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Sunday, September 13, 2009

JBloggers Second Int'l Conference in Israel

Don't miss my public survey about cellphones -- Please contribute your opinion!!
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If I were not dealing with cancer, I would totally take over planning of the next JBloggers convention.

Of course, if I were not dealing with cancer, I might never have entered the blogosphere in the first place. But that is neither here nor there.

In my "previous life," not only did I organize seminars and conventions, I trained students and young professionals how to do it.

The first rule is: know your audience.

Both of the main panels and the guest speaker were... NOT bloggers. OK, there were one or two bloggers on the panels, but they were not the majority.

HELLO??? This is a BLOGGERS convention. I really do not want to hear from people who introduce themselves with the following (or any variation thereof): "I admit, that I do not blog." If you do not blog, you do not really belong at a bloggers conference. How hard to figure out is that?

The convention was split into two parts. The first half consisted of three small "workshops" with bloggers who talked about a range of topics. The second half had a short commedic interlude, two guest speakers, and two panels. Besides Benji Lovitt's “What War Zone“ stand-up routine, I did not find the second half very interesting. (sorry)

Regarding the first part, I would have had a much better time had I remembered one fundamental rule: choose according to who is giving the lecture; the topic is secondary.

There were two workshops I should have attended, given by bloggers who I know are really interesting (http://muqata.blogspot.com/, Israel Matzav, David “Treppenwitz” Bogner) and whose sessions would have been fun for me.

Instead, to my chagrin, I chose two workshops which I thought might help me figure out if I want to try to make money from my blog and, if so, how to do it. Yuck. Workshops about making money do not really speak to me, even if the lecturers are really interesting.

I am a fan of David Abitbol, from Jewlicious, so I attended his workshop. Unfortunately, it did not really provide me with the information I sought.

The next workshop was even more "off target," since it was really geared for people who blog to promote their business. My blog is not a business....

....though I have been fantasizing for a while now about making T-shirts. I have some cool ideas... but I just do not get around to it! That (the "never getting 'round to it") is why I will never run a business!

For me, the most educational part of the conference was the third workshop I attended, which was not even about blogging. Ahuva Berger, who blogs at Sabra at Heart, gave a beginner's tutorial about Twitter. I do not know if Twitter is for me or not, but I am going to give it a try.

The main reason I went to the conference was to meet other bloggers. I felt there was not enough time for that.

I wonder if I should just organize an afternoon in the park. No fancy buildings, no entrance fee, BYOF (bring your own food).

Would you come?


Please daven (or send happy, healing thoughts) for RivkA bat Teirtzel.

With love and optimism,
RivkA

25 comments:

Risa Tzohar said...

You are amazing! Of course I would come. But it's gonna be raining soon (a lot, we hope, after sukot) so maybe a mall would be a better idea.

rutimizrachi said...

I'd be there, f'shizel! The Meet Your Fellow Bloggers event was my favorite part. Hi, Risa. Nice to meet you! And nice to see you again, too, RivkA.

Benji Lovitt said...

Nice meeting you! Hope you enjoyed the evening.

Benji

Robin said...

Now THAT I would come to! The Jbloggers conference really doesn't speak to me, but an informal picnic in a park would be terrific :).

Safranit (Safra-knit) said...

I'd definitely come to a picnic...how about a family day during Succot? :)

happyduck1979 said...

I would come. I hate sitting through seminars so yesterday was so not an option for me- but a picnic sounds way more up my alley.

Rahel Jaskow said...

I'd come!

toby said...

That's funny - another blogger (I don't know if she wants me to mention who) and I were saying the same thing - that we'd like to organize an informal blogger get-together, with no panels and no entrance fee :) I was thinking Cheshvan, after all of this chagim madness is behind us. Whaddya say?

tafka pp said...

Glad you were exposed to the wisdom of the wonderful Ahuva.

Even though I haven't blogged in over a year, I definitely would come to something less formal, establishment/NBN-aligned!

RivkA with a capital A said...

Together we are ten -- so let's do it!

My original idea was to do it on Succot -- the weather is still nice, and most of us have off of work.

But... we would need a succah for a picnic.

So, my next idea is Isru Chag -- still have good weather, no need for succah.

What say you?

Cheryl Pitt said...

Being in the US, I don't think I could make the picnic :) But I like Twitter a lot more than I thought I would. If you sign up let me know so I can follow you! I'm @SomewhatCrunchy on Twitter.

OneTiredEma said...

I had similar thoughts. The socializing was really the best part for me (and the smallest part of the program!)...

Shelly said...

This is totally unrelated to blogging.
I was looking at your favorite posts and thought "The Clock" was amazing - and profoundly true. Having a long time can be meaningless if you don't use it well. You imbue every minute with meaning.
Loved the "Playing in the Rain" post too - I used to encourage my kids to climb trees - and it took a lot of encouraging at first - something I still love to do. Made them get down themselves too once they were up (though I was there to help if necessary - but with a little persistence they always managed). Israelis were often horified, thinking it terribly dangerous, looking for their parents to let them know what they were doing. And we won't even discuss what they thought (and loudly said)when they discovered they were encouraged by me.

IsraLuv said...

i am so happy that you didnt leave my workshop with the "deer stuck in headlights" reaction (like last time)

to be honest- i kept your feedback from my last presentation in mind when creating the presentation and i even shared it w/ non twitter folks to see how much they understood before appearing in front of a (scary) blogging audience.

i would love an informal meetup but work requires me to be in the office. including succot. boo!

Mrs. S. said...

I'm the "another blogger" who Toby was referring to (Hi, Toby!), and yes, I would love to come!

RivkA - May you and your family have a shanah tovah u'metukah and a ktivah v'chatimah tovah!

rutimizrachi said...

Ooh! It sounds like a great party! Will it be bloggers only? Or family as well?

westbankmama said...

RifkA - you really hit the nail on the head. I think a lot of the bloggers just want a social event - although I did like some of the presentations. I think if you make something on Chag then we need to be able to take the family along...

happyduck1979 said...

do kids have school on isru chag (still learning the timetables here!)- I would prefer not to have to schlepp her with me if I do not have to.

Also, um, where is "here"- I mean, I know I need to get myself into J-lem, but are you on a busline?

Batya said...

I was zonked from my subbing job, came late and didn't socialize. What a waste.
Your points about the panel were good. They chose panelists mostly to try to attract people not like "us," and it didn't work.
Twitter's awaste and a danger; all sorts of peculiar people. Maybe your "niche" will be better.

Refuah Shleimah!

Alissa said...

Thank you! I've been trying to figure out what bothered me about the panels. And then, I'm getting frustrated trying to identify how I would change them. They weren't bloggers!! The moderation could have been better, too.

And definitely more time for the social/networking side of things! I met so many people I barely had any time to chat with.

I would definitely come to a bloggers' picnic. And I promise not to bring Burger King :)

Gila said...

Count me in! I ended up getting in too late to do most of the seminars--caught the end of Ahoovah's, but that was it. The panel left much to be desired.

More time for socialization is exactly what we need. :)

Baila said...

I'm in. Personally speaking, I'd like it to be for bloggers and not families, especially since it seems like its going to be quite a crowd. I am happy to help with organizing any way I can.

Jewlicious said...

You can call me any time you like if you want some more practical information or with whatever questions you have! They gave us 30 minutes - it's hard to be totally productive in that short a time span. My number is 054 673 5873. Anyone can call me, I'm always glad to help. On another note, Gan Sacher picnic? Let's do it! I'll gladly bring badatz rugelach, Badatz borekas or whatever. And my I Love Hashem t-shirt of course!

DoubleTapper said...

Lots of people asked me at the convention...

So who wants to come out to our neighborhood and go shooting with me and Jameel on Friday the 25th?

The Range opens at 10 am.


DoubleTapper
DoubleTapper@gmail.com
DoubleTapper, blogging on Guns Politics Defense from Israel

Baila said...

DT:

My husband would love to shoot something. I'll send him over.