August 2006 Archives
FYI, that "links for 2006-08-31" post from last night was produced automatically from del.icio.us. I'm not sure why it posted at 9:36 specifically, and I'm really not sure why it says it's links for 8-31 rather than 8-30. I'll work on that, but I do like the functionality.
Also, I've been told that we may have some commenting issues. Like, you can't. So I'll check on that. Apologies for any inconvenience to the hordes of people whose evenings were ruined when they could not comment.
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The telemarketers cannot be stopped.
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If you're going to start a green restaurant, can't you name it something that sounds a little less like "terror"?
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I have to remember never to read the comment threads on any blog post that even references vegetarianism, but the post itself is quite funny.
You can use U.S. stamps to mail a letter to Sudan.
You cannot include any loose gemstones or precious metals in your letter.
She keeps a giant bottle of ibuprofen on her desk, and we can go into her office and take some any time we want.
I'm supposed to be working right now, but the software I'm supposed to be documenting is still a touch on the broken side. So let me catch up on a few letters.
From NARAL Pro-Choice America, send an email to your federal delegation asking them to, well, make sense about sex education. Since mine just won't, I didn't bother editing the stock text much.
Then two letters from Amnesty International:
- Support the International Criminal Court: Justice Now for the Women and Girls of Darfur
- Call for the Closure of Guantanamo
If those two don't move you, check out the entire list at the Amnesty International Online Action Center.
I don't think I had noticed it before, or perhaps it's new - the Amnesty action center offers the option to print a letter and mail it, in addition to the usual email option. I know paper letters are more effective, and now they've made it easy. I also like knowing that they're getting data on how many people send letters, since they have it integrated into their action center rather than simply posting the information on a flat web page and hoping. Stats are important in measuring nonprofit effectiveness, and when you do a good job they also come in handy while fundraising.
Now I must make my lunch for tomorrow!
Yes, this is the giant BlogHer wrapup post you've all been waiting for. You haven't been able to do a thing because you're so busy thinking "Princess, you told us all about the advertising, but what was BlogHer really like this year?"
Well, from my perspective, it was quite lovely.
Some folks didn't enjoy it as much as I did. We need to do things differently next year. However, I wish more people would give the organizers some credit for not being evil. They thought about issues of inclusion ahead of time and asked for input from a variety of people. But the vibe of the criticism has a tone of "obviously they don't give a damn / never thought about it / didn't try."
Part of it was about the highly visible presence of the MommyBloggers. I appreciate the gentle way A Mama's Rant provided her feedback:
I don't understand the hate, but I agree that BlogHer was mom-centric. If the founders of BlogHer are as smart as I think they are, BlogHer will evolve, and highlight other female voices in the future.
I want the mamas to enjoy getting to see each other and celebrate without making new folks feel like BlogHer is a giant mom clique. I am so used to not being interested in what everyone else is doing that I just looked at them, thought "they're having a great time, good for them," then went about my business. It didn't occur to me that some people looked at them and didn't see anything else. I talked to so many interesting women who may or may not have been moms while I was there, and I wish the people who only saw moms had gotten to do that as well. But I don't think that's because the organizers did anything wrong on purpose.
As for the issues around race and sexual orientation, I am struggling to shut up and really hear some of the criticism.
I do agree that we shouldn't demand that people from marginalized communities produce 12-point, clearly articulated and logical statements of what went wrong before we take them seriously. I don't believe that we can dismiss their concerns on the basis that they didn't do something about it themselves - especially since not everyone is an extrovert activist, thankyouverymuch. I have to take into account my extremely high power of ignore, which makes things like cocktail parties and free wine and a free wine bottle opener not such a big deal even though HELLO there are adults in this world who don't fucking drink and my god it gets tiresome to have everything be about drinking. I just sigh and move on. Not everyone can do that.
But my not drinking is not at all like being a lesbian, because no one will ever try to kill me or burn down my house just because I don't drink. And though Lynne D. Johnson said at SXSW that it would be nice for once to be on a panel that wasn't about being African-American, that doesn't mean that people of color should just hush up if they felt ignored because there wasn't a BlogHer panel specifically on race. We probably need to do both formal recognition and integrated inclusion instead of relying on one strategy or the other to make people feel welcome.
While I think about all that, I am waiting for the panel podcasts to be released. Some of the sessions I attended were so enjoyable that I'd like to listen to them again and share them with people who didn't go to the conference. My favorite panel was called "Is the Next Martha Stewart A Blogger?" It featured Pim Techamuanvivit of Chez Pim (food blog), Gayla Trail of YouGrowGirl (gardening), Marnie MacLean (knitting and crochet) , Andrea Scher of Superhero Designs (jewelry), and Maggie Mason of Mighty Girl and Mighty Goods (shopping blog) as moderator. If I start talking about how much I loved it, I may never stop. I arrived in the room tired, cranky, and annoyed that I had made a bunch of random, bizarre sleep-deprivation-inspired comments while introducing myself in the feminism small group. I left recharged and happy, even though I have no interest in doing a craft business online. The energy on the panel was so positive, and the panelists had such thoughtful perspectives and fun stories, it couldn't help but improve my mood.
When the podcasts surface, I'll let you know!
I also saw a bunch of great folks whom I'd met or at least seen last year and/or at SXSW:
- The organizers Elisa, Jory, and Lisa
- ae of Arse Poetica, and hurray that db came with her again!
- Melinda of Sour Duck, whom I suspected would dislike the conference, but I'm glad she was there.
- Samantha, who must start blogging somewhere new.
- Liz Henry, of Badgermama and Feminist SF. I had not previously had enough time around Liz to know how much I like her. Thank goodness that's fixed!
New folks:
- Brittany of HollaBackBoston, who let me know that there is a HollaBackTexas. How did I not know this? Brittany also let me use her sunscreen, so I am forever in her debt.
- Debra of A Stitch in Time was very kind to me after my presentation, and then it turned out she's a quilter. Yay!
- Sheri (and I think Amy as well) of Mamazine, a feminist publication for mamas. Another reassurance that I can have kids without becoming a suburban zombie. Also, you must mouse over (if you use a mouse) the nav tabs at the top of their site. I almost swooned.
- J. Craig Williams of May It Please The Court. Good guy, very interested in accessibility and pretty far ahead of most bloggers in making his blog accessible to people with disabilities. I hope I didn't offend him when I answered his email about skip nav.
- Lauren of Oodleday and Metroblogging Austin. Shout out to the Austin girls!
- Bill of History of the Button. You heard me. Don't be all "History of the what?" because I know as soon as you saw it you were dying to click on it.
- Kathryn of Daring Young Mom, who I met in the van on the way back to the airport. Poor Kathryn had never missed a flight in her life, but overslept this one!
- Adrianna, Media Relations Specialist for the American Foundation for the Blind. I must practice the name of her organization so I get it right. I've already had to correct four blog posts due to my inattention to detail.
- Suzanne of CUSS and other rants, to whom I have promised a review of Long Kiss Goodnight on Heroine Content.
- Candace of muse and fury (femilicious.com) and 16punches. Canadians rock.
- Last but far from least, the inimitable Suebob of Red Stapler and Linkateria. Her Red Stapler Portraits series is my favorite chronicle of the conference.
I also found a bookmark, appropriately, for Jen Robinson's Book Page. Its tagline is "Promoting the love of books by children, and the continued reading of children's books by adults." Love it.
My suggestions for next year, which will be in Chicago:
More stickers. There was a sad lack of stickers at this conference. Barking Dog Studios, a web design shop focused on accessibility and usability, left stickers lying around. Somehow a bunch of Six Apart and Vox stickers ended up on a table, but it looked like they had been forgotten there. So I took some.
Swag recycling, as suggested by (at least) Jory Des Jardins and a mamablogger whose name I've forgotten after reading so many posts. I felt like I was stealing when I rescued tiny potted plant kits (courtesy of the lovely folks of ThisNext) off the tables while the hotel staff were cleaning up after lunch, but I thought they would get thrown away. I would have been glad to take them somewhere to make them available for everyone throughout the rest of the conference. And I brought some of the swag back to the big room and left it on a table for people to take, but did that work? Especially with extra bags and branded stuff, I doubt the sponsors would mind at all if we took home extras for friends and family. Free marketing for them. I would have brought G. an extra set of the good swag since she couldn't attend.
I also can't remember who suggested space for attendees to exchange information with each other, such as cards (and oh, I don't know, perhaps stickers?). My card collection was quite lovely, but I would have loved to collect more. So many interesting people in the world.
Make sure speakers and panelists are reminded strongly that their audience will most likely be a mix of newbies and techies OR make the session descriptions explicit about the level they're targeting. It's really, really hard to please everyone, but if you don't consider your audience when preparing you will miss everyone.
A panel of bloggers who review film, music, books, video games, comics, etc. How do they decide what to write about? How do they keep up with what others are saying? Why do they do it? What have they learned about how to write a good review? I think a lot of bloggers write reviews even if their blog isn't dedicated to that on a full-time basis, so perhaps there would be sufficient interest for a panel.
Perhaps in addition to the Birds of a Feather groups, we might try something like (brainstorming here) a system of "new people welcomers" who have been to BlogHer before. They could set up at tables for breakfast each day and new folks could congregate if they so choose? I'm trying to think of ways to break that ice for people who are nervous about attending the conference when everyone seems to know everyone already.
How far in advance do they sell plane tickets?
My donations for July and August (roughly):
Knowbility is a nonprofit that promotes barrier-free IT accessible to everyone. They taught me the basics of accessibility and have answered my questions when I needed more than the basics. They train developers on how to make their sites and applications accessible. Basically, they rock. Money for them!
Progressive Secretary is a service I've been using on and off for a couple of years. They send you draft emails that you can choose to send to your elected reps and other decision-makers, and if you like, you click and they send. The letters are on a range of issues, and they tell you what group is running the campaign about the issue so you can find out more information.
Native Energy got some cash again, this time for my flights to New York, Amarillo, and San Jose.
One side effect of building charitable giving into my monthly budget has surprised me: I'm no longer anxious about which cause I give to. In the past, I would stress out about which was more important, or which needed it most. Now I know that barring unhappy changes in my life, I will have the chance to give to a number of causes. I don't need to calculate any particular donation as if it's the only one I'll ever get a chance to make.
It's nice.
Time to get back on the train with letters!
This week, I'm sending a paper letter to the FDA based on this action alert from NARAL Pro-Choice America about the approval of Plan B. Plan B without a prescription equals more options for women, which in my book is always a good thing. I edited their draft letter a smidge, my text is below the cut.
Things are not going well in Chad, next door to Darfur, as refugees and other displaced people move into the area trying to find safety. Amnesty International wants you to send a little note to the government of Chad letting them know the world is watching and they need to step up to the plate. Quick and easy activism.
The next one's for anyone with a Senator who voted to fully fund public broadcasting. MoveOn has asked that we send thank-you notes to those Senators. In Texas, that's Kay Bailey Hutchison. Non-Texans will have to do your own legwork, I don't know how to look up votes. If you didn't get the MoveOnmemo, here's their PDF you can print. Have the kid in your life fill it out and send it. Texans can use this address:
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
500 Chestnut Street, Suite 1570
Abilene, TX 79602-1458
If you don't have a kid, you can still participate. Write about your childhood memories of PBS or your current love for NPR. Or get help from others in your household. The Dog is helping me send a note, which you can view here in PDF. (I scrubbed out her address because the Intarweb is dangerous.)
If none of that moves you, you could always try just asking a question. Texan jobsanger describes a friend who sent the same question to two candidates for his congressional district. Marc at Marc's Miscellany tried to get Kay Bailey Hutchison to disclose her position on the Marriage Protection Amendment and the Voting Rights Act extension. After a while, he did get a response to his questions. Asking questions is more than just a way to get information. It also signals to the questionee that this issue is important to their constituents. Try it out!
This year, I told myself that I was not going to spend a bajillion hours reading every blog post I could find that discussed BlogHer.
Oh well.
I have to admit that before I read so many of those posts, I would probably have written a post with more complaints. But god, the blogosphere has been there and done that. So my bajillion hours were not wasted, for I am now writing a more thoughtful, less snarky post than I would have otherwise.
(Full disclosure: I spoke on Day 1 of this year's conference, for which I have been told I will be paid back my conference registration fee. Whatever.)
The sponsorship and marketing of BlogHer2006 is being widely criticized. First, the MSNSpaces train wreck so eloquently described by SueBob. I have to say, though, that the VP of Whatever who introduced the Janes was just as offensive. Her presentation was completely tone deaf. Hello, you may be the biggest blogging service in the world but you're taking to a room full of people who use other tools. Hello, when you mention all the women in other countries whom we could inspire by telling our stories, maybe you want to include a country in Europe or Japan or something so you don't sound like SUCH A FUCKING COLONIALIST. And just for kicks, maybe mention that those women might also have a thing or two to tell us. I'm just sayin'.
Second, the Trojan Elexa people. Basically, they included a size Medium t-shirt in all the gift bags. I saw someone, don't remember who, saying "well, it's hard to order t-shirts for a group when you don't know the size, I think they did the best they could." Um, how about don't do t-shirts? I'm sure you can find something else to brand. Less widely discussed is their presence at the Feminism Birds of a Feather small group meeting in which one of the women made some shockingly racist remarks and then clumsily tried to take over the discussion.
There are also folks who are dissatisfied with having a condom included in the gift bag, as if it assumes that they are sleeping with a man. However, one of the lessons I gave as an HIV educator was that a cut-up condom makes a perfectly serviceable dental dam, so I'm not convinced.
Then in general, there is a lot of commentary about how the sponsor and advertising presence was overwhelming and that BlogHer felt like it has sold out.
At this point, you may be thinking "Princess, that's all well and good. But you told me you weren't going to write a big post full of complaints. Also, I read the title of this post and I'm not seeing how this relates to the International Quilt Festival."
Good points. Let me explain.
The International Quilt Festival (IQF), for those of you who don't know, takes place every year in Houston and Chicago. The company that does it - yes, company - also does a show in Europe. I can't speak for Chicago and Europe, but the one in Houston is huge. The entire Houston convention center huge. Part of it is a quilt show, part of it is hundreds of classes that people pay to take, and part of it is a giant store with hundreds of exhibitors' booths. Sections of the quilt show and some of the other events during that week are sponsored by manufacturers of quilting products, such as Bernina and Husqvarna Viking, both of which make sewing machines.
You see, quilting is a hobby that usually requires the purchasing of materials. Fabric, batting, tools, etc. Yes, it's possible to get a hand-me-down sewing machine, find fabric at thrift shops, and use an old blanket as batting, but many or most people who quilt as a hobby rather than to keep their families warm are buying stuff. And the businesses know there is money to be made, so they are all over the place.
But quilting is also a medium for self-expression, for creativity, or just for the pleasure of making something with your hands or giving a special gift to a family member or a friend. It can be a business opportunity, for those who make quilts to sell, teach, or write books, or open a quilt shop. But most of the people who do it will never make any money off of it, they just do it because they like it.
Blogging has much in common with quilting in that way. It shares one additional key characteristic: most bloggers depend on businesses to provide them with the raw materials. It has one key difference: many bloggers get those raw materials for free. Think about it. Anyone who is using Blogger, Flickr, most Movable Type plugins, sidebar widgets, etc. is being given raw materials for free, and the company that gives it away is still trying to make enough money to keep the lights on and pay its employees enough so they can eat and have a place to live, clothes, etc.
So why are people so pissed off about the sponsors at BlogHer? I've never heard anyone complain about all the shopping at IQF, or even the sponsoring.
I think part of it is that a good number of the sponsors of BlogHer this year were tone deaf. MSNSpaces was the worst example. At IQF, we know and like many of the companies who are there because we use their products - but also because the people who work for them and come to the event are just as excited about quilting as we are. Many of them are quilters themselves. They understand the "market" not from the outside, but from the inside and they're excited to share.
I enjoyed interacting with the folks from FilmLoop, ThisNext, BlogBurst, and Brandimensions because I could tell they were really into blogs and blogging and they wanted to talk about it with us. I'm sure they'd done market research, just as I'm sure the vendors at IQF do market research, but it doesn't show. They participated in the community rather than targeting the community.
BlogTalk Radio also sent a rep, though they were not a sponsor. She told us what the company did, then settled down to participate in the conversation as a regular person. She offered helpful tips from the audience at one of the Day 2 panel discussions based on her experience as a blogger, even though they had nothing to do with her company. She added value to the community (and gave us post-it notes) and I am intrigued to see more of what her company does.
For the sponsors who didn't add value, does that reflect on the BlogHer organizers and advisory board? Hell no. If MSNSpaces or Trojan wants to write a big check to the event and then show up and embarrass themselves, so what? It's on them to do their homework, and it's on them to send representatives who are good ambassadors for their companies. They didn't. Hopefully they'll learn from the experience of an entire audience ignoring them and do better next time.
Even if they don't embarrass themselves and it's just a slightly boring commercial, nothing says you have to pay attention. Trust me, there are quilt people who are inappropriate or boring as hell too, and you just have to laugh the 15th time they say "and I made this with my Flying Geese Tool (tm) too!"
Nothing was stopping anyone from leaving the room during any of the BlogHer sponsor pitches, and the majority of the conference attendees had laptops with them and could often get internet access. Plus, other bloggers were sitting all around you, and some of them were bound to be interesting. So entertain yourselves otherwise for 10 minutes and then they'll get back to the regular programming. Like any other speaker, they need to earn my attention by saying something interesting or useful. If they don't, too bad for them.
(As for the idea that we should be in a space free of advertising or marketing unless we choose to seek it out, I think that's a little hypocritical given all of the free tools that many of us take advantage of in our blogging. The Intarweb giveth all for free, but heaven forbid that the folks who make the stuff should get 10 minutes of our time in return. Especially when we are drinking their booze, eating their food, and enjoying the parties and wireless they paid for.)
Me Elsewhere
