Agenda: Rust Belt Bloggers Summit

[Jim Russell]

Please use this thread to suggest the agenda for the upcoming Rust Belt Bloggers Summit.

The dates are Friday, July 11th and Saturday, July 12th.

Since we don't have an operating budget, I doubt we can get any speakers (e.g. Richard Longworth). What I would like to see develop from this gathering is some sort of organized effort among interested bloggers dealing with regional economic development.

[Jim Russell]

I'll put my modest hopes on the table. At a minimum, I would like to meet with the interested Erie folks on Friday night. I'm angling for a chance to have a face-to-face meeting with those folks and find out more about Global Erie. Saturday would be a good day for field trips and/or sessions on topics of interest. I'm guessing that out-of-town folks will have a better chance of attending on that day. That would be a great opportunity to meet with the Cleveland contingency, if anyone can make it. Anyone from Buffalo (or points east) attending?

Something might be brewing in Youngstown on Saturday night, which is where I will be. I'll be making some time for a Pittsburgh swing as well, on late Thursday, early Friday, and/or Sunday.

Personally, I see this summit as an opportunity to meet face-to-face all the acquaintances I've come to know through blogging. I want to further the Cleveburgh Corridor as well as gauge in energy behind any larger regional initiative.

[Justin Kownacki]

I'm one of three Pittsburgh social media creators who are originally from Erie and are interested in driving up for the summit that weekend. I would imagine that having everyone convene in a central location, like a useable public space in Erie, would make the most sense geographically, rather than driving from locale to locale (especially in this age of $200 gas.)

I'm a bit confused as to the level of engagement we should expect from this gathering. I get the impression that this weekend is intended primarily as a face-to-face meetup for social media folks in the tri-state area, who share an interest in utilizing our local resources to further the cause of a resurgent Rust Belt economy -- but how? Is this meeting the stage where those steps are discussed, or am I thinking a few steps ahead, and this is really just the "who are we and what do we do" portion of the process?

Speaking personally, I've been the co-organizer of PodCamp Pittsburgh for 3 years now, which is an annual "un-conference" for bloggers, podcasters and those interested in learning more about social media (including businesses, artists and educators). In that time, I've seen our local community grow from a small, fragmented group of individual content creators to a healthy collaboration among 30+ regular participants, as well as hundreds of other, casually interested dabblers. Most of the "regulars" among our community now know (or know of) each other directly through their participation in social media gatherings (PodCamp, BootCamp, Blogfests, Geek Nights, etc.), and that has translated into a larger "movement" in terms of the elements of the city we choose to celebrate, the local events we attend (often together) and the way social media continues to bring us all together.

In that vein, I'd be interested in seeing the following concepts discussed at the Rust Belt Summit:

* What is the focus of everyone's current social media ventures?
* What areas of expertise does everyone feel they're strongest in?
* What areas of media creation do people wish they knew more about?
* What are the central issues facing our individual / collective economies?
* How would we like to see our communities develop from here?
* What messages do we need to (proactively) address in our media?
* What resources can we collectively share?
* What goals seem reasonably (and individually) achievable?
* What steps do we need to take next to approach those goals?
* How can the interested parties keep in touch while moving forward?
* When should we next evaluate our progress?

(I look at this situation from a structured POV because, with as much as I have going on these days, I'd lose track of everything if I didn't break it down thusly.)

Again, we may not cover all of these bases in one weekend, but establishing who we are, what we want and where we're (currently) headed is a big step toward figuring out what comes next, and why.

Thoughts?

[Jim Russell]

I hope that other RBB members will respond because I think there is a danger of this meeting turning into something that isn't worth the trip for people living beyond Erie.

I think we are trying to figure out who we are and what we might do as a collaborative with what looks to be common interests/concerns. GLUE is already moving down this road and perhaps this effort gets dovetailed into that one.

Beyond my own stated agenda, I support exploring the list of questions that Justin poses. Is that too ambitious?

[Cynthia Closkey]

I like the idea of a centralized meeting, in contrast to moving the location several times in the course of the weekend.

To make sure that we all have the chance to experience the style and surroundings of each of our cities -- diverse as they are, despite all being in the same regions and sharing a heritage -- let's plan that we'll rotate locations for successive events. So for example, the next summit might be in Youngstown, the one after in Buffalo, etc.

Perhaps each city has other events also scheduled, and we can coordinate with that a bit. PodCamp Pittsburgh 3 will be in mid-October, and we have quarterly Pittsburgh BlogFests (which are basically happy hour/networking evenings with no agenda but lots of social media people), and we might piggyback a Rust Best Bloggers Summit on one of those, the day before or after for example.

If other cities don't have such events, let's use this as an opportunity to help you start them! I agree with Justin that the face-to-face interaction and networking of these regular Pittsburgh events is a big reason why our community has become so connected and supportive of each other.

[Jim Russell]

I've received a few notes indicating interest in the Summit. Chris Briem intends to be at BrewErie Friday evening. I expect to discuss Cleveburgh and other regional economic initiatives. The primary question: What can we bloggers do to promote regional economic development?

On Saturday, I suggest addressing two agenda items:

1) I recommend engaging Justin's and Cynthia's expertise in social media. I think we Rust Belt Bloggers can learn much from the experience of PodCamp Pittsburgh (etc...). I would still like to work through Justin's list of questions. Primary question: How can we apply Pittsburgh's social media successes to a regional initiative?

2) We could dedicate the afternoon to learning more about what is going on in Erie, taking advantage of the location of the Summit. Tom Maggio of the Erie Development Authority contacted me this morning and made the following offer:

I live in Erie and also work for the Erie Redevelopment Authority. I’d like to help with the blogger summit if I could. Maybe have our director meet and talk about our plans for building new market rate housing in the downtown (it’s planned to be across the street from the BrewErie), and other issues.

A new group has recently formed called the Erie Center for Design and Preservation (ECDP). I’m a part of that as well and we’d like to participate.

If people need lodging, there’s a place one of the ECDP members owns downtown: http://www.georgecarrollhouse.com/

Anyway, just let me know how I can assist.

I asked Tom's permission to post his message here. In his reply is an additional opportunity:

I also worked for the Port Authority, so we could visit our waterfront to show what’s been going on there. I know most of the region’s cities are reclaiming waterfronts and riverfronts from old industrial uses.

With the important meeting logistics out of the way, I would appreciate the chance to see what is going on in Erie and hear from some of the stakeholders spearheading the transformation.

I imagine a long lunch discussing the social media business and how we can move Rust Belt Bloggers along. After that discussion, I'm looking forward to engaging Tom and the Erie Redevelopment Authority. Primary question: How could Rust Belt Bloggers best enable official redevelopment efforts?

[Cynthia Closkey]

These plans sound excellent, Jim. I think we can accomplish a lot on Saturday.

I just discovered that I'd previously made other plans for that Friday evening, so I'll have to miss the meet-and-greet. But I am looking forward to meeting with folks on Saturday.

[Cap'n Janko]

I'm in for Saturday. Just need to know the time to show up. If anyone needs a ride from the Mahoning Valley/Youngstown, please send a message to shoutyoungstown (at) gmail.com

much thanks for those who stepped up to organize.

[Michael Mahler]

Hey there! I just got the following email. I would be than happy to contact Adam, but I think that there are likely better informed folks.I may give Adam a brief call to let him know that I am not the central person, but could someone else (or multiple someones) contact him?

From: Adam Fleming [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 10:08 AM
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Rust Belt Blogger Summit


Hi Michael,

I'm a writer with Pittsburgh City Paper and I'm working on a preview of the upcoming summit. I'd like to speak with you briefly if you've got the time. Please give me a call at 412-316-3342 x161, or send me an e-mail with a number to reach you at, [e-mail].

Thanks. Have a good one.
Adam Fleming

[Douglas Derda]

The article was in the newest City Paper. Does anyone know if Adam will be there? I can either snag a few issues to bring up or post a pdf

[Jim Russell]

Adam didn't give me any indication that he would be there. The article should be online tomorrow (Thursday).

[Jim Russell]

Link to the CP article.

[Douglas Derda]

I need clarification here for those of us traveling in.

The ning site says festivities start at 8pm on Friday but the Facebook invite says 5-8p