Good morning. The hills are alive to the sound of blogging......Ok, Julie Andrews I ain't, but I do have an update on DKos Asheville's seventh meet up scheduled for next Saturday and Sunday, January 17-18. Please look for our regular Saturday diary tomorrow where you can see our growing list of attendees and more details about our plans.
Yesterday I had the privilege of spending an entire hour on the radio with our friend Jeff Messer from 880 AM "The Revolution", Asheville's progressive talk station. He hosts a daily three hour progressive talk show five days a week and I was honored that he asked me to spend the whole second hour with him. Jeff has been a big supporter of DKos Asheville over the last few years.
During the show I was able to convince Jeff to attend in a more official capacity than he has in the past. He has been our guest before and was a featured speaker at a meet up last year. This time though he will be bringing an 880 The Revolution Banner and a big bag of goodies for attendees. Jeff is truly the cornerstone of our local progressive media and we are excited to have him coming to the event in a show of solidarity with the community.
You can listen to the Podcast of yesterday's show right here. Our segment starts around the 50 minute mark and is led by Logan Smith from Progress NC for about 12 minutes before I join in. Logan is one of our collaborators for the blogging conference part of our meet up.
The agenda is being finalized for the conference and we are attracting an awesome group of guest speakers and panelists from Western North Carolina, Raleigh and beyond. Please jump the Cheeto to see what Progress NC will be bringing to the table. There is also an easy registration button on their website if you would like to attend. Kossacks get in free, the general public pays $10 in advance and $15 at the door.
Anyone can start a political blog, but not everyone can maintain a good one. On Saturday, January 17, Progress North Carolina and DKos Asheville (a DailyKos community group) are joining forces to host an afternoon meetup and seminar to help established bloggers sharpen their skills and build their networks, and show prospective bloggers what they need to get started.
Guest speakers will talk about what makes a political blog successful, and share some best practices for building your audience. Topics will include:
Here We Go Again: A preview of the 2015 legislative session
Bridging the gap between old media and new, with Jon Elliston from Carolina Public Press and Sarah Ovaska from NC Policy Watch
Building and maintaining a blog that will best reach your audience
Finding and Following a Good Story: Don’t just comment on the news cycle… Capture it!
Reaching your audience and driving home your message
Check-in, welcomes and an informal lunch begin at noon, with the program beginning at 1:00pm and running until about 5:00pm. Afterward, attendees are invited to stick around for drinks and networking.
If you're interested in attending, please RSVP or purchase a ticket below. Attendees who RSVP ahead of time but wait to purchase their ticket at the door will still only be charged the Early Bird rate of $10. Tickets purchased on the day of the event without an RSVP will be $15.
If you are interested in carpooling to Asheville from the Triangle, Triad or Charlotte areas, or if you have any other questions about the event, contact logan.smith@progressnc.org.
Additional speakers will include City Council member Gordon Smith, Asheville's pioneering progressive blogger and Tom Sullivan, who took over the reigns of Scrutiny Hooligans after Gordon joined Council. Tom is also writing for Digby over at Hullabaloo on a regular basis. in fact he has the lead piece on the front page this morning. We are also very excited that members of Watauga Watch will be joining us. That is the organization that successfully fought to allow voting for out of town students at Appalacian State University in Boone. Many other names are in the works as well as the event is starting to attract attention.