IAB Belgium put on an outstanding little one-day digital conference in Brussels this past Thursday, that I was lucky to be a part of. The video (above) will give you a quick recap of the event and the speakers. One of my big highlights for the day, aside from presenting in front of the biggest screen I have ever seen (it was Orwellian, really, ) was to hang out with Ogilvy’s brilliant Rohit Bhargava, JP De Clerck, the IAB Belgium team, and everyone who came by and had a beer with me.

It was also nice to be back in Belgium, which is a bit of a second home for me. (I went to high school in Brussels.) I learned a lot from several of the speakers, and was pleasantly surprised to find many of my very own concepts about social media’s complementary role in bridging the gap between short-term and long-term consumer engagement activities echoed in several presentations, namely that of Jef Vandecruys (AB-InBev). Validation is wonderful, and European agencies are obviously beginning to grasp some of the more strategic aspects of social media integration beyond the narrow scope of marketing campaigns. This is a very good sign.

I can’t wait to be back in Belgium at the end of June for the Belgian arm of Mashable’s Social Media Day, which will combine a Red Chair-style 1/2 day workshop and a party (afterwards) with some of the area’s top DJs (or so I hear). Click here to go to the registration page.

Special thanks to Email Garage, One Agency, Emakina, Combell, Maestro, IAB Belgium (of course) and the rest of the sponsors and event partners who made this even not only possible but a wonderful success. Very well done.