Month: August 2007

If you—like I—missed the KATU Portland-blogger meetup, don’t despair, gentle reader. We all know that actually attending events falls a distant second behind reading about those events in other people’s blogs.

So, here’s a smattering of the coverage from the Portland blogging crowd:

• [UPDATE] Official Roundup from Brian Westbroook
• Flickr photos tagged “KATUmeetup”
• Winner (so far) of Most Detailed Recap: KATU Blogger Meetup, The Incriminating Evidence
  “I’m glad I went. It was a real positive experience, not only getting to see the inside of a TV studio building that gave me a lot of the broadcasts on which I was raised, but just seeing what was where and getting an idea of how a television station works (a lifelong desire of mine), but getting to know the IRL faces of the people I read regularly (I already mentioned a few; I was able to thank LynnS at Oregon Media Insiders for the fine job she does).Very few people looked like I thought they would, FWIW.”
• KATU linky love
  “Blogging in Portland has certainly changed. Of the bunches of attendees who RSVPd for tonights. KATU blogger meetup, I know…one. Two, if JD decides to stop by.”
• Mercury Parking Lot Foursquare A Raging Success
  “Thanks to all you local bloggers who showed up to play Foursquare in our parking lot this afternoon, before heading off to Katu’s so-called “blogger meet-up.” You know who you are. No, really. You know who you are. Because there were only three of you.”
• KATU Is My New Best Friend
  “See, the Merc was my best friend when they bought me a chai and sent me a get well card. But now, KATU tried to get me drunk and fed me really good food and gave me a Rockstar and a thumb drive.”
• And now for an update….
  “The KATU blogger meetup was a good time. I think some of us were apprehensive about the event wondering if Chris Hanson would show up to ‘catch a blogger.'”
• [pdx] KATU Puts On a Fine Show
  “Regardless of what anyone might feel about on-air talent, the KATU news anchors were the very definition of affable. Incrediby nice and friendly people. I was pleased to meet Rod Hill and Debra Knapp–just missed meeting Steve Dunn–and they were just the sweetest people. It was uncanny the way Rod Hill could just pick up a conversation with you talk with you.”
• A Totally Awkward Probably Not Fun Time
  “I got invited, even though I don’t really think of myself as much of a blogger (I was attracted to this format mostly because of the ease of organizing categories).”
• Local bloggers mingle at the KATU News studios
  “Yours truly was in attendance and even I (an admitted introvert, wallflower and altogether socially inept person) had a good time. Although I didn’t get around to meeting a lot of the bloggers (again… introvert here), I did actually talk with a few interesting folks. I was also quite surprised, and of course very flattered, when one of them recognized me from the picture on my blog’s home page. “
• Bloggers meet in Portland
  “Like other smart local media outlets, KATU-TV has taken a position of embracing the personal media revolution in its community. This isn’t easy for TV stations, but it’s an important first step in participating in the conversation — the buzz — that is the cyberspace community. I don’t see how media companies will be relevant in the years to come without taking this step.”
• Portland Blogger Meetup
  “I was impressed with the amount of creative work that went into the meetup by KATU. They created a great logo and then splashed that across all of their materials – the signage pointing bloggers into the station, the name tags, and even in these fun little goody-bags that everyone received as a parting gift. Some poor intern probably went to great effort to unwrap candy bars and re-wrap them with their fun logo – a nice touch. Thanks go to the intern!”
• KATU says, Hey Blogger
  “Surprising to all in attendance, last night’s event was actually a great deal of fun. We got a tour of all two rooms of KATU’s building, I rested my bummy arse on the anchors’ desk, and we took a group photo (followed up, of course, by a group hug…not really, but one would have been nice). Free finger food, wine and a keg of local brew (Widmer Bros. ) definitely performed the task of social lubricant, as I’m sure was intended.”
• Free beer for bloggers, but why?
  “About 70 of us stood around nibbling finger food, drinking wine and beer and talking blogger talk. I was probably the oldest blogger in the room, but no one called me “sir.” When I told them about The Red Electric and showed them my card, several actually said, ‘Cool!'”
• KATU blogger meetup
  “I think I went expecting to discover some evil master plan, or causes mischief, as well as to meet some of the faces of people I know online, but have never met in person.”
• I fellate the KATU blogger meetup
  “Well, in spite of the fact that I wasn’t invited by KATU (which I was told paid a contractor $10,000 to read OrBlogs and create an invitation list that somehow excluded me!!!) I WAS invited by Drew to attend the KATU blogger meet-up and I’m SO glad I went because I met and got to hang out with some really charming people. I’m going to express my gratitude by actually blogging about the event, because I assume that was the point … (Wait, what WAS the point?)”

Did I miss your entry? If so, it was a nod to the oversights of the original invite. But feel free to link it up in the comments.