POWERHOUSE ARENA: powerHouse is one awesome place for an event. Honestly, I wasn't sure how a bookstore/gallery could morph into Blogfest but it did. The space is very well run by Craig Mathis who runs a tight ship and is very accommodating. He was helpful from our first meeting in December right until the clean-up at the end of the night. A great, well-run space and a real class act! Big cheers and thanks.
Some thoughts: powerHouse's Arena seating makes a fantastic stage (even though it's supposed to be where they seat people; we turned things around). We were able to put a video screen high above the "seating." I worried about sight lines becks of the columns but it turns out I had nothing to worry about. I heard some complaints about the sound in the back of the room?? Complaints? The bookstore/gallery atmosphere with its cool couches, pew seating and bookstore content was perfect for the Blogs-of-a-Feather.
THE SPONSORS: We had the ULTRA GENEROUS SUPPORT of local businesses like Babeland, Brooklyn Frameworks, Whimsy & Spice Brooklyn Confectioners, D'vine Taste, Pizza Plus, Willie's Dawgs, Hugh Crawford. Alison Lowenstein, Melt, Slope Suds, Peeled and Grimaldi's
Casio GENEROUSLY donated a digital camera and watch and Yelp and City Limits, a site which, probes
under-reported or entirely ignored topics, did some great promotion. Oh and Jolt Energy Gum made a generous donation of their caffeine gum (the woman from Jolt was just so nice…).
Plenty of thanks go to Outside.in, which helped out with water (and wanted to donate beer but we decided against that) and provided a fun Top Ten List of top stories in 2009 thus far.
Some thoughts: Next year Blogfest will continue to look to generous local sponsors but we need a couple of BIG SPONSORS, who are willing to help pay for
the event. Maybe the answer is a government or foundation grant or corporate
sponsors who believe in what we're doing and want to help us make it happen.
Two of the sponsors didn't come through on what they promised
and still managed to do promotion at the Blogfest (boo). That was a little disappointing.
TECHNICAL AND AV: Between powerHouse, Rooftop and Blue Barn Pictures we were COVERED. A great team of terrific A/V people made the night a great success.
ROOFTOP FILMS: Right here in Brooklyn we've got a great AV rental company with a great staff. Chris was fantastic in all our phone calls and emails and he also made a site visit. They gave us a great rate even though Blogfest is not yet a non-profit and threw in mics and tables for free. Big cheers for Rooftop and staff.
THE VIDEO: Bravo to Blue Barn Pictures and Adrian Kinloch for the superb videos they created for Blogfest. We can't thank them enough for their great creativity, taste, energy and hard work.
THE PANEL: Big HUGE thanks to the panelists, who were all interesting and thanks to Megan Donis, who is a skilled moderator. They were all open, articulate and comfortable on stage.
Some thoughts: Next year we want more debate and back and forth and maybe fewer people. That said, it was a fascinating look at a range of Brooklyn bloggers.
BLOGS-OF-A-FEATHER: This worked on so many levels. It was a great way to involve even more bloggers than you can put on a program. It was also a great way to give even more people "ownership" of the event. It was also a chance for the audience to interact and talk about the work they are doing in small groups. The BOAFs also give us the opportunity to bring up more issues than time allows during the program.
Some thoughts: Next year we might think about extending this section. At powerHouse sound was certainly an issue as a room full of 300 people arranged in small groups is noisy. Microphones for the facilitators is one idea. Perhaps we need a space with separate break-out rooms.
THE VOLUNTEERS: I can't say enough about the great help we got from 20 bloggers who pitched in on the day of and set up chairs and whatever else needed to be done. Here are their names: Joyce Szuflita (Volunteer Co-Coordinator) – NYC School Help; Alice Crawford; Amanda Wiss – Urban Clarity
Ameet Maturu – Rice of Life; Brenda Backer – A Year in the Park; Casey Fitzpatrick – Out About Brooklyn; Cathryn Swan – Washington Square Park; Chandru Murthi – Seeing Green; Claude Scales – Self Absorbed Boomer; Elizabeth Palmer – Midnight Cowgirls; Hyatt Michaels – F.O.K.U.S.; Julio Barros – E-String Technologies, Inc.; Joyce Hanson – Good Girl Blog; Kim Maier – The Old Stone House; Martie McNabb – Memories Out of the Box; Michael Szuflita; Morgan Doninger – Puzzling NYC; Neil Carlson – Brooklyn Creative League; Peter Solomita (Music), Groovalicious in Brooklyn; Robin Lester – Clinton Hill Blog; Tuey Connell; Yvett Velazquez
THE SHOUT OUT: Sadly the Shout-out, a Blogfest tradition, didn't really work at Galapagos because of the noise and the desire to party and talk (both understandable desires on the part of attendees).
Some thoughts: Next year maybe the Shout-Out could be part of the show again but we may have to limit it to 20 bloggers so that it doesn't run as long as it has in recent years. Or maybe we don't need it anymore.
GALAPAGOS ART SPACE: Cheers for Galapagos; the people there were seriously fantastic. The staff is great, welcoming, accommodating and generous. Hailey Rhatigan responded to my first email request of the space within minutes with a: "We'd be thrilled to host 300 bloggers on the night of Blogfest!" And their enthusiasm never let up. Big cheers for Galapagos who also said, the crowd can stay until 2am if they want.
THE AUDIENCE: What a crowd of interesting, enthusiastic people! Thank you all.
Some thoughts: Diversity is still an issue. While I think this year was better in that department Blogfest still wants to reach out to people of different skin colors, ethnicity, and socio/economic groups. We also want geographical diversity (all parts of Brooklyn, that is, otherwise what right do we have to call it the Brooklyn Blogfest?). That said, this year thanks to outreach on the part of many, we made some strides in that direction.
FOOD AND DRINK: Okay. We decided on no-alcohol for the program and a cash bar at the party, which seemed to work. We were expecting free iced tea and snacks but that didn't happen.
Some thoughts: Did people really miss white wine and beer at the show? We've always had alcohol at the after-party and not at the show (except the first Blogfest, which was pretty wacky). Last year the beer was meant for after but people found it first thing…
NEXT YEAR: The Fifth Annual Blogfest will very likely be a full day event with morning and afternoon workshops, an evening program, Blogs-of-a-Feather and an afterparty. What do you think of that?
SAVE THE DATE: Oops we don't have a date yet. But a Saturday in early May. Or maybe April would be better. It may be the cruelest month, but there's too much going on in May! And June: forget about it.