blogorlando -- I'll Be There!

I'm attending the blogorlando "unconference" tomorrow afternoon and hope to see ya there. They've got a nice schedule , blog and multiple sessions planned:

Corporate Blogging

Leaders - Dave Coustan

Can a corporation blog? Each day more corporations are entering the blogosphere, some get it right, others get it way wrong. As users/consumers/bloggers what do you want to hear from corporations? Session leader Dave Coustan is the corporate blogger for Earthlink. It's his job to represent a company in the blog world, so he can provide the perspective of the suits (although Dave doesn't wear suits).

Hyperlocal

Leaders - Tommy Duncan & Joey Marchy

Can bloggers cover communities more effectively than traditional media? Two Florida bloggers that run local blogs will lead the discussion. Tommy Duncan, of Sticks of Fire, is 'the' Tampa blog maestro. Tommy has scooped both local papers in the market and has a number of local bloggers contributing to the site. In Jacksonville, Joey Marchy runs Urban Jacksonville, a blog the focuses only on a few neighborhoods, providing content that might otherwise be overlooked.

Legal Issues

Leader - Andrea Weckerle

Libel, slander.....what are the legal issues facing bloggers? We'll discuss a variety of topics.

Media Blogs

Leader - John Cutter

John is a Senior Editor at the Orlando Sentinel and oversees the Crime Blog, as well as posting frequently on the Hurricane Blog and Space Blog during shuttle launches. Using an overused phrase, John is a reporter that 'Get's It' when it comes to blogs. John will talk briefly about how the Sentinel approaches blogging and then engage the audience. What do you want from a newspaper blog? What are they doing right? What are they doing wrong?

Politics

Leader - Bob O'Malley

There is a hotly contested Florida gubernatorial race and a number of critical local races...which candidates are blogging (or being blogged about). How have blogs impacted local and national politics? Working in public affairs and running a popular personal blog allows Bob to bridge the gap between politics and blogs.

Public Relations and Blogs

Leader - David Parmet

How can public relations practitioners work with the blogosphere? Those that are doing it right have found a tremendous benefit in communicating directly with their customers via blogs. Unfortunately though, some in the industry have not done it right and we all live with the consequences. PR/social media good-guy, David Parmet, will lead this discussion. It might just be PR people in the room, or perhaps we'll have a mixture of bloggers & PR folks and have a conversation about the relationship between PR and blogs.

Off the Record

Leader - Josh Hallett

This session will be an experiment. We'll turn off our laptops and other recording devices and talk off the record about things we can't blog about. For example have you ever started a post and then said, "I can't post this". Sometimes it's emotional, other times it's job security. You know you've been dying to get it off your chest. Now is your chance. This might be the best session, or the worst...we'll see.

Tools

Leaders - Andrew Odom & Mark Jaquith

What blogging platform do you use? Why? What other tools help you blog? Flickr, Evoca, Qumana? This sharing session well expose best practices and tips & tricks that can benefit everyone.

Video Blogging

Leader - Vlad Mazek

How hard is it to create a video blog? What are the strengths and limitations of the medium? We'll look to discuss all these issues.

Where Is This All Going?

Leaders - Chris Heuer and Josh Hallett

Simple question, difficult answer. We'll conclude the day by looking forward. What impact will social media have on society. How can it be used to for benefit?

Women Blogging

Leader - TBD

Silent minority or vocal majority? Blogs have empowered women to connect and speak about issues in powreful new way. Just look at BlogHer as an example. We'll be posting more details about this session shortly.