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Panel #3 (reflections)

Before the panel, Chris and Sandy and Alan and Ted and I were sitting together, having breakfast and chatting.

Chris asked each of us for a tidbit of personal info he could use in the introductions. I told him I put the first TV series on the internet. Alan considered for a moment and finally said, “just try not to use the word blog while introducing me,” because once you’re labeled a “blogger” it brings up certain associations and stereotypes that can be hard to overcome. A consummately reasonable request.

Shortly thereafter, the panel got underway, and Chris introduced us down the line. Sandy showed the new video from levees.org, which you should definitely watch. When Chris made his introduction of Alan he said, “OK, and now I’m supposed to introduce Alan Gutierrez without using the word ‘blog.’ Except, oops, I just did.” He proceeded to use the the word “blog” once more during his introduction, and then he let Alan say a bit about himself. When Alan made a passing reference to blogs, Chris interrupted to say, “You just said the word ‘blog.'”

I was up next, and when I said the b-word Chris interrupted me to say, “You just said the word ‘blog.'” Then he said it was OK for me to use the word, and I did so with reckless abandon.

If I was Alan, I guess I would have felt pretty annoyed. Still, I couldn’t help being amused, against my better judgment.

There’s a more comprehensive write-up of the panel at Alan Levine’s Cog Dog Blog.


Other highlights included Nick Spitzer‘s opening address which made the connection between creativity and creolization; a presentation on webcomics by Ruben Puentadora; Alan Levine’s 50 Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story; Joe Lambert‘s presentation on storymapping; and Michael Mizell-Nelson’s closer on the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank.

But mainly I’m glad to have finally connected with the New Media Consortium. My old boss urged me to check them out some time before Katrina, but after the storm I was preoccupied. My typical complaint of conferences and organizations is that they tend to be either too academic or too commercial to be relevant to what I do. But the NMC seems to be more or less in the zone.

Oh, and I also met Chris Wood, the distinguished author of Prytania Waterline.

Published inFriendsGeekyNew OrleansThe Ed Biz

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