October 06, 2003
I didn’t make the first day of BloggerCon 2003 for lots of reasons, including the cost for a day of sessions to which I felt no connection. And for me, that’s what blogging is about: connection. So, instead, I spent the first day strengthening two of the most important connections in my life…..
….who are conveniently located a half-hour "T" ride from the Harvard venue of BloggerCon.
And then I did get myself over to the second (free) day of BloggerCon, where, for me, people and thoughts connected in ways I never expected. Let me start at the end:
On my way back over the rails from Harvard Square, a trio of theatrically black-clad teenagers took the seats next to me. While the nightmare looks of those Matrix wannabes did not particularly disturb me, I was definitely unnerved by one item that the boy was wearing. His hair was blue. Well, we see a lot of that these days. His ultra-wide-leg pants were festooned with chains and zippers that had no other purpose but to festoon. That’s no biggee either. But his black straightjacket stopped me cold. It secured his arms across his chest and, by long sleeved ends and silver D-rings, to his shoulders. What was he thinking! What was his mother thinking! I was thinking that I am glad that my own kids are grown up and I’m not confronted with the challenge of parenting a boy who thinks it’s cool to walk around in bondage. Hell, he almost fell off his seat when the train stopped abruptly. Look ma! No hands!
My thoughts at that point necessarily connected to my perceptions of AKMA and his son, Si, who were still at BloggerCon even as I sped back to enjoy the company of my non-blogger offspring and her family. My path crossed AKMA’s and Si’s several times as we coincidentally attended the same conference sessions throughout the day. In most cases, I found watching the dynamics between them more fascinating than any presentation. Si, with his fingerless gloves, mischievous grin, and ever-present laptop; AKMA with his clerical collar, mischievous grin, and ever-present laptop. Father and son, pals, co-conspirators. It was so evident how much they truly liked each other, honestly appreciated each other’s abilities, humor, talents. I don't know what AKMA would do if Si showed up with blue hair and wearing a tightly fastened straightjacket. But it doesn't look as though he's ever going to have to figure that out anyway.
I first saw them both at Halley Suitt’s early presentation, to which – not being a morning person -- I arrived late. For my money (even though it didn't cost me any money), Halley's style and substance was the best of the bunch. She facilitated a session that explored what can happen – and what actually DID happen – when a blogger exposes (on her personal weblog) her employer's corporate misconduct . There are consequences to making public statements about others, even when they're true. And blogging is public. As far as I'm concerned, this is an issue that deserves its own conference, and Halley, a consummate and experienced teacher, orchestrated a discussion that began to tease out the complex strands that had tangled themselves into Glove Girls predicament.
This is Halley, really listening to what someone else is saying.
And here's where I just have to take more hats off to Halley (whom I met in person over a year ago and liked outright then). On top of her major smarts, she also Ms. Major Personality. Getting up and "stealth disco-ing" behind Joi Ito as he was presenting was something I wish I had had the guts to do -- that is, if I had been privy, in the first place, to the in-joking about the stealth disco stuff that apparently evolved the day before, when I was out buying my grandson his first pair of shoes. You go, girl.
btw, I took a photo of AKMA taking a photo of.....
Watching Halley perform and produce started me thinking about how – just like we are what we eat – we blog what we are. But even those who blog anonymously or pseudonymously (or whatever the word is) can't help but insinuate who they essentially are into their writing.
And that train of thought continued for me into AKMA's session. Just as Halley is a teacher, AKMA is a preacher. While most of what he had to say during his session was not very relevant to me (my being an irreverent non-believer and all), I wanted to contribute something to the conversation before it was over. But Dave Winer chimed in with something irrelevant to just about everyone there, and AKMA used the rest of the session to respond. So I never got a chance to. So I will here:
Spirituality, for me, is a very personal thing – has no connection to congregation or community or church of choice. I usually have very little tolerance for active believers. Yet, reading AKMA's weblog over the past year has made me more accepting and respectful of those who have much different cosmic understandings than mine. So, even though at BloggerCon he spoke to issues regarding blogging as a way of conversing among members of established congregations, I wanted to tell him that his kind of blogging is expanding the spiritual community beyond those establishments. And, while I'm pretty sure that I'd not be able to sit through one of his actual sermons (or anyone's, for that matter), I do read his blog posts, and often they reach me as no official sermon could.
Side note: As AKMA related how he constructs his sermons (he needs to know up front what conclusion he wants to come to and he needs to come up with a "hook"), it occurred to me that that’s exactly how I often construct the kind of personal essay that becomes a good blog post. So, in a real way, blog posts can be very much like the best kinds of sermons.
Final and most important note:
I went to BloggerCon with limited and specific intentions – to actually meet the Wizards, to see the guys behind the curtain who make the winds blow. And, for the most part I did. I shook hands with Dave Winer, David Weinberger, and AKMA. I never got to Doc Searls; I’m sure he didn’t notice. But I did walk over to Chris Locke and introduce myself. What I really wanted to do was sit down somewhere with Chris and see if I could meet the man behind the mask. But all we had a chance to do was shake hands and say polite “nice to meet yas.”
What I didn’t do and what I really wish I had done was give that cuddly Frank Paynter a big hug. Instead, we shook hands and chatted and went to lunch with Betsy Devine and Halley and some new bloggers. Meeting Frank in person was a delight. He’s even better than his weblog. And Betsy, as I expected, still leaves me breathless with her energy and curiosity and openness.
For me, blogging is about the bloggers. It’s a tool for communicating and conversing across geographies in a way that can affect more ordinary people than any other form of sharing ideas and opinions because it allows for thoughtfulness as well as timeliness. But it’s still new, and it’s still widely unknown, and it’s risky, and it has consequences that need to be taken seriously.
It’s also a way to find community, which is what Joi Ito’s session, as well as part of the previous day’s webcast, addressed. I still have much to think about before exploring it all here in public.
So, did I get anything out of BloggerCon? I got what I went for. Did I contribute anything? No. And that’s because, as an outsider, a non-techie, I had nothing to contribute to this pep rally for the Blog Team. Was it worth the trip? If I didn’t combine it with a visit with my grandson, I probably wouldn’t have done it. But I’m glad I did, if only to make real and tangible the faces behind the A-list names. And to give me something timely to think/blog about.
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Old Comments (10)
jeneane on 07 Oct 2003
Right on, Elaine.
"Whatever" to RSS and is blogging journalism and political campaign blogging and the like.
Blogging is about the speed and depth of connection that facilitated halley's "stealth disco" dance behind Joi, thereby bringing relief and laughter to so many of us--even those of us who weren't there. The AKMA and Si story you shared too.
THAT is where the power of blogging is.
Si on 07 Oct 2003
Actually, while there is no imminent danger of me walking around in a straightjacket, (no way to type), the blue hair isn't that far-fetched an idea. Hmm... ^_^
AKMA on 07 Oct 2003
I was going to say — what color was it this summer? Crimson? Green? I don’t rightly recall. . . .
Christopher Locke on 07 Oct 2003
Elaine - Sorry that all we got to do was say our hiyas. I did mean to join you at that Chinese place but I got caught up in a conversation with Hylton Jolliffe of Corrante, whom I had also never met, and, he being a man and all... well, you understand I'm sure. It would have been nice to trade our "different cosmic understandings" and all that, but I guess our kozmik destinies were such that it was simply not to be this time. However, first impressions are important, and I was struck by the fact (it seemed to me) that you are a Very Nice Lady and not the screaming-mimi careening-out-of-control psychotic wolverine you have at times appeared to be online. I guess we all have our little Avatars, don't we? For instance, I myself am actually a highly devout Russian Orthodox monk and psi-phenomena consultant to the CIA.
On the other hand, I learned that that Dave Winer is exactly what he seems.
Namaste
RB
Elaine on 07 Oct 2003
RB--
Good thing you didn't try to catch up with us at lunch; we wound up at a burger joint 'cause it was closer.
And I'm a real Mother Theresa in tight jeans, doncha' know! Except during the full moon... or when the lights go out... or when I forget to take my Prozac... or....
until our next kozmik battle --
all the best from my avatar to yours
jeneane on 07 Oct 2003
look at this LOVE! Oh, dear, I think I'm gonna faint. ;-)
keep the faith, ya'll.
And for a good chucke, go read betsy devine's izzle post. heeeeee!
Betsy Devine on 08 Oct 2003
Elaine, I loved seeing you and loved your blue-jean thing. How RB got the idea you are a Very Nice Lady I can't imagine--you looked wicked to me! I did keep checking out the window of that burger joint so I could catch JOHO et al if they went by. I am glad your grandson keeps you heading Boston-wards so often, but jealous his competition roots you in Jamaica Plain. I will gladly drive or T over there to see you anytime. xxx Betsy
p.s. When do I get to meet you, Jeneane?
Elaine on 08 Oct 2003
Eeeuuuww! Love? A different perspective, maybe. An attempt at stepping into a kinder, gentler world, perhaps. A senior moment, most likely.
dzwonki polifoniczne nokia on 14 Jun 2004
Hmmmmm interesting !!!
Tina Marie 11 on 05 May 2006
Wow! I need to know more about the 11 phenomenon. I was born 1/11 and my mother on 8/11. I see the number EVERYDAY. Most time when I wake up in the middle of the night to use the restroom it will be 3:11, 4:11, etc. This all started when I was 18 and going to college. My apartment was 1101 Westmore Ave Apt 11. That year my dads dog had 11 puppies, my awesome new watch I had got had an 11 year warranty. The clock was more than not 11:11 or something:11. The following year 9/11 happened and I know there is more but I have forgotten. I purchased a home and my new telephone number was ***-***-5411. The telephone lady I had talked to to get the phone hooked up was born on 1/11, after I had told her about how weird my 11's are the check I was writing her was #111. After that it had went away for a while, when that happened my mother started to see them everywhere. It's like I passed it on to her. It went away for around two years...then it came back and now it still is happening. Last night I went to bed early like around 8:00pm, I popped my head up at exactly 11:11 and looked right at the clock. This is NO joke. I am a skeptic when it comes to paranormal and psychic stuff but this occurs too often to be coinsidence. Everywhere I go on a daily basis this number is with me. Does anyone know what this means? Please I need to know. My mother and I are going crazy over this. Please some explaination!!!! Tina 11:)