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Starting with Fire and Blogging in the Bedroom at Northern Voice 2006

January 13th, 2006 · 1 Comment

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Last year we had a great time at the first Northern Voice, and I have high expectations for the second! Vancouver B.C., specifically UBC Robson, is where you want to be on Saturday February 11th. And if you liked – or missed – Seattle Mind Camp – give Moose Camp a try on Friday February 10th. See the schedule for Northern Voice Saturday or the Moose Camp grid.

Why Northern Voice? It’s relaxed yet intense, serious and fun, local yet international. Last year, I experienced rich discussions that challenged and changed my own ideas, and I also enjoyed meeting many bloggers for the first time. Northern Voice has less of an emphasis on the technology and more focus on the social and cultural aspects of blogging. Of the conferences I’ve attended in the past two years, it had one of the highest rates of family participation and one of the most diverse group of attendees in age and gender. I was amazed and impressed to notice how many bloggers brought their parents with them. Everyone was friendly with our kids. This year the conference organizers continued that welcome to families with a room just for kids – thanks! It’s great to go across the border, get a taste of life in Vancouver and become drawn into the wonderful community of bloggers only a few hours north of us here in Seattle. I met faces behind the blogs and saw the smiles there too.

Of course, I’m partial to Northern Voice because of the wonderful opportunity the organizers gave me to present Making Masks last year. After I submitted a proposal this past November, I was chosen again to speak at NV 2006. This time, I’ve been given the first slot, opening the day, so I need to wake everyone up and keep them awake at 9 am on a Saturday morning. I’m grateful and honored to be starting the conference with my talk titled Starting with Fire: Why Stories Are Essential and How to Blog Effective Tales.

For the past month, I’ve been immersed in the process of creating this presentation. Already I have a reputation among our local librarians and a stack of books towering over my laptop on my desk. Peek at my delicious tag :storytelling to see the posts and sites I am accumulating in my research. To use Tim Bray’s analogy from last year’s keynote (see Nancy White’s excellent notes), I’m combining bits of neuroscience and psychology, culture and history as well as some personal stories and observations into this stew of storytelling presentation. My talk will have some flavors of Creating Passionate Users (thanks Kathy for the link!) (I’ve borrowed some books from Kathy Sierra’s reading list) and of course flavors of Making Masks.

Also at Northern Voice 2006, Ted and I will make our first joint appearance at a conference, speaking on the panel Bloggers in the Bedroom: Blogging and Relationships along with Maryam Scoble, Chris Pirillo, Ponzi Indharasophang, and Jennifer Wiederick. Between the topic and the participants, this session promises to be fun and fiery! If you haven’t read Maryam’s blog (such as her Ten Reasons Why You Should Date a Geek) or checked out Ponzi and Pirillo on video, I’d say you’re missing out on great couple blogging. I’m enjoying reading Jen’s blog too. I started blogging because my husband was blogging so I’ve always been intrigued by the ways blogging can impact our intimate relationships. With this group I hope we can explore some of the new territory of identity and relating through blogs.

Besides the two sessions I’ve described, the schedule contains many more opportunities for discussing, learning and connecting. For example, I don’t know how I’ll choose between Nancy White or Susannah Gardner’s presentations. As Nancy pointed out in her post, another reason to go to Northern Voice is the great representation of women. True, some panels are all male, but women also fill many slots. Northern Voice seems very welcoming and accepting.

Take a look at who’s coming and what’s happening and then please go sign up! Darren Barefoot posted yesterday:The pace of registration has picked up, and is exceeding last year. I hope to see you on February 11th at Northern Voice!

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1 response so far ↓

  • 1 jeffy // Jan 17, 2006 at 11:50 pm

    Hiya, did Making Masks ever find its way to the internet in some form appropriate for your non-conference-attending fans? Seems like I remember something about a video getting posted somewhere, but I can’t find it…

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