With the nudge of Mitch Joel (Six Pixels of Separation) being in town, Robin Browne (DaBizBlog) has organized Geek Dinner Ottawa to take place on Wednesday, April 23 at 6:30pm at the Blue Cactus Bar and Grill (2 Byward Market).

If you plan on going, please drop a comment here so that we can track numbers for the reservation.

(Note: I’ve withheld the URL for the Blue Cactus Bar and Grill because the site automatically plays annoying music when you connect)

Earlier today, Jeff Pulver asked the question “Where Have all the Comments Gone?” on his blog.

I tend to comment on blogs in waves. It really depends on my availability to not only read the post, but the time and attention to comment in a way that contributes to the conversation.

I prefer following blog communities over those in closed systems (read Facebook). To me, a blog is like a home; it’s where the content creator is inviting me as their personal guest. I don’t have to jump through hoops to participate. I can either go to their site (one click) or open my Google Reader and then follow the link to the post I want to comment on (if I want or have the time to comment). On the other hand, Facebook communities require an account, a profile, a friendship and/or a membership in a specific topical group. There are far too many procedures to join the conversation and then to return to participate. It’s far too impersonal and inconvenient.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Seth Godin’s trackback-limited approach, particularly after Mitch Joel put some context to it in a recent episode of Six Pixels of Separation. Seth has disabled the comment feature on his blog, preferring to encourage trackbacks. The premise is that commenters should extend the conversation to their own blogs and connect everything through links (isn’t that what the Web’s about). That seems like a more natural way to grow the conversation and add voices to it — and everyone can do it, publicly, on their own terms.

Blogs have been around for many years and likely will for many years to come. In Internet terms, they’ve stuck. Facebook, like many other social network sites, will eventually be trumped by yet another bigger and better service that we will all flock to and build from zero, again.

So, Jeff… please keep your ‘home’ open and active. It’s a great hangout.

It’s not a new idea, it just took me a while to figure it out. I think I started thinking about it during Mitch Joel’s presentation on personal branding.

I am my brand.

This changes my bio. I’ve removed the third-person bio from the About page on this site, and I’m working on a new bio that comes from me and reflects my passion.

The details of the Montreal Podcast Meetup are now available…

Date: December 28, 2006 (Thursday)
Time: 7:30pmET
Location: Cafe Melies, 3540 St. Laurent (between Milton and Prince Arthur)

The reservation is under Twist Image and Mitch Joel.

For more information, follow the blog posts by Bob Goyetche and Mitch Joel.

From my sleeping bag on the floor of Room 813 at the Holiday Inn Express, Cambridge, MA.

PodCamp is amazingly well organized.  The organizers have to be proud of themselves.  Sessions that were among the standouts based on an informal poll with Bob and Julien include C. C. Chapman and Mitch Joel’s presentation You and Your Brand; PodCast Consultation with Jason Van Orden (John C. Havens and one other guy whose name escapes me at the moment); the music panel discussion with C. C., Jay Moohan, and Eric Skiff; and, Pricing and PR presented by John C. Havens.  My own presentations, Extending the Conversation, and Interview Techniques which I presented with Larry Lawfer were also quite successful.

Bob, Julien, Mitch, C.C. and I went back to the hotel to have a beer and hang out before we joined the gang at The Grand Canal.  You realize how much there is to learn when you hang out with these guys.  The Grand Canal was fun and someone apparently picked up the bar tab starting at a certain point.  I believe that was a well excercised offer.

Julien and I had an interesting experience getting back to our hotel after the obnoxiously loud music at The Grand drove us away.  Just when I started to feel some degree of concern for my welfare during the cab ride, Julien leaned forward and asked the cabbie, Dude.  You do know where you’re going, right?.

At its peak, there was about eighteen people in room 813 last night.  That’s when Bob, J. Moo, Chris and I started playing music.  The highlights included De Do Do Do, and a version of No Woman No Cry that went something like No C. C. Home Fries.

We’re getting up right now, and getting ready for the day.  The morning schedule looks packed so we’ll split up the presentations and share the information on the drive home.