Huckleberries Online

High Noon: Blogfest Unveiling

Posted by DFO

Feb. 17, 2009 12:07 p.m. • 35 comments

I’ve been pondering a comment made by Idawa (I believe) a week or so ago. He said that Huckleberries Online lost a little of its magic when bloggers, commenters & blurkers met one another at the earlier blogfests. (There were two unofficial ones — at the SR building & Bayview — prior to the previous two at Capones.) Idawa felt that the dynamics and passion of debate were better served when no one knew who the other bloggers and posters were. What do you think?

Question: Did Huckleberries lose or gain something as a result of blogfests and other interaction in which Berry Pickers willingly revealed who they were to others?

35 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

toadman on February 17 at 12:28 p.m.
“Idawa felt that the dynamics and passion of debate were better served when no one knew who the other bloggers and posters were.”

I’d have to disagree. I think when we put a human face on the people with which we debate, it’s harder to demonize them. I was happy to meet CabbageBoy and others at the last Blogfest, though he and I have vastly differing opinions on many subjects. I think being able to put face to name has a positive effect on our discussions…or at least, it should.
hhuseland on February 17 at 12:33 p.m.
I agree with Toadman. Only those that lke to attack others are served by anonymity. Meeting face to face makes it very difficult to treat them like an enemy.
DFO on February 17 at 12:37 p.m.
Trish Gannon/River Journal is considering an appearance at Blogfest ‘09 — and possibly bringing her infamous condom dress. Or one like it. Stay tuned.
Cindy_H on February 17 at 12:38 p.m.
Dang it!
Now I have to find something else to wear.
zelda on February 17 at 12:42 p.m.
Mixed feelings, but mostly not in favor of it. I don’t live in N. Idaho, so I welcome your ideas, HBO, for including more conversation about Spokane in this blog.

My lack of enthusiasm for meeting face to face comes from the feeling that HBO has turned into N. Idaho tree fort where the Blogfesters gather to trade quips and verbal jousts. The Blogfest tends to reinforce that exclusiveness.

Question for you, HBO. If I live in the unincorporated part of the Spokane Valley, can I still hang out with you cool kids? I’m an educated South Valley Democrat with good dental work, so it’s hard to find validation in this neck of the woods.
idawa on February 17 at 12:42 p.m.
I think my comment was a little more complicated than this, but it was several day ago and i’m not going to dig it out. I acknowledged that blog has gained some civility after the blogfest, but I wondered what the price for that gain was? Was anything lost and if so, was the benefit worth it?
JeanieSpokane on February 17 at 1:04 p.m.
I haven’t been to an HBO blogfest - however I have been to other “gatherings” of bloggers. I think it is a positive experience and didn’t take away from anything we had built up. It actually made the “debate” better, I think, because we now could see both points of view behind the face. Before, it was black-and-white, and we could blast the other person because they couldn’t “see” us. I think you put extra thought into what you are arguing for when you know your audience on a personal basis. Also, it’s kind of hard to be obnoxious and attacking when you realize the avatar you are arguing with is the Pastor that lives in the next block.
DFO on February 17 at 1:16 p.m.
Ah, now Trish is telling me privately that she plans to WEAR! the condom dress to blogfest. Negotiations continue. Stay tuned.
JeanieSpokane on February 17 at 1:23 p.m.
DFO - so you’re telling me that when I whisper sweet nothings in your ear that you will turn right around and print them for the entire blogosphere????

Better question: is this a costume blogfest???
JeanC on February 17 at 1:41 p.m.
I always find it a positive to meet the people I interact with on blogs and various other web venues. Not only do I get to put faces to them, I also get voices. Makes “talking” with them via blog. etc better since I can now “hear” them.
Stickman on February 17 at 1:53 p.m.
I totally agree with Toadman. Huckleberries definitely gains from an event such as blogfest.
Bent on February 17 at 2:17 p.m.
DFO, don’t be rude. You should invite Trish to bring her daughter, as well. (in that halloween costume of hers, of course).

If she does, I’ll dress up like Anymouse!
florined on February 17 at 3:29 p.m.
I’m thinking of coming disguised as an old, short-and-wide woman wearing a bike helmet.

Digger, can we order Tshirts now? Cafepress?
Cabbage Boy on February 17 at 3:56 p.m.
“Question for you, HBO. If I live in the unincorporated part of the Spokane Valley, can I still hang out with you cool kids? I’m an educated South Valley Democrat with good dental work, so it’s hard to find validation in this neck of the woods.”

Zelda. You were in until that last sentence.

“good dental work”? That sticks out worse than a democrat in NI.

I’ll be there in all my leafy green splendor.
JeanieSpokane on February 17 at 4:43 p.m.
I will arrive as an almost-old, short, wide, red-head with good teeth, who was born in Moscow, Idaho, and is **temporarily** living in Millwood but whose heart lives on West Broadway in Spokane. I’m kind of a red-neck, North Idaho, suburban housewife, geek.
GaryIngram on February 17 at 7:41 p.m.
Condoms or not, do we have the time set? You (we) may all end up members of a newly organized Republican Pacyderm Club that meets at noon each Friday at…………MOON DOLLAR. Ya all come, now.
GaryIngram on February 17 at 7:55 p.m.
Major error. Bad blogger. Ignore the post above. I’m wrong. The GOP thing is in Post Falls and so on. Sorry! Tired head, going to bed.
Stickman on February 17 at 8:44 p.m.
Gary, I will see you there, just like last year, and enjoy your company even more.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.