Thanks to everyone who came to today’s Pittsburgh BlogIN. I had a swell time, and now I’ve got a page of cool things to follow up on — gadgets to get, tricks to try, and plans to make for the next event.
For more reactions, photos, and other evidence, check out the prompt posts from Mark Stroup and Sri Bala. I think Mark and Venky Krishnamoorthy were the only people to create actual posts at the event, so special kudos to them.
The list of tasks I’d hoped to accomplish at the event was long and obviously impossible to complete. But I did manage to start updating the look of this site. I had liked the design I threw together for my MySpace page, so I’m expanding on it here. The typography and text layout need work — more flair and more cohesion, maybe some sort of theme to pull it together — but at last I’ve been able to use this image of a rusting, peeling surface that I found years back. (FYI: The pic is a stock photo from Microsoft’s clip art library, one of several photos I considered for the Junction Dance Theatre website.)
ALSO: Very special thanks (in the case of Anne, make that Very Special Thanks) to those who spread the word about the BlogIN even though they couldn’t attend. i hope you’ll be able to make it to a future event.
UPDATE: More feedback from the event… in the comments to this post Liz points out that she accomplished some blogs to-dos at the BlogIN and after, and we discuss ideas for future such events. Plus over at Inner Bitch, Christina describes the thrill of meeting a celebrity sketchbook.
Thanks!
I didn’t get anything posted while there, either, but I did get to install a cool firefox plugin (thanks Christina!) and then when I got home I was able to install the MT Plugin for closing old comment threads en masse, and so comments on 700+ entries – everything from before last week – are now closed. YAY – deliver us from comment spammers. So for me it was both social and productive time.
When is the next one???
Liz, I forgot about your plugin success — congrats on getting the comment thread issue fixed! Soooo much better than closing all those entries by hand. Very special kudos to you. :)
I would like us to have a BlogIN every three months, similar to the BlogFest schedule (but different months from the BlogFests, so we don’t overload the calendars of the local blog world).
It would seem like four hours is a good amount of time for such an event, but then again I felt that at least a few of us had more to do and discuss and share. My initial idea was for a 24-hour event, with people blogging through the night…. I don’t know if that’s practical, but I also don’t know if we need to be practical.
I’m open to suggestions for location. I like the library very much, but the proxy server there was so frustrating, especially in keeping everyone from FTPing. (For exmaple, I wish you’d been able to install your plugin at the event, so we all could revel in your triumph with you.) Free wi-fi access is a must. Also, if we can get loaner computers so those without laptops can join in, so much the better.
I promise to set the date and location as soon as possible, so everyone can plan ahead and spread the word. (Ditto for the next BlogFest, by the way.) For now, expect the next BlogIN to be in October.
Yes, it was such joy to open my inbox this morning and NOT have it full of comment spam waiting to be deleted. Living dangerously, I’ve even turned off comment moderation, since I only have a week’s worth of entries to keep track of at a time.
And you didn’t mention that you stepped further along with your cool re-design, and taught Mark how to start a WordPress blog…
I wonder if we could work with someone in IT for the library who would be sympathetic and help us get around the FTP issue… Because the library is wonderful and central. If we went with another location and we got a sponsor or two, a la BarCamp, we might be able to set up an open network in any donated space for the 12-18-24 hour period that we needed.
BarCamp San Francisco last week was bigger than we are, but very much in the same spirit…
http://www.horsepigcow.com/2006/07/what-is-barcamp.html
Cheers and thanks.