Last night’s Beer with Bloggers event, I’m happy to say, seems to have been a big success. To my knowledge, no one was slapped/stabbed, no one vomited, and no one went whining to the police. (My criteria for a successful event.) I’d like to thank the following local bloggers for coming out:
Brian Cors (who is going to be launching a new Downtown Ypsi site), my kid brother, Murph, George Hotelling (who I’m trying to recruit to Ypsi), our newly powerful friend Brian from East Cross, Dale from Arbor Update (who I only got to speak with briefly), the always entertaining Brett from Maproom Systems, our representative from the Ypsi School Board, Cameron Getto (who I now owe a beer), Sam from Sam’s Thoughts (whose new blogging gig actually takes him around the country… something of which I am extremely jealous), his better half, Jules from Ypsi Bites (who left me more optimistic than I have been in a log time about Ypsi public schools), the soon-to-be-graduated Julia from Ann Arbor is Overrated (who we need to somehow keep in Ann Arbor in the area against her will), Rod from Out of the Woodwork (who I saw across the room, but was never able to reach), Ed Vielmetti (who courageously fought sleet and hail to come in from Ann Arbor), British ex-pat, and pinhole photographer Matt Callow, and recent mayoral candidate turned citizen crusader Steve Pierce from All Things Ypsilanti.
And I would also like to thank all the readers of this site and others, including all the folks from Dreamland Theater, Think Local First, YpsiVotes, Flying Bomb Records, and Ballistic Design, who turned out. (I know I must be missing some groups that were represented. Sorry.) The world needs non-bloggers too… And an especially big personal thanks to those individuals from the MM.com comments section who risked everything to climb out from their bunkers for the evening.
I’m just sorry that I didn’t think to snap a few photos. (I was too busy talking with people.) It was a really great event and, as is usually the case when you get a bunch of smart, capable, and motivated people together in one room, some brilliant plans were hatched. More on that subject later.
A few bloggers have dropped off the map over the course of the past year or two, since we did this last, but, all in all, my sense is that the movement is growing. Who would have thought when we first got together a few years ago that we’d have bloggers on the School Board and City Council, being sent across the country on paid writing assignments, organizing successful community initiatives like Keep Ypsi Rolling and the YpsiVotes forums, launching big local events like the Shadow Art Fair, and all the rest of it? I know that there’s a perception out there that the local blogosphere is an “echo chamber… creating (only) the appearance of feverish activity,” but it’s simply just not true. There is feverish activity. Big things are being accomplished and blogs are responsible for pulling together and coordinating the people who are doing the work and making positive change happen. Blogs are empowering people to become involved in their communities at a level that hasn’t been seen in this country in decades, and that’s a really cool thing. I’m just happy to be a part of it, and to have so many good, brilliant colleagues in this endeavor.
[I would also like to thank those bloggers that would have come if not for prior obligations: UM Professor Juan Cole was out of town at the time, but tells us that he’d like to come out if we do this again, Ann Arbor’s Homeless Dave (who’s running some kick-ass Shadow Art Fair ads on his site) was all ready to bike out when “something suddenly came up,” both Ypsi-Dixit and Loose Tea would have been there if not for a conflicting local meetup on the subject of sustainability, and Doulicia says that she would have liked to have attended as well, if only to have a peak at Clementine, the little girl she helped usher into the world two years and four months ago… I’m sure that others would have made it too, but these are the folks who wrote to me and said that the would like to have attended.]
And a great big thanks again to blog-reading bar owner, Linda French, for giving us the space, keeping the beer affordable and choosing last night to unveil the Sidetrack’s most recent menu addition — mini-hamburgers – which she made available for free! They were delicious.
22 Comments
“my kid brother, Murph,”
Uh…Are those two separate items, or am I missing something?
I need to read more often. I missed the whole thing. Shucks.
Owe me? Hardly. Though I must admit I will probably never turn down a beer ;)
I really appreciate you setting this up. It was fantastic to put some faces with blogs, and making some new friends was an added bonus.
I agree that the community of Ypsi bloggers is thriving. It will be very interesting to see where the next few years take us.
I did eventually remember that I had a camera with me. The shots I just added at the top of the post are of Brett Schutzman and Matt Callow. We were the last three bloggers left standing at the end of the night.
Someone asked last night if you were my brother, Murph. I had no choice but to confirm… I’m sorry that hurts you politically.
And, Cameron, I’ll let you know the next time Steve’s in town and we can go out and grab that beer.
Another view of the same ugly mugs.
And Matt Callow gets the award for “last one standing”, although he was technically sitting when I last saw him.
…and one more, looking down the length of Frenchies towards the distant mob of bloggers.
Looks like good-times :) Someone needs to be video-taping these! I’m still anxiously waiting to see a strong vlogging community to emerge in Ypsi.
“Beer with vloggers!”
Well, if I have to be *somebody’s* kid brother, I guess I’m not going to object too strenuously to being yours…
Brilliant photos, Brett. If you send me a high-res version of that one of the three of us, I’ll print it out and stick it on the wall of my office.
And, yes, Mike, it did occur to me that it would have been cool to have had someone shooting video of the event. Maybe the next time we do one of these we can schedule it around one of your visits and you can do the honors. (I could probably shoot some stuff with my old video camera, but I don’t know that I have the time to do a good job of editing the footage down.)
And, Murph, I didn’t tell you the worst of it. According to the rumor going around town, Brett’s also one of our siblings. I’ve heard him described as the “troubled, middle brother.” Apparenlty, we all of have the same father, but different mothers. He was something of a cad, you see, that Orson Welles.
Before anyone asks, I want to clarify that I’m the only Hell my Mama ever raised.
What’s this? A blog about bloggers meeting with other bloggers? And pictures of bloggers photographing other bloggers to post on their blogs? I’m calling the Cult Awareness Network.
What’s this? A blog about bloggers meeting with other bloggers? And pictures of bloggers photographing other bloggers to post on their blogs? I’m calling the Cult Awareness Network.
It sounds to me as though the green-eyed monster has you in her grasp, Mr. Skinner.
Not quite. I’m glad that the blog brings you joy; but I have some of my old diaries here, and I’m very happy that I did not post them for all to see.
Not quite. I’m glad that the blog brings you joy; but I have some of my old diaries here, and I’m very happy that I did not post them for all to see.
Funny, that’s exactly what Samuel Pepys thought.
You’re not going to start ending all your posts with “And so to bed,” are you? If so, I’m calling the deprogrammers in now.
You’re not going to start ending all your posts with “And so to bed,” are you? If so, I’m calling the deprogrammers in now.
When I had my blog, I used to sign-off every night with either, “I’m so close I can smell you,” or “I’ve cut the phone lines.” I’d alternate. It never really caught on.
“And so to bed.”
Seriously. I’m really tired.