BloggerCon has changed me. A single event has given me a focus that I haven't had for four years. My sleepy eyes have been trying to open since the fall of 2000 when I stopped doing training for my company and went back to being a technical consultant.

I've always been an idea person. I've been able to string together odd ideas into interesting proposals. Ask any of my friends about my bright idea about a library selling books. I kicked that idea around for two years before Amazon made good use of it. :>

RSS and it's related technology environment has inspired me like no technology before it. I pursued my CCNA, getting half way through it (reading about routing IPX frames over ISDN is a guaranteed cure for insomnia) before I gave up. I sold the books last week and bought “Designing With Web Standards” by Jeffrey Zeldman and “CSS: A Definitive Guide”[Amazon Link] by Eric Meyer. I'm saving money for a proper install of Frontier on MacOS X and am working through an oldie but goodie: “Frontier: The Definitive Guide” by Matt Neuberg. I bought it from an Amazon affiliate with a good rep and it came in good condition. It's amazing how much of it is still correct.

I've spent the last week explaining RSS, content syndication and XML to everyone who would listen. More often than not, I found myself explaining why content syndication has changed how I use the web. Of course, business wanted to know how to exploit the technology. I avoid conversations that talked abut advertising, instead focusing on the use of RSS and a delivery format for internal information: HR benefits, marketing info and sales stats. In my current company, we use web servers, databases and HTML to deliver content. In order to tell people, we send out mass emails that most don't need and don't remember. With RSS feeds we could eliminate the notify email and make broadcast information more manageable. After this conference, I'll become the local expert and evangelist on RSS, XML and content syndication. It will be the biggest thrill of my professional life and the biggest opportunity.

Finally, in this oddly structured post, I'd like thank Dave Winer for his efforts: popularizing RSS, Radio Userland, DaveNet, moving the spec to Berkman and BloggerCon. Before his inspiration and infectious enthusiasm, I never would have done this, this, this or this.

I'll be away from computers and technology for the next couple of days. It's my annual family reunion and I'll be manning the grill for roasted sweet corn. Expect some updates on Sunday.

I'm selling my Powerbook to allow me to upgrade to a newer machine and raise some funds for BloggerCon. My brother is deploying out to sea (he's a meterologist with the Navy) and he needs to sell his desktop machine. I'll set it up as the Radio server, allowing me to post from any web browser and read news. I still have my Handspring Treo, so moblogging will keep me busy on the road.

If you are interested in a great Powerbook at a great price, email me.

Send Steve to BloggerCon Update

I've got a little more news this morning. I received a $100 pledge, carrying the total to $105.00! That's a significant vote of faith–thank you.

I spent some time talking to my local NPR affiliate this morning about the conference and the opportunities for news or feature stories. Not only did they express an interest in the content, but had some great questions about how they could use the technology on their website. We set up a meeting for next Friday where I'll do a short presentation.

To be sure that donors understand, I'm committed to going to the conference. I will be attending, even if it's my own money that's spent. It's rare to be at the right time and place when opportunity knocks. Considering how loud it's knocking, how can I resist?

Next week, I'll be posting the Keynote/PowerPoint presentation I'll be using to woo sponsors and unveil a revamped layout for the category pages we're using.

John writes:

The BloggerCon model, and a little substance

Thanks to many who commented, we've made some changes to the BloggerCon model.  The highlights, as you may have noted, are that 1) we'll give away at least 25 spots randomly on September 1 to those who have signed up to be on the list of possible “scholarship” recipients and 2) we're making the BoF sessions on October 5 free of charge to all bloggers. [John Palfrey News]

With the added mission of writing features for a newspaper, I've applied for a press pass. I've got my fingers crossed.

Good News and Bad News:

Bad News: My first choice sponsor fell through. Sadness and despair loomed. Where am I going to find $2000? On the bright but zany side, I feel like Kevin Costner in “Field of Dreams”. I just know I have to get in a car, drive to Boston and take Dave Winer to a Red Sox game…

Good News: They will accept stories as feature articles. I'll be submitting a pre-conference article about the big picture: content syndication, business use, technology. I'll submit a second when I get back: day by day, stories of meetings and dinners and people.