Beer and Blog Huntsville, Alabama

We had several small bubbles of conversation going on simultaneously until near the end of our meetup this week. I know I missed a lot of discussion, but following is a summary of what I was privy to.

Blogging Personas:

Jonathan took a survey of the established bloggers. He wanted to know who wrote as themselves and who used a persona. Everyone there for this beginning conversation answered that they wrote as themselves. Then we examined some pros and cons of the persona angle, should that be the direction Jonathan decides to take once he starts to blog.

Of course, since none of us write using one, we might have missed a few items. Do you write using a persona? Any advice that you would share?

Curling:

The big screen was all about Olympic curling when we first arrived. After comparing this “sport” to archery and shooting – two other competitions that, while requiring a bit higher accuracy, do not muss a hairdo – we decided curling could stay so long as we can laugh at it.

Social Experiment:

Tomas is looking to see if he can influence the guests on a popular podcast with his blog. We talked about measuring results from different targets on Twitter using Google Analytics filters.

Access to Modern Facilities:

Linda ran into some difficulties with a college that wanted her for a presentation, and she shared her experience with us. Linda needs to be able to present virtually but the school is unsure of it’s capability to do so.

Discussion revolved around being fairly certain that any university would have the capability. We believe the problem area is in communications between the tech support people, the event coordination people and the end users (students/attendees).

Do you work with a university? What would you say the best approach would be for capability fact gathering and event preparation?

Google Buzz:

We don’t much care for the stuff. The switch is at the bottom of the Gmail page to turn it off, by the way.

Linux:

Tomas, Thom and Frank all like various flavors and had a nice little tech talk that I totally cannot relay because I found great interest in checking my email about that time… and because I know nothing about Linux, so I have no idea what they were talking about.

Makers Local 256 Happenings:

A time fountain is the current mind warping project going on down on Clinton and South Parkway. Little drips of fluorescent water and timed UV LEDs that make you think you are a master manipulator of matter on a grand scale. I let them know that we need a video or it didn’t happen.

Barcamp Updates:

• Sponsors: Thom is putting together sponsorship levels tonight and will post them to our wave. BnB members, please be sure to check in and get that info before approaching any local businesses. Also, as you talk to potential sponsors, please update the wave with the results so there’s no crossed wires.
• Venue: Not settled yet. Several new suggestions were mentioned this evening that will need to be checked into this week. As members gather information, please make sure to update the wave with the details.
• Website: barcamphuntsville.com will be the event’s official information site. Thom will be posting the email signup for anyone interested in attending (the general public is welcome!) He’ll also launch a poll for voting on topic tracks there.
• Wave: If you’re a regular at the Beer and Blog Huntsville meetups and do not have access to our Google Wave, please let us know and we’ll get you added.

Thom’s eBook

Epic failure. Though, if he gets his barcamp chores done this week, we’ll forgive him for not having his first installment ready to launch.

That’s all I have for you. Maybe a few other attendees will drop by to comment on some more happenings. Of course, the best way to make sure you get the whole story is to come out yourself. Hope to see you next week, 5-7pm, at West End Grill!