My BlogNashville Thoughts

Yes, I'm probably the very last participant of BlogNashville to actually not blog about the thing. There are a few reasons. One was that I immediately got sick afterward. Another was that I was kind of "blogged out" and needed a day off. But mostly I wanted a day of perspective to get all my thoughts in order about the whole thing. And what I've decided is not to do a long blow-by-blow post about the whole thing, nor a listing of all the amazing people I met. I would inevitably leave something or someone out, and the events are pretty much covered in a zillion posts that will be chronicled for posterity elsewhere. But here's what I got out of it.

- Blogs have much more of a worldwide impact than I had really ever thought about. Sure, I was as captivated by Salem Pax as everyone else during the Iraqi invasion, but I never thought about acting as a proxy for a Chinese blogger so that they could speak freely about what's going on there. Or bloggers making their voices heard from Africa and Afghanistan and throughout the Middle East. Rebecca Mackinnon from Global Voices really opened my eyes, and hopefully will open many more. I think it's very important for kids to get involved and know what's going on without being turned off by the death and destruction on TV news, and some of the examples she gave in her presentation (like the Burka girls, who are hilarious!) are proof that there might be hope to bring the MTV generation into this.
- If I weren't already in love with podcasting, I am now. I went to the podcasting session that was hosted by Brendan Greeley of the Public Radio Exchange, which I have a feeling may turn into my new favorite site, and was also attended by Dave Winer, who I actually found to be really cool (apparently, I'm almost only person at BlogNashville to not get totally turned off by him, judging by the blog postings I've read, but I didn't attend the session he hosted.) Later in the evening I attended the podcasting Food For Thought, which was sadly underattended - just me, Brendan, J.D. Lasica was a late arrival, and Mr. Roboto and his date made a welcome appearance. Which is a shame, because the conversation was incredible. And I'm very excited by what's being done with podcasting, audioblogging (which is really more of what PRX is) and videocasting. If the law can just catch up with the technology, I think it will possibly turn the internet into the new creative renaissance that it has had the potential of being. Oh, and if you're a digital filmmaker or a audioblogger and aren't using Ourmedia for your storage, you're missing out.
- An Iranian blogger and I taught John Jay Hooker how to start his own blog. That might have been one of the most surreal moments of my life. Hooker will go down in history as one of the most famous rabblerousers in American politics, and I was honored to meet him again (I met him once before, as a little girl.)
- A very interesting discussion on "committing journalism" with Staci Kramer from PaidContent.org. In some ways it was very much like the very first day of News Writing 201 at Chapel Hill, except viewed from the slightly-warped (and maybe not in a bad way) blogger POV. Also had one of the best speeches ever from the aforementioned John Jay Hooker, and I thought it was interesting to see everyone blogging his remarks as he spoke, just like old-time reporters would do with their teletype machines in the movies. In a way, that's the ultimate act of committing journalism.
- And for a few BN notes, I had the first disappointing meal that I've ever had at one of my formerly favorite Nashville restaurants, Tabouli's. I hope they haven't permanently lost their touch with Mediterranean food. Patrick's on Music Row has excellent Cajun and Abita's, y'all! And I have to commend Mr. Roboto and Hammock Publishing for throwing an excellent opening-night party. I met a zillion cool people who I could never completely name here. Hope everyone made it home safely!