BlawgThink 2005 was a great event. Matt and Dennis combined an interesting set of talks on Friday with a full day of Open Space discussion on Saturday. And even the stand-and-deliver material on Friday wasn't that standard: all the speakers encouraged conversation and question and diversions.
Conference co-organizer Matt Homann said in the kickoff, "Blogging is the introduction, this is the conversation." He said this to be contrary to the crowd that says "blogging is a conversation." I like where he was going, though I don't completely agree. There are aspects of blogging that act as the introduction, but there are also people who do their primary interaction between blogs. In the case of BlawgThink, the fact that 75% of the audience were bloggers was the introduction. And there was plenty of conversation throughout the two days. Here are some thoughts that don't seem to fit into their own posts.
Future blogger. There were a number of people at the event who don't blog, at least not yet. One gentleman clearly got what blogging was all about and was cogitating on articles he could write or earlier material that he could re-purpose for a future blog. The passion for his topic and the enthusiasm with which he spoke about this possible writing project has me convinced that he will start writing soon. And I bet it will be fun to read.
How to start internal blogs. Most of the Open Space discussions were interesting, but didn't come up with much in the way of a "result." The session on "how do we start internal blogs" came up with a framework. Unfortunately, the main part of the answer is "it depends." You need to understand the culture, define objectives that fit that culture, and create a plan that ties them together. Oh, and don't forget to leave plenty of room for adjustment and discovery along the way.
Internal blogs. There was some interesting discussion on what blogs look like within firms. Are they sources for ongoing knowledge tidbits, such as might be provided by an internal (human) aggregator? Are they used to make visible the processes an organization follows? A few people argued that they are not the best tools for knowledge archival purposes. Maybe that is the purview of wikis. Do blogs within firms even make sense, if you believe that blogs are about the individual?
Other BlawgThink commentary
Several others have written about the even so far, and I expect more when people get home from Chicago and decompress. I'm seeing more posts show up in my Feedster search. This or a gada.be search will give you the best coverage to find out who was there.
Tammy Green live blogged the event at Aggregated Life. I am also advising her masters thesis, which is on the topic of blogging and reputation that were close to a number of the discussions at BlawgThink.
Steve Dembo has posted a couple items, including his live blog thoughts on the RSS session I was curious about. He was taking photos, but they haven't been posted yet.
Co-organizer Dennis Kennedy points to
Dave Gulbransen's excellent work at live-blogging sessions on his Preaching to the Perverted blog. Thanks - I really enjoyed getting the chance to meet you.
Fellow St. Louis bloggers George Lenard and Michelle Golden offer some reflections. Let's get that St. Louis lunch scheduled.