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.

Send Steve to BloggerCon Update #2

I've received my first donation and I've updated the tote board under the donate button. Every bit helps. John, thanks for the vote of confidence!

Pito says:

There are a bunch of toy and quasi-toy and a few good blog readers out there but there's lots of room for innovation. Let's get some folks together who are interested in that!

Send Steve to BloggerCon Update

Dave Winer has bent the readers of Scripting News toward the site. Category is setup and has a complimentary RSS feed. (Thanks Radio!)

I'm pursuing a local business newspaper as a sponsor. They have no idea what RSS is, but understand subscriptions and have heard of “weblogs”.

Thanks, Dave!

Steve Kirks: “Send Steve to BloggerCon!” Yeah! [Scripting News]

Send Steve to BloggerCon! I have set up a PayPal account to accept donations for BloggerCon. There's a link button on the right of the page, just under my photo. I'm no Bryan Bell, but I think the point gets across. Button donations are accepted too.

Why Send Me?

I am a technology person with a customer service background. I can give you, the loyal reader (wink), a newbie's perspective of some of the famous and not so famous in the 'blogging world. I'll provide updates during travel, before-during-after the day's events, plus any extras (after hours dinners and the like). I'll take photos, too, and post them here. I think that I can offer everyone something of value, worthy of a few dollars and their time to read the posts.

While I work as a technology consultant for NuVox Communications, this is a little out of the realm of voice and data networking solutions. This means I'm on my for expenses, hence donations.

What will this cost?

Estimates as of 8/16/03: $500 for the conference, $500 for airfare, $450 for hotel (3 nights), $150 for food, and $200 for car rental. Add it up and you get $1800. Add a 10% factor for unforseen circumstances, and now you're talking some real money.

What happens if you get enough to go?

I'll post a note here, create another category in Radio with a separate RSS feed and start posting info, comments and the like.

What happens if you don't make enough?

I'm trying local sponsorships, too. I'll post the current donation amount under the button, so you'll have a tote board of sorts.

What happens if you get a lot more than you need?

With a running total, that shouldn't happen, but I will donate the remainder to my local food bank, Ozarks Food Harvest. They give groceries and financial help to the needy in the southwest Missouri region.