Vancouver Bloggers Meetup May 2009 – another success story
Credit: Derek K. Miller on Flickr.
I’ve been doing this Vancouver Bloggers Meetup Organizer job for a year now, a task that my dearest Isabella Mori bequeathed on me and that I have grown to cherish. I am really excited that the momentum seems to be picking up. When I went around the table I found at the very least 40% of the participants of this meetup were new. I was really happy to see that there was a mix of seasoned and newbie bloggers.
The format for this meetup changed a bit from being a socializing experience only to including a panel discussion by Lorraine Murphy, Shane Gibson and myself, with Colleen Coplick as the moderator. I think the response from the audience was excellent, and everyone seemed engaged and interested in the conversation.
I don’t think I’ll do panels for every single Vancouver Bloggers Meetup, but I do think we’ll have another few panels in the next few months. I’d be interested in hearing from my fellow bloggers what they thought about the format and the content (as well as the new location, the St. Regis Hotel).
More importantly, I wanted to highlight that this was the last VBM for my friend Cathy Browne, who has become a very important part of the Vancouver blogging scene, and who will be in Ottawa for a few months. We look forward to your return, Cathy!
Related posts:
- Vancouver Bloggers Meetup for April 2009
- Vancouver Bloggers Meetup January 2009 Liveblog
- The Vancouver Bloggers Meetup for January 2009 is on Wednesday Jan 21st
- Announcing the January 2009 Vancouver Bloggers Meetup!
- Vancouver Bloggers Meetup for July 2008 – What a success!
It was a really great meetup, and I don’t say that JUST because it tripled my traffic at http://raincoastermedia.com overnight.
raincoaster’s last blog post..Quote o’ the Day: Crowns and Carnivores
hello, and thanks for the shoutout!
the location was great, lots of room, easy to find. now if we could just find a way to deal with the noise …
i have to say what i like the best about meetups is just having conversations with other bloggers.
isabella mori’s last blog post..morita therapy, the psychology of action
It was great, Raul! I didn’t know how interested I would be in the etiquette discussion, but it was so much more than etiquette (not too many tangents). I liked that format a lot because I usually dislike answering questions about myself from complete strangers, especially because I don’t feel like a “blogger” like everyone else. I simply write. The location was way better than last time. The only issue I found was that if you were sitting behind the speaker, like me, it was hard to understand. Lorraine’s voice doesn’t project well so it was a bit of a struggle. Microphones would probably solve that. The layout of the tables so that no one is behind the speaker would help tremendously, so let’s look into that for next time. The location of St Regis is terrific for me! But no sunshine down there!
Having a panel gives us all something to talk about afterward, but I didn’t stick around too long, so I basically talked about random stuff with one woman, and the next asked me about what I write about. She seemed genuinely interested, but I have no smooth way of answering, “What do you blog about?” How do you answer that, Raul?
Erika Rathje’s last blog post..SFU lecture June 8: Walking Around the World, and Car Free Day
Excellent event, Raul! Thoroughly enjoyed catching up with everyone.
Re: the panel, I thought it could have been moderated a bit more robustly to keep the conversation a bit more orderly. That said, I understand the challenge in getting four very vocal bloggers on a panel of a very interesting topic to not talk over each other.
For next time, perhaps a debate would liven up things even more – conflict is the key to drama, after all.
In any case, looking forward to the next one.
Jonathon Narvey’s last blog post..BookView: Murder Without Borders
@ Isabella – as always, lovely to see you! Sorry we didn’t get to chat much, I was on my way to the LOUD Awards!
@ Jonathon – great to see you too! I am testing different locations and formats to ensure bloggers get various experiences
@ Erika – Whenever people ask me what do I blog about I always say “I write about me”. Which is true
Raul,
Thanks so much for putting the event together. It was great to talk about social etiquette on social media platforms.
Now visit my cool website http://closingbigger.net!
(I hope people see the irony in this comment)
That is a damn good answer.
Erika Rathje’s last blog post..Irresistably
@ Raincoaster and @ Shane – you guys are evil
@ Erika
Thanks! That’s what I answer – “well, I write about myself”. People tend to be shocked and want to find out 
One day I will make a Meetup, early evening on week nights are hard for me to schedule.
So happy your Meetup’s are successful.
Haha. That’s one way to hook ‘em. I write about myself maybe half the time…
I found it odd seeing myself in photos taken by random people (some of whom I can identify in other photos), but it’s kind of a nice documentation. I guess the personal photo album will be a new kind of beast to show our grandkids when we’re old.
See you at the “mother of all Meetups”! Can’t wait!
Erika Rathje’s last blog post..Irresistably