I received a strange eVite from Portland ABC affiliate KATU inviting me to a blogger get together that they are hosting.
KATU wants to get to know the blogging community and is interested in joining the conversation. There’s no agenda, other than to enjoy some food and beverages courtesy of our hosts. Meet fellow bloggers, view (and photograph!) the television studios and have some fun!
And I’m not alone. Nearly 300 Portland area bloggers got the same thing.
Out of the blue. Yet intriguing, nonetheless.
Maybe Amanda is coming to town. Or maybe it’s just a ploy to raise KATU’s visibility, given that this was included:
To help spread the word (and hear what fellow bloggers are saying about this meetup), let’s tag our blog posts and photos “KATUmeetup”.
Other mentions, so far, include:
- Beervana
- Dawn Foster
- Frytopia
- Furious Nads
- Metroblogging Portland
- Perry Perkins
- Nancy Rommelmann
- Richard Sipe
- Brian Westbrook
Did you get one? What’s your take? Someone from KATU care to elaborate? Or perhaps Brian Westbrook who seems to be the eViter for the event?
One thing is for sure, Portland Mercury’s Blogtown PDX is not happy with the snub.
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@Lelonopo: That’s one of the problems I was trying to fix by starting Silicon Florist. There’s a ton a interesting stuff happening here in town, but there isn’t a lot of cross-pollination occurring among groups. Hopefully, this resource will help a bit.
“Sure it’s a little odd that they don’t just attend one of the Social Media Group or Blogger Dinners if they want to plug into the blogging community.”
What the hell is that? I’ve never heard of these!
There already are…they’re called hookers! 🙂 (NE Sandy is a little sketchy)
It’s a little paranoid to assume KATU has some nefarious agenda. Sure it’s a little odd that they don’t just attend one of the Social Media Group or Blogger Dinners if they want to plug into the blogging community. But I chalk that up to the fact that they aren’t in the community and don’t know about these groups. KATU is a big media company and while ‘big media’ loves to throw lavish catered parties with servers offering up cocktail weenies on silver platters, this approach just seems odd and confusing to the ‘new media’ folk. So we have a bit of a culture clash. But until KATU proves otherwise, I’ll take them at their word and applaud their desire to get to know the blogging community.
BTW, I remember back in the late 90’s when KATU agreed to become the media partner with Portland Citysearch.com after every other local tv station turned them down for fear that the Internet was “the competition”.
(Terry, I like cocktail weenies, but I like smoked salmon canapés with lemon dill crème fraîche even more 😉 )
Terry,
I agree . At the time nobody was really talking about it and alot of people were confused by the invite. Even Rick had his suspicions. But looks like 24 hours later everyone knows that the event is real and not fake. I know I will be there 🙂
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I guess I’m not one of the cool kids either. 😉 I hope someone who is going will post a recap.
Jeremiah,
Relax. This is a party. KATU wants to meet bloggers in the area, and what better way to do that than to host a meet-up. No special speakers. No big announcement. Just an acknowledgment that the community exists and that to participate in the community, one must learn to listen first. This is not something you’ll find with most traditional media companies.
Really, it’s a great chance to meet other bloggers, pick up some swag, take a few pictures, and nab some grub.
And if somebody didn’t get an invite, it’s simply an oversight. We found 400 bloggers and knew that wouldn’t include everybody. So if you didn’t get one, you’re invited anyway. Just use the eVite page to let them know you’re coming.
I’ll be there and hope to meet everybody.
Terry Heaton
Jeremiah, Most definitely having that feeling, to wit: http://twitter.com/turoczy/statuses/218897982
I was just thinking has anyone wondered if this WHOLE thing is just a prank. It would be damn funny to get 300+ people to stand out in front of KATU
BMW….i am wondering what your connection is to this whole thing. Why does the eVite come from you if you dont work for KATU.
KATU doesn’t like the blogging community enough to invite them on their own?
Please tell us your dog in the fight (as Lars would say)…
@Rick: There truly is no agenda other than to get to know the local blogging community? How do I know? There was a similar event (that I attended) in Seattle … and it was, as-promised, agenda-less. 🙂 (of course our hosts have asked that I welcome everyone… I’ll be sure to apologize for omitting the Blogtown team, doh!)
If there’s an announcement or special guest, it’d be news to me too… (I think we’ll all just have a good time and get to know fellow bloggers!)
[I should clarify that I don’t work for KATU. I regularly provide tech reports on Newsradio 750 KXL — but that doesn’t have anything to do with the local ABC affiliate… not that I’d be opposed]
Hope this helps… happy to answer any further questions and of course meet as many bloggers as possible.
–BMW.
Seems a bit odd to me.
“KATU wants to get to know the blogging community and is interested in joining the conversation.”
A good way to join the conversation would be by blogging. Not sure what would be accomplished by attending this. I already network with other bloggers at various events.
It suddenly dawns on me that we might get answers to some of these questions if we posted them on the KATU blog.
Oh, wait.
Betsy, Wait a second. You mean KATU isn’t a fan of my blog? I thought that’s why I got invited. Now, I’m miffed.
I got one – but only a few of my fellow bloggers at MB did (I sent them all invitiations and/or upped my plus1 count to include them…)
Which has me wondering – where’d they scrape the email addresses from, anyway?
Alex, You asked for it. An invite is on the way. 😉
well, i’d love an invite, too. just resigned from my gig at portland metroblogging but planning to launch alexhwilliams very, very soon. 🙂
@bmw What’s the thinking behind getting all of these bloggers together? Is KATU looking to gain insight on the blogging scene? Are they making some kind of announcement? Are there special guests?
Lacking details, I tend to gravitate toward cynicism, as do others.
This seems to fall into the “What’s in it for them?” category.
Just looking for any additional details you could offer. If not, that’s cool. An air of mystery never hurt.
Hey folks…
@jason: didja get an invite, if not, email me and I’ll add you.
@josh: ditto
@rick: comment? Sure… whatcha wanna ask? :-p
–BMW.
Trust me, if “I” qualified for an invite, then every blogger in the metro area should have gotten one, lol.
I would be interested to know what list I showed up on, tho’
-Perry
@jason Looks like I can fire off invites from eVite. I’ll send you one.
I didn’t an invite either – can anyone forward to me, if appropriate?
-Jason
Josh,
I think you might qualify. Maybe. 😉
I’ll see if I have access to send you the eVite.
I didn’t get one. KATU doesn’t love me. 🙁
Someone put it up on Upcoming, Eventful, or as a Facebook event and invite me so I can come! I’m a Portland blogger, aren’t I? 😉
I got my invite. It surprised me as well. It looks like everyone in the Portland Blogosphere is wondering what to make of the whole thing.