Why I want to go to Northern Voice 2010: personal blogging and social media conference, May 7-8

Funny thing: I was just talking to a friend of mine, Comox Valley photographer and writer Sharon MacDonnell, about blogging and photo practice. I was encouraging her to try to take in the 2010 Northern Voice confab at UBC in YVR. And then I see a post by Kris Krüg about today (April 1) being the last day to apply for a travel grant to the event. So here I am writing a post about why I want to go to #NV2010 (that's the Twitter #tag for the event for anyone who wants to follow it real-time off-site, and for everyone on-site who'll be posting tweets, blogs, fotos, etc).

What's 2010Northern Voice? And why was I trying to encourage Sharon to go? Because I want to go. Because I'm thinking that it's a cool event.

The website says it like this:

"In 2005, the organizers of Canada's first weblogging conference put on an event that was inexpensive, informal, and accessible to techies and newbies alike. From those humble beginnings Northern Voice has been transformed into... "

I'm relatively new to the blog-osphere. But it was being in touch with folks like Kris (who's been posting about 2010Northern Voice for months now in anticipation of the event) that has me plugged into a very juicy, creative flow in my life. Now blogging – with text, photos, video – is just part of what I do everyday. It's work. It's play. It's a way that I connect with folks who share some of my passions. And what I see via the big world of the internet is that the regional scene is still pretty intimate, friendly, supportive – and interested in doing creative, good things.

I'm hoping Sharon can make it. She's worried about taking her daughter out of school and dragging her into the city for a few days and inflicting her on her Tia Odete. I say: Tia Odete'll be thrilled. And you, my friend Sharon, will get to feel some of the electricity that is pulsing through the still relatively intimate BC blog-osphere.

FMI: 2020.northernvoice.ca/about

May 7-8, 2010. UBC. Social media. Blogging. Creative. Fun!

See you there!

hpm