When is a blogger not a blogger?

I took part in an interesting session at SXSW today, a group discussion designed to come up with 10 Easy Ways To Piss Off A Blogger. Led by Rohit Bhargava from Ogilvy, the group was made up of a combination of bloggers, marketeers and PR professionals. As someone who has recently started a blog (and has an increasing addiction to it), but who makes a living from PR and marketing, it was really interesting to find myself sitting somewhere in the middle.

The list of ten (and a few more) came out of the discussion, and is posted at Longstation, but the really interesting angle for me was a debate regarding the status of bloggers, and how they should be approached by those of us in the PR world. Specifically, there was some discussion around whether bloggers should be treated as journalists, and whether or not they wanted to be.

“We are all feeling our way in the digital world”

An artist’s impression of the Opening Remarks session at SXSWi 

As a self-confessed newbie to interactive, this comment by Henry Jenkins at today’s Opening Remarks session at SXSW no doubt had a greater impact on me than the 100s of other live-bloggers sitting around me at the Austin Convention Centre. I came to this event expecting to feel three steps behind most other delegates and prepared to google every other word in each keynote session.

But today couldn’t have been more different. It’s really opened my eyes to the fact that everyone involved in digital is on a learning curve. I doubt that my posts from SXSW will be ground-breaking to those who are already immersed in the digital world. But hopefully they will be an interesting read for those of you, like me, who are just starting to feel their way.

First thoughts on Texas….

…2 hours in. 

It’s a long way from Brum.

It’s very flat.

There is a beautiful sunset.

People are really friendly and excited that we have come over for SXSW, from the guys on the plane, to the taxi driver, to the hotel receptionist. There’s a real buzz about it. Even the hotels have ‘welcome SXSW’ signs outside. Can’t wait to see what it’s all about tomorrow!

New glasses

I made a decision recently that I should spend less time in front of my computer screen. This was compounded by a trip to the optician this week, and a sinking feeling that I could soon be ordering my next pair of specs from the milkman.

But I’m hoping that, rather than tying me to my laptop, this new blog will encourage me to get out and about even more. My main motivation for starting it is to make the most of an upcoming visit to SXSW Interactive, share my experiences and keep up with the guys I’m going with! Hopefully the trip in itself will be all the inspiration I need to keep it going.

And the new glasses arrive next week.