Thursday Meetings at Berkman Blog

In the next several weeks, there are a wealth of great events of interest to blog group members. We’re making room for them by not meeting as blog group for a few weeks.

Of particular note, of course, is the Berkman @10 conference later this week, which several of us are attending, and BarCamp Boston 3 this weekend, which many of us are actively involved in planning.

We’ll next meet officially as blog group on June 5, when we’re scheduled to discuss Distributed Twitter.

Upcoming meetings & events of interest:

• May 13: WebNOB at Jillian’s in Manchester, NH
• May 15: No meeting due to the Berkman @10 conference. Hey, blog group has been around for half of Berkman’s life!
• May 17 & 18: BarCamp Boston 3 - RSVP to be sure you get a t-shirt and potential other swag! Think about proposing a session!
• May 22: No meeting. Recuperate from an awesome week & weekend! Upgrade your blog software! Livetweet a stroll in the park. You get the idea.
• May 29: No meeting - go to Ignite Boston 3 instead! RSVPing is a very very good idea as these often fill up.
• June 5: Return to meetings! We’ll be discussing Distributed Twitter.
• July 19 & 20: PodCamp at Harvard Medical School
• See the Berkman Calendar for other upcoming Berkman stuff.
• Feel free to publicize related events here! Let Erica or j know, comment, or add them yourself if you have an editor account.

Let’s welcome Dean Jansen from Participatory Culture Foundation on Miro Player!

We will not meet on May 15 because of the Berkman @10 conference, but we hope to see you there or at BarCamp Boston 3 on the 17 & 18.

Upcoming meetings & events of interest:

• May 13: WebNOB at Jillian’s in Manchester, NH
• May 15: No meeting due to the Berkman @10 conference (Register for the conference & gala now! Placing a badge on your blog gets you a $50 discount.)
• May 17 & 18: BarCamp Boston 3
• July 19 & 20: PodCamp at Harvard Medical School
• See the Berkman Calendar for other upcoming Berkman stuff.
• Feel free to publicize related events here! Let Erica or j know, comment, or add them yourself if you have an editor account.

We’re getting an update on Babbledog, the Web 2.0 social news/microblogging site + recommendations on which Shimon and j have been working. Check it out & register for a free account!

Some recent discussions:

• Shimon’s treadmill desk

• The Hans Reiser verdict
• Pennsylvania primary
• People selling OLPC XOs

Upcoming meetings & events of interest:

• May 1: The folks from Babbledog return with a major update
• Friday May 2: 11 am-1 pm Digital Natives forum @ Berkman. Contact Miriam Simun for info or to RSVP.
• May 8: Dean Jansen from Participatory Culture Foundation on Miro Player
• May 13: WebNOB at Jillian’s in Manchester, NH
• May 15: No meeting due to the Berkman @10 conference (Register for the conference & gala now! Placing a badge on your blog gets you a $50 discount.)
• May 17 & 18: BarCamp Boston 3
• See the Berkman Calendar for other upcoming Berkman stuff.
• Feel free to publicize related events here! Let Erica or j know, comment, or add them yourself if you have an editor account.

This week blog group will join Laughing Squid and Internet memes at the Pre-ROFLCon Drinkup. The event starts at 7pm at Asgard on Mass Ave in Central Square. RSVP required. Again, blog group will not meet at Berkman Center this week.

Also, follow ROFLCon on Twitter and join the ROFLCon 2008 group on Flickr.

Upcoming meetings & events of interest:

• May 1: The folks from Babbledog return with a major update
• Friday May 2: 11 am-1 pm Digital Natives forum @ Berkman. Contact Miriam Simun for info or to RSVP.
• May 8: Dean Jansen from Participatory Culture Foundation on Miro Player
• May 15: No meeting due to the Berkman @10 conference (Register for the conference & gala now! Placing a badge on your blog gets you a $50 discount.)
• See the Berkman Calendar for other upcoming Berkman stuff.
• Feel free to publicize related events here! Let Erica or j know, comment, or add them yourself if you have an editor account.

Tonight’s blog group features our own longtime member Jared Dunn on his new project, LocalProgress.org. Jared’s seeking critical/constructive feedback, ideas, etc. from our community.

From the site:

We’ve used the web to help organize and expand small local community and political groups. We know that it can work. However, to achieve lasting results, it takes dedication, focus, and a willingness to both teach what the web can do, and how to do it. It also takes the time and patience to listen to the needs and concerns of communities, and to tailor the available tools and solutions to them.

<snip>

From our experiences so far, we suspect that there are many small activist, civic, and political groups and candidates who could make great use of the web to further their goals and build their organizations. However, many of them may not know where to start, and most lack the resources to hire professionals to guide them. The Local Progress website will aim to be an information and volunteering clearinghouse for groups and activists in this position. We will endeavor to unite web activists and professionals with the underserved local groups and communities who need their help the most.

Also, before the meeting at you may be interested in this event:

Collaboration in Space Exploration with the founders of NASA’s CoLab (NASA’s collaborative initiatives in Second Life)
TODAY - 5pm - Hauser 104, Harvard Law School

Upcoming meetings & events of interest:

• April 18: Jonathan Zittrain on the Future of the Internet
• April 24: ROFLCON and the Laughing Squid are having a ROFLCON kickoff party at the Asgard on Mass Ave in Central Square. Let’s join them for some networking with online comic artists. RSVP required.
• May 1: The folks from Babbledog return with a major update
• Friday May 2: 11 am-1 pm Digital Natives forum @ Berkman. Contact Miriam Simun for info or to RSVP.
• May 8: Dean Jansen from Participatory Culture Foundation on Miro Player
• May 15: No meeting due to the Berkman @10 conference (Register for the conference & gala now! Placing a badge on your blog gets you a $50 discount.)
• See the Berkman Calendar for other upcoming Berkman stuff.
• Feel free to publicize related events here! Let Erica or j know, comment, or add them yourself if you have an editor account.

On Thursday, April 10, Berkman blog group will attend Pecha Kucha Boston 4 to live blog, Flickr and Twitter.

The event, co-hosted by our own Brett Stilwell, is free and open to the public. Talks start at 8pm. Blog group will meet for dinner at 6:30pm at Wagamama on JFK St in Harvard Square (look for Erica), then walk over to Gund Hall, 48 Quincy St.

What is Pecha Kucha?

• http://www.pecha-kucha.org/what
• http://blip.tv/file/776817
• http://del.icio.us/brettstil/pechakucha
• Twitter post: @misc says pecha kucha is a “twitter-style barcamp”

j’s live blogging

Upcoming meetings & events of interest:

• April 11: BetaHouse Turns 1!
• April 17: Our own Jared Dunn on his new project, LocalProgress.org
• April 18: Jonathan Zittrain on the Future of the Internet
• April 24: ROFLCON and the Laughing Squid are having a ROFLCON kickoff party at the Asgard on Mass Ave in Central Square. Let’s join them for some networking with online comic artists. RSVP required.
• May 1: The folks from Babbledog return with a major update
• May 8: Dean Jansen from Participatory Culture Foundation on Miro Player
• May 15: No meeting due to the Berkman @10 conference
• Registration now open for the Berkman @10 conference & gala in May!
• See the Berkman Calendar for other upcoming Berkman stuff.
• Feel free to publicize related events here! Let Erica or j know, comment, or add them yourself if you have an editor account.

Join Berkman blog group this Thursday, April 3, for Meryl Libbey & Rich Cowan on publicizing their blog on Oppenheimer and the H-bomb (and associated book).

Upcoming meetings & events of interest:

• TOMORROW, 4/4: Larry Lessig on the Change Congress movement, a special Berkman @10 event
• April 10: Pecha Kucha, with social dinner beforehand & live blogging/tweeting during! Led by our own Brett Stilwell.
• April 11: BetaHouse Turns 1!
• April 17: Our own Jared Dunn on his new project, LocalProgress.org
• April 24: ROFLCON and the Laughing Squid are having a ROFLCON kickoff party at the Asgard on Mass Ave in Central Square. Let’s join them for some networking with online comic artists. RSVP required.
• May 1: The folks from Babbledog return with a major update
• May 8: Dean Jansen from Participatory Culture Foundation on Miro Player
• Registration now open for the Berkman @10 conference & gala in May!
• See the Berkman Calendar for other upcoming Berkman stuff.
• Feel free to publicize related events here! Let Erica or j know, comment, or add them yourself if you have an editor account.

A few of our members have attended some exciting conferences in recent weeks, like SXSW and NTEN. Let’s get some updates from them.

Upcoming meetings & events of interest:

• Thursday, March 27, & Friday, March 28: SpamCon at MIT
• Friday, March 28, & Saturday, March 30: Boston First: a high school robotics competition is at BU’s Agganis Arena.
• April 3 meeting: Meryl Libbey & Rich Cowan on publicizing their blog on Oppenheimer and the H-bomb (and associated book)
• April 10: Pecha Kucha, with social dinner beforehand & live blogging/tweeting during! Led by our own Brett Stilwell.
• April 11: BetaHouse Turns 1!
• April 17: Our own Jared Dunn on his new project, LocalProgress.org
• April 24: ROFLCON and the Laughing Squid are having a ROFLCON kickoff party at the Asgard on Mass Ave in Central Square. Let’s join them for some networking with online comic artists. RSVP required.
• May 1: The folks from Babbledog return with a major update
• Registration now open for the Berkman @10 conference & gala in May!
• See the Berkman Calendar for other upcoming Berkman stuff.
• Feel free to publicize related events here! Let Erica or j know, comment, or add them yourself if you have an editor account.

We’re moving the meeting to 6 p to attend a talk by Lisa Stone, cofounder of BlogHer, in Austin West Classroom in Austin Hall at Harvard Law School—a special Berkman@10 event. She will focus on the habits of adult women online: “Today, thanks to the Internet and to the new social media tools embraced by female consumers, American women online represent stunning economic and political power — and a rapidly morphing target.”

Some folks will go for dinner after the talk. Others are heading to the contradance.

The Boston Weblogger Meetup Group is attending and planning to go to Cambridge Common afterward.

Upcoming meetings & events of interest:

• March 27 meeting: Conference repotbacks from those of us who attended SXSW or the NTEN Nonprofit Technology Conference
• April 3 meeting: Meryl Libbey & Rich Cowan on publicizing their blog on Oppenheimer and the H-bomb (and associated book)
• April 10: Pecha Kucha, with social dinner beforehand & liveblogging/tweeting during! Led by our own Brett Stilwell.
• April 17: Our own Jared Dunn on his new project, LocalProgress.org
• April 24: The folks from Babbledog return with a major update
• Registration now open for the Berkman @10 conference & gala in May!
• See the Berkman Calendar for other upcoming Berkman stuff.
• Feel free to publicize related events here! Let Erica or j know, comment, or add them yourself if you have an editor account.

This week, 3/13:

Jon Garfunkel will talk to us about the challenges of good, usable blog archives. He switched his archive format recently in an attempt to provide better access to the material. As well as sharing his experience with his weblog, he will talk about archives on other sites. More info at his post on faceted navigation of blog archives. For a demo, see http: //civilities.net/webzine/archives and
http://campaigntrails.org

Next week (3/20), we’re moving the meeting to 6 p to attend a talk by Lisa Stone, cofounder of BlogHer.

Upcoming meetings & events of interest:

• Access Denied book release & reception, this Friday 3/14
• Next week, March 20, 6 pm: Special Berkman @10 event with Lisa Stone, cofounder of BlogHer. We’ll be attending the event instead of having a competing blog group that night, and probably dining as a group afterwards.
• March 27 meeting: Conference repotbacks from those of us who attended SXSW or the NTEN Nonprofit Technology Conference
• April 3 meeting: Meryl Libbey & Rich Cowan on publicizing their blog on Oppenheimer and the H-bomb (and associated book)
• April 10: Pecha Kucha, with social dinner beforehand & liveblogging/tweeting during! Led by our own Brett Stilwell.
• April 17: Our own Jared Dunn on his new project, LocalProgress.org
• April 24: The folks from Babbledog return with a major update
• Registration now open for the Berkman @10 conference & gala in May!
• See the Berkman Calendar for other upcoming Berkman stuff.
• Feel free to publicize related events here! Let Erica or j know, comment, or add them yourself if you have an editor account.