Well how cool is (answer: very)!
KRON4, a local Bay Area TV station, is holding a Blogger Meet-up at their offices in San Francisco. They’ve found 278 local bloggers to invite directly… but the event is open to all.
I’ll be in Maui that week celebrating my birthday; hopefully they’ll do this again before year’s end. And hopefully, other locally based Media companies will take this to heart…
Update: The Blogger.com crew smells a hoax. Perhaps. It’d be a smart move for KRON to post something on their own domain about the event…
Update 2: Brian Shields, Online News Manager for KRON4-TV, drops by and adds a comment reassuring us that it’s not a hoax. Undersanding that the proof is in the pudding (ever wondered about the origin of that expression?), he says, “But you’re right… we will get something posted on KRON4.com about this by tomorrow.”
Update 3: I’m happy to report that KRON has posted a lovely slug on their home page (below) to settle the issue. Additional notes: 1) they’ve linked to the invite, 2) Blogger.com boys, perhaps you can update your post?, and 3) invoking Marc Canter and Kaliya Hamlin for a moment… this really wouldn’t have been an issue if we had a ubiquitous Identity system we all trusted.
Here are the full event details and invite text:
From: KRON-TV
Location: KRON-TV 1001 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA
When: Saturday, June 11, 12:00pm
Phone: (415) 441-4444
KRON4 television is hosting a meet-up of Bay Area bloggers at noon on Saturday, June 11, 2005. Snacks will be served and we’ll have a little memento for attendees. There’s no agenda other than helping facilitate this meet-up. We recognize the significance of the personal media revolution, and we want to listen to what you’re saying. We think this is a good way to start.
All Bay Area bloggers are invited to attend, so help us spread the word. We’ve come up with 278 e-mail addresses so far, but many bloggers don’t make theirs publicly available. Feel free to add e-mail addresses to the invitation list.
We want this to be an informal and intimate get-together, so come prepared to meet and make new friends. Use the RSVP function of Evite to let us know if you can make it. We want to make sure we have enough snacks for everybody.
You caught us… it’s a hoax.
No really it’s not. We’re really inviting Bay Area bloggers to come visit with us on a Saturday afternoon to help us become a part of the citizens media community. We want to listen to you and together to be a part of creating great content for both blog readers and TV viewers.
But you’re right… we will get something posted on KRON4.com about this by tomorrow.
Brian Shields
Online News Manager
KRON4-TV
I can assure you this is not a hoax. Perhaps the station doesn’t wish to exploit the event and wishes instead to keep it low key.
http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20020903.html
–rafer
Well the pudding is still in the oven… okay, well I guess pudding goes on the stove.
In any case, my web design guy is out sick today, so the blogger meetup page on KRON4.com may not be ready until tomorrow.
But we have a few weeks for the pudding to be completed.
I just hope it’s banana cream… my favorite.
It’s really really really not a hoax.
Brian Shields
Online News Manager
KRON4-TV
shields@kron.com
Rafer, that’s too funny (thank you). And, you did it without using Google. Who knew!
Brian… two things… first, everyone knows butterscotch is the best pudding flavor… second, this “issue we’re having” would make for a great story on the importance of digital identity, no? (BTW, I’ll update again and link to the story on KRON.com when it’s up. Thanks for keeping me in the loop.)
Well that’s the great thing about the diversity of the blogosphere… there’s room for banana cream and butterscotch people to co-exist and share information side by side!
Speaking of which, the item is now up at http://www.kron.com There’s a tile on the front page on the right side of the news stories… between the promo for Bay Area Backroads and the free coffee article. For the moment it just links to the evite… eventually I hope to have a form on the site where people can register.
If you prefer using the phone, you may also register by calling the Kron switchboard at 415-441-4444 and ask for the blogger meet up information (during business hours) or call directly to the phone hotline at 415-561-8644.
I hope this proves that it’s not a hoax… and I look forward to seeing as many people as possible. If you can’t make it in person (for instance if you’re in Maui) we would love to hear your ideas by e-mail (or just by reading your blog!) We will be doing more of these in the future.
Thanks for hanging with us and help up become a part of the citizen’s media revolution.
Brian Shields
Online News Manager
KRON4-TV
shields@kron.com
Brian, you’re a man of your word, so despite you’re continued banana cream ranting (grin), I’ve updated my post. (Hopefully you can get Google to do the same.)
Sorry I’ll miss the event, but I look forward to meeting you and the rest of the KRON crew at a future gathering. Thanks for supporting open media!
Just a friendly reminder, the event is tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you there.
Brian Shields
Online News Manager
KRON-TV
shields@kron.com
Well, the event has come and gone. Personally I found it a tad creepy. They wanted to have a place for us ‘blogges’ to show up and meet each other? That’s odd. Then The President wanted to offer his assistance, What Do We Need? I need some new socks, personally. Then he wanted us to pay him back? They’re hiring someone to write about what we write? I barely have a high school education. It must be some other poor sap they’re after. I got some great shots of me and Amy in the morning show stage, that I LOVE. We’ll see, I’m ready for anything.
Biggles
Biggles