Your Reviews of the 大象传媒 Manchester Blogging Workshop
- 28 Feb 07, 05:37 PM
Rather than writing our own, no doubt glowing review of the first 大象传媒 Manchester blogging workshop, we thought instead we'd practise a bit of what we spoke that evening and link out instead. Just in case you missed it, you can find links to all the different tools and services we spoke about, along with a handful of tips and ideas, in the rather long winded post I wrote the morning following the event.
The first point of call for finding "the conversation", as many bloggers call it, about the workshop was Technorati where I searched for which came up with around 5 or 6 posts.
I clicked through to each post or page linking to us and, if there were further links to be found there, clicked through to those too. Then, with loads of browser windows open, I set about bookmarking them using del.icio.us. You'll find the . This allowed me not just to keep track of the posts, but also to share them with other interested parties (eg. the boss, impressed mates, etc).
So, returning to those links, what did people think of the first of what we hope will be many 大象传媒 Manchester blogging workshops?
Well, my colleague Richard Fair certainly that I did most of the talking. After Richard did a short intro, and I waffled for a few moments, Julia helped us find our feet and get into the swing of things by telling us how she got started blogging. In her post about the event, which includes some of the better photos (silly me, I HAD two cameras there, I took ZERO good photos), does a nice job of encapsalating what it is we were trying to do with the evening:
"The goal of the workshop was to bring together the Mancunian bloggers of all degrees of proficiency and to cover a variety of topics, from choosing the right platform to making money with your blog."
Julia goes on to mention that Craig McGinty, brave soul that he is, got up and did a short turn towards the end of the workshop on how to monetise a blog. Craig is a freelance journalist who makes most of his living from the various blogs he authors, including , which he used to demonstrate how you can make effective use of Google Adsense, Amazon Associates and other revenue sharing programmes. Craig's now kindly posted up some on what he said. Thanks Craig.
Ickle web came to the workshop with a :
"An interesting evening all round, it was the 大象传媒 Manchester blogging workshop. Assembled were a wide selection of bloggers (and possible future bloggers) listening to Robin waxing lyrical on blogging. For me, I was looking for ways to sell some of my photographs as prints, posters and the like."
We didn't do a very good job of answering that one very definitively so if anyone has any ideas...
Speaking of photographers, , who is taking a photo each day for a year, came along. Sadly he didn't take any photos of the workshop but if he had, believe me when I say they probably would have been really beautiful and insightful.
, who has just published his first novel The Fatal Verse of the Valley, has been too busy blogging the Oscars to write about the workshop.
Stuart, whose blog has a technorati ranking in the low 2000's (that's REALLY good) and who wrote his own blog software because all the commercial stuff he used just couldn't support his traffic came along and scared us with acronyms: php, sql... uh, what?! Anyway, he said:
"What followed was a fairly casual walkthrough of some of the basics behind establishing, maintaining and promoting a blog - all fairly elementary but essential aspects of bloggery."
Next time I think we'll ask Stuart to stand up and do some of the less elementary bits! ;-)
Award for most complimentary (the cash we promised is behind reception - just give your name) blog post about the event goes to who wrote:
"The evening was very well crafted for people new to blogs and old hands alike. There was something for everyone. They touched on the various tools you can use to blog such as; Blogger, Wordpress, Moveable Type and Type pad. They also touched on ways to monitor the effectiveness of your blog with services like Technorati and Statcounter."
By the way, that box by the front door that says "please put your used visitor pass here" was a bit lighter than we expected it to be at the end of the evening. Speaking of guidelines, more about the 大象传媒's editorial guidelines and, in particular, what we might and might not be willing and able to link to. Well, if it's any comfort, and he got a link soon after from the 大象传媒 England home page so we must not be too greedy with those links, aye?
For those I've missed, you'll have to forgive me - having entirely missed out on the 50p cans of fosters rumoured to have been available behind the bar, I made up for it at our with a small group of people who stuck around. If I didn't link to you but you were there do post a comment below with a link to your blog, flickr photos, myspace page or whatever.
Thanks again to everyone who came along. We really enjoyed it and hope to organise more of these in the near future.
Home and Dry
- 23 Feb 07, 03:07 PM
It鈥檚 that low, slow time of the year just before spring begins in earnest. Rainy city bloggers have wisely been staying dry and cosy indoors this week.
Academic and blogger has been visiting Manchester Art Gallery: 鈥淭here are a few pieces there which have haunted me since first seeing them, and so I haunt them back. Manfred on the Jungfrau by Ford Madox Brown is one such piece.鈥 The painting, based on a Byron poem, features a figure teetering atop a snowy cliff.
鈥淲hat drove him to the brink?鈥 Timothy wonders. 鈥淎s Manchester Art Gallery's note card on this painting puts it, 鈥楳anfred's inner turmoil springs from over-education. His quest for knowledge leads to confusion and he summons up spirits through black magic.鈥 Could it be that this man, Manfred, was a kind of extreme example of the terrors of writing a doctoral dissertation?鈥
Inveterate couch potato(Slogan: Watching TV so you don鈥檛 have to) took a short break from parsing Britney Spears鈥 insane behaviour to mourn the passing of an important man:
鈥淚t is with profound regret that we report the death, at 93, of Robert Adler, the co-inventor of the TV remote. Millions of people would have loved the opportunity of asking him (a) what are some of those buttons for? And (b) where is it? We could have sworn we left on the sofa鈥. Viewers wishing to pay their respects may press the mute button for a minute鈥檚 silence.鈥
Poetry blogger has a new poem up, bravely titled 鈥淪alford Women.鈥 It begins:
The women dress like little girls
and the girls dress like little women
and the little girls dress like their
mam's dressed twenty years ago.
But that's fashion on the dole.
Any Salford women out there care to respond to these sartorial observations?
And our friend at Manchester International, , has bravely ventured onto hitherto unexplored ground:
鈥淚 took a trip to the other side. While walking down the concourse I came to the realisation that I have never entered the duty free shop. I see it every day, its glare burning my eyes, its empty, plastic promises slicking my brain. Well, I ventured into that place, preparing for the worst鈥︹
But what shocking truth did he find there? Oh, you鈥檒l just have to go read it.
The First 大象传媒 Manchester Blog Workshop
- 23 Feb 07, 11:27 AM
A big thank you to the 20 people to turned up for the first 大象传媒 Manchester blogging workshop on Thursday evening.
Because it was the first session, we spent some time at the beginning introducing the project itself and explaining what both you and the 大象传媒 can expect. This was followed by a whirlwind tour of blogging tools and techniques which, we hope, gave everyone from complete beginners to experienced bloggers some useful ideas and information.
The tools we looked at included some blogging platforms that are easy to use and, where not free, at least offer you a free trial period to try them out: , and . We probably should have also mentioned , which offer some basic blogging features along with social networking. Some of the more technically minded people at the workshop also spoke about and . This isn't an exhaustive list - you may find other tools and services out there that more closely meet your requirements.
We also had a look at some bits and pieces that you can use in tandem with your blog to make your content available to a wider audience. Those included the photo sharing site where you can host and "tag" photos then use the "blog this" feature to post the image to your blog. This is a good way of putting some of your blog content out where audiences are, so make sure you link back to your blog from the images you put on flickr. We also briefly mentioned , a social news site where you can post newsie audio, video, images and stories and where you can post video - again, linking from this content back to your blog to help audiences find you.
There are lots of other bolt on services that add functionality to your blog. We pointed out which is a useful tool for understanding more about who your visitors are and how they found you. We also briefly showed which helps bloggers track the buzz their posts generate revealing all the posts on other blogs that link to you. I also showed , a service that makes it possible for people to read your blog on their mobile phone, and which tracks and displays the most recent music you've played on your computer or mp3 player.
Blogging is both the use of a blogging platform, often with lots of pieces of functionality from other services bolted on, but it's also a technique that enables you to become part of the conversation. , mentioned above, is the tool of choice for many bloggers who want to find and participate in that conversation. A lot of bloggers also use to make it easier to watch lots of blogs and other news sources at once. I also find useful because it allows me to bookmark and share interesting content and can also publish those links to my blog.
The first workshop was also a good opportunity for to find out a little bit more about you. It seems from the feedback that next time round we need to try to have two sessions, one targetted at beginners and that specifically helps them get registered for and start using some of the tools and techniques above, and another session targetted more at intermediate and advanced bloggers. The first session is pretty straight forward for Richard and I to plan so watch this space for details. The second session, however, is a bit more difficult for us to dream up on our own so please do drop us a line or post a comment below if you've got some ideas.
A few people have already blogged about the workshop. We'll do a wrap up post linking out to all of those in the next few days, giving people a chance to blog it if they haven't already done so. We're also looking for photos (silly us - we brought our camera and didn't take any pictres!) so if you've got some, maybe use this opportunity to post them to flickr and tag them with "bbcmanchesterblog" to make it easier for us to find them.
Finally, we'd really like for everyone who attended to post a comment below or send us an email giving us the address of their blogs so that we can put them into our RSS reader and start watching. In the coming days, we'll also send round an email with a few of our editorial guidelines so that you have a better idea of what we can and can't link to.
Many thanks again to everyone who came along and in particular to those who helped spread the word in advance. We're looking forward to hearing from you and seeing you at the next session(s).
Robin and Richard
Reminder: Blogging Workshop on Thursday
- 21 Feb 07, 11:29 AM
The first 大象传媒 Manchester blogging workshop will be taking place from 6pm to 8pm on Thursday 22nd February at the 大象传媒 on Oxford Road.
Although they're quite friendly, the security guards on the door will need to check your name off the list and might want to have a peek into your rucksack so if you're planning on coming, and haven't done so already, make sure you email your details to us as soon as possible: manchester.blog@bbc.co.uk
The workshop will cover choosing the right publishing platform, tips for getting started, getting your content syndicated and noticed more widely, keeping track of "the conversation" your blog joins and becomes a part of, and ways you can make your blog pay for any costs you might incur.
We'll also be talking a bit about the 大象传媒's Editorial Guidelines to give you a better idea of what we might - and can't - link to or talk about on air. The format will be pretty open, with lots of opportunities for you to interact with us (the 大象传媒 guys) and other bloggers.
Panic on Tib Street
- 15 Feb 07, 06:45 PM
It鈥檚 all change in the Northern Quarter, with the redevelopment of Stevenson Square on track and Piccadilly Basin's transformation continuing apace. Heck, even The King on Oldham Street is getting a makeover. But Mancunian bloggers are up in arms over the latest rumour to waft their way 鈥 that the endearingly scruffy Affleck鈥檚 Palace may be in danger.
According to blogger and MEN journalist news report, traders in the building say their landlord, Bruntwood, has failed to give them any information about what will happen when the lease expires on June 14. They fear rising rents will price them out, or worse, that the building could be redeveloped into something entirely different, leaving tenants and stallholders out on Tib Street.
鈥淚t's one of the only independently owned, creative retail spaces left in the city and is central to the boho vibe of the Northern Quarter,鈥 Ciara writes.
While it鈥檚 obviously too early to know whether there鈥檚 any substance to this threat, the reaction on the blogosphere has been strongly negative.
鈥淚 personally think the prospect of Afflecks Palace becoming a block of luxury flats or offices is an appalling one,鈥 writes, in response. 鈥淏ut, as the Hacienda testifies, these things do happen in Manchester.鈥
鈥淚 don't shop there often, I'm too poor to shop anywhere much, but I'd hate to see it go,鈥 says
In other news, moved to Chorlton, which 鈥渋s both scary and exciting:鈥
鈥淪cary because it's going to increase my rent by 拢125 a month, exciting because it is an opportunity to waste even more money than that with trips round Manchester's new Ikea and Ilva stores. Scary because it means living alone for the first time, exciting because I will be able to frequent such bars as the Marble beerhouse and indulge my primitive bohemian streak. What's more, a friend told me the other day that Quentin Crisp died in Chorlton not far from where I live. So I might even meet his ghost.鈥
Finally, Roy of , Heaton Moor's new community blog, was unsettled by an unusually strong police presence in his 'hood the other day
" Was this Heaton Moor? Or had I been transported to some country bearing the prefix 'former'. Had this become ' The Former Heaton Moor'? Believe me when I tell you that no fewer than three uniformed officers, huge and fearsome-looking, were patroling fifty yards of Heaton Moor Road! I was scared! Military style hats, luminous jackets, size fifty two across the chest and stiff as contiboard, jack-boots - and expressions that would curdle the cream in Backs Deli!"
My goodness, is it really so quiet and law abiding there that the sight of a few coppers spooks the natives so?
Cold snap
- 9 Feb 07, 12:23 PM
Brrr! The frigid temperatures have caused a few bitter complaints on the blogs. writes: 鈥淓n route to the data centre this morning, I overheard a cluster of crocuses shivering in the breeze.
鈥淚t鈥檚 bloody freezing. I thought you said it was safe to come up.鈥
鈥淚 said no such thing. You鈥檙e the one who wanted to get a move on.鈥
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a lie! You said, and I quote, 鈥業t鈥檚 been the mildest January since 1916...鈥欌
鈥溾o this is my fault? Like everything else is my fault? Failing schools? Your father not loving you? Save it for the pansies.鈥
The same bickering every year.鈥
And it sounds as if enjoyed the weather a little too much:
鈥淚t was cold but beautiful as I hurtled across the Pennines. It was like one of those car adverts where there's nothing else but you and the open road, so I cranked the heater up, opened the sun roof and put the music on blare in the knowledge that no-one else was around.
I got so into it I kept this up right into the centre of Manchester and into the carpark. Trouble was, by that time, the Live Lounge CD had got around to James Blunt doing a Lemar tune. What the outraged locals parking their cars must have thought, as I circled looking for a space, I dread to think. I'm pretty sure that it was only the lack of a personalised number plate that prevented them hauling me out through the sun-roof and scrawling TW4T on my forehead.鈥
Hmm. Maybe you鈥檇 be safer staying inside, like . He has been enjoying a bit of late-night shopping in 鈥渢he most awesomely huge Asda Walmart store in Mancunia:鈥
鈥淚 love doing food shopping in the middle of the night. It all really comes down to the fact that I don't play well with others. People pushing tolleys around getting in my way pisses me off to the point that I get a serious case of supermarket rage... so I go down between the hours of say 1am and 4am, and have pretty much the whole place to myself. I'm like a kid in a candy store."
Seems like everyone鈥檚 buying music and offering up reviews of it, so before you head down the shop you might want to read these posts on , and That last blogger has some cautionary words, however:
鈥淟ike many other people every time I hear Grace Kelly by Mika I want to tear open my skull and rip out whatever part controls the short term memory.鈥
Photoblogger Walter Menzies believes he has perfectly captured the Mancunian zeitgeist with . He writes:
鈥淭his pic sums up Manchester 2007...original modern maybe...glitz...Ian Simpson's Beetham Tower...and erm...basic...the chippie lives on...complexity and contradiction that's what makes Manchester such a joy.鈥
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind
- 2 Feb 07, 11:04 AM
The best laid plans of mice and men - and bloggers for that matter, often go awry 鈥 especially when gale force winds bring Manchester to a complete standstill. One or two hardened (windswept) travellers managed to make it and enjoyed an informal chat over a mug of coffee before braving the trip home.
So, never ones to be beaten, we鈥檝e rescheduled the first 大象传媒 Manchester Blogging Workshop for Thursday 22nd February. It鈥檒l be at the 大象传媒 on Oxford Road from 6pm 鈥 8pm and as before you鈥檒l need to book your place by e-mailing us with your contact details to manchester.blog@bbc.co.uk (and it鈥檚 ok, we know all about Viagra and bank detail authentication).
The workshop will cover finding the right publishing platform, tips for getting started, getting your content syndicated and noticed more widely, keeping track of "the conversation" your blog joins and becomes a part of, and ways you can make your blog pay for any costs you might incur.
We'll also be talking a bit about the 大象传媒's Editorial Guidelines to give you a better idea of what we might - and can't - link to or talk about on air. The format will be pretty open, with lots of opportunities for you to interact with us (the 大象传媒 guys) and other bloggers.
We can鈥檛 give any guarantees about the weather, but we do promise you a warm welcome at the 大象传媒!
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