Utah Bloggers

Last week I noticed an actual real comment in my blog, that alone got my attention, and then I read it. It mentioned an upcoming Utah bloggers convention . Previously I hadn't heard about it at all, and then a few other geeks began to mention it on openclue . I decided I might as well try and check it out.

I'll have to admit, I wasn't expecting too much. Having not heard about it until the last minute, I wasn't expecting much more than an informal meetup. What turned out was actually a nice event. Food, t-shirts, and a panel discussion greeted a surprisingly large number of attendees representing very distinct blog realms. The signage and logo's really gave a professional edge to the event that I wasn't expecting.

This first blogger event (as they plan on using this to do more) was a short event, hosting just a single panel discussion. While the discussion was useful, I think having it be the entirety of the event was a slight disservice to the attendees. I think if they instead had focused on the social networks present, and promoted themselves as a service for linking these groups, it would have had a much more practical application for the night. Many of the bloggers present would benefit most from the associations possible at a meeting of this nature. Instead the panel's focus seemed to be blogs in business. This in itself is a great topic, that many present wanted, but many were more interested in either just meeting the bloggers they read, or connecting in their networks. I for example found several new geeks that hadn't heard of the openclue planet Utah, but are now looking at it.

All in all, a fun event, and a good way to get attention to start a series of conferences, but next time it would be beneficial to focus a bit on the promotion, as well as having keynotes and breakouts across a slightly larger time.