CUNY-TV sent me a link to the video from the segment on Brian Lehrer Live with Steven Berlin Johnson and John Geraci, co-founders of a website called Outside.In, a tool enables users to track neighborhood news online by zip code. You can also see me talking about my blog. Sort of. You can read about my experience here.

A producer, who works on the show, has a blog called, I Love Brooklyn. He attended the Brooklyn Blogfest last year. He thanked me for coming on and wrote:

It was a pleasure to have you and we apologize for not being able to spend more time with you. We look forward to having you back again sometime.

I have uploaded the video from your segment to our site via Google at http://bllblog.org/

I just noticed on Brownstoner that Brooklyn Junction is back in business after his blogternity leave. Today he’s  got a post and a rendering about a planned residential dorm at Brooklyn College. He also has this letter to readers about becoming a dad. We’re glad to see that he’s covering the junction, again.  He’s been back since, like, February 22, so there’s lots to read.

First, thank you so much to those of you who offered kinds words and
blessings since last month when I announced my blogternity leave to
embark on first-time fatherhood.

After a wild month of
Introduction to Parenting 101, I am happy to report that mom, baby
daughter and I are all doing very well. To save my daughter the
potential future embarrassment of having been blogged about during
those heady days of the Brooklyn Blogosphere in the early years of the
third millenium, I am going to leave her name and face off of the
internet.

I will also resist the urge to blog about her, though
she currently occupies approximately 99% of my mindspace, instead
focusing again on all the interesting things that are happening in and
around Flatbush these days.

I can’t promise that I’ll be back with multiple posts per day right at the outset, but it’s good to be back.

What did I miss?

Brenda who writes, Prospect: A Year in the Park, has been busy and I have a lot of posts to catch up on. I think her project, to write every day about her experience in Prospect Park is fascinating. In her words: "Daily discoveries in the mystical green heart of Brooklyn." Nice.

There something very Thoreau about the whole endeavor. I love the dailiness of it. The intensity of observing life in the park every day. It’s very transcendental.

Here are some posts to catch up on:

Cleft Ridge Span and the Campertown Elm.

Something about seed pods.

Der Lindenbaum

Off with my overcoat: watching skaters at Kate Wollman Rink

Melting Nethermead

Quest to become biker chick

Prospect Park subway station

The blogger at Shelleytown wrote me yesterday and I’m glad she did. I was completely unaware of this Brooklyn blog, which turned one in February 2008. The writing is excellent and the photos are gorgeous.

Here’s how she explains what goes on at Shelleytown:

"Shellytown is where New York life – mostly in brooklyn – is
chronicled, the idea of space in the city is explored, the life of a
writer is revealed (well, maybe) and work unfolds like a tent you might
want to visit."

Shelleytown is a very poetic place. She shares her observations about Brooklyn life in a very evocative and sensorial way.

As she says on her about section, Shelley isn’t from here but she wants to be. She writes, "Day by day, I fall more in love with Brooklyn. This
Web site (call it a blog, if you like) chronicles this love affair –
its dark warehouses, strange beaches, and infinite nooks and crannies." I think Shelley considers the entire blog a photo essay and journal all in one.  Here she writes about the sounds outside her window:

"Some nights, it’s a hollow roar billowing over the tracks, the elevated
highway…from something huge and made of steel with wheels and a mad
engine, formed around its own emptiness. After, a shiver a chains
breaking on smooth, broken pavement, and the night’s own emptiness –
now sharper, and much more obvious."

She’s on the Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC. NOW. Go to WNYC.

Hepcat says that reading a book about finding the best blog is like trying to find the interesting people on the beach by reading a newspaper.

But maybe he’s wrong.

Then again.

Sarah Boxer of the New York Times has sorted through some of the best. Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks from the Wild Web.

She is joined by bloggers Alex Ross and Jenny Portnoff of Johnny, I Hardly Knew You.

Event: Sarah Boxer will be speaking and signing books with Alex Ross and Jennie Portnof
Monday, February 18 at 7 pm
Barnes & Noble
675 Sixth Avenue (at 22nd Street)

So who’s in that BOOK?

The Brooklyn Blogade is coming to Smith Street.

That’s right, it’s time for another Brooklyn Blogade event. That’s when bloggers from all over Brooklyn come together to spread the Brooklyn blogging gospel.

These blogades are a chance to see new neighborhoods and meet and greet bloggers that you read but have never met. It’s a great networking and community building activity.

For bloggers, blog readers, and those who are thinking about becoming bloggers, then ext blogade on February 10th is  organized by the very creative team over at Creative Times. Expect something a little different and fun…

CREATIVE TIMES’ Eleanor Traubman and Mike Sorgatz are hosting a get-together of Brooklyn Bloggers.

When: Sunday, February 10th at 11:30 am

RSVP: By Friday, Feb.1st by quittin’ time: ETraubman@aol.com

Where: Faan Restaurant
209 Smith Street @Baltic

Directions: Take the F or G (check to see what’s running) to Bergen or Carroll

Cost: $15 at door – covers entree, non-alcoholic beverage, tax & gratui

The next Brooklyn Blogade is being organized by Robin Lesterhead of Clinton Hill Blog. This bloggy event is on January 20th at 11 am at the Frank White Cafe + Gallery.

Guess what: Not only will there be bloggers galore but even better there will be HOT WAFFLES WITH FRESH TOPPINGS!

The Brooklyn Blogades are a monthly meet and greet for bloggers, blog readers, and people who are thinking about becoming bloggers. It’s a great opportunity to network and to learn a thing or two about blogging. It’s also a great way to learn about new blogs.

Yummy Belgian waffles served with your choice of fresh fruit toppings:
–strawberries
–bananas
–mango
–apples n cinnamon
–blueberries
–whipped cream
–chocolate/caramel sauce
–pure maple syrup

waffles w/butter/syrup $4.50
waffles + toppings for $6

LOCATION: Frank White Cafe + Gallery, 936 Atlantic Ave (at
St. James).

RSVP by Friday Jan 11 to robin.lester@gmail.com

The Brooklyn Blogade Roadshow, hosted by Luna Park Gazette, met at Omonia Cafe on Third Avenue where they talked, ate and did whatever it is that bloggers do. It may have been a small crowd, but look at the notables that showed up.

Bed-Stuy Blog
Brooklyn Junction
Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn
Flatbush Gardener
I’m Seeing Green
Self-Absorbed Boomer

I am VERY sorry I wasn’t there. The Volvo overheated on the New York Thruway and much adventure ensued (see Good Bye Goldie).

These Brookyn Blogade Roadshows are really FUN. On Sunday, approximately 25 bloggers, blog readers, and those interested in starting blogs met at the  Le Toukouleur, a French-African Restaurant, at 1116 Bedford Avenue, on the corner of Quincy Street in North Bed-Stuy (Pix by Flatbush Gardener)

The purpose of these events is to spread the blogging gospel to under-blogged neighborhoods in Brooklyn. It’s a reach out and a shout out, a big, bold Brooklyn welcome to all those interested in starting blogs. A great networking opportunity and a fun way to meet other bloggers, it’s also a great way explore a new neighborhood. Upcoming blogades will be in Bed Stuy, Carroll Gardens, and East New York.

Petra of Bed-Stuy Blog and Eleanor Traubman of Creative Times organized the shindig. Petra said that she purposely selected the North, the less "groovy" part of Bed Stuy for the event. She lives on the north side and wanted to bring everyone’s attention to her neck of the neighborhood.

Grasping for a metaphor she described her part of the neighborhood as "the Messina to the South side’s Loggins. It’s the Oates to the South side’s Hall. It’s the Garfunkel to the South Side’s Simon."

You get the idea.

Bloggers and others gathered outside of the restaurant and  there were plenty of yelps and welcoming noises as bloggers identified themselves.

The arrival of Bushwick BK caused quite a stir as did the arrival of Saucy Tart.

"I thought you were a troll," Petra shouted out. "I didn’t think you were real when you RSVPed."

Interestingly, many who came were blog readers and not bloggers.  That was cool. There were also two representatives from Buy Bed-Stuy in attendance, who spoke. Overall, there were a lot of new faces and new blogs at the get-together.

Petra and Eleanor devised a fun way for people to get to know one another. We were told to converse with those sitting nearby and come up with some advice for new bloggers. We then got to present our ideas to the larger group. The gist of what people had to say:

1. Keep it personal

2. Keep it real.

3. Be passionate about what you’re writing about.

4. Check your facts.

5. Update frequently.

6. Find someone to sub for you in case you can’t post for a few days.

The highlight of any blogade is the shout-out,  a chance for everyone to introduce themselves. Hopefully Petra will be posting the names of all the participants…

Petra told a funny story about her love of Time Out New York when she lived in Manhattan. "I would literally curl up with my magazine and circle the events I wanted to attend." Once she moved to Brooklyn, she discovered that Time Out barely mentions Brooklyn. Her blog, she said, is attempt to create a Time Out for her part of Brooklyn.

Petra’s enthusiasm nd postitive energy made everyone feel welcome at this event. The next Brooklyn Blogade Roadshow will be on Sunday October 21. Time and location to be determined. The host will be Luna Park Gazette.

Petra, of Bed-Stuy blog, sent this announcement about the Brooklyn Blogade on September 30th at 1 p.m.

Not only are these events great get-togethers for bloggers, blog readers, and would-be bloggers, but they’re a fun way to get to know a new neighborhood and eat at a local restaurant. Here’s the info from Petra:

If you’re a blogger, or thinking about becoming one, join us at our monthly gathering at the French African restaurant, Le Toukouleur on September 30th at 1 p.m.

Spouses and significant others are welcome!  Meet and mingle with the
cool folks who blog all over our borough. The September Brooklyn Blogade will be in Bed-Stuy, hosted by Bed-Stuy Blog. Here are the details:

Sunday, September 30th
1:00 p.m.
Le Toukouleur Restaurant, 1116 Bedford Avenue @ Quincy Street
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Cost: $10 per person
RSVP by Wednesday, September 26th

Menu
Your choice of:

Skirt steak on baguette with moutarde de Dijon (includes fries and
mixed green salad)
        ***
Croque Monsieur (includes fries and mixed green salad) – The croque
monsieur is like a French version of a hot ham and cheese sandwich, in
case you’re wondering.
        ***
Chicken Salad with Avocado and Cranberry Dressing
        ***
Granola with Yogurt and Fresh Fruit Salad
        ***
Coffee, hot tea, iced tea, and orange, tomato, peach, cranberry or
apple juices

To RSVP: Please send an email to thechangeling@bedstuyblog.com  with
your brunch selection and the number of people you are bringing (and
their brunch selections too).

Directions to Le Toukouleur:

Take the G train (yes, the G train) to Bedford-Nostrand.  Once you
arrive at the train stain, exit through the Bedford Avenue exit, and
you’ll be at the intersection of Bedford and Lafayette.  Walk south on
Bedford, against the traffic, 4 blocks to Quincy Street.  Le
Toukouleur is located on the southwest corner of Bedford and Quincy.

I look forward to seeing you all there!

Sincerely,
Petra

Everyone’s been asking: When is the next Brooklyn Blogade Roadshow (BBR)?

Well, Bed Stuy Blog is organizing the next one and she’s set the date for September 30th in Bed Stuy. Exact time and location to be announced. Look for information at OTBKB or on Bedstuyblog.com.

The BBR is an outgrowth of the Brooklyn Blogfest, which was a huge gathering of Brooklyn bloggers back in May. It’s a way for bloggers from all over Brooklyn to get together. Ideally, we hope to  encourage bloggers from underrepresented neighborhoods to start blogging.

These events are open to the public. In fact, we really, really, really want to see new faces at these events.

If you are a longtime blogger, a new blogger, a "I’m thinking about becoming" blogger, or a blog reader, you are welcome to attend.

What happens at this events? We gather in cafe or restaurant on a Sunday afternoon. Eat. Talk. Drink. The host blogger may present a program about the nabe or another topic of interest and then there’s the Blogger Shout Out, where everyone gets a chance to talk about their blog.

In June: we met at Vox Pop in Ditmas Park/Flatbush (hosted by Flatbush Gardener and Sustainable Flatbush)

In July: we met at Casa Mon Amour in Greenpoint (hosted by New York Shitty).

September: Time and location TBD (hosted by Bed Stuy Blog).

Sweet and savory musings (and recipes) from a food obsessed writer. My friend, Mrs. Cleavage, the southern girl extraordinaire living in Brooklyn with her adorable little boy, has started a food blog called Eat, Drink, Memory with great recipes and stories and pictures.

I LOVE IT. And this girl can COOK.

Many of my former loves were big rice eaters and my son’s father is Nepali, so wouldn’t, couldn’t imagine a day without rice or Dal bhat. My son, just back from six weeks in Nepal, is eating in the traditional way — by hand.

Nothing could be more natural for us than having a rice dish.  I
prefer yellow rice or saffron rice, and of course, sticky rice bought
freshly made and wrapped in banana leaves in Chinatown.  My son has a
preference for straight-forward, nothing added, white rice.

I am always trying different types of rice, recently bringing home a
bag of Thai sweet rice to make coconut rice pudding — the only English
language recipe on the package.  Necessity truly is the mother of
invention.  Out of basmati and jasmine rice and with a son begging for
rice balls, I decided to cook the sweet rice like regular rice.

Ah!  Sticky rice! Sweet rice makes a delicious bowl of sticky rice.
I’ve always been intimidated by the little sticky rice packets — leave
them to the professionals , I said to myself — but now the
possibilities seem limitless.  Now I’ll be trying Naw Mai Fon as well as Ho Yip Fan. Good to know there are banana leaves in the frozen food section of my favorite Chinese grocer.

Miss Heather called into the Brian Lehrer show while Bed-Stuy Blog, BushwickBK, and I were being interviewed for a segment on Brooklyn bloggers. She was cut off because there wasn’t time for her to finish her thoughts. Tune in to New York Shitty for what she was going to say.

She mentions that Gowanus Lounge was curiously missing. He was invited but was unable to attend.

Self Absorbed Boomer, who was at the Brooklyn Blogade Roadshow, is one of the few people who knows that Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn is a take-off on Only the Dead Know Brooklyn, a short story by Thomas Wolfe.

SAB writes about a train trip to the Adirondack’s while reading "Pages from a Cold Island" by Fred Exley. I’ve never read a word by Fred Exley but I found this post very interesting.

I decided to bring Pages with me on this trip because I was
headed into Exley country. He grew up in Watertown, New York, and, in
his later years, he sometimes stayed with his widowed mother at her
house in Alexandria Bay, the principal town of the Thousand Islands
region, to which Larry, my stepfather-in-law, had promised to take Liz
and me during our visit. Indeed, I thought I had read or heard that the
"cold island" of the title was one of the Thousand, where Exley had
camped out in a cabin while writing the book. Besides, Exley seemed an
appropriate companion for a train trip. According to his bio,
while still in high school he worked in the rail yards at Watertown.
Later, he did public relations work for the New York Central, and after
that for the Rock Island. So Exley at least shared, if not my love of,
at least an affinity for, railroads.

Here’s a quick note about the Brooklyn Blogade Roadshow that met in Greenpoint on Sunday July 22nd at the Casa Mon Amour on Franklin Street. There’s much more to tell and I took copious notes so there will be more later today.

Here are the quick deets:

A big crowd, 50 or so, gathered at the restaurant. The restaurant was packed.

The food at Casa Mon Amour was great. The owner, Beatrice, deserves all the raves she gets from customers.

The slide show by Forgotten New York was fantabulous (post to come).

The shout outs were wonderful (list to come).

Miss Heather of New York Shitty is a great hostess!!! She should have her own television talk show or something. She’s very funny, a great speaker, with a very distinctive (and attractive) look.

I fear she’s still mad at me for not publishing a piece she wrote two years ago. I forget now why I didn’t but I think we need to have a talk about that. I didn’t know her at all at the time and I’m sorry if that created a bad feeling.

Miss Heather’s event was filled with unfamiliar and interesting new bloggers (as well as a few familiar ones of course). Brooklyn really is BIG and that’s why this roadshow thing is so necessary!!!!

Hepcat and I loved the neighborhood!!!! We took a long walk along Franklin Street from Kent to Bedford and North Sixth. The walk along Franklin Street, which is quite near the river was breathtaking. It’s mostly industrial. As we traveled south towards Williamsburg we could see all the construction and the way that neighborhood is changing so dramatically.

Needless to say No Words_Daily Pix took lots of pix. Including today’s Daily pix. See above.

The area near Casa Mon Amour is very historical and residential. It’s a GEM and hopefully will not be tampered with.

We stopped at a dress shop and Word Press, which is a lovely bookstore on Franklin. I haven’t been to Greenpoint since I lived in Williamsburg from 1984 until 1987. Things have really changed. I want to explore more.

THANKS MISS HEATHER FOR A TRULY GREAT EVENT. A very valuable outreach to blogggers in Greenpoint, Bushwick, Williamsburg, and Bed Stuy.

Miss Heather of New York Shitty will be hosting the next Brooklyn Blogade Roadshow. It will be held in Greenpoint.

Here
are the deets.
When: July 22 (a Sunday) 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Where: Casa Mon Amour, 162 Franklin Street
What: There will be a $10.00 fee to attend.

That’s right. Reporter Greg Beyer is under fire over at Atlantic Yards Report for leaving out Atlantic Yards Report and No Land Grab.  in his article Cracker-Barrel 2.0 in the City section of the New York Times.

Yes, that is a serious omission when it comes to an article about the Brooklyn blogging scene. I mean COME ON: Norman Oder and Lumi Rolley are Blogging luminaries.

But I agree with Norman Oder who writes:

Some who attended the Second Annual Brooklyn Blogfest in May complained that there was too much emphasis on Atlantic Yards, given that two of the six featured bloggers (Lumi Rolley of No Land Grab and I) focused on Brooklyn’s most controversial project. It’s
not an illegitimate criticism; it depends whether you believe such an
event should encompass all who come–as did the debut event in 2006–or
some of the most prominent. (Next year, I’m sure I’ll sit it out.)

Reading Beyer’s article, I had the sense that he was correcting for that slant at the Brooklyn Blogfest and highlighting some of the blogs that are not single issue. His focus was something Beyer calls "place blogs."

I spent a couple of hours with Greg back in May soon after the Blogfest talking about my blog and my perspective on things. I think I may have emphasized my own appreciation of the idiosyncratic and eccentric side of blogging.

Hey, that was the morning I saw the Nashville Warbler. I was in a micro frame of mind. 

Needless to say, I am thrilled with the article and think it’s beautifully written. That said, one article in the Times’ can’t cover all the ins and outs of Brooklyn blogging. It seems to me that Brooklyn blogging is getting top big to be generalized about.

There are place blogs, personal blogs, real estate blogs, development blogs, artsy blogs, photo blogs, political blogs, etc.

We are a growing blogdom and we don’t need to fight over who gets space in a New York Times article.

We’re too big and varied for that   

Sewell Chan of The City Room (cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com) listened to the Brian Lehrer podcast. I was on for a few seconds intending to say that Gowanus Lounge is pretty darn journalistic but I never got to say that. Robert Guskind worked at the National Journal before starting GL.

I don’t pretend to be a journalist but I see a value in the on the street, fly on the wall, slice of life variety of reporting that helps create a realistic portrait of New York City.

The geeks here — O.K., that would be me — are finally catching up on a week of podcast listening. A comment from Pete Hamill, the newspaperman and novelist, caught our attention in this June 15 episode of “The Brian Lehrer Show” on WNYC.

The City Room, the New York Times’ new metro blog had information for those who want to be added to the City Room Blogroll.  I see that they’re updating the Blogroll and have added some fave Brooklyn blogs to the list.

Gowanus Lounge has tons of Mermaid Parade coverage. Go there. or read this by Ingrid Kelly from New York 1.

The stage was set for the 2007 Mermaid Parade in Coney Island.

Some participants arrived early just to put the finishing touches on their artistic creations.

"I want people to be enchanted by what they see and want them to
never see anything of this kind again,” said parade participant Daniel
Green.

And when the parade started, it was all show time. Some spectators
say it’s the unique sights and sounds that keep them coming back each
year. In fact, some arrived hours early just to get a front row view.

"[I’m] very excited to be here,” said spectator Gelmis Ventura.
“It’s just so great to see many different costumes, so many different
people and I’m having a great time. I love it."

Organizers say what makes the Mermaid Parade special is that it’s
dedicated to artistic self expression. In fact, the hope this year was
to attract a half million people. It was a hope shared by vendors along
the route.

"The businesses all make more money on the day of the parade than
any other day of the season,” said Mermaid Parade founder Dick Zigun.

Zigun says this year’s event is even more special with all the talk of some landmarks leaving the neighborhood.

"Some amusements in Coney Island are closing, but all of the
classics – the Cyclone roller coaster stays, the Wonder Wheel stays,
Nathan’s Hot Dogs, and without question, the Mermaid Parade stays. We
are here for good,” said Zigun.

Dope on the Slope delivers an excellent description of the how, why, what, and where’s of the Brooklyn Blogade Roadshow scheduled for this Sunday June 24th at 2 p.m. at Vox Pop in Flatbush.

Read Dope on the Slope.

Following the success of the Brooklyn Blogfest on May 10th 2007, the Brooklyn Blogade is taking the show on the road to different Brooklyn neighborhoods.

We’re spreading the word about Brooklyn blogging NEIGHBORHOOD BY NEIGHBORHOOD!

YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS THE FIRST BROOKLYN BLOGADE ROADSHOW ON: Sunday June 24, 2-5pm.

Join us at Vox Pop, located on 1022 Cortelyou Road, at the corner of Stratford Road (East 11th Street).

Please RSVP: If you want to come, please send an email to blogade.rsvp@gmail.com. 

The first Brooklyn Blogade Roadshow is taking place on June 24th starting at 2 p.m. Open to one and all, it’s a great way to spread the gospel of Brooklyn blogging all around the borough. Come if you’re curious, you’ll probably pick up a lot of pointers about blogging and may even want to start one after the event, which is for seasoned and new bloggers alike.

Following the successful Brooklyn Blogfest in May, the Brooklyn
Blogade is taking it on the road to different Brooklyn neighborhoods.

The inaugural event is Sunday, June 24, 2-5pm. Join us at Vox Pop,
1022 Cortelyou Road, at the corner of Stratford Road (East 11th
Street).

If you want to attend please send an email to blogade.rsvp@gmail.com.
We’ll email you an invitation. We will not use your email address for
any purpose except for sending invitations and notifications relevant
to Brooklyn Blogade. It will not be shared with anyone else for any
reason.

Please RSVP with the following information:
– Your handle or nickname
– Your name (optional)
– If you have a blog or Web site, its URL
– If you live or work in Brooklyn, the neighborhood (eg: Flatbush) or
zip code (eg: 11218)

PROGRAM:
2pm: Signup/registration opens
2:30-3pm: Welcome, neighborhood orientation, and local blogger shout-
out
3-5pm: The mingling and socializing continues

Vox Pop is offering food and drink specials for this event:
– $1 off veggie and turkey burgers
– $1 off pitchers of beer (Dogfish Head Craft Ale now on tap!)
You can also checkout their full food menu and micro-brew on tap.

DIRECTIONS BY SUBWAY: Take the Q Train to Cortelyou Road. Vox Pop is
five blocks West (turn left as you exit the station).

Just getting the word out: In the post-Blogfest frenzy, a number of particpants have decided to organize a social one Sunday a month in various parts of Brooklyn. They’re taking this show and putting it on the road as a way to reach out to all you bloggers out there.

ALL BLOGGERS WELCOME. ALL KINDS OF BLOGS. WE WANNA HEAR FROM YOU! SPREAD THE WORD.

First Roadshow: SUNDAY JUNE 24, 2007 AT 3 PM at VOX POP
Vox Pop
1022 Cortelyou Road
(Ditmas Park AKA Victorian Flatbush) at 3 p.m.

We hope this will be a chance for lots of bloggers to: network, share, discuss, do whatever bloggers do when they get together.  There will be food, drink and talk.

At the Blogfest I briefly met so many new people and became aware of many new sites to check every day: Blue Sky Brooklyn, Crazy Stable, Sustainable Flatbush, Super Vegan to name just a few.

SuperVegan came to the Blogfest in force. There were four or five of them in attendance and I was thrilled. Their site is made for vegans, by vegans. The site has a great vegan restaurant guide. Here’s an excerpt from the "about" page:

We’d been
frustrated time and again by sites catering to "vegetarians" – full of
cheese recipes and "I eat fish, but…" We wanted to make a website we
would actually use. There are a lot of wonderful vegan sites on the web but many are very specialized, or part-time labors of love. No one site had it all. We set out to make the missing super vegan website.

SuperVegan
is independently owned and operated. We’re based in New York City, and
there is a big local bias to our coverage and listings. This may change
over time, but for now, our goal is to do New York City right rather
than risk spreading ourselves too thin.

.

Dave Kenney (AKA Dope on the Slope)  is thinking about a monthly "social," so that the face-to-face networking can stay alive between blog fests.
I think we should jump on it.

Suggestion to Dave: How about a get-together at Vox Pop in Ditmas Park in June. Then  a space in Williamsburg, Bed Stuy or Sheepshead Bay for July and August.

Let’s take the show on the road and get out to the neighborhoods that were not well represented at the Blogfest and hear from all kinds of bloggers.

I loved the open mic and I know that word of the open mic motivated a few bloggers (bklynmama for one) to launch their blogs on the day. Maybe there can be an open mic element to the socials.
Maybe the local bloggers in the nabes where we are meeting can help spread the word to the bloggers we’re not even aware of.

I admit the focus at Thursday’s blogfest was neighborhood blogging, but I know we want to hear from all the variety of bloggers: music, arts, examine your navel, moms, writers, poets, green activists, foodies..
Thursday’s Open Mic was so fun and I just love the  image of all those people standing in line to shout-out about what they’re doing. There was such an energy to that.

What works for people? Weeknights are tough. June is a bear of a month. How’s Sunday June 24th as a possible date for a low key get-together at Vox Pop? I’ve never been there but I hear that it’s nice.

I couldn’t help but post a comment on Empire Zone, the New York Times blog. Hey, that’s what blogging is all about.

Fortunately I’ve got a pretty thick skin after more than 3 years of blogging (otbkb.com) and life as a weekly columnist in the Brooklyn Paper (brooklynpaper.com)

But hey, I agree with much that has been said. The Blogfest was south-Brooklyn-centric, there was too much development talk, we do need a larger venue, we do need to do wider outreach. Lack of diversity was addressed by me as was the hope that next year will include more and more people, more and more neighborhoods (including members of the journalism class I lectured to at Baruch College last week).

I may be a visionary to have invented this thing but I am only one person putting it together limited by my limitations.

I think I originally dreamed up the Blogfest in much the same spirit as my blog, Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn: if I’m interested maybe others are too.

This blogging (and Blogfest) stuff is new territory for me and everyone else. Learning by doing, that’s my motto. Put it out there, and over time you can only hope to get it right.

I didn’t catch it Thursday night or Friday morning.  But here is the link for the WNBC local news story about the Blogfest. For those who weren’t there, you will get a sense of how crowded it was.
Here’s a link to the story: http://video.wnbc.com/player/?id=103107 if the link doesn’t work just put that URL into your browser.

Sorry if people didn’t notice my posts about RSVPing for the Blogfest. A few days before the event, I got scared that too many people would show up and I just wanted to avert a crowd control disaster.

We tried to fit as many people in as the Fire Code would allow. The person at the door, who happens to be the esteemed director of the Old Stone House, had the tough job of turning people away.

No, this was not an exclusive club. Not by a long shot. It was just an attempt to not exceed our space limitations.

Overwhelming. A room packed full of people — bloggers, neighbors, friends, curious people, press.

It will take a few days to decompress from the event. To synthesize what happened there. So many people. So many ideas. Such passion. Such creativity. So many margaritas.

No Words_Daily Pix’s musical slide show was a great start to an evening of many words. The first scheduled reader, Rabbi Andy Bachman, was nowhere to be found (turned out that he had a rabbinic emergency) so Pastor Daniel Meeter of Old First Blog graciously sanctified the event with words of prayer in Dutch.

Writer and visionary Steven Berlin Johnson, author of "Everything Bad is Good for You" and "Ghost Wars." spoke about what inspired him to develop Outside.In, a way to access neighborhood blogs by zip code.

Lumi Michelle Rolley, whose blog No Land Grab is a portal to and a repository of vast amounts of information about the Atlantic Yards controversy spoke with passion, energy, and humor about traditional media’s neglect of Atlantic Yards and Brooklyn in general.

Robert Guskind of Gowanus Lounge spoke movingly of his 17-hour days spent trekking from the Gowanus to Williamsburg to Coney Island to report on and photograph the latest development news.

Brownstoner’s Jon Butler came as he is. No longer is he the incognito blogger with the Wall Street job. He spoke about quitting his day job and the ways in which his blog unexpectedly created a community of like-minded readers and tipsters, who he keeps up with daily.

Norman Oder of Atlantic Yards Report, was awarded a superhero cape for his heroic efforts to cover the Atlantic Yards comprehensively. He disputed Outside.In’s finding that Clinton Hill is the bloggiest neighborhood. With characteristic rigor, he analyzed the survey and found that it is actually Prospect Heights that deserves that title.

Finally, Eleanor Traubman of Creative Times told of her desire to report on the creative people in her midst who inspire her. She spoke of tracking down 100-year-old Eve Zeisel, the legendary ceramic designer, and meeting with her in her apartment. Creative Times, Eleanor said, is an attempt to inspire others to be creative and to think outside of the box.

The open mic was perhaps the evening’s best invention. More than a dozen new bloggers (blog names to come) got up and described their blogs for the crowd. A really fun ending to a great line up of interesting speakers.

In addition to the crowd of more than 140 people, the event was quite the media sensation. WNBC News was there. A story aired on the 11 pm news and will be on the morning news, as well. Gersh Kuntzman, editor of the Brooklyn Paper sat in the front row. The New York Times sent a reporter, who is doing a story about Brooklyn blogging. A reporter from the Daily News, who is starting a Daily News blog about Coney Island was also in attendance. A representative from the Washington Post was in town and made a point of being there.