The Brooklyn Blogfest started in 2006 as a joke. Sort of. I run Brooklyn Reading Works, a literary reading series and decided that it would be fun to do a reading dedicated to bloggers.

On the poster I called it the First Annual Brooklyn Blogfest. It really was kind of a joke. I made the poster in September but as the date got closer and closer, I realized, hey, I better organize this thing.

By then, there were quite a few bloggers. So it really was the first annual blog gathering.

Initially I thought it was going to be like these geeky computer conventions I used to go to with Hepcat back in the late 1980’s. He was a big Amiga Computer guy and we’d travel up and down the east coast (and even out west) attending these conventions, including Siggraph on one occasion.

The first Blogfest was geeky and fun. A bunch of bloggers in the upstairs room of the Old Stone House. And just about everyone there spoke and did sort of a show-and-tell. It was a very long evening but a fun one.

You could describe it this way: a meeting of co-conspirators, who had never met in person but had been following the activities of one another

There was barely anything to eat or drink because I didn’t expect too many people to come. I thought it would be like a poetry reading. I didn’t know any of the bloggers personally and who knew they’d all show up.

They did. In droves.

Brownstoner came incognito because he still had a day job. Gowanus Lounge introduced himself to the crowd. No Land Grab and Norman Oder were there, as was Lost and Found and the ever lovable Dave Kenny of Dope on the Slope, delivered a hilarious PowerPoint presentation about the evolution of blogging beginning with cave paintings.

Joe’s NYC and Travis Ruse both presented incredible slide shows of their work. I read the opening paragraph of "Only the Dead Know Brooklyn" by Thomas Wolfe, the story that inspired the name of my blog.

That, my friends, was the first Blogfest.

The second Blogfest was in 2007. A huge number of people crowded into the Old Stone House. Some people had to be turned away due to concerns about fire code regulations. The program was a bit more organized. It wasn’t quite the fun, free-for-all of that first year but a lot of interesting ideas were shared. Lumi Rolley, of No Land Grab, gave Norman Oder a superhero cape for for his his journalistic masterwork,  Steven Berlin Johnson, talked about place blogging, Pastor Daniel Meeter blessed the event with a dutch benediction, Brownstoner talked about quitting his day job.

Afterwards, some complained that there was too much about development and real estate. Too much about Atlantic Yards.

Everyone, however, loved that the party was sponsored by Partida Tequila. Getting them as a sponsor was a real coup. And people enjoyed the margaritas and the Mexican food.

This year was a whole other kettle of fish. I knew we had to get a bigger space and when I toured the Lyceum I was smitten by that big, historic building and the feeling of the performance space. I also noticed the huge screen and video projector and got it into my head that we could show video.

There were rental fees involved, which there never were at the Old Stone House (because of Brooklyn Reading Works). This was going to be a much bigger deal.

Thankfully, many people got involved and I even had a slew of co-producers/partners in crime, including, Eleanor Traubman and Mike Sorgatz of Creative Times, Petra Syrmister of Bed-Stuy Blog and Adrian Kinloch of Brit in Brooklyn. Blue Barn Pictures volunteered to make a video and Morgan Pehme of Brooklyn Optimist put together a beautiful Tribute to Brooklyn’s photo bloggers.

Twenty or so bloggers showed up to set up before the show and it was a wonderful collaborative effort.

The presentation to my mind was diverse and interesting. There was a nice selection of bloggers, who brought up many interesting points about the lack of diversity both racial, economic and geographic. The videos were a high point, as was the Shout Out when more than 60 new bloggers got up to share their blogs with the crowd.

I got a variety of comments from people after Thursday’s Blogfest:

–quite a few people loved the event

–one blogger thought it was an exercise in self-congratulation and self-promotion.

–others found the ideas interesting

–one guy said there should be more readings from blogs and less speeches about blogs

–one guy said we shouldn’t charge for the event but should charge for the liquor; it should be a free event.

–someone said it just needs to be a party.

–others were inspired by the speakers and the shout-out; it made them feel like blogging.

All in all, it makes me wonder if there needs to be another blogfest and, if so, what the blogfest needs to be. A good question that I’m sure will be discussed in the coming weeks.

Whatever happens, it’s been a fun journey getting from that first one, which was conceived in jest to the third one which was a great collaboration and a thoughtful program and party.