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.

BlogWorldExpo 2009 is now a memory, but a great one. Troy and I had a GREAT time and learned a LOT about how to get the You Served name out there. We placed the blog on countless new sites that specialize in promoting blogs. We made many new contacts whom we’ll be bringing on to the show in the near future.

Before I begin, I have to thank the VA Mortgage Center for their hospitality and support. They paid to send Troy and I to the Expo and sponsored the food for the Milblog Track. It was enjoyed by many and we even did some interviews in front of the promotional sign.

During the conference, Troy and I had the pleasure of hosting TWO live shows – our regular Thursday evening show and an impromptu show from the exhibition floor. Rick Calvert, founder of BlogWorldExpo, donated equipment that allowed us to broadcast our panel live for our show! At a savings of nearly $600, it was definitely appreciated! It was a resounding success and the FIRST TIME EVER that we did a show in the same room with each other. I can’t ask for a better man to be associated with and You Served can do no better!

I had the opportunity to meet many other milbloggers and supporters for the first time! I was able to sit in on numerous other tracks and get some pointers from various bloggers. I met some education bloggers, financial bloggers, and sports bloggers. I even made contact with a faculty member of the University of Texas where I plan to finish my degree one day. Through these contacts, I was able to open some eyes to the world of milblogging and specifically the You Served and ASP blogs. Best of all, for VAMC at least, I think I steered a VA loan customer there way, though that was not my mission at the Expo!

All in all, it was a great time. We lined up some great guests for future shows and we’re really excited about that. As for me, things are getting busy and I’ll be hit and miss for a few weeks, but I’ll try to keep things updated as often as possible. If you have the opportunity next year, we hope to see you at BlogWorldExpo 2010!!

The great crew at VAMC is stepping up again and showing how much they support the troops and more importantly showing how much they support getting the word out via milblogs. They are sponsoring CJ and myself at Blog World Expo in Las Vegas where both of us are speaking on a panel Thursday afternoon. We will be conducting a lot of interviews (both audio and video) with people, talking with many in the milblog community, and rubbing elbows with the who’s who of the blogging world (which I think will all be milbloggers or milblog fans, but I could be biased). I must say however that we will miss our “red-shirt” producer Marcus who won’t be able to attend this year. We will do our best to carry on the tradition of the You Served crew from last year.

In addition to getting CJ and myself to Blog World Expo, VAMC is also sponsoring the milblog track of panels which happen all day on Thursday. Through the contributions of VAMC, there will be refreshments available all day for the milblog track. This great contribution has earned VAMC publicity on at Blog World Expo and on their website. It has also earned VAMC kudos and thanks from the most popular milblog on the internet, Blackfive (http://www.blackfive.net/main/2009/10/thank-you-va-mortgage-center.html).

If you are in the Vegas area starting on Thursday, be sure to stop by or drop a line to blake@blakepowers.net and he can set you up with a free membership to the milblog track. This gets you in to the milblog panels and to the exhibit hall for the entire conference. If you want to see a schedule for the conference, go here.

Panel #3 is finally up of the popular “Taking Care of Vets” video. In this video: Moderator: McQ of Q&O and Blackfive; Pete Hegseth of Vets for Freedom, Genevieve Chase of American Women Veterans, Mark Seavey from the American Legion–Assistant Director of Legislation, Matt Bernard of A Soldier’s Life

Taking Care of Vets from Nathan Long on Vimeo.

In this terribly audible video, we interview American Soldier blogger Matt. This interview was conducted in the lobby at the end of the conference, so the audio is overmodulated and very noisy. But, it’s still recognizable so we’re posting it!

Matt Interview from Nathan Long on Vimeo.

Troy interviews OIF/OEF veteran Genevieve Chase about her testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and her just completed panel, which will be published shortly. The panel was titled “Taking Care of Veterans”.

Eve Interview from Nathan Long on Vimeo.

This panel is titled “The New Media Agora”. This one of the more popular panels in my opinion, which was odd considering it was the last and people were getting tired. What is the impact of the “new media” on issues concerning national security, military doctrine and concept development, training, education, and lessons learned? A discussion of the issue by those at the frontlines of the debate by Moderator, Greyhawk of Mudville Gazette; Andrew Exum of Abu Magawama, Bill Nagle of Small Wars Journal, Bill Roggio of The Long War Journal.

This is a bit long, so it may take awhile to download.

Panel #4 – 2009 Milblog Conference from Nathan Long on Vimeo.

In this video, we sit down with Uncle Jimbo from Blackfive and SOG Media to discuss his thoughts on how the conference went this year. Jimbo, never one to shy away from honest assessment, graciously spoke with Troy:

Jimbo Interview from Nathan Long on Vimeo.

Moderator, David Stanford of The Sandbox, publishing, freelancing with Gary Trudeau of Doonesbury; AirForceWife of SpouseBUZZ, Lily Burana of I love a Man in Uniform book; Uncle Jimbo of Blackfive; JD Johannes of Outside the Wire; Craig Stewart of the National Museum of Americans in Wartime.

Panel 2 – Beyond Milblogging from Nathan Long on Vimeo.

In this video, we test fellow Blackfive writer, Bill Paisley, on his knowledge of Blackfive founder Matt Burden.

Bill Interview from Nathan Long on Vimeo.