Who's up for a blogger fest?

[Pat Coyle]

Wouldn't it be cool to assemble as many bloggers as we can - all in one place - f2f - for an unconference type event?

We could call it "blogorama" or "blogapalozza" or whatever.

I see bloggers of all ages covering a wide range of content topics getting together to share stories, compare techniques, discuss issues and have fun. I even see mainstream bosses, parents and even kids turning out to learn what blogging is about.

I think it would be fun just to see who shows up. And I think it would be a great promo for Smaller Indiana. Plus, it would encourage more folks to engage the online conversation.

I haven't been paying much attention to the local blog scene (if there is one) so pardon me if this has already been done.

I think we should hold it in Indy on a Saturday or Sunday so folks could come from far and near - and not miss work - to attend.

How many bloggers do you think we can recruit? 100? 200? More?

So here's how I suggest we get started...please reply to this post if you're interested in helping to plan an event like this. If at least 10 people step up, we'll set up a planning meeting sometime in the coming weeks. We'll also set up a 'group' in Smaller Indiana to keep everyone informed. And within a few more weeks, perhaps we'll have our first Smaller Indiana blogorama!

If you are a blogger and you want to come to an event like this but can't or don't prefer to join the planning group, please add your name to the thread so we keep you informed.

Also, If you've ever been to an unconference please help me out. I never have but I love the concept.

Who's with me? Anyone? Buehler?

[Kevin Makice]

I am very supportive of this. I have been trying to keep tabs on as many Bloomington bloggers as possible and now have a pretty extensive list. It would be nice to arrange a trip to Indy to participate in a state-wide blogfest.

[Bonnie Benshoof]

Yes, that sounds like fun, especially getting the children i nvolved,but Ipesonally could gain from that.It is just finding the time to get to one of these events,but sounds brilliant. Count me in if the day works out..

[Kyle Lacy]

I'm in.
and I watched that movie last night.
One of the best.

[Mark Bell]

Sarah and I are probably up for this.

[Ed Illig]

Sounds akin to a Twitter tweet-up. I might be up for that, depending upon how "un"conference-like it gets. :)

[Brad Williams]

I'm in!

There is a blog group that has been trying to work on this:

https://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/indiana-blog-conference

They want to raise $9,800, which breaks down to 200 bloggers paying $49 for the event. We should reach out to that group as well. I pledged $49 a few months back, but its been slow to grow.

The Unconference is pretty much identical to BarCamp. It is literally an open conference where attendees give the presentations. I'm sure after BarCamp I'll have some great tips/ideas for this!

[Erik Deckers]

I would love to do it. Would this be more of a conference or a seminar?

Since we're Smoosier bloggers, does that make us Smoggers?

[Jeremy Stacy]

Sounds like a great idea.

Let me know how I can help!

[Lorraine Ball]

I'm in! Would love to meet some of the people behind my favorite local blogs. And i have to admit, i really enjoy the F2F events.

So formal programs? Informal discussion?? what did you have in mind?

[Bruce LaDuke]

I like the idea and the indiana-blog-conference looks good.

Probably already been done, but there are a lot of ways to search/locate indiana bloggers online. Here are a couple of directories:

http://www.globeofblogs.com/?x=location&country=213

http://www.placeblogger.com/location/directory/us/IN

[Kevin Makice]

For Bloomington, I am about to be an active editor of BlogNetNews:

http://www.blognetnews.com/bloomingtonin

Which is already populated with much of the information I have collected over the past year or so. That list has grown, but we probably have 80-100 possible bloggers from Bloomington alone.

If you include microblogging, we're probably at 200.

[Dustin Sparks]

sounds cool, I'm in