B.A.D. Blogger Archives - Page 4 of 10

Calling All B.A.D. Bloggers: A Few Tweaks, Buttons and Thank YOUs!!

December 23, 2006 by Liz

A Few Weeks, A Few Tweaks

On that Sunday in November, when I started the B.A.D. Blogger prgram, I had no idea what it would be like, or that it would be such a fabulous experience, getting to know bloggers one by one. This kind of learning is packed with the insights and surprises of the unique and incredible individuals behind the screens that we read, and every time I end a call I am changed just that little bit by having connected with another living, breathing human being who taught me something I didn’t already know.

I’ve had a few weeks to talking to bloggers. Now I’ve got few tweaks to keep the B.A.D. Blogger program growing. Here are are the little changes and rearranges you can expect moving foward, as I talk to B.A.D. Bloggers one by one.

I will still be talking to a Blogger a Day, but I won’t write about every one of them. A Blogger a Day on the phone for me is one thing, asking you to read about them is another. I’ll schedule a two to four a week for you to get to read. I’ll save the other calls for business so that the B.A.D. Blogger calls can be unique and take on a life of their own.
I have new questions up my sleeve to make each call just that much different from every other.
I also have room on my schedule for any blogger who wants to talk life. . . . Let me know that you want to be a B.A.D. blogger and we’ll arrange a call if it’s possible. I find that most things are possible.
I’m exploring ways to bring the best blogging onto the real world. If you have ideas email me at lizsun2@gmail.com.

Who would you like to get to know? Feel free to recommend someone.

Thank YOU, BAD Bloggers . . . You Deserve an Award

A few folks will tell you, if you survive a “Liz” telephone call, you deserve an award. . . . The B.A.D. Blogger button finally is here. Thanks to my son who made it happen. — I got to watch. Cool -huh! Take one if here’s room on your blog. If not, leave it here. 🙂

The part I like most is that I get to say thank you again to all of you who have been B.A.D. Bloggers so far. Here you are in the order I spoke with you these past days.

You really have to see what an incredible group you are!

Thank you to every B.A.D. Blogger for taking the time to talk with me. It’s been incredible! I know it’s only going to get better. I’m blogging on the telephone now.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Deborah Byrd Is a B.A.D. Blogger!

December 22, 2006 by Liz

Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Deborah there?

Down in Austin, near the famous music street, lives a woman named, Deborah Byrd. A few ago she did something remarkable. She wrote grant and produced a short daily message that became an international radio show.

I asked Deborah how she got interested in sky radio. She told me that college she took a general Physics class that first counfounded her, then captured her interest. Deborah told me that soon she was seeking out classes in Astronomy.

We discussed the story of Star Date, how it started as a daily phone message. Every day it would ask, Have you seen the stars tonight? She wrote the grant for that message that then became a radio short, which she left to the University of Texas.

Now Deborah is producing Earth and Sky Radio, which is on 1000 stations. Deborah explained that Earth and Sky has over 2000 scientiest on their database helping people explore possible, positive human futures. People meet and talk on the Earth and Sky blog.

We talked about how the blog changes the radio venue. Deborah explained that now it’s not just her words going out; now she also gets to hear what listeners think. We talked about the conversational aspect. To Deborah that’s one exciting part. She said that she welcomes comments, ideas, and opinions from every point of view — she’s anxious to listen, to hear what people think and why they think as they do.

Deborah said that producing a radio show with an extensive blog resource is a different kind of journalism. She said the exciting part is that not only do people get to talk, but that she gets to talk back to them. I thought “Ah conversation! Yeah, I know what you mean.”

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

I’ve been talking at people for thirty years and now, wow! They’re talking back to me! It’s so exciting! —Deborah Byrd

Stop by Deborah’s Blog, Earth and Sky, and say hi!

Thanks, Deborah, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar.

Kammie Kobyleski Is a B.A.D. Blogger!

December 20, 2006 by Liz

Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Kammie there?

Imagine being a junior in college. You walk into class on the first day. You open a notebook and talk to your roommate waiting. At the front of the room are two women laughing and telling jokes about communications. Then one leaves and one woman say, “Welcome to communications! You guys are in the most exciting major in the school!” You’ve just met Kammie Kobyleski, your professor.

That’s a bit like our conversation began. Even on the phone, Kammie’s excitement is a powerful and appealing. She fills the space she occupies with energy. Anyone near can’t help but be filled up with with the same excitement.

It was so easy to picture Kammie teaching when she talked about it. Her enthusiasm for the kids in her class was coming through the telephone. She was telling them they were the luckiest kids on campus. She said that they were often new to blogging and that they thought it was uber cool that she knew so much about it. We talked about how much fun it must be to have a roomful of students ready to try new things. We talked about sending them out explore new techonolgies, to find out how they work. She made sure that I knew that they were just the kind of kids who were ready to do just that kind of thing.

That part of the conversation drifted over into how fast technology changes. Kammie wondered whether bigger schools had an easier time preparing their students to know how to use it. She explained that her department was grappling with the issue that too much focus seemed to be on theory and not enough on the real action. I pointed out that I had recently worked on a book for the the department of Astrodynamics at MiT and that they were wrestling with the same issue — how to prepare studenst for an industry that needed graduates who not only understood the techology, but also had personal and interpersonal skills. We agreed that big schools didn’t have it any easier after all.

Then we got to the heart of where we were going, making books. Kammie and I talked the book that Phil and I are making from his blog. She mentioned that she might like to make a book one day maybe. I told her she was in a lucky place to know now that was her plan. My point was that when you start out knowing you’re going to make a book, it’s much easier, that you can set up your blog to become a deep expanded outline. I talked her through how a blog can be a stronger outline than one she might write as a standalone.

Kammie and I tinkered with the idea of how she sketch the rough outline of chapers she would cover in the book-to-be, setting up blog categories for each. We discussed how a series of posts under the chapter/category topic would organize the information automatically as she writes — one at at time or all in a row. Kammie and I visualized an entire book coming together from daily blog posts that Sunday afternoon as we talked together leisurely on the telephone.

It was so exciting!

I have a feeling that just about everyone who experiences time with Kammie has that very same thought.

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

Blogging is open access to people. You reach out and there they are, receptive, open, and gracious . . . If it were a live networked event, you might be intimidated —Kammie Kobyleski

Stop by Kammie’s Blog, Passion Meets Purpose, and say hi!

Thanks, Kammie, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar.

Paul Sanchez Is a B.A.D. Blogger!

December 18, 2006 by Liz

Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Paul there?

When was the last time you rode your bicycle 10,000 miles? Yeah, me too.

Sunday I was on the phone with Paul Sanchez. He rode his around the entire United States of America. Paul rode his bike for his kids with dyslexis and other learning differences. Paul has 8wishes — he’s hoping to earn $1,000,000 so that he can give 100 kids each $10,000 to use to go to college.

Would you be amazed to find out that a blog that was started on December 11th had 15,000 hits on December 15th? I know I was. That’s the kind of guy that Paul is. When he has a cause behind him, Paul makes sure that things are happening. We talked about what he had going on so far. He mentioned the letter from Governor Schwarzenegger, the support from Katie Couric, the Fox News Live Interview, the two times his MySPace site was Digg’d. Then he started listing his sponsors, a list that gets longer every day.

This young man knows how to get attention for the kids he’s working for.

Paul said that the money that he’s collecting will go to the Dyslexia Resource Center. We talked about the process for awarding scholarships. He said the process wouldn’t be fully revealed until the $1million was collected. I asled to see the page where the process was described. I couldn’t help, but make suggestions. He offered to let me edit. I took him up at his offer. It was nice to do things for the kids.

Paul is one guy who did all of the riding alone in the 8wishes videos. Despite his own dyslexia, Paul writes many of the blog posts and all of the personal emails. This is a man who is on a quest to help kids get to college. He’s one of the examples of people who make the most of this new medium to do something special.

One man, 10,000 miles, one bicycle. It’s a remarkable story.

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

I’m just now starting to talk to bloggers. They’ve all been so generous.–Paul Sanchez

Stop by Paul’s Blog, 8wishes, and watch some videos!

Thanks, Paul, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar

Hsien Lei Is a B.A.D. Blogger!

December 17, 2006 by Liz

Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Hsien there?

What do I do when I’m up at 4:30 a.m. and my blog is not working? I do my best to figure out what’s going on. I get a post up, if I possibly can. I go through 583 Akismet spam to make sure no one I know has been eaten. Then I get my second cup of coffee and stare at my flat screen, sighing and wishing. It’s along time before I can do anything. I begin wondering whether I have hurt my blog’s feelings.

It’s off to IM Hsien Lei. She’s in the UK, so I know she’s up. She’s on the same network as I am, so I also know she has time to talk. Hsien and I trade comments of woe. We put together a few action plans and pass along a few emoticons. Then I ask, “Would you like to be today’s B.A.D. Blogger?” I say I’ve been meaning to ask. Hsien answers with an ethusiastical yes. I ask her whether she been following the series. She says, “You know I stalk you!.”

I laugh my way into my headset. This is an old friend who knows how to crack me up. Every time we talk there is always serious laughter involved.

As I write this, I look up our first comment shared on on record — November 9, 2004. Hsien had been blogging a whole year before that. I was a pup, only blogging a few months.

First we talked about being mothers of sons. It was surprising how weirdly alike the two boys are. Hsien said it was a comfort to know that hers might get to be 21 if mine did. I told the reasons I was glad I had son and not a daughter. She said what about having a son that was a little strange at first for her. We shared the idea of how having children was like growing up again only niw you’re on both sides of the issue. We also discussed the impact of gene pools.

Then our converation wandered. We talked about Google and people that we knew who worked there. I pointed to their tag like, “Do no evil.” I wondered what that meant.

Hsien talked about the uniforms people “put on” in their jobs. She was referring to how the work a person chooses defines more than just what they do. “When you are a lab scientist you put on that uniform; when you are a blogger you put on that unform.” She wasn’t saying that everyone was alike. She was saying that we have things in common, and do things insimilar ways. I was right there with her agreeing. Maybe that’s why we’ve been friends for so long.

We talked about the self-promoting nature of the blogosphere. We didn’t seem to think it was such a bad thing, though we saw instances where we both thought it went too far. That led us to remember times last year when things were more emotional. when life in the blogosphere had a more Wild, Wild, West feeling. I told her I thought of it as almost Shakepearian — some of the young men seemed to have taken on the junior-high girl parts.

There we were laughing again.

We talked for 1 hour and 46 minutes. Then the server was fixed. It was one time that I wished the server might have stayed down just a few minutes longer . . .

I guess Hsien knew that because a little while later, I received a video. It came with an email that said, “This is what I look like when I talk to you.”

She looks just as I imagined, only better if that’s possible.

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

“You really know that the people who come, come to read what you write. If you don’t take advantage of that . . .” — Hsien Lei

Stop by Hsien’s Blog, Genetics and Heath, and say hi!

Thanks, Hsien, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar

Andrew Flusche Is a B.A.D. Blogger!

December 16, 2006 by Liz

Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Andrew there?

This happens to me often. One day I’ll see a new person at a blog and then . . . I see that person again, . . . and again, three or four times in the same week. Other folks seem to know him. They seem to know him well, in fact. I feel like the only on the planet who’s never met him. Then for some reason, our paths officially cross. Then I find out why the guy has so many friends.

Within minutes of when our conversation started, Andrew told me he was supposed to be studying for a law school final, but he was totally relaxed. That idea propelled our conversation into a dicussion of blogging, lawyering, and getting a job. We talked about his blog and how he might get folks to comment more on it. I told him how this blog broke the comment barrier. He was kind enough to listen as I rattled on and on.

Andrew mentioned a friend of his who blogs anonymously. As a reason, he said his friend, only offered the idea that a future employer might not approve. We discussed the thinking behind that. We didn’t land on much hard wisdom there.

Andrew mentioned how the non-profit, public interest organization where he’ll be working was quite impressed on his interview to find out that he blogged. He said they greeted the fact with excitement that he knew technology. I said that I bought my son the URL for his name so that he could control what came up first about him when someone Googled to find out who he is.

I asked Andrew what sort of blogs he reads. He said that he doesn’t have really one. I said that I don’t either. Andrew said that most that he got to weren’t legal blogs. He said he tried, but they just don’t have something. Then he found and shared some stunning examples with me — examples that looked insular and ivory tower of the “publish or perish” brand. We thought they had their place and wished them well, but they weren’t for bloggers like us.

In his undergratuate work, Andrew became a programmer, that was what led to his blogging bug and is part of why he blogs so well. Andrew wanted to know more about what was happening with this techology. He said he’d never want his blog to be pure legal in content. His interests are wider than that. I heard a guy who likes to use all of his skills in meeting challenges and who wants to see how blogs might be used in law work.

Then there’s Andrew the programmer who meets Andrew the blogger. He told me how he started checking how to drive traffic almost immediately. Then he was working with adsense to see whether he could pay for his hosting. Andrew said he was surprised to see was earning more than that.

In every conversation blogging, school, and topic the theme was the same: Andrew liked finding the challenge and answering it. I had to point that out to Andrew. He didn’t disagree. He’s going to make a great lawyer. He’s a great guy too.

I’d like to talk to him again — now I know he has so many friends. He’s just that easy to be with.

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

I’m impressed how fast my blog has grown, how many people read blogs . . . all of these random people reading, learning.”
. — Andrew Flusche

Stop by Andrew’s Blog, Legal Andrew, and say hi!

Thanks, Andrew, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar