David Scrimshaw has posted his set of pics from Blog Out Loud on his Flickr site. See if you can spot yourself in the crowd!
One last big thank you to everyone who came out to Blog Out Loud. I had the priviledge of reading everyone’s post ahead of time, so I knew exactly what to expect…and yet, every entry was so much more moving, so much more hilarious, so much more deeply felt when it came from your own voices. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did.
For those of you who have been asking, yes, I do intend to do this again next year. I specifically held the event on the same weekend as BlogHer, so I wouldn’t feel so bad about missing the biggest blogger conference in North America (sigh). I must say, it worked too — now I actually feel sorry for those bloggers in Chicago who missed out on Blog Out Loud! Next year, however, I think I’ll have it on a different weekend, so there’s no conflict.
In the meantime, I’m looking for any and all feedback on what you loved about the event, and what you’d like to see done differently. Here are some specific questions I have for the crowd:
Did you like the venue? Was it too big or too small? Would you have preferred a restaurant setting where a meal was served?
Did you like the day and time? Would you have preferred a weeekend?
How was the balance between mingling and reading? Too many readers, too few, or just right?
One idea being tossed around for next year is to get a guest speaker — a prominent Ontario blogger to come and talk about the blogging experience. Would you be interested? What if it were on a separate evening — the night before or the night after the readings? What if it cost a few dollars?
If there’s anything else you can think of, don’t hesitate to let me know. You can leave me a comment here, at Turtlehead, or email me at lynnturtlehead@gmail.com.
Thanks, and see you next year!
Here’s the list of everyone who attended Blog Out Loud. My Google Reader is SO HAPPY.
Andrea of a peek inside the fishbowl
Rachel of Apt. 613
Lana of Boyfriendly Cooking
Hannah of Brightest Blue
Brie of Capital Mom
Julie of Coffee with Julie
Woodsy of Coloured Marbles
Lauren of Crosswind
Cristina of Curried Jane
David of David Scrimshaw’s Blog
Natasha of EyeSee
Nat of From Nat’s Brain
Colleen of Frugal + Urban
Katharine of Girl About O-Town
Alison of Gresik.ca
Evey “La Canadienne” of In a Jar
Zoom of Knitnut.net
Lenny of Lenny’s World
Anna of Life is Good…at the Beach
Venissa of Life on the Go
Ian of Mare ad Mare
Meanie of Mean Old Mommy
Megan of Megan Butcher
mindofgrace of Mothermind
Amy of Muddy Boots
Tara of The Pestoblog
DaniGirl of Postcards from the Mothership
Kym of Relishing.ca
Sara of Sara’s Lounge
RealGrouchy of Tales from a Grouch
Barbara of Tales of Life with a Girl on the Go
Talia of Talia’s Journey of Transition
Julie of Thoughts of a Smother Mother
Kathleen of Treehouse Moosilaneous
Lynn of Turtlehead
Chantal of Two Hands Full
XUP of XUP
Here’s another set of photos from Blog Out Loud — these ones are courtesy of DaniGirl at Postcards from the Mothership.
Julie from Thoughts of a Smother Mother, starting the night with the first reading:
Listeners at the cafe, including (left to right) Ian of Mare ad Mare; Cristina of Curried Jane; Cristina’s friend Paula; Tara of SOS Cuisine; Lenny of Lenny’s World; and Julie of Coffee With Julie:
More faces in the crowd, including (left to right) Milan of a sibilant intake of breath (leaning into the frame); Woodsy of Coloured Marbles; Andrea of Hella Stella; and I’m pretty sure that’s Lana of Boyfriendly Cooking in the foreground:
Julie up close:
Alison of Gresik.ca, Brie’s supportive sister Karla, and Brie of Capital Mom:
Cristina of Curried Jane:
Lauren of Crosswind:
Julie of Coffee with Julie:
RealGrouchy of Tales from a Grouch:
Andrea of Hella Stella:
Hey, that’s me!
Nat of From Nat’s Brain:
Woodsy of Coloured Marbles:
Andrea of a peek inside the fishbowl:
La Canadienne of In A Jar:
BeachMama of Life is Good…at the Beach:
DaniGirl of Postcards from the Mothership:
Ian of Mare ad Mare:
I love this last shot, I think it captures the evening — a laptop, a camera, a caffeine source, and an empty cake plate:
Thanks so much Dani, these are great!
Here’s the list of all the posts that were read at the event. Enjoy!
Julie from Thoughts of a Smother Mother: Belly Vs. Zipper
Brie from Capital Mom: Carey
Lauren (LalaWawa) of Crosswind: The Ongoing Adventures of Fidget and Twitch
Cristina from Curried Jane: On Insight
Julie of Coffee With Julie: There’s No Denying It Now: I’m Old
XUP: Tomato Soup
RealGrouchy of Tales From A Grouch: What About My Nose?
Andrea from Hella Stella: A Christmas Story A La Stella
Lynn of Turtlehead: Memories For Sale
Nat of From Nat’s Brain: The Birds Do It…
Woodsy of Coloured Marbles:
10,000 Pieces of Lego
Ginger Cookie Crush
Warm Regards, Evalyn
Zoom of Knitnut.net (read by XUP): The Dead Dave Wall
Andrea of a peek inside the fishbowl: The Maternity Spot
BeachMama from Life is Good…at the Beach: Mom
Evey from In A Jar: Still Fighting It
DaniGirl of Postcards from the Mothership: Tristan Takes a Dive
Ian of Mare ad Mare: My Not So Short Goodbye
And don’t forget our photographers who set up displays:
Kym of Relishing.ca
Amy of Muddy Boots
Andrea of a peek inside the fishbowl
BeachMama from Life is Good…at the Beach
DaniGirl of Postcards from the Mothership
Thank you so much to everyone who came out last night! It was a great time and it was so great to meet and see you all in person. Bloggers are cool. And also, for the most part, taller than expected. I guess everyone seems shorter when you’re imagining them to be the size of your laptop!
I’ll post links to all the posts that were read at the event last night sometime in the next few days. I’ll also be posting a list of links to all the blogs of all the attendees. I can’t wait to check out several new blogs that I just heard about last night!
Many thanks to FameThrowa for helping set up and for making all the signage; Chantal of Two Hands Full and Barbara of Tales of Life With a Girl On The Go for working the door and the photo table all evening long; Lauren of Crosswind and Julie of Coffee With Julie for talking up the event on CBC Radio One’s All In A Day yesterday afternoon, and for helping to set up; and to Milan of a sibilant intake of breath and DaniGirl of Postcards from the Mothership for adopting the role of official photographers.
Also, tons of thanks to everyone who was brave enough to get up and read. I’d like to give a special shout-out to my three Nervous Nellies, Nat of From Nat’s Brain, BeachMama from Life is Good…at the Beach, and Julie of Thoughts of a Smother Mother. I know I sweet-talked you into it and all three of you were awesome and made me proud.
For those of you who asked about the swag, the little notebooks are from Etsy shop Ready Go Paper and the little pogs are from Etsy shop Ladybug Labels.
Lastly (for now), Milan already has some photos up from last night! You can see them by going to the Raw Sugar Facebook Page and scrolling down to the very bottom to the section marked “photos.”
Here’s a little sampling from the set:
Cristina of Curried Jane:
Brie of Capital Mom:
RealGrouchy of Tales from The Grouch
Barbara of Tales of Life with a Girl on the Go:
Julie of Coffee With Julie:
Andrea of a peek inside the fishbowl:
Evey of In A Jar:
Ian of Mare ad Mare:
Check out the rest of the set here.
Today’s the day! I hope none of our readers woke up with “laryngitis.” Be brave, be strong, and I’ll meet you there!
I’ll be at the cafe at about 6 p.m. tonight, setting up and handing out name tags. The readings will get rolling just after 7 p.m. Raw Sugar is at 692 Somerset Street West. It’s about a block west of the corner of Somerset and Bronson.
Many thanks to Chantal of Two Hands Full, Julie of Thoughts of a Smother Mother, LalaWawa of Crosswind, and my right-hand-woman, FameThrowa, for offering to come early and help set up. If you arrive and you have questions, one of these lovely ladies (or me!) will be able to help you.
Also thanks to Amy of Muddy Boots, Dani of Postcards from the Mothership, and Milan of a sibilant intake of breath for offering to photograph the event. I’m hoping to post plenty of pictures over the next week or so, but of course, I’ll do all I can to protect the secret identities of private bloggers.
It’s going to be a great time, so don’t miss out!
Ian of Mare ad Mare is the kind of guy who is going places. He’s spent the last eight years living in various locations in the U.S. and Germany with his young family. Now that he’s finally back on Canadian soil, he can’t wait to rediscover Canada with his daughters, showing them what this country is all about and sharing their discoveries with friends back in other countries.
Ian’s blog is such a great place to visit to make you feel proud to be Canadian. Most posts are full of photos and videos documenting such classic Canadian activities as eating BeaverTails, chasing loons in a canoe, gardening on the May 24 weekend, and finishing your basement. Ian tells his tales of Canada with a little humour and a lot of affection – enough of each to make you smile.
Ian is also the owner of a brand new online shop that sells Canada-themed t-shirts for kids (big and small). They’re adorable and patriotic – just like Ian’s blog.
Come and hear Ian at Blog Out Loud…and feel the swell of Canadian pride.
I’ll have my point-and-shoot at BOLO but I’m a crappy photographer with a crappy camera.
Is anyone with more interest in the sport willing to be the official photographer?
I was going to post the reader schedule here on the blog, but then I thought, hey, who doesn’t love a surprise?
So you’ll find out when you get there. I’ll have some copies of the schedule to hand out at the door.
We are set to start at 7 p.m. on Thursday (THIS THURSDAY, eek) and I think it’s going to be a packed house. The cafe can seat about 40 people and has a max capacity of around 80 people, and I’m expecting around 40-50 readers, photographers, and eager listeners. So be sure to arrive early to get a good seat!
Sometime in the days after the event, I’ll be posting a link to all the entries that were read, as well as a list of all the bloggers who attended and links to their blogs. So don’t worry too much about remembering everything and everybody — hopefully this blog will help you all find each other afterwards.
I’ll see you all there!
