SOCIAL & SOCIABLE. As I have often said – You never know when you might be working together … again.

Long Riders – People will come a long way for the SMC

• Leavenworth – I had the pleasure of meeting Geordie Romer at the last two SMC meetings. He may be the person that travelled the greatest distance to attend. He comes all the way from Leavenworth. In case you don’t know where Leavenworth is — it’s a few hours away and requires the navigation of at least one mountain pass (it snowed this week) and is fashioned after a Bavarian Village. It’s a beautiful weekend getaway. Geordie can help you find a place too.
• Mt. Vernon – John Moody comes from the gateway to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival where he is a Ruby on Rails developer. He came to the event to connect with people that are in the Social Media community — He came to the right place.

Thanks for all the hard work from the SMC Seattle board members for putting the pieces in place to make this event a success. A huge THANK YOU to the SMC members and the guests that attended the SMC Seattle March meeting.  We hope to see you in April.

What if you missed it?

If you could not make it tonight don’t worry. The next event will be in April. Details will be posted shortly. We hope to see you there.

If you CAN’T WAIT? — There is no need to wait until April – Check out what the SMC Seattle is up to on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

This is a guest post by Jeff Shuey – A SMC board member.