The Bay Area Reporter has a story on the Blogger Summit that I attended last weekend (the photo at left shows a group of us walking to the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Institute luncheon where Barney Frank was the main speaker - I'm behind the guy in the blue jacket at right). As previous posts indicated, it was a wonderful experience and I hope it will allow all of the attendees to work more in concert and also take our respective blogs to a higher level so that we can be an stronger voice for progressive issues. As Eric Leven is quoted as saying, it was an empowering experience. Here are some highlights:*
In a sterile conference room on the 10th floor of a non-descript office building in Washington, D.C., more than two dozen LGBT bloggers listened intently last weekend as their more veteran peers instructed them in the art of "blog swarms," "astro-turfing," and "cross-posting."
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Bloggers, said one, can enable a minor event to "take on a whole new life" in the mainstream media by spreading news about it across 10 or 15 different blogs (a.k.a. the blog swarm). Lone bloggers can acquire the clout of large groups by assuming a moniker that makes them appear to be a "national" entity when, in fact, they are "a fake grassroots organization" (a.k.a. astro-turfing). And bloggers can increase readership for their views by posting them not just on their own sites but on other, more widely read, sites (a.k.a. cross-posting).
Bloggers, said one, can enable a minor event to "take on a whole new life" in the mainstream media by spreading news about it across 10 or 15 different blogs (a.k.a. the blog swarm). Lone bloggers can acquire the clout of large groups by assuming a moniker that makes them appear to be a "national" entity when, in fact, they are "a fake grassroots organization" (a.k.a. astro-turfing). And bloggers can increase readership for their views by posting them not just on their own sites but on other, more widely read, sites (a.k.a. cross-posting).
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This first National LGBT Citizen Journalist Bloggers Summit attracted about 60 LGBT bloggers. The conference was separate from, but simultaneous to, the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Institute, and bloggers and the more conventional leaders met in a few joint sessions.
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The conference included such topics as how bloggers can contribute to political campaigns, how to enhance their work with investigative reporting skills and practices, and what federal laws might have an impact on their blogging. Conference sponsors included political activist Jonathan Lewis and the Microsoft Corporation. Rogers said Lewis contributed $50,000 toward the meeting and Microsoft contributed a free copy of Microsoft Office Professional to eager attendees.
The conference included such topics as how bloggers can contribute to political campaigns, how to enhance their work with investigative reporting skills and practices, and what federal laws might have an impact on their blogging. Conference sponsors included political activist Jonathan Lewis and the Microsoft Corporation. Rogers said Lewis contributed $50,000 toward the meeting and Microsoft contributed a free copy of Microsoft Office Professional to eager attendees.
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There were well-known political bloggers, such as Pam Spaulding of http://www.PamsHouseBlend.com, Bil Browning of http://www.Bilerico.com, Nan Hunter of http://www.HunterforJustice.com, and Ramon Johnson of About.com's "Gay Life."
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One attendee, Eric Leven of New York (at http://www.Knucklecrack.blogspot.com), described the conference as empowering. "For me there was something in those rooms, something in those workshops," he blogged after the meeting, "maybe it was the sense of community or the downright simple feeling of being empowered by teachers, writers, techies and activists but something in that room made me feel as though we were all on our digital surfboards, in this new world of ours, riding the crest of the wave of this new movement."
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