blogher

What's in a word? You tell us.

Certain topics never die. Since bloggers are pretty much by definition wordsmiths you know that language and word choice and the impact of specific words is going to come up again and again.

During my holiday reading I came across a sudden increase in posts examining the power of a single word.

Take word #1: MommyBlogging

Tracey from Sweetney.com has started a conversation that just won't quit about the term. For every woman who finds it belittling or sees derision buried in the use of the term, another woman pipes up to reclaim it and empower it and celebrate it.

If we decide to eschew the word, are we giving credence to whoever those people are who use the term to marginalize? Are we giving jerks too much power?

On the other hand, is it going too far to talk about "reclaiming" the word, as though it were as offensive an epithet as similar "reclaimed" terms used by members of the African American community or gay community, for example? I mean I called my mother "Mommy" until way too old...I have trouble thinking of it as a hurtful term!

And let's not ignore the fact that businesses and advertisers are sitting up and taking notice of the MommyBlogging phenomenon in a big way...sponsoring podcasts and blogs and trying to reach out to the whole crowd. You've certainly got their attention, no doubt about that.

When we sent out the post-BlogHer survey we had a section to self-categorize your blogs. We used the category "Family" to be, I suppose, sensitive to this issue. A not-insignifcant number of you said, "Hey...how could you forget the MommyBloggers?" And you categorized yourself as "Other"!!

So, can't we simply say "to each their own", or is this a line that must be drawn? I'm not a Mommy. I have no answers. I'm just fascinated by the conversation.

And there's more...

Happy Holidays from BlogHer

Jory is on the East Coast. Lisa is in Montana. Sheesh, am I the only one who knows it gets really really cold in those places at this time of year? But from our far-flung corners of the country we are still busily planning BlogHer '06. I think, however, that we will actually take the next few days off. From our businesses. From BlogHer. Even from each other!

So Happy Holidays to you all.

Get some rest. Get some quality time with whomever you've been missing having that quality time with. And get some presents!

And give too. Give a gift. Give a break. Give a hand. Give a damn!

More blogging/writing jobs

People have passed a long a few jobs that seem like they would be right up some BlogHer allies, so check 'em out if they speak to you :)

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) is looking for a full-time blogger/editor. The description says the position is based in Chicago, although I'm not sure if that's hard and fast, given the role. Now, you may recall that some BlogHers have lately given WOMMA some grief over their ratio of male to female speakers at their upcoming conference (me included.) WOMMA's head, Andy Sernovitz, has jumped into the fray on multiple blogs defending their practices and asking for assistance...including sending along this job info to a BlogHer asking her to pass it around amongst other BlogHers. I will give him props for that. So if you want to be the next Christine Halvorson, check out the job listing.

Sunset Magazine is looking for several editors, including a home editor and a travel editor. Sunset is located here in the the Bay Area. I know some of you out there have the "discriminating taste" that Sunset seeks, so go for it!

Bon Voyage, Evelyn Rodriguez

We'll miss one of our West Coast BlogHers, Evelyn Rodriguez, who starts her sojourn to Asia today, the next phase of her citizen journalism project around tsunami-struck regions.

Evelyn writes: "I embark on pilgrimage to talk to tsunami survivors and relief workers - from monks to fishermen to journalists to the bungalow operator that saved a guest family's kids to the photographer from Palo Alto that shifted his career to start "Operation Playground" for tsunami kids and much more.  I'll be going to th tsunami-struck areas of Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India (including hopefully the Andaman Islands) for two months on a solo backpack journalist foray - live blogging along the way."

You can see Evelyn's updates at TsunamiAnniversary or sign up for her email dispatches here.

If you want to help fund Evelyn's project, micropayments are being accepted here.

Have posts that are relevant to the TsunamiAnniversary Project? Share them under the tsunami2005 tag here.

We wish you peace, love, smiles, and stories, Evelyn. See you when you get back!

They're gonna kill me.

More BlogHers in the news, and this time it's my partners in crime, Jory and Lisa.

First of all, have you read Jory's article in Inc. Magazine? It's called When Blogs Go Bad, and yes it came out before the whole Ben/Mena kerfuffle. Not only is it Jory's piece, but it focuses on one of our BlogHer speakers last year and a BlogHer Team member this year, Toby Bloomberg. If you attended Toby's session you know this story of a blogswarm in action. If you didn't attend, check out the story.

Second of all, we've already pointed you to the fruits of the MommyBlogging panel '05 labors: MommyBloggers.com. Well, they've conducted an interview with Lisa, and I don't care if she's embarassed...I am going to tell you it's a must-read. You gotta read it because you don't get that many chances to see Lisa open her kimono publicly, unlike those private lingerie-clad pillow fights we had at BlogHer. Kidding...I'm kidding!

Keep those "BlogHers in the news" items coming.

BlogHers at Global Voices Summit

Last weekend, BlogHer Beth Kanter was one of the BlogHers at Global Voices Online's invitation-only summit in London. Beth, who knows a little something about Cambodia and nonprofits, is pictured here with Cambodian Blogger Tharum in his first visit to the west.

For more on this incredible conference of international bloggers, I recommend you read Beth's post and her recommended links, particularly those to GVO co-founder (and BlogHer '05 advisor) Rebecca MacKinnon's synopsis and Guardian reporter Jane Perrone's report. And, goes without saying, Beth's vlogs!

As I work away on the new BlogHer Web site with Drupal deity Laura Scott, I keep thinking about the role that language, like gender, plays in connecting us. But language also isolates us. I think there's a real opportunity here on BlogHer to celebrate women bloggers around the world -- and, eventually, in languages other than English . . . thoughts, anyone?

For five bucks, you can do good, eat better and sleep like an angel

For five bucks, you can do good, eat better and sleep like an angel. Here's how: Join Chez Pim's Menu for Hope II and buy a $5 raffle ticket to help people still suffering from the Pakistan earthquake that killed 80,000 and left 3.5 million homeless this fall.

Meet Pim, a pretty famous and oft-cited food blogger who knows the way to your wallet is right through your tummy, courtesy of her tangy wit:

"[W]hat fun would it be just to come begging you for some dough, even if it is for a great cause?  So, in order not to turn our otherwise fun blogs into the PBS pledge break bore, we've put together a huge list of cool, fun, and personal gifts -like only we could- to entice you to donate.  Each of those gifts is offered as a virtual raffle prize.  All you have to do is donate $5 and you will be eligible for the raffle drawing for a gift of your choice..." 

And what gifts--gourmet foodstuffs from the best food bloggers on the planet! There are dozens and Pim's list is growing. Fancy (and pricey under normal  circumstances!) gift baskets. A pre-measured Persian feast. Many, many boxes of gourmet chocolates. Not to mention copies of the most famous cookbooks I ever bought and never cracked open.

But I don't want to mislead you. I confess, I did it all for the apple butter. Elise Bauer -- one of the brilliant audiophiles who recorded BlogHer last summer, is the author of Simply Recipes, and the maker of the apple butter that damn near lead to a connubial battle over the last spoonful this weekend. Which I got.

Hence my $25 donation straight to UNICEF via Chez Pim's link. And even if I don't win, I'm betting it'll help right my breakfast wrongs at home to do one more little bit for hungry homeless residents of the Kashmir region. Bravo to Pim and all participants.

Are there other seasonal fundraisers -- for people still suffering from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, not to mention last December's Tsunami -- you'd recommend? Bring on the links! Thanks.

(Hat-tip for earthquake facts: Pakistan Earthquake 2005 blog).

The latest Carnival of the Mobilists: credit where credit is due

We don't want to just call people on it when they're consciously or unconsciously perpetuating the propagation of a homegenous perspective that doesn't reflect the real diversity of thought out there in the blogosphere and in the world.

Oh no.

We also want to give credit where it is due when someone figures out that they need to broaden their view...and then goes ahead and does it.

Take this example, courtesy of BlogHer Debi Jones:

Rudy recognized that of the bloggers with a mobile focus he knew about few were women.  His response unlike all other discussions of women in blogging, podcasting or technology was unique especially as compared to the Kevin Drum "where are the women bloggers?" article or the ill-informed and unresearched Wired article titled "Women warming the bench in Podcasting."  Instead of merely pointing out his lack of awareness and concluding that women aren't involved, Rudy set out to educate himself and others by discovering women in mobile and asked for assistance from others to accomplish his goal.  The result is a resource for men and women, an opportunity for visibility and discovery of some amazing women who are discussing all things mobile from their point of view.  Brava!

Check out the results: this week's Carnival of the Mobilists, hosted by mobilejones.

Non-Profits and NGOs--Tell Your Stories!

I just received a request from pal Britt Bravo, who is a community builder for NetSquared, a project of Tech Soup. Britt writes:

One of the things NetSquared is looking for is folks to research and write up profiles of nonprofits who are successfully using emerging technology like:

blogging
podcasting
social bookmarking
social networking
tagging
wikis
RSS feeds
SMS/cellphones
aggregation

She'd love to hear of how nonprofits are making social media tools work for them, and would love interested parties to take 15-20 minutes to fill out a case study form that will be made available to the public for reference.

If you'd like to share your story, click here for instructions on how to complete a profile.

Another BlogHer in the News

Christopher Lydon of public radio's Open Source turns to BlogHer Karen Schneider, aka FreeRange Librarian, to represent the librarian's perspective on GooglePrint...Google effort to index the world's books. And you can listen to it and her here.

What you will find enjoyable about Karen's comments is that she refuses to resort to any kind of alarmist tactics. She keeps us all down to earth about what GooglePrint will be able to do, and what it won't...like read a book to a child. She does a great job!