June Meetup Announced

Hey, Bloggers! Mark your calendars for Monday, June 13, and plan to join us for dinner, drinks, and discussion. Get to the Farmer’s Gastropub around 7 PM; if the weather’s nice, look for us on the patio.

A number of us are going to the KC WordCamp the weekend before, so we’ll hear a recap of the mini-conference from them. Bring your blogging questions, discussion points, and your blogging success stories. And definitely invite a blogging friend! We’re good people and don’t rarely bite.

Hope to see you there! (And certainly if you have any questions about our group or our meetup, leave a comment and let us know!)

–sja

Blogaroni May Recap

If you didn’t make it to our meetup on Monday, May 9, you missed quite the conversation. The Blogaronis totally didn’t happen, but that’s OK because we’re not very well organized. On a side note: If you’re interested in adding more organization to our little group, please let us know!

An ongoing theme at our recent meetings has been making money from our blogging. I think we’d all love to supplement our income with our blogging efforts! Here were some of the money-making tools and resources brought to the table:

• Google AdSense
• ProBlogger affiliate programs resources
• Amazon Associates
• Advertising networks — they were mentioned, but we didn’t talk about any one in particular

A few other things that made their way into our conversation:

• 23 and Me Genetic Testing
• Google Panda
• Missouri State University Small Business & Technology Development Center
• Blogger copyright rights — This Problogger article was cited.

We ate. We drank. And then we went home. We’ll post information about our June meetup soon!

–sja

 

2011 Blogaronis Scheduled for May 9

Join us on Monday, May 9, for the 2011 Blogaronis.

Rather than formally nominating and voting as we have in years past, we will spend the evening celebrating blogging in 417-land with dinner, drinks, and Dundie-style awards. Translation: everyone who RSVPs will receive a Blogaroni!

Here’s how it works:

1. RSVP using Eventbrite.
2. Wait patiently to receive your Blogaroni assignment. This 2-3 weeks might be a good opportunity to decide what to wear to our blue-jeans-and-flip-flops event. Assignments will be issued 1-2 weeks before the event.
3. Check your email for your Blogaroni assignment.
4. Scour your assignment’s blog, Twitter account, and other online properties. A Google search might be appropriate.
5. Identify 3-4 unique qualities about your assignment.
6. Choose one unique quality and create a Blogaroni category for it.
7. Make or buy a “trophy” for your Blogaroni category for less than $5. Be creative and have fun with it.
8. Bring yourself and your trophy to the Blogaronis on May 9. Be prepared to issue a short speech about your category. Also be prepared to give an acceptance speech for the category you will win.

Please plan to attend!

April Meetup Recap

We had quite the meetup tonight at the Farmer’s Gastropub. If you weren’t able to make it, we missed you! Here’s a recap of our night:

Attendees

• Harry
• Brian
• Pamela
• Desdinova
• Linden
• Sarah
• CK
• Brandon

Topics of Discussion (in no particular order)

• We rescheduled the Blogaronis for Monday, May 9, at the Gastropub. Rather than formally nominating and voting as we have in years past, we are switching our annual awards up a bit. Think Dundie style. Essentially, we’re asking everyone to RSVP for the event. Those who RSVP will be assigned another attending blogger to create an award category for and provide some sort of trophy or prize. We’ll post the details for RSVPing in another post.
• We talked a bit about monetizing our blogs and whether anyone has had any success making money from their blogs. The consensus is that no one is living off the money their blogs bring in, but we tossed out several resources for those of us wanting to lose our day jobs.
  • TentBlogger.com – A blog about making a living from blogging and how to transition into full-time, professional blogging
  • Johnson & Johnson video blogging – Pamela mentioned that JNJhealth is looking for video bloggers and paying $100 for video (Pamela, if you have the link to how to submit a video blog, can you add it to this post’s comments?)
  • BlogDash.com – a website that connects bloggers (for free) to agencies and businesses for press coverage, partnerships, writing opportunities, advertising, or anything else.
  • Kickstarter.com – a website for funding creative projects
• If you’re wanting to get into the world of video blogging and want to use your iPhone 4, CK recommended the Glif, a handy-dandy tripod / stand / handle for doing a whole lot of stuff with your phone — including making a video or two.
• Pamela and Brian told us about their experience at SXSW last month. Brian has a First-Timer’s Survival Guide on his blog. Pamela had all kinds of tips for attending on a budget; we’re trying to coax a blog series out of her for the inside scoop. SXSW 2012 is next March 9-18. Anyone wanna go?

Those are the highlights. There were some colorful lowlights that we shall not mention; you’ll have to come to the Blogaronis next month to get the full Springfield Bloggers Association experience!!

 

Words of Note for Thursday, April 7

A few words of note this beautiful Thursday:

• The 2011 Blogaronis — originally scheduled for this Monday, April 11 — have been postponed. Instead, we’re having a business-as-usual meet-up at the Farmer’s Gastropub. Join us around 7; if it’s nice, we’ll likely be on the patio. We’ll also have more information about the Blogaronis.
• Several 417 bloggers are heading to WordCamp Kansas City on June 11 -12. Registration is $50, and whether you’re a designer, programmer, or writer this mini-conference is a great opportunity to learn more about WordPress.There is also talk of hosting a WordCamp in Springfield later this fall, so if you are interested in helping host the Springfield event, attending the KC event might be helpful.
• A Missouri Blogger Meet-up is scheduled for June 18 – 19 and is here in Springfield. Looks like there will be activities all day Saturday and Sunday. Anyone is welcome to attend.

And that’s about all for today. Hope to see you on Monday! — sja

2011 Blogaronis — Coming on April 11

Editor’s Note 4/7: The Blogaronis have been postponed, but we are still meeting on 4/11 for a meet-up.

Hey, Bloggers,

We’re a little late to the races this year, but we will be hosting the Blogaronis in April! Mark your calendars for April 11 — more details will be provided soon — and plan to join us for an evening of celebrating blogging in Springfield!

As always, our events are only as lively and fun as our bloggers are, so if you’d like to help us make this event happen, please let us know!

Details are forthcoming in the next week or so! Hope to see you there!

Sarah Jo

Live Blogging the 2/15/2011 Meetup

[I will re-publish this once every 5 minutes or so, so be sure to refresh this page occasionally.]

Sarah calls the meeting to order at 7:27 after getting our drinks ordered and getting settled around the fireplace.

We start with introductions, and we welcome two new faces to our group, CK Hicks and Mary G. [Links coming soon.]

A tip from @IPBrian: Update your Facebook settings to use HTTPS!

Business: Blogaronis! We’d like to book the back room at Farmers Gastropub, but we would need a critical mass to ensure that we can cover the minimum required.

Be sure to sign up at SgfBlogs.com for a member account. We have a little social network going there, and you’ll need the account to vote in the Blogaronis.

Andy Cline reminds us that original agenda of these meetings used to be

1. Drink.
2. Adjourn.

Food has arrived, so I’ll pause the live blogging for a little while. So I can stuff my face.

One final update: We Face Timed and Skyped with Nathan Maulorico, who’s in New York right now, and that was quite the experience trying to get enough light in here for Nathan to actually see us. It’s funny.