Blogging Business

First, Havel-Havalim is up at Jack’s, and it is The Year of the Jack edition.

Second, Baila and a Hannah (A Mother In Israel) are hosting another blogger’s meeting at Baila’s house in Modiin. The topic is “What do I write next?” I don’t think there is a blogger in the world who hasn’t hit writer’s block at one point or another. I’ve signed up to attend already. How about you?

Advertisement

Sorry for the No-Show

I really did plan to come to the blogger’s picnic. I even had snacks and drinks packed and a blanket.

Then westbankpapa needed to work. So he crammed almost a full day’s work into a half-day, but we ended up showing up at my sister-in-law’s for lunch about an hour and a half later than originally planned, and I did not feel comfortable dragging the family away to go to a picnic where I was the only one who knew anybody.

*Sigh*. 

We really need Sundays in this country.

Who Wants To Come To A Picnic?

The Jbloggers picnic has been set up for Monday afternoon of Chol HaMoed. Go on over to Coffee and Chemo and vote for which park in Jerusalem it will be held….Hope to see all of you!

The Second Blogger’s Convention

I attended the second Blogger’s Convention yesterday and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

First, I met Rutimizrachi for lunch before the convention. We had a chance to get to know one another, and compared notes on raising a family of “just “boys. I felt like I found a soul sister when she described how you know whether to intervene when your kids are doing what they always do – fight. “If the puppy on the bottom is as happy as the puppy on the top, then you don’t need to do anything.” Another mother who gets it!

I attended the presentation on defending Israel, given by Ashley Perry, Carl and Jameel, and I found it very interesting.  The “question” session was typically Jewish – which means that the person supposedly asking a question really took to floor to present his own opinion, with an anemic, “how do you feel about that?” tacked on at the end. The first “questioner” did make a good point, though, that the government and foreign ministries have spent too much time defending and not asserting our rights. Ron Dermer took up this point later in his speech.

David Bogner gave us some good tips on how to improve our blogs, and then we went to the more social part of the program. I was very happy to meet Baila, RivkA, IsraMom and A Soldier’s Mother in person. I also met some bloggers that I haven’t read (yet) Doubletapper and the Sandman.

Benjie (or is it Boingie?) gave a hilarious performance. Ron Dermer spoke well, emphasizing that we need to “widen the lens” on the Middle East conflict to show that our fight is bigger than just the Palestinian/Israeli problem.

Kudos to the organizers who kept things moving along, and for choosing a beautiful venue (this is the first time I’ve been to Beit Avi Chai and it is impressive).

I’m Voting For Soccerdad

I am voting for Soccerdad to be the blogger flown to Israel for the second JBloggers convention. Not only is he a tireless advocate for Israel (where does he get the time to blog so consistently?) but he was the founder of Havel-Havalim, the Jewish blog carnival. (I am hosting this week – if you haven’t sent in your submissions please do it now…..)

Face to Face is Best

Last night I went to the blogger’s conference hosted by Nefesh B’Nefesh, and it was great to meet so many bloggers face to face.

I have to admit, EVERYONE looked completely different than I pictured. Jameel must have Botox laced into those smiley faces he wears, because although he claims to be 40 he looks like an 18 year old! (That’s a compliment).

I always pictured Rafi G. to be a huge hulking guy, probably because he schechts (ritually slaughters) animals once in a while. A butcher has to be huge, right? Wrong in this case.

Aliyah06 has the nicest accent – slightly southern.  (I definitely want to meet up again in a quieter environment….)

Tafka PP is a brunette – I always pictured her a blond for some reason. (Thanks so much for the cookies – in the end I had to leave before dessert was served so these were especially appreciated!)

The only people who were not “surprises” were the ones with an occasional picture on their blogs (Batya and Yisrael Medad, and Treppenwitz, to name a few).

I also discovered that a few aquaintances were bloggers too! (They were just as surprised to meet me there as I was to see them).

My only regret from the evening was that there wasn’t more time for informal talking. The panels were ok, (with an unexpected but long addition from Bibi Netanyahu), and the speech by Zavi Apfelbaum was excellent. We really need to hear from her again. Those of you planning next year’s convention please bring her back.