Form of... a convention in New Orleans!
Think of it: bloggers from all over could get together, and talk about the Katrina aftermath, and blog, and argue, and party, and share information, and podcast, and effect political change, and meet each other in person, and have a "work day" in a flooded neighborhood, and actually do something, and have panels and guest speakers and t-shirts and stickers, and we could get some press and everyone would leave feeling really good about their experience in New Orleans, and would blog about it, and want to do it again...
I'm thinking the August 26 and 27 weekend, just prior to the 1 year anniversary of the storm.
But who cares what I think--- what do YOU think? What are your thoughts and ideas about this proposal? Additions, subtractions, crazy off the wall stuff, criticisms... go for it, you won't hurt my feelings. Weeks ago, Scout Prime floated the idea of a blogger convention in N.O. and I'm sure it could work, but plans would need to be made quickly. So if you suggest a good idea, be prepared to help realize it, and "make it work".
Let's brainstorm a bit in the comments here. Guest speaker ideas? Promotional ideas/links? "Work-day" ideas? Suggestions about venue and lodging and technical details? Who will coordinate? How much will we have to charge?.... Be constructive. Unless a proposal is a real sandtrap, I'm not anxious to hear at length why it won't work.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Katrina Bloggers Activate!
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22 Comments:
Count me in as someone willing and able to contribute in any way...to be honest, I'm still getting back up to speed post-holiday...but if I think of anything, I'll pass it along.
I'm not a Katrina blogger per se, nor could I likely go, but that is an excellent idea.
You might contact Scout Prime over at First Draft, or Riggsveda they'd be interested in this.
Thanks for stopping by, Kelley. And just to be clear, everyone who cares about LA/NO/Gulfcoast would be welcome if/when we get a conference together.
(Btw, If you don't read Kelley's blog "Singularity" on a daily basis, you're missing a lot.)
What do the New Orleanians think?
Sounds like a great idea. I'm in. I especially like the idea of having a "work day".
Sounds like a great idea, sorry I can't come up with any specific recommendations at the moment, but count me in.
Not trying to be negative, but I'm getting comic visions of a blogger workday. Probably wrong of me to assume that other bloggers share my great aptitude for carpentry and all things mechanical. If we all ended up smashing our fingers and couldn't blog for awhile, what would be the harm? But I'll provide some labor, if anyone else can provide any skill.
By 
bayoustjohndavid, at
11:24 PM
I'll webcast.....name panel on time and place....i have video production and webcast in hand.
A blogger summit! I like the idea, so you can count me in on this one. At the very least, I can help out with some aspects of the PR, with promotional items (t-shirts, stickers and more) and possibly with artwork and with wrangling some entertainment, once we have some kind of budget and plan.
Speaking of budgets and plans, I think we should start thinking about sponsorship, which I believe will be necessary in order to pull this off.
Maybe we should do a little research within the blogger community to see what kind of things would really motivate folks to make the trip down here.
You do realize how much work this will take to pull off, right? (At least in the version I see happening in my mind.) But I'll help any way I can.
I can drink beer. Does that help?
Dambala: excellent! thanks, I'll be in touch.
Lisa said "What kind of things would really motivate folks to make the trip down here"?
That's a good question. I think we'd need help with free promotion at the big sites. We'd need a good turnout from Gulf Coast bloggers, and I think the presence of a guest speaker (John Barry? Ivor?) or informed panel would be a draw for some. Also, a workday would separate this conference from just being a collection of geeks at a hotel. Attendees could tour the devastation, or help gut a house with Common Ground, or volunteer at a food bank or something like that... Plus, then, there'd be nights in the French Quarter and all the other touristy draws that New Orleans could provide. ANd it would be the off-season so lodging and meals would be relatively inexpensive.
"You do realize how much work this will take to pull off, right?"
Probably not.
I consume the local blogs far more than I contribute to them, but I would help out in whatever way I can manage if this looks like it might actually happen.
I'm not sure that getting it all done in time for Katrina's anniversary would be possible, at least not if you want it done right. And I think that making it really work out well is more important than the specific date(s) it happens on.
Lisa, for the entertainment, you sing, I'll play drums, Schroeder plays horns, and who knows what other talent we gots here.
Ashley, I always thought Schroeder played piano...
I'd be interested if you think you can get together a critical mass. I can't guarantee I can make it but can be a strong maybe.
By the way I've got a FQ studio apt, with access to a decent sized courtyard that could be used for a get together if such a location is desired. I don't think it can support a conference but perhaps a happy hour.....
Hey, maybe try to get a sponsorship from a refrigerator manufacturer...or an outboard motor company like Evinrude (and, no, I'm not being ENTIRELY serious).
This sounds like fun! I understand the desire to have it around the anniversary of the catastrophe, but that's a really short fuse. I'm working on organizing an engineering conference in mid September, and we've been at it since March.
Seriously, it wouldn't need to be so formal or so grand. Sort of like us bloggers, it should be spontaneous and chaotic, with flashes of brilliance. Let's rent a VFW hall and buy a couple kegs of beer and let'er rip!
Peace,
Tim
At this point, we have no idea whether we should even try to pull off a grand event with blogger friends from everywhere in attendance or just get a bunch of us from within driving distance together to have some chaotic and spontaneous fun. I propose we put the idea out there and get our respective blog associates (bloggers we read, those who read us) to put feelers out as well. You know -do little market research.
Start with a little bit about what we want to do and why, ofering some tantalizing reasons that folks should be interested--then ask questions to assess:
-general interest: would you come? and/or what would it take to get you to come on down?
-when would you be more inclined to come? (August 29th-ish or later?)
etc...
It would be best if we were coordinated in this effort. Maybe people could be directed to a (free) online survey, so it would be easy to aggregate the responses.
Thoughts?
We need to get together ftf again to drink and brainstorm. We should shoot for the moon and settle for the earth; whatever the hell that means.
By 
, at
8:27 PM
I'm not sure what it means either, but it sounded good. Let's meet at the Bridge Lounge tomorrow at 6pm.
Please continue this discussion in the comments of the Rising Tide post above. Thank you.
I can't make it tomorrow but press on, o bi-valvular one. I'll be back fully on Saturday.
By , at
10:51 PM
New orleans already has tourists. If you want to go and spend money, great! Just be sure to tip real heavily, and don't go to the most expensive places, so some of your money will do some good.
But New Orleans needs the power grid restored.
New Orleans needs the schools re-opened (NOT "privatized").
New Orleans needs the home owners to be able to rebuild.
I don't know how much more I can help, but I bet that going down to talk face to face for a long weekend won't help a lot more than continuing to converse online . . .
By , at
2:05 PM
Some time back I was researching some of the needs that the schools and churches have in NO. There are funds established through Musicares and other such sources. remeber when they had the jazz fest? Anyway...what about coming from a different standpoint. As an artist? Something more tangible.