Ideas Wanted – Local Blogging

sxsw philanthropy panel

Image by Dan Patterson via Flickr

I am working on some ideas for a presentation or panel discussion around local blogging to submit to the SXSW Interactive Festival for 2012.  SXSW (South By Southwest) is an anual music festival in Austin, TX.  There is now an interactive festival that takes place at the Austin Convetion center before the music festival.  SXSW allows the community to submit ideas for panels and presentations for the festival each year.

I have been amazed, impressed and fascinated by the community that has formed around blogging in Pittsburgh.  Lots of people are sharing great ideas, working on projects and doing good things for Pittsburgh – all because of blogging.

Last night I attended the Artist Meet Up at Assemble – a great new community space for arts + technology, that has recently opened on Penn Ave.  There was an interesting conversation around internet and specifically blogging as a tool to promote and connect artists to audiences.  I thought it was really fascinating to see how different people use blogs to find information about a community.

What would you like to know about local blogging? What panel would you be interested in seeing on local blogs if you were to attend SXSW or Podcamp Pittsburgh? Please share questions, thoughts, ideas in the comments below!

6 thoughts on “Ideas Wanted – Local Blogging”

  1. Bram R

    The way I like to look a the topic is, what are deficiencies or blind spots in the rest of the media — or in the rest of the locality — which a blog or blogs can be well-enough suited to shore up. Which entails a vice-versa discussion.

    Also, some discussion (brainstorming) on what it takes to sustain an active useful local blog(osphere).

  2. pittsburghspoon

    I'd love to hear more about blogging microcommunities within the local blogosphere, especially how people maintain these communities. There seem to be an endless supply of social networking sites, but what are the most effective for building a close-knit local blogging community?

  4. @onlyinpgh

    I second both Bram's and Pittsburghspoon's comments. What I'm interested in seeing is what the market demand for local information really looks like. The theory is that local blogging is filling the void created by less local media coverage, but I'm wondering how many people really include a local blog(s) as a resource they use daily for local information. Also, how satisfied are people with the current local blogs?

  5. Alayna

    I'd love to hear about blogging for non-profits and if there are specific strategies for doing so that differ from other types of blogging. I'd also like to learn about different ways to increase traffic (like by using social media platforms to connect to the blog) or ways to find readers in a niche market.

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