ECW Community Meetup

Before anything else is written, I want to extend heartfelt thanks to Gregg Smith.  He opened his heart, his will, his mind and his home to the blogging community of Montana.  He, and his beloved, hosted a great event.  I also want to sincerely thank Bob Adney, and the Treasure State Network.  They bought me lunch; well, me and everyone else.  That was *cool* in a can, no lie.  Finally, I want to thank my beloved for giving me up for a whole Saturday, and letting me borrow her car which a) gets vastly better gas mileage than my truck, and b) simply looks far sweeter cruising down the road.

I had the rather unbelievable honor of tooling to Great Falls this Saturday to meet with other bloggers and blog commenters and spouses of the web addicted.  Gregg had asked me to present a talk, and I simply couldn't refuse him.  In all honesty, I was as nervous as hell.  I disagree rather vehemently with many of those I thought might be there, and more to the point, they disagree with me.  I sincerely felt like a guy who'd gotten dared to step in a bear trap, and did it just for the filming of the next Jackass movie.  But, Gregg had some confidence in me, and I wasn't gonna let him down.  Hopefully, I didn't.

I'm not going to go into a whole lot of specifics about who was there, what we did (other than have fun), or the play-by-play.  If you expect that, Sorry!  I'm mostly going to give my general impressions.  Since time is limited for me, this may spread out over several posts.

The initial get-together at the restaurant was awkward, I haven't doubt.  Most everyone there was from Great Falls, and that's why I refer to this as an ECW community meetup.  The only out-of-towners were from Bozeman.  I was somewhat disappointed that I didn't get to meet some of the folks from Missoula.  (But I am hopeful that the next such grouping will take place there.)  I was relieved that Dave Budge wasn't there.  Get the two of us in the same room and it might be like matter/anti-matter.  Shit might go terribly wrong.  Those that were there certainly didn't know what to expect from me, and I had no clue what to expect from them.  That was the perfect way to begin.

The talk went well.  I strayed from my narrative a bit, and left a bunch of stuff out, but I was more interested in hearing what others had to say in response.  The point of my presentation was that commenters/readers are the bane of bloggers because of differing expectations, and that bringing them together builds community which will satisfy all parties.  It's win/win.  Because the attendees shared a respect for Gregg and the idea of community, they were remarkably receptive to, what is in my mind, an obvious message.  There are websites in Montana that are really building some things that are powerful, and Electric City Weblog is one of them.  They are building community.  I don't state this as proof of thesis, but as a witness to what happened on Saturday.  Trust me, that was cool beans.

Many of the people there were/are associated with GF city government.  I am stunned with how well they have embraced the online media as a tool and as a forum.  That struck me hard, but on many levels.  It struck that Great Falls is not only isolated in geography but in outlook.  They see themselves as 'different'.  (Don't mistake me.  Many other Montana cities do as well, but this was different from my experience.)  These are the people of the river.  It infuses their lives.

I did finally get to meet an old nemesis/friend.  David Sherman was there.  We have been together online for a very long time.  He had a strong invite to party in my backyard, but didn't do so.  Finally, I got to meet him.  I have real affection for this guy.  He has been many places, but adores his community in Great Falls.  I do wish him the best.

Time is up.  More later.

Comments

[Craig Moore]

I understand your presentation was excellent and well received. A very commendable effort and great job. Do you have a PPT link?

There is one topic where we are simpatico, that's dinos. Growing up I spent many hours on explorations in Montana's glacier moraines that will remain nameless to protect their existence.

[david]

Wulfgar, THANK YOU for making the journey - it was truly my pleasure and an honor to meet you IRL/F2F. You're not nearly as scary and hideous as I expected.

*ducks*

And thanks for sharing your wisdom and good humor and civility, friend.

[Gregg Smith]

Wulfar, I echo Dave's appreciation. Your talk and leadership was well-planned, well-delivered, and well-received. Thank you much for making the trip.

[Gregg Smith]

P.S. Now that you mentioned it, I do look a lot more than 2 years younger than you!

[Wulfgar]

Hey, now! Don't make me bring the hate ...

~wink~

[firefly]

It was a lot of fun, and very nice to meet you.

[custom dissertation]

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[ZenPanda]

I really enjoyed your talk & the small part of the meet-up I got to attend. It did give em much to think about.

Thank you for coming to see us!

BTW- I should have recorded it so the grandcub will fall asleep better when he visits next. :-)