BloggerCon II, Here I Come!

BloggerCon II, Here I Come!

Hereís the plan: by some miracle, complete Friday work and be able to head out the door by Noon. Go to the oil change place and give the car a little pick-me-up before the trip.

Drive up to Cambridge taking a sort of out-of-the-way back route. Avoid I-95 and other such crowded arteries.

Arrive at friendsí house in Arlington sometime in the evening. Have nice dinner with friends. Say tata to them as they leave to attend a concert in Boston. Get all comfy in front of their TV and suffer through the fact that although this is a Yankees vs. Red Sox game, it is, sadly, being aired by that miserable excuse of a network with its obnoxious MTV-camerawork visuals and incredibly annoying announcers. Turn sound down, seek radio to secure better play by play audio.

Watch the Yanks continue their winning ways. Bless the gods that maintain The Curse.

Go to sleep, set alarm for bright and early.

Get up and out early, drive over to Harvard, attend BloggerCon II. Write note to self to thank Wendy Koslow for the tip on how to reach the people at Harvard who provided me with the Handicapped Hanging Visor-Sticker so I can park right by Pound Hall and not have to walk a country mile after parking the car.

See if the song that starts the program is the National Anthem or some other appropriate ditty. If AKMA [1] is there, make a point to say hello, since he and I managed to miss each other a few times at the October BloggerCon. If AKMA isnít there, maybe I can offer to say a brucha, to help meet the need for there to be a convocation. HmmmÖwhatís the proper brucha for a BloggerCon meeting? Bo-ray, paree- hah-keypad?

Somehow manage to clone myself so I can attend both Lisa Williamsí session (Visions from Users [2]) and Jay Rosenís session (What is Journalism? [3]) ñat the same time. Curse under my breath that these two session of such interest are scheduled to run concurrently.

The session Lisa is leading is of great interest to me. The comments and suggestions offered by attendees and others in advance of this session, reacting to the needs, wants, and desires of bloggers for future features, tools, and so forth, were fascinating. There will be much to learn in this session, and a non-tech guy like me cherishes meetings where English, not technobabble, is spoken.

Jayís session looks to be a well-attended and very interesting one, as well. I received a note from Jay on Thursday, and in response I posted a comment on Jayís blog [4] in the area where he previews and sets the tone for the Saturday morning meeting.

Perhaps the WIFI or IRC or Streaming of the sessions will enable me to attend one, and then take the other one in later, in a time-shift sort of maneuver. Hope so, anyway.

The second sessions are an interesting group, but thereís no doubt that I will go over to the one being led by JOHO [5] blogger and Cluetrain co-author David Weinberger, Blogging in Business [6]. I tried very hard to get a company-wide blog going in a company a few years ago. They (that refers to the duo known as ìtop level management,î fearful of a company blog, but avid readers of my personal blog) resisted. Two years in real time is a few lifetimes in net/web/blog time. I think this is a coming area of note, and am interested to hear what David and those attending this session have to say.

I may go back and forth between that meeting and the Presidential Bloggers [6] session being led by Dan Gillmore. It would seem likely that Cameron Barrett [7] will be there ñ I note here [8] that he is registered. Cam had headed up the Wesley Clark weblog and is now a consultant for the Kerry campaign, focusing on their online community, blogs, forums and online activism tools. Camís take on the topic should be very interesting. Session leader Dan Gillmore writes the Silicon Valley.com blog [9] (and site), and seems the perfect choice to lead the discussion.

Gee, thatís two reasons for cloning while at BloggerCon II. Do we detect a pattern here?

During the lunch break Frank Paynter [10] and I will be getting together for The Billable Ours Lunch, and we hope to be joined by others who are in the consulting/marketing, newtech/new media worlds. Frank gave credit to Ken Camp [11] (who was going to attend BCII, but other matters prevailed) for the term, Billable Ours. We want to discuss how we, the self-employed, can further our pursuits in this online and connected world.

Interested in joining us? Look for me or Frank at BloggerCon. How to find us? Check out our blogrolls, see someone who you know who is on either roll, ask them if theyíve seen Frank or me, and could they point us out. BloggerCon is a small and sort of intimate, informal atmosphere. It is very easy to find people.

Following lunch comes two more sessions I am eager to attend: Shirkeyís Power Law [12], being led by Philip Greenspun, pinch-hitting for Nick Denton, and then Blogging as a Business [13] being led by Jeff Jarvis.

These two sessions, which seem to dovetail so much as to be one extension of the other, are of key concern to me. In a perfect world, writing (aka: blogging) about areas of business or broadband/connectivity economics, et al (with some emphasis on the et al!) would be how I would earn a living. I love to write, I am excited and interested (as well as full of opinion and worldview) about any number of matters, and if this could be my main pursuit, life would be greatly improved. Who knows, maybe a spark will fly, an idea will be generated .. will BCII change my life? Gee, sure hope so.

Of course, during the afternoon sessions I will be paying close attention to my Nextel cell phone. It has net connectivity, and I can go to ESPN Sportline and watch the Yanks-Red Sox game, on a pitchñby-pitch basis. I will gladly be the occasional news reporter person, providing updates on game progress for those who are interested.

Sadly, I will have to miss most of the parties and the Saturday night dinner that follow the official meetings, as I must drive back to New York Saturday evening. Sunday I have obligations (and a Yanks-Red Sox game to watch on the YES Network) and much to do before the coming work week.

Hopefully timing and circumstance will enable me to blog about BCII, and possibly even post a few photos.

See you -- well, some of you -- in Cambridge!