This is just a quick note to let everyone know that very soon, I will relocate my blog to someplace really cool. Why? Because ALL the cool kids are doing it, duh!
Stay tuned. More to be revealed...
Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts
Monday, July 28, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
It's Blogger Meet-Up Time!
Polk County residents who write a blog, plan to write a blog or just like to read blogs are invited to the next meeting of area bloggers.
The meeting will be Monday, March 31 at 6:30 p.m. at Mimi's Cafe, 3770 Lakeside Village Circle, in Lakeland. Click here for directions.
Don't worry if your site is a diary, journal, PR blog or media blog...everyone is welcome.
If you plan to attend, please email: lorrie@lorriewalker.com. For more information, call (863) 614-0555.
The meeting will be Monday, March 31 at 6:30 p.m. at Mimi's Cafe, 3770 Lakeside Village Circle, in Lakeland. Click here for directions.
Don't worry if your site is a diary, journal, PR blog or media blog...everyone is welcome.
If you plan to attend, please email: lorrie@lorriewalker.com. For more information, call (863) 614-0555.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Changes Coming to Site Meter
For those of you who use Site Meter and seldom read their updates (like me), I wanted to share that they are moving to a new platform and they want everyone to be sure and update their email addresses. Read the short press release for more information.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Blogger Meeting Well Attended- Again!
Tonight's gathering of area bloggers was another success. We had our largest group to date- 17 people. As sad as it is to say, I think we might actually be outgrowing Black & Brew. Well, maybe not so much outgrowing it, as needing a place where our set-up can be different to allow everyone to be heard and to prevent four different conversations from going on simultaneously.
We had a wide range of attendees, from experienced, established bloggers to people interested in starting a blog.
I hope you will check out the blogs that were represented tonight:
Lakeland Local
Bog It Blog
Blogging This
Kristen Freaking Jane
Blue Room Worthy
Emily the Strange
Mike Monts
Polk Voice
Darby Sea
Matthew Wengerd
There were additional blogs represented, but the Web addresses weren't left on my sign-in sheet and alas, it's late and I'm not freakin' lookin' 'em up tonight. But some are linked on the side and others, well, you can look for them:
Polk County News Blog- Tampa Tribune
Empirical Polk
What's New Online- The Ledger
Polk Commission Watch- The Ledger
We had a wide range of attendees, from experienced, established bloggers to people interested in starting a blog.
I hope you will check out the blogs that were represented tonight:
Lakeland Local
Bog It Blog
Blogging This
Kristen Freaking Jane
Blue Room Worthy
Emily the Strange
Mike Monts
Polk Voice
Darby Sea
Matthew Wengerd
There were additional blogs represented, but the Web addresses weren't left on my sign-in sheet and alas, it's late and I'm not freakin' lookin' 'em up tonight. But some are linked on the side and others, well, you can look for them:
Polk County News Blog- Tampa Tribune
Empirical Polk
What's New Online- The Ledger
Polk Commission Watch- The Ledger
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Polk County Blogger Meet-up Feb. 4, 2008
If you write a blog, plan to write a blog or just like to read blogs, make plans now to attend the next meeting of Polk County area bloggers. Don't worry if your site is a diary, journal, PR blog or media blog...everyone is welcome.
We're meeting Monday, Feb. 4 at 6:30 p.m. at Black and Brew in Lakeland (205 East Main Street).
If you have questions, post them as a comment and I'll respond.
We're meeting Monday, Feb. 4 at 6:30 p.m. at Black and Brew in Lakeland (205 East Main Street).
If you have questions, post them as a comment and I'll respond.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Area Bloggers Meeting Well-Attended
This is old news by now, if you read Chuck's Lakeland Local blog, but since I took notes, I felt obligated to write something brief (hopefully) on our recent area bloggers' meeting at Black & Brew.
First of all, a HUGE thank you to the owners of Black & Brew, who stayed open an hour later to accommodate our meeting.
For this meeting, we made a special effort to get women to attend. I'm proud to say there were five of us this time!
We also had a great mix of bloggers and blogger enthusiasts. There were people who don't have blogs, but like to read them, people who blog as part of their work and people who are blogging just for fun.
For those in need of some technical assistance, Josh Hallett and Chuck Welch were on hand. I've heard past reviews of the area bloggers gatherings as the "Chuck and Josh Show," but I don't think this meeting could be called that. From my vantage point, everyone got to offer some input, as well as ask some questions.
Jess Wilcox, the new editor of Polk Voice , was there. She's making an effort to get more Polk County residents blogging. Additionally, she wants feedback. So if you're surfing at Polk Voice and you see a post that strikes your fancy, leave a comment. If you want to see something on Polk Voice that isn't there, email Jess. She wants to make this a true community blog site.
Lakeland Police Department Assistant Chief Bill LePere also was there. His Inside LPD blog is designed to give the public more insight into the department's activities, and he doesn't want to shy away from controversial topics.
Steve, who has a personal blog appropriately titled Blogging This, was there. He has the term "brief blogs" down to an art form. I admire that. I obviously don't have that talent.
Travis represented his Winter Lake Church blog, which he admits doesn't represent the church very much. But you should check it out, because it has one of the funniest videos I've seen in a while involving a newlywed couple's first dance as husband and wife.
Cat Carter, who writes the YLakeland blog, also attended, as did The Ledger's Tom Palmer and Barry Friedman. Tom has a blog at The Ledger, and a blog about his volunteer efforts at Lake Blue Scrub, while Barry writes the What's New Online blog at The Ledger. Other attendees were Ginger and Sal, each of whom blog a bit on their MySpace pages, and Darby, who works for Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing.
Billy Townsend, a Tampa Tribune reporter who blogs about Polk County at tbo.com, showed up as we were wrapping things up.
Gatherings such as this one help me learn more about blogging, as well as learn a little about why others blog. It's interesting to see what piques other people's interests.
Note: I didn't put everyone's last names in here, because unlike me, not everyone is an open book. So if you're in here by first name only and want me to add your full name, email me.
First of all, a HUGE thank you to the owners of Black & Brew, who stayed open an hour later to accommodate our meeting.
For this meeting, we made a special effort to get women to attend. I'm proud to say there were five of us this time!
We also had a great mix of bloggers and blogger enthusiasts. There were people who don't have blogs, but like to read them, people who blog as part of their work and people who are blogging just for fun.
For those in need of some technical assistance, Josh Hallett and Chuck Welch were on hand. I've heard past reviews of the area bloggers gatherings as the "Chuck and Josh Show," but I don't think this meeting could be called that. From my vantage point, everyone got to offer some input, as well as ask some questions.
Jess Wilcox, the new editor of Polk Voice , was there. She's making an effort to get more Polk County residents blogging. Additionally, she wants feedback. So if you're surfing at Polk Voice and you see a post that strikes your fancy, leave a comment. If you want to see something on Polk Voice that isn't there, email Jess. She wants to make this a true community blog site.
Lakeland Police Department Assistant Chief Bill LePere also was there. His Inside LPD blog is designed to give the public more insight into the department's activities, and he doesn't want to shy away from controversial topics.
Steve, who has a personal blog appropriately titled Blogging This, was there. He has the term "brief blogs" down to an art form. I admire that. I obviously don't have that talent.
Travis represented his Winter Lake Church blog, which he admits doesn't represent the church very much. But you should check it out, because it has one of the funniest videos I've seen in a while involving a newlywed couple's first dance as husband and wife.
Cat Carter, who writes the YLakeland blog, also attended, as did The Ledger's Tom Palmer and Barry Friedman. Tom has a blog at The Ledger, and a blog about his volunteer efforts at Lake Blue Scrub, while Barry writes the What's New Online blog at The Ledger. Other attendees were Ginger and Sal, each of whom blog a bit on their MySpace pages, and Darby, who works for Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing.
Billy Townsend, a Tampa Tribune reporter who blogs about Polk County at tbo.com, showed up as we were wrapping things up.
Gatherings such as this one help me learn more about blogging, as well as learn a little about why others blog. It's interesting to see what piques other people's interests.
Note: I didn't put everyone's last names in here, because unlike me, not everyone is an open book. So if you're in here by first name only and want me to add your full name, email me.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Area Blogger Meeting Nov. 27
If you write a blog, plan to write a blog or just like to read blogs, make plans now to attend the fourth (?) meeting of area bloggers. Don't worry if your site is a diary, journal, PR blog or media blog...everyone is welcome.
We're meeting Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. at Black and Brew in Lakeland ( 205 East Main Street ).
If you're a girl, please come. These meetings are male-dominated and they don't want to keep it that way.
Disclosure: I stole the basic wording of this announcement from Lakeland Local, written by Chuck Welch, male blogger.
Hey...that reminds me of "Fred Garvin, male prostitute" from the old SNL days...
We're meeting Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. at Black and Brew in Lakeland ( 205 East Main Street ).
If you're a girl, please come. These meetings are male-dominated and they don't want to keep it that way.
Disclosure: I stole the basic wording of this announcement from Lakeland Local, written by Chuck Welch, male blogger.
Hey...that reminds me of "Fred Garvin, male prostitute" from the old SNL days...
Monday, October 1, 2007
Blog Orlando Wrap-up
The weekend is over and I'm just getting around to doing a wrap-up of Friday's Blog Orlando event. In a word, it was AMAZING.
I encourage anyone in public relations, marketing or journalism to take advantage of this event, should it be held next year, or to seek out one in your area. I've learned there is a Blog Savannah, as well as a Blog Philadelphia.
I encourage anyone in public relations, marketing or journalism to take advantage of this event, should it be held next year, or to seek out one in your area. I've learned there is a Blog Savannah, as well as a Blog Philadelphia.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Blog Orlando- Technology Track- Word Press
Mark Jaquith is the speaker for this track.
WordPress 2.4 comes out in December. It will provide more security. Better user experience. Happy Cog design firm is overhauling the interface. Adding an "undo" feature. Page searching feature to be added.
WP philosophy is flexibility over features.
Google site map- done in xml. YOu can give weights to things to help Google find your content in your site.
What if you're on Blogger, can you transfer? Yes! Mark says there's an importer. The comments come with the transfer.
WP provides page templates. So many plugins. So many themes. If there's something you want to do with WP, there's a good chance someone has already done it and written a plugin for it.
Side note: there's a guy in this track who looks like a young Dustin Hoffman.
WordPress 2.4 comes out in December. It will provide more security. Better user experience. Happy Cog design firm is overhauling the interface. Adding an "undo" feature. Page searching feature to be added.
WP philosophy is flexibility over features.
Google site map- done in xml. YOu can give weights to things to help Google find your content in your site.
What if you're on Blogger, can you transfer? Yes! Mark says there's an importer. The comments come with the transfer.
WP provides page templates. So many plugins. So many themes. If there's something you want to do with WP, there's a good chance someone has already done it and written a plugin for it.
Side note: there's a guy in this track who looks like a young Dustin Hoffman.
Blog Orlando- Technology Track- Blogging Tools
Judson Collier is leading this session. He's 16. I hope his mother knows where he is right now.
Ping and Twitter- topics to talk about. Pounce is a similar product.
Twitter is a micro blogging Web site. You're sending what you're doing to all on your friends list. Check out twitter.com to learn more.
Pounce is more Web based. Twitter is more mobile.
Twitter is good to get the word out to people. It's instant communication. This is along the lines of IMing people.
Everyone's talking about twits and tweet and pings and pounces....jeez...I'm lost. And stupid, apparently.
Judson Pings the site technorati. It's kind of like Google for blogs. This is more crap I need to learn about.
Someone just asked about "building their authority" on Technorati. YOu have to get links to get authority.
Lot of different tools to track your blog. At Technorati, you can subscribe via RSS to see who's talking about you.
RSS is a URL that updates you as soon as a site is updated.
feedburner.com-
digg.com is an online site to submit stories to. Users who like the stories can vote for them.
digg.com/tools will give you a button you can add to your post for people to vote on your blog posts.
Find other people who are digging the same posts you're writing, become friends with them and they will starting digging you.
addthis.com- allows you to submit 1 story to all social sites at one time.
bumpzee.com- distributed social network. You can see who's reading your blog!
Google anaytics- wide variety of different stats you can get. Put code on header or footer of your site. Can tell you who's coming to site, how long staying, etc. www.analytics.google.com.
getclicky.com- another stats site.
Pros and Cons of Blogger vs. Word Press. WP is generally more expandable. Blogger is just a blog and your post. WP can give you pages, so you can tab it. WP helps it look more like a "real Web site." WP has a giant variety of themes. YOu can schedule posts in WP, but not in Blogger.
datawebpro.net- good hosting site.
Judson is with www.macteens.com
Ping and Twitter- topics to talk about. Pounce is a similar product.
Twitter is a micro blogging Web site. You're sending what you're doing to all on your friends list. Check out twitter.com to learn more.
Pounce is more Web based. Twitter is more mobile.
Twitter is good to get the word out to people. It's instant communication. This is along the lines of IMing people.
Everyone's talking about twits and tweet and pings and pounces....jeez...I'm lost. And stupid, apparently.
Judson Pings the site technorati. It's kind of like Google for blogs. This is more crap I need to learn about.
Someone just asked about "building their authority" on Technorati. YOu have to get links to get authority.
Lot of different tools to track your blog. At Technorati, you can subscribe via RSS to see who's talking about you.
RSS is a URL that updates you as soon as a site is updated.
feedburner.com-
digg.com is an online site to submit stories to. Users who like the stories can vote for them.
digg.com/tools will give you a button you can add to your post for people to vote on your blog posts.
Find other people who are digging the same posts you're writing, become friends with them and they will starting digging you.
addthis.com- allows you to submit 1 story to all social sites at one time.
bumpzee.com- distributed social network. You can see who's reading your blog!
Google anaytics- wide variety of different stats you can get. Put code on header or footer of your site. Can tell you who's coming to site, how long staying, etc. www.analytics.google.com.
getclicky.com- another stats site.
Pros and Cons of Blogger vs. Word Press. WP is generally more expandable. Blogger is just a blog and your post. WP can give you pages, so you can tab it. WP helps it look more like a "real Web site." WP has a giant variety of themes. YOu can schedule posts in WP, but not in Blogger.
datawebpro.net- good hosting site.
Judson is with www.macteens.com
Blog Orlando- Technology Track- Blogging Basics
I'm just typing in my notes from the tracks directly in here.
It's standing room only in this track. Lots more people are like me than I thought- don't know much, but want to know more.
What is a blog?
Web log. Chronology. Conversational- comments, trackbacks. Contemporaneous.
Trackbacks- msite to site or machine to machine comment.
Blogs and Web sites are looking more
Starting a blog:
Can use Blogger, Word Press, Square Space. Type Pad- this is a paid hosting service.
If blogging for a business,may be best to have it hosted locally.
It's important to have your own domain name. Credibility. Makes it real. Provides portability.
If you're interested in a paid host site, check back with www.blogorlando.com, where lots of info on this topic will be provided very soon.
It's fairly easy to switch over from Blogger, to Word Press, apparently.
Why businesses should blog: If you're not out there leading the conversation, someone else may be out there writing about you. You might as well try to be part of the conversation. I really like this concept. One person in this track who soon will be blogging for her business. She has a PR background and is worried about the potential inability to "control the message."
I think people- PR professionals particularly- should lighten up a bit. Kat from Y Lakeland commented that very few people leave inappropriate comments. She would rather open up comments to everyone and remove the random inappropriate comment, than be the Comment Police on a daily basis.
Dos and Don'ts
Do- write about what you know
Do- spend quality time writing your content
Do- read other people's blogs. Link to some of the more prominent blogs in your area.
Don't- plagiarize
Crap I know nothing about, but need to learn:
Look into Google Reader. Net Newswire. Vienna. All info on RSS readers.
Ma.gnolia.com
deli.ci.ous
Comment trolls
copyscape.com- apparently a great site to search for duplicate content.
It's standing room only in this track. Lots more people are like me than I thought- don't know much, but want to know more.
What is a blog?
Web log. Chronology. Conversational- comments, trackbacks. Contemporaneous.
Trackbacks- msite to site or machine to machine comment.
Blogs and Web sites are looking more
Starting a blog:
Can use Blogger, Word Press, Square Space. Type Pad- this is a paid hosting service.
If blogging for a business,may be best to have it hosted locally.
It's important to have your own domain name. Credibility. Makes it real. Provides portability.
If you're interested in a paid host site, check back with www.blogorlando.com, where lots of info on this topic will be provided very soon.
It's fairly easy to switch over from Blogger, to Word Press, apparently.
Why businesses should blog: If you're not out there leading the conversation, someone else may be out there writing about you. You might as well try to be part of the conversation. I really like this concept. One person in this track who soon will be blogging for her business. She has a PR background and is worried about the potential inability to "control the message."
I think people- PR professionals particularly- should lighten up a bit. Kat from Y Lakeland commented that very few people leave inappropriate comments. She would rather open up comments to everyone and remove the random inappropriate comment, than be the Comment Police on a daily basis.
Dos and Don'ts
Do- write about what you know
Do- spend quality time writing your content
Do- read other people's blogs. Link to some of the more prominent blogs in your area.
Don't- plagiarize
Crap I know nothing about, but need to learn:
Look into Google Reader. Net Newswire. Vienna. All info on RSS readers.
Ma.gnolia.com
deli.ci.ous
Comment trolls
copyscape.com- apparently a great site to search for duplicate content.
Only at Blog Orlando...
...can you tell a joke like, "He doesn't have a Twitter in his pants," and get a laugh out of it.
P.S. I barely know what Twitter is.
Google it, dear readers.
P.S. I barely know what Twitter is.
Google it, dear readers.
Shel Israel
Shel is the speaker before the tracks begin.
Shel is from California. He wrote Naked Conservations. Not alone. He wrote it with some other guy.
www.globalneighbourhoods.net
Shel is from California. He wrote Naked Conservations. Not alone. He wrote it with some other guy.
www.globalneighbourhoods.net
Blog Orlando Has Grown!
This is Blog Orlando 2.0. Last year, 90 people attended. This year, there are close to 300 here. It's a free event. That means free to attend, and free to not show up. Aggravatingly, some people have not shown up. That sucks for Vonya, who might have attended last-minute, had the site not closed for registration.
Rollins College provided free WiFi for the event. Yay Rollins!
Rollins College provided free WiFi for the event. Yay Rollins!
Blog Orlando
I'm at Blog Orlando today, trying to figure out a bit more about this whole blogging thing. I've determined I'm not nearly nerdy enough for this crowd. Just kidding. I'm stoked about all the info being offered here. More later!
Friday, September 7, 2007
Blogging 101
Yesterday I met up with local blogger Chuck Welch at one of my favorite coffee shops, Black and Brew. His blog is Lakeland Local and it's a good, often humorous read, especially if you live in Lakeland, Florida.
Chuck graciously agreed to give me some blog coaching, as I'm trying to beef up my blog and make it into something really relevant. Doing that means I have to learn the basics first.
Let me just say this: Chuck knows his stuff.
Chuck offered to help me out after I sent out a call for help on Polk Voice, a blog site that is a product of The Ledger, Polk County's newspaper of record. I was so grateful when Chuck responded with an offer to help.
I also was surprised to find that after my original post was published in the print version of Polk Voice, I received two additional offers from local bloggers to assist me in whipping my blog into shape.
Here's what I learned: never be shy about asking for help. This is true for everything- breaking into the freelance writing business, becoming a blogger, anything.
When someone is kind enough to give of their time and expertise, thank them. And when the opportunity presents itself to return the favor by helping out someone else, do it.
Chuck graciously agreed to give me some blog coaching, as I'm trying to beef up my blog and make it into something really relevant. Doing that means I have to learn the basics first.
Let me just say this: Chuck knows his stuff.
Chuck offered to help me out after I sent out a call for help on Polk Voice, a blog site that is a product of The Ledger, Polk County's newspaper of record. I was so grateful when Chuck responded with an offer to help.
I also was surprised to find that after my original post was published in the print version of Polk Voice, I received two additional offers from local bloggers to assist me in whipping my blog into shape.
Here's what I learned: never be shy about asking for help. This is true for everything- breaking into the freelance writing business, becoming a blogger, anything.
When someone is kind enough to give of their time and expertise, thank them. And when the opportunity presents itself to return the favor by helping out someone else, do it.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
It's Funny How Things All Come Together
Recently I happened across a GREAT blog for freelance writers and editors, called Freelance Writing Jobs.
I've been wandering around blogger.com lately, trying to figure out how to make my blog look as cool as the Freelance Writing Jobs blog. I want to put ads on my page. I want to offer relevant information to other freelance writers and start up some meaningful dialog. I also just want a place to do my creative writing and be silly.
The frustration has mounted as I've tried unsuccessfully to do all of this. Last night, in a fit of desperation, I posted a blog at Polk Voice, a local blog that is a product of our daily paper here in Lakeland, The Ledger.
I said I needed a blogging coach. And by this morning, one of the more dedicated bloggers, whose blog is Lakeland Local, had answered the call and offered to help me. He was just in time, too. I was ready to start pulling out my hair.
Then this afternoon, a friend of mine who works for the Polk County government told me about a FREE (no joke) conference on blogging that will be held in Orlando next month.
Yesterday, here I was, lost and helpless in blogland. Flash forward to this afternoon and now I have two awesome opportunities to get some questions answered.
Life is good!
I've been wandering around blogger.com lately, trying to figure out how to make my blog look as cool as the Freelance Writing Jobs blog. I want to put ads on my page. I want to offer relevant information to other freelance writers and start up some meaningful dialog. I also just want a place to do my creative writing and be silly.
The frustration has mounted as I've tried unsuccessfully to do all of this. Last night, in a fit of desperation, I posted a blog at Polk Voice, a local blog that is a product of our daily paper here in Lakeland, The Ledger.
I said I needed a blogging coach. And by this morning, one of the more dedicated bloggers, whose blog is Lakeland Local, had answered the call and offered to help me. He was just in time, too. I was ready to start pulling out my hair.
Then this afternoon, a friend of mine who works for the Polk County government told me about a FREE (no joke) conference on blogging that will be held in Orlando next month.
Yesterday, here I was, lost and helpless in blogland. Flash forward to this afternoon and now I have two awesome opportunities to get some questions answered.
Life is good!
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