Assignment: Milblog Conference

With the 2007 Milblog Conference less than 2 months away, Andi has issued an assignment:

Almost a year later, some time and distance have passed. Perhaps now would be a good time to reflect back on our first conference, talk about why we wanted to do it again, what it means to those in the military community, how amazing it is to be able to put faces to blogs and what the fence-sitters will be missing if they choose not to come.

Those who attended, on-line or in person, write a post about your experience at the Inaugural MilBlog Conference, or leave a comment on this post. If you write a post, trackback or email the link and I'll add your link to this post.

Last year, when the first conference was being planned, I was fairly new to blogging and was just starting to get my feet wet and find my voice and direction for this blog. The reason I started this blog and the journey to what it has become are all part of the experience for me, so I will give you a little background first.

I may never have learned about Soldiers' Angels had it not been for a blogger. A regular reader of Blackfive shared a link in a chatroom to one of his posts about Soldiers' Angels in early 2004, and I joined immediately. I immersed myself in troop support, but I still didn't quite "get" blogs. I always thought of them as just personal diaries written by angst driven youth or teenaged drama queens. When someone did send me to read posts at some legitimate topical blogs, the format of blogs and the many links to other sites confused me. Silly me.

I remember reading about different happenings on the Soldiers' Angels message boards such as when Noah was injured and we were able to help Some Soldier's Mom. I remember reading when one of our own soldiers, Chuck Z. was wounded, and the subsequent call from a Walter Reed area angel on the message board for a laptop for Chuck, which was later to become Project Valour-IT. Again, I would occasionally read blog posts when someone directed me to one, but for me they were definitely not regular reading.

When Holly Aho started SA Blogs in May of 2005 and offered blogs to angels, I was not the slightest bit interested. But I did begin reading her blog regularly. In the fall of 2005 when I became a Regional Manager for New York, that is when I first entertained the idea. I thought this would be a great way to communicate news and activities to the angels in New York. However, I soon realized that I would have to e-mail them all anyway to remind them to read the blog, so that would defeat the purpose. But I liked blogging so I decided to keep it up.

The 1st Milblog Conference, why did I go? While I really considered myself somewhat of an "accidental blogger", I just felt drawn to go. I did not really feel part of the milblogging community at that time. FbL describes her initial feeling of being somewhat of a "hanger-on", and I can relate to that feeling. Although in my eyes she had by far already earned a place there, I was still a real newbie. But the web site for the conference said it was open to the public, so I felt I certainly qualified as a member of the public if not as a serious blogger. And so I went. And sat in the very back. The better to observe everything, of course.

It was at times moving, enlightening, enthralling, informative, entertaining, motivating, and everything in between. These men and women all were very well spoken, passionate about the topics presented, intelligent, and interesting. It was so wonderful to have the opportunity to meet so many of them in person, and to experience all the personalities. You might think that experiencing a personality is an odd way to put it, but with people like Chuck Z, Uncle Jimbo, CJ, Mike Fay and Col. Hunt in the room, experience is definitely the right way to describe it.

There were a number of people I met there who thanked me for the work I do for Soldiers' Angels. It was hard to accept that thanks because, after all, it was not me who did it, I was just a lone accidental blogger. But a year later, I understand that every act from the smallest to the largest in Soldiers' Angels adds up to what the organization is all about. Patti Bader's quote at the top of my blog summarizes that best. So this year when anyone thanks me, I will accept it gracefully on behalf of all angels. I am extremely excited about this year's conference. A year later, I have had the opportunity to get to know many more people through reading their blogs and I feel more in the loop about what is happening in the milblog community. And I will finally get to meet the woman who is the heart and soul of this organization, whom I admire and respect, from whom I have learned so much. (And still learning more!)

Why should you go? Because, if you are milblogger, a veteran, or a troop supporter, this is the must attend event of the year. If you want to know what is really going on in the world today, these are some of the people to hear it from. You won’t regret it.

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• Blogging/Bloggers