Blog World Expo 2009 roll-up
Blog World Expo (BWE) this year was something else. I was amazed at how much I got out of it, but kind of wish I would have gotten a chance to get to more of the other panels and keynotes besides the milblog track. I flew in on Wednesday night with my wife and we eventually got to our hotel (the Luxor). Thursday was the day for the milblog track and I knew where I would be for the entire day.
One thing about either BWE or the milblog conference in D.C. is that it gives me a chance to catch up with many of my friends in the milblog world. All year long I exchange phone calls, emails or (private milblog group) postings with my friends and fellow milbloggers, but it is always nice to see them in person and give them a hug or handshake.
We had a fairly good showing of milbloggers at this year’s BWE. There was Matt, Mr. Wolf and Laughing Wolf from www.blackfive.net, Boston Maggie from http://bostonmaggie.blogspot.com/, Chuck Z from http://tcoverride.blogspot.com/. Barmy Mama from http://deltasierrahotel.net/, Household 6 from http://armyhousehold6.com/, DeltaWhiskey1 from http://www.deltawhiskey.us/, Toby Nunn from http://tobynunn.com/, Mr, Mrs Greyhawk from http://www.mudvillegazette.com, my good friend and co-host CJ from here and http://www.soldiersperspective.us, and many others. There were even some that came in virtually like OldBlue from http://www.afghanquest.com who called in from Afghanistan to participate in a panel.
CJ and I were both at BWE to represent the You Served Blog and Radio show and were both very thankful for VA Mortgage Center’s support for us and this event. Besides making sure that CJ and I got to the conference, VAMC also sponsored the refreshments during the milblog track. I know that does not sound like much, but in fact it is and was a lifesaver. All day we had drinks, coffee, water, pastries, snacks, cookies, etc. catered to the room for anyone attending the track to partake in. Rather than having to go and search and buy food and drinks, the panelists and observers of the milblog track only had to stroll to the back of the room.
The panels went great despite having some last minute cancellations by some members. CJ and I were live blogging the best we could during the panels either by writing tweets on the You Served Twitter account at www.twitter.com/youserved or by blogging here. We conducted some interviews and just did some networking with different milbloggers. CJ and I were on the same panel with Scott Henderson from www.mediasauce.com and thanks to Rick Calvert from BWE, we took a last minute idea and performed a first. We broadcast our panel live on the first hour of the You Served Radio Show. With Marcus running the show and switchboard from his home, CJ and I were able to call into the show and make the first hour the entire panel. This allowed our normal listeners the chance to virtually be there for at least one panel. As the panel ended, Marcus took back over the show and ran it for the 2nd half.
Over the next couple of days we hung out on the expo floor, mostly at the US Army Accessions Command sponsored Milblog Lounge. Unlike the other booths on the floor that were normal booths, USAAC had their table of SWAG to give away along with several nice leather couches that anyone could come and relax on, get on the Internet, snack on pastries or enjoy some other refreshment. This was a great place for milbloggers to drop their computer bags, relax and just congregate. Not far from the milblog lounge was a booth by the National Guard Bureau, The Bob Woodruff Foundation, and of course Soldiers’ Angels.
During the next two days CJ and I were very busy, which kept at least me from making many other panels. Besides walking the floor and getting my free SWAG, and enjoying the company of friends and milbloggers, we also conducted several interviews. CJ and I were both armed with Flip-up HD video camera and voice recorders walking around interviewing people. We also were both interviewed several times by different media outlets. I have a great interview with the guys behind Chad Vadar, interviews with non-milbloggers like Zac Johnson, and several others that will go up over the following weeks.
Besides getting free stuff from the booths, I must say I learned a lot about multiple opportunities for milbloggers or bloggers in general by talking with the vendors. There were multiple booths who’s focus was on soliciting bloggers to write for them and paying the bloggers to do so. I think 100% of the ones I talked to expressed deep interest in mibloggers as they don’t have many filling that genre. Some pay by the word, and some pay by the posting. There were also many booths that dealt with doing more podcasting and video in blogs. Personally I think that is where blogs are maturing to. We are an instant gratification society and many people would rather watch a video blog than read a normal blog.
One person who was there pushing podcasting an that I got the opportunity to meet was TV talk show host, Crank Yankers voice person and overall comedian Adam Corolla. Besides meeting the Chad Vadar guys, the chance to meet Adam was great. There were several other famous folks I met, but will save that for my blog at www.bouhammer.com.
VAMC has committed to sponsor the milblog track in the future and I am very glad of that. I think the You Served Blog and Radio show has become a major force in the new media space and the milblog space in general.
Since I did so many interviews with people during the time there, I will wait and post those interviews and let them speak for themselves. Again, look for them over the next week or two now that I am back on a permanent laptop.
We have several on-loan guest bloggers coming up here on You Served as a result of BWE and our next big event will be the milblog conference in Apr/May timeframe. Stay tuned and stay informed.
