This weekend, the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School hosted Bloggercon, an event at which you could be chatting on IRC one moment, then look up and have a flashback from your MTV-enhanced childhood not three seconds later. I didn't make it to the Day 2 panels, due to (1) illness and (2) a squirrel invasion, but what I witnessed on Day 1 made quite an impression.
If you want transcripts, Heath Row confblogged; for photos, see Dan Bricklin's site. Localfeeds.com and Feedster have live feeds from the Bloggercon attendee blogroll.
Also, Doc Searls, Jeff Jarvis, Betsy Devine, and Jenny Levine have enough commentary on their sites to keep you reading for a while. Glenn Reynolds, aka Instapundit, was the subject of a blog intervention after he left our dinner. Yes, the man does stop blogging to eat. I have proof.
Esther Dyson really amazed me with her comments during the panels. My general impression was that the women at the conference (less than 20% of the total — see Lisa Williams' stats; for a funnier perspective, see Wendy Koslow) were more concerned with extending the technology of blogging and all it can do to a larger, non-"traditional" audience. (Can we use that word in this context yet?)
Jenny Levine, aka The Shifted Librarian, seemed frustrated during her panel. Clicking over to her site, you find a new page devoted to what she wanted to express during Bloggercon. Read it here. Her insight on the relative size and usage statistics for WorldCat and FirstSearch versus Amazon and the blogworld is spot-on. I can't wait for the day those APIs open up!
Not to say that the other 80% were un-concerned about expanding blog-reach... just more likely to veer off onto meandering paths about topics insignificant to the overall context of the conference. (L'affaire Plame, for example). I wasn't the only one thinking this: the Bloggercon IRC channel on Day 1 engaged in quite a bit of venting, at one point taking a vote on who should be the recipient of a Geraldo Rivera-style chair-throwing. On Day 2, the IRC channel was broadcast on a screen behind the panelists, with the disadvantage of significantly less snarky humor.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
Thanks Shannon, great job, and where was Blogcritics?
2 - Dawn
Excellent rundown - can't wait to hear the inside "inside scoop"!!
3 - John Mudd
Where were the real estate bloggers? You can see most of them here on my blogroll.
4 - Phillip Winn
Where were the left-handed trans-gendered bunny-loving bloggers? Most of them can be found here on Google.
;-)
5 - shannon
Alas, I only meet the bunny-loving requirement of that last bit, Phillip!
6 - PhotoDude
"...music? art? Where were the creative types?"
Probably looking at the $500 registration fee and chuckling sadly at the idea they could afford that.
If some groups were under-represented, you might look to that cause.
7 - Eric Olsen
If Bloggercon wishes to be representative, they must reach out to a vital part of the blogging community - the "creative types." We have about 365 of them here and it sounds like one attended. Thanks PD, thanks again Shannon.
8 - TDavid
The second day of Bloggercon was free from what I understand.
9 - Eric Olsen
All the more reason they organizers should make sure they get all the major groups involved.