Thank you!

Thanks to all who participated in the 2009 Conference!

First, thank you to all our guest speakers: Ryan Nobles, Anita Kumar, Julian Walker, Kimball Payne, Kevin Grierson, Rep. Rob Wittman, Scott Robinson, Krystal Ball, Scott Rigell, Ben Loyola, Ken Golden, Scott Taylor, Mike McPadden, Coby Dillard, Scott Hirons, Tom Cosgrove, and Kenton Ngo. Your efforts made our discussion lively and enjoyable!

Second, thanks to all the attendees! The conference doesn't exist without you!!

Third, we've agreed to have another conference in 2010, as well as a Bloggers Day in Richmond during the General Assembly session. Keep posted either by visiting this blog or joining our Facebook page for more details.

Blogs of Blogs United:

New Dominion Project
Bearing Drift
Vivian Paige
Nova Townhall
BVBL
Rick Sincere
Crystal Clear Conservative
VB Dems
Virginia Virtucon
Crew of 42
Virginian Federalist
Anonymous is a Woman
Dillard Doctrine
Leslie Carbone
Contemporary Conservative
Heartland of Virginia

(if I missed someone, I'm sure you'll let me know!)

Abbott and Ball confirm

Del-elect Robin Abbott (D-93rd) and Democratic candidate for Congress Krystal Ball have also confirmed that they will be attending the conference on Saturday.

The event is free and open to the public. Breakfast and Lunch will be provided.

Robinson and Rigell join speaker list

The agenda, as expected, is falling into place and we have several more great candidates visiting us this Saturday.

We will be hearing from Rep. Rob Wittman and Scott Robinson (Krystal Ball is invited) from the 1st District; Scott Rigell, Scott Taylor, Ben Loyola, and Ken Golden from the 2nd District (Rep. Glenn Nye and Chuck Smith are invited); and Coby Dillard from the 3rd District (Rep. Bobby Scott is invited).

This is in addition to our already excellent media panel of the Washington Post's Anita Kumar, the Virginian-Pilot's Julian Walker, the Daily Press' Kimball Payne, and NBC-12's Ryan Nobles, and our legal review from attorney Kevin Grierson and General Assembly preview from HRCC rep Scott Hirons.

I hope you can make it to what promises to be an exciting day. Also thanks to McGuireWoods for again sponsoring the conference.

Please tweet, blog, post, etc. and help spread the word! Twitter hashtag: #vabu; http://blogs-united.blogspot.com. Pre-registration is not required, but is requested. You can also let us know you're coming or comment about the event on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=177770628150

Thanks to our sponsors, the registration fee will be waived and breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Del. Englin elected to vice chair of House Democrats

Congratulations to Blogs United board member Del. David Englin on his election to be vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus.

Englin was elected by his peers at a recent meeting of the House Democratic Caucus outside of Richmond.

Ironically, Englin was selected to fill the position of retiring Del. Kris Amundson, also a member of Blogs United Board of Directors.

Draft Agenda

Agenda is a draft and subject to change....

8 a.m. Doors open / Breakfast
9 a.m. Election-ethics review / Bloggers behaving badly (or well) / lessons-learned from 2009 - moderated by Dr. Quentin Kidd
10 a.m. Media roundtable - moderated by me
11 a.m. Rep. Rob Wittman - federal issues relating to the internet/social media and how the GOP is using social media
12 p.m. Kevin Grierson - Legal and Lunch
1 p.m. Looking ahead - covering the General Assembly and the congressional campaigns in 2010 (Scott Hirons, HRCC and Allison Jaslaw, DPVA - tentative)
2 p.m. Technology (Podcasting, Apps, Widgets, Best Practices, etc.)
3 p.m. Blogs United Business Meeting
4 p.m. Adjourn
6 p.m. - Dutch-Treat Dinner at .... TBD

Congressional candidates that have also been invited include: Scott Robinson and Krystal Ball from the 1st; Ben Loyola, Scott Rigell, Scott Taylor, Ken Golden and Chuck Smith from the 2nd District; and Coby Dillard from the 3rd.

Registration is now open

Our next conference will be held at Christopher Newport University in the Washington Room of the student union Saturday Nov. 21 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (doors open at 8 a.m.). Continental Breakfast and Lunch come with registration.

Cost is $15.

Invited guests include Sen. Jim Webb, Rep. Rob Wittman, Rep. Glenn Nye, reporters - Ryan Nobles, Anita Kumar, Julian Walker, and Kimball Payne, as well as Scott Hirons of the House Republican Campaign Committee and Greg Scanlon of the Virginia Democratic Party. There is also the possibility of a very special guest.

Topics during the conference include a lessons-learned discussion on the past campaign, opportunities to cover the General Assembly, the balance between being media and bloggers, and a tech discussion on the newest concepts in blogging.

We also will get a legal brief on some of the legal issues facing bloggers today.

Cost is cheap. Register today!

Reason: The Breitbart Dilemma

Matt Welch's conclusion on Reason.com regarding the Breitbart Dilemma:

More relevantly to the journalism discussion, partisan media criticism is not "rapidly replacing journalism," it's supplementing journalism, forcing journalism to be sharper, and frequently committing acts of journalism in its own right, despite not being motivated by the same allegedly pristine Mission guiding postwar American newspaper types. That fact is not difficult for most consumers to grasp, but it's proven maddeningly elusive for keepers of the old flame. Here's the scoop: Media critics are more motivated by politics than journalistic purity, and in their extra motivation they can and will occasionally steal the old guard's lunch. They–and more importantly, their work–should be held to the same standard that people apply to alt-journalism from all sources, not just those whose politics seem yucky.

Do you concur?