Just What I Needed

So now I enter the world of the bloggers...It's just what I needed, really. My dive-right-in introduction started with me just messing around with this site and then I decided last minute to go to the RE Bloggers Connect in SF. I have to admit, I was as nervous as I have been in a long time. It's been a while since I have taken part in something so foreign and new. I like knowing what I am talking about and have become used to being the one with the answers-in my business, at least. I figured that I would be around a crowd of ultra-techies speaking a mysterious cyber-language, but instead I found that I met some of the most interesting and amusing people of my lifetime. It didn't take long to get the basics and now I find myself already thinking in terms of "SEO", "transparency" and "keyword to content relevancy". I couldn't have asked for a better introduction.

I do kind of feel like I cheated, though...Most of these guys established their relationships behind the veil of the Internet, and here I am starting off with faces, personalities and some lengthy real-life conversations under my belt. I have yet to make my first post and I am feeling the pressure - jumping in so late and all. It's weird putting yourself out there like this, too. Establishing my own "transparency" to an unlimited and initially anonymous audience. I am ready to jump over that first intimidating hurdle, though, and then just wait to hear back from my new "virtual" friends and colleagues.

While the online scene will be a welcomed outlet, I will be counting down the days until next year when we can leave our avatars and profiles behind and get back to the sparkling eyes of those crazy bloggers again.

Up to Speed

Now is the time to grab this blog-bull by the horns. Why I have resisted, I don't really know. I guess it has a lot to do with adopting a new evolution of technology when you have let the initation slip right by. Here I am living my whole professional life in the glory of technology and web advancements and now I get the be the late adopter of the blog phenomenon. Great.

And I can't help but wonder how all of these bloggers have been so at ease putting themselves out there - for the world wide web! Did they ever feel the same sense of panic that comes with sharing pieces of your heart and mind with the likely possibility of mass critisim and humiliation? Or is it not the "mass" you have to worry about. Is it not even more awkward when you check in only to see that your "0 Comments" never ticks upward? Oh, and when did everyone become these clever, dynamic, entertaining journalists? That's the beauty of it, I suppose. Getting to experience your friends and fellow bloggers in an intimate way..discovering who they are and the workings of their minds. I am in.