Howard County bloggers have fun times at Kloby’s Smokehouse

I’m not in any shape to blog anything that requires concentrated thought, but I didn’t want to let the night pass without noting that I had a great time at the [HoCo blogger (and blog reader) meetup][HoCo bl] at [Kloby’s Smokehouse][Klobys] tonight. Due to work and family commitments I don’t often get a chance to go out to local events, and to be honest I’m not so politically obsessed that I find attending a [local candidate forum][local c] to be my idea of a good time. So it was good to be someplace where I could meet the people who’ve been reading my blog and meet other bloggers whom I follow, and where a conversation about local restaurants was as on point as a discussion of local politics. Some other points: First, this marked the public unveiling of Trevor’s new [HoCo Politico blog][HoCo Po]. For the most part I don’t occupy the same regions of politicospace as Trevor, but I’ve enjoyed reading his guest posts at [HoCo Rising][HoCo Ri], and I will be following him at his new venue. I recommend you do likewise. Second, I’m by no means a cheerleader for blogging, new media, etc., but I wanted to make a belated comment on [Wordbones’s post][Wordbon] relaying Mona Brinegar’s complaints about HoCo bloggers supposedly dominating the conversation about local affairs, offering one-sided arguments, and in general being a bad influenceTM. For goodness sake people, if you think local bloggers are presenting one-sided views of the world, start your own blog and present your side of the story. Don’t post sniping comments on other people’s blogs, or complain in emails to a listserv. It’s the Internet, folks, you don’t need an Internet drivers license to get on the information superhighway. Not to pick at these two scabs once more, but I still don’t understand why proponents of the [Taxpayer’s Protection Initiative][Taxpaye] and opponents of [downtown Columbia redevelopment][downtow] didn’t make their respective cases more aggressively through blogs and related means. Proactive arguments in a venue you control are always more effective than reactive comments made on your “enemy’s” turf. Finally, thanks to [JessieX][] for promoting the event and [Mr HowChow][Mr HowC] and [HoCo Rising][HoCo Ri02] for co-hosting it. I was afraid that the expanded attendee list and the presence of [various][] [local][] [politicos][politic] and a phalanx of [hyperlocal][hyperlo] [media][] [types][] might suck the spontaneity and fun out of the proceedings, but my fears proved unfounded. All in all it was a fun event, and I’m looking forward to the next one. [HoCo bl]: http://hocoblogs-klobys-smokehouse.eventbrite.com/ [Klobys]: http://www.klobysbbq.com/ [local c]: http://hocorising.blogspot.com/2010/10/hoco-chamber-forum-some-thoughts.html [HoCo Po]: http://hocopolitico.blogspot.com/ [HoCo Ri]: http://hocorising.blogspot.com/ [Wordbon]: http://writing-the-wrongs.blogspot.com/2010/10/problem-with-bloggers.html [Taxpaye]: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Howard-County-Taxpayer-Protection-Initiative/131239316905886 [downtow]: http://www.columbia-md.com/ [JessieX]: http://hometowncolumbia.wordpress.com/ [Mr HowC]: http://howchow.blogspot.com/ [HoCo Ri02]: http://hocorising.blogspot.com/ [various]: http://www.ballinger4boe.com/ [local]: http://www.electschrader.com/ [politic]: http://www.electjeffrobinson.com/ [hyperlo]: http://www.hocomojo.com/ [media]: http://columbia.patch.com/ [types]: http://ellicottcity.patch.com/ * JessieX - 2010-10-22 04:34{#b385633a-001} Love it: "It’s the Internet, folks, you don’t need an Internet drivers license to get on the information superhighway." Great point, Frank. :-) Good to see you tonight. I, too, was a bit concerned about opening up the event to "blog readers" and initially attempted to keep the number of those tickets at a lower level, but they kept coming in and I decided to go with it and even expand the tickets available. I thought it was a lovely event, and the mix of people from the expanded attendee list made for a more vibrant evening, I do believe. Did you see the Twitter stream aggregation I made using storify.com? It's here: http://bit.ly/8YJWXX cmb (busch.cm@gmail.com) - 2010-10-22 14:25{#b385633a-002} "I still don’t understand why proponents of the Taxpayer’s Protection Initiative and opponents of downtown Columbia redevelopment didn’t make their respective cases more aggressively through blogs and related means." Actually, it makes sense that those opposed to change don't use new media to make their case to supporters who probably don't read blogs. Get with the times folks!