Northern Voice ROCKS!

Spent a couple of hours at the Northern Voice blogging and social networking conference this afternoon. Had a TOTAL blast. Way more things to see and do than I had time to take in. The conference itself was held on that rarest of things -- a sunny day in Terminal City, in the Forestry Services building on campus UBC.

I arrived at lunch time, and inside was a hive of activity. Never have I seen so many MacBooks in one place. This was a collection of geeks, loud and proud, and I felt immediately right at home.

This is a shot of the Bloedel Atrium, a sort of central gathering place where bloggers could do their thing amongst a madding crowd all enjoying the same.

The day was a mixture of planning and spontaneity. Internet Boot Camp was scheduled, with classes such as Blogging 101 and Podcasting 101, but the organizers also chose the brilliant tactic of putting the conference back into the hands of the conference-goers. Near the registration desk, giant sheets were pinned to the wall, which filled with delegate-fuelled events that were added to the mix.

I managed to catch a session on photography, another on increasing blog traffic and search engine optimization and a teeny bit of discussion on Wordpress. (I was very sad to have to leave that session early, as I truly abhor blogging on Wordpress -- our CWILL BC blog is there -- but I know this is because I haven't taken the time to master the basics.

More tomorrow -- I'll be sitting on the 'Authors Who Blog' panel and madly trying to absorb all the knowledge I can from the massive brainpower the conference has magnetically drawn.

~kc