New Hampshire Blog-Con

Blog Free or Die!

DATE:

The first semi-annual NH Blog-Con was held on Saturday, October 14, 2006 @ 4:00 pm at The Common Man restaurant in Concord, NH

The Interview

(Big thanks to Tony from Politizine who recorded the interview and made me sound so good!)
Audio interview with Yours Truly, during the Blog-Con

The Pictures

The Common Man

The Video

(Thanks to Ernesto Burden for making this great video)

The Attendees

The NH Blog-Con was a terrific success. With about 25 blogs represented, and nearly 30 people, the turnout was better than I could have hoped for.

(Thanks to Tony at Politizine for compiling this list of attendees)

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31 Responses to “New Hampshire Blog-Con”


  1. Tom Bowler Says:
    June 5th, 2006 at 8:49 am

    October is a long way off, but count me in. Thanks.


  2. lisa Says:
    June 6th, 2006 at 5:58 am

    This is a great idea. I’ve marked my calendar. :-)


  3. Amy Says:
    June 6th, 2006 at 10:25 am

    Neither rain, nor sleet, nor kid soccer games shall keep me from the 1st annual NH BlogCon.

    Anybody know anything about this place? The Common Man?
    http://www.thecman.com/

    Never been but I did a quick internet search and just liked the name. It has rooms for 20, 50 or 80, plus won a Best of NH 2005, 2006. Lunch menu looks good.

    I defer to anyone who knows Concord. I’ve only been a couple of times, with school groups to the statehouse and history museum.

    What’s really New Hampshirish there?


  4. TJ Says:
    June 6th, 2006 at 3:54 pm

    Amy: thanks for the tip and the link. I’ll give them a call and see what sort of atmosphere it is. We don’t want a “restaurant” type place where everyone is expected to sit down in one spot. Hopefully they have a lounge area where people can walk around and mingle. I’ll try to find out.

    If anyone else has any ideas, please let us know.

    Lisa, Tom: Hope to see you both there. It should be a hoot.


  5. Amy Says:
    June 6th, 2006 at 4:00 pm

    Right, since we sit all the time when we blog, we might like to get up and stretch our legs a little. :)


  6. Jay Tea Says:
    June 8th, 2006 at 8:27 am

    The Common Man… I resented that place for years, because they tore down the Capitol City Diner to make room for it. But the owner is a hell of a decent guy, from all I’ve heard, and it’s right off the highway, so it’s incredibly easy to find.

    As others say, it’s three months away, but I think I might be able to make it. And as it draws nearer, I can give it a plug or two.

    Will it be open to blog commenters, too? I have a few local readers who’d probably enjoy attending…

    J.


  7. TJ Says:
    June 8th, 2006 at 1:34 pm

    I don’t think we’ll be excluding anyone. We’ll trust everyone to use their discretion.


  8. jd Says:
    June 8th, 2006 at 9:37 pm

    I like the Common Man! :)


  9. TJ Says:
    June 8th, 2006 at 11:27 pm

    Okay. It sounds like we are leaning toward the Common Man. We’ve got 3 months to change our minds, so I’m gonna go ahead and make an “official” update. I am also arbitrarily setting the time for 4:00 pm.


  10. Larc Says:
    June 10th, 2006 at 11:55 am

    Oh, yeah, I remember the Capitol City Diner….!

    …I’ve been to the Common Man, it’s nice but it does get crowded sometimes and the parking is hairy. Good food and a cool atmosphere though. Also it’s easy to find.


  11. Bill Gnade Says:
    June 10th, 2006 at 1:53 pm

    Well, the Common Man at least has a decent name. Irrespective of what it is called, I am excited to meet you all! I am sure that if we are interested in meeting again, we can find a more suitable place for our next meeting should the Common Man thoroughly bum us out.

    To TJ, I can only say that I am glad that you’ve chosen a time arbitrarily, but 4:00 is so, well, bland. How about 3:60, or a whole past three, or even something crazy, like 3:72?!

    Peace.

    BG


  12. TJ Says:
    June 11th, 2006 at 10:15 am

    Bill, Good points all and all. We have 3 months before the event, so I will probably head to Concord one of these days to check the place out. If I find it wanting, I can putter around town and find a different place.

    As for the time choice. . . I’m a traditionalist, what can I say. :D


  13. Amy Says:
    June 13th, 2006 at 10:09 am

    Hi There -

    I may be a little late in seeing this, but I am very interested in attending! I imagine my husband (a blogger too – but not as devout as myself) would also like to go. I’ve never been to The Comman Man, but have always wanted to. I’ll be able to tell more exactly as we get closer to the date if we can, in fact, attend, but it’s looking okay for now. Can’t wait to meet everyone!

    Amy :)


  14. TJ Says:
    June 13th, 2006 at 7:52 pm

    Hiya, Amy! Of course, anyone is welcome. We’ve got a number of months before the actual event, and there isn’t going to be anything like “registration” or anything. Basically, if you are a blogger and you show up, you’ll be welcome. . . and if you’re NOT a blogger and you show up anyway, I doubt we’ll throw you out. :)


  15. Ernesto Says:
    June 13th, 2006 at 8:45 pm

    I’m there!


  16. JM Says:
    June 15th, 2006 at 9:44 am

    This looks like a great event. We’ve only been around for a short while and are still getting our sea legs (blog legs?), but we’re looking forward to meeting other NH bloggers!


  17. Honora Says:
    June 30th, 2006 at 1:09 am

    Mid-October sounds good, as does 3:60 pm, as does The Common Man, as does their cucumber salad — but we’d better set a snow date, just in case!


  18. TJ Says:
    June 30th, 2006 at 8:51 am

    A snow date? I hadn’t even thought of that. Its fairly unlikely, so I don’t know if we need a formal plan. At this rate I’m more concerned about flooding than snow.

    So, we will set a tentative “Unspecified natrual or man-made disaster” Date of October 21. Sound cool everyone?

    And welcome, Honora. I never would have found your blog if you hadn’t commented. :)


  19. Kreblog Says:
    July 5th, 2006 at 10:44 pm

    For us it was an excuse to meet and drink beers: “hey, I have a blog and you have a blog… let’s drink” (hence meeting at Red Hook).

    I think we did it about four times total but haven’t done it in a long time (since the end of last Nov). I think our top was a total of nine bloggers (and one honorary commenter).

    10/14… hmmm, I wonder if I could drum up a Seacoast contingent.

    (I was just joking about the name btw)


  20. TJ Says:
    July 6th, 2006 at 4:06 pm

    Kreblog – you are definitely welcome to join us. And don’t worry, the name is terrible. But I like our tagline: “Blog Free or Die” Thanks to JD from Grain of Salt for that one.


  21. skip Says:
    July 19th, 2006 at 1:49 pm

    If I can keep the date straight, I’m apt to show up! Nice idea folks!


  22. jd Says:
    July 29th, 2006 at 12:40 am

    Holy crap we have an official logo! :)


  23. TJ Says:
    July 29th, 2006 at 12:54 am

    I did that all by myself!!


  24. Amy Says:
    August 18th, 2006 at 7:24 pm

    Love the logo, it’s up on my blog now!


  25. TJ Says:
    August 18th, 2006 at 8:48 pm

    Awesome! Thanks Amy!


  26. Tony Schinella Says:
    September 11th, 2006 at 11:53 pm

    I’m going to try and make plans to come.


  27. Jay Tea Says:
    October 5th, 2006 at 6:22 am

    OK, my little plug for the event will go up at 11:00 this morning. I used BOTH the ticket and the Chuck images.

    I look forward to seeing all of you who show up!

    J.


  28. TJ Says:
    October 5th, 2006 at 8:10 am

    Excellent, thanks Jay Tea — I’ll add you to the list of promoters.


  29. Jay Says:
    October 5th, 2006 at 1:53 pm

    Doh. When I saw Jay Tea’s post at Wizbang, I didn’t catch that it was New Hampshire bloggers, and that’s where the original New England Blogger Bash was held a couple years ago, so I thought of it along those lines.

    Deb and I were just talking about the possibility we could get babysitting and both go. It’s only 106 miles and probably not even 2 hours, after all. I was about to ask Chan if he knew about it and might be going when I looked closer.


  30. Ernesto Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 7:16 pm

    Posted a reminder on my blog and on Area603.com. See you alll tomorrow!


  31. Abdul-Rahim Says:
    October 13th, 2006 at 11:24 pm

    Looking forward to it :-)