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:
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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).
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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.
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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."
A number of bloggers are creating a "blog swarm" of get well and best wishes to Pam Spaulding, the blog mistress of Pam's House Blend who had surgery today. Among the story lines being promoted are "how I met Pam" stories to which I would like to add my own. Here goes. I have been a fan of Pam's House Blend for several years but never had the privilege of meeting Pam until the LGBT Blogger Summit in Washington, D.C., orchestrated by Mike Rogers in early December, 2008. Pam is just as amazing and insightful in person as when she is analyzing and venting on the Blend. I often find myself wishing that I had her cutting flare with words and her ability to put out the facts and take down foes of equality for all citizens. Since our meeting nearly two years ago, I have been proud to count Pam as a friend and the boyfriend and I wish here a most speedy recover and a wonderful Thanksgiving.
