This is part two of two in an interview with DC’s Jonny Goldstein. Jonny is a social media consultant and host of Jonny’s Par-tay, an interactive online TV talk show.

Part one of the interview series can be found here.

BB: What are your thoughts on the whole Trapani blacklist controversy?

JG: Part of the problem is a technological problem. Since it’s so easy and cheap to email bloggers, some PR people will spam them. And that will piss off some bloggers. And they will filter email from offending senders.

One group of folks that have been on the receiving end of voluminous quantities of PR pitches for years are traditional media reporters. I would love it if you could interview a reporter on the Buzz Bin to see how they navigate all the pitches they get.

(Definitely would be interesting)

I do know that in some ways, PR makes the lives of journalists much easier. Stories come to them. I know how effective PR can be with traditional media. I had a friend who used to do PR for a book publisher in New York. She’d tell me about some book she was working on promoting. A month later I would hear the author being interviewed on NPR. It’s not like NPR went and looked for that book. Someone who already had a good relationship with them presented it to them in an engaging way. In my opinion, that’s how good PR should work.

BB: What has been your favorite experience hosting Jonny’s Par-tay?

JG:

Wow. I have had a lot of good experiences. Can I give you two?

1. My birthday episode has to be the highlight. Unbeknownst to me, my wife and Scott had solicited a bunch of people to make me video birthday greetings and we played them on the show. That blew my mind.
2. My second favorite moment was with this fantastic guy Jeff Hibbard. He is a vehicular lifecaster. He streams video to the web from his truck. He was a guest on the Par-tay one night.We had his video on the show live from his truck as he drove to my house. Then he knocked on the door and stepped in and we switched to the video from our perspective as he comes and sits on the couch to be interviewed. That was a brain bender.

BB: What’s next for Jonny Goldstein?

JG:

Mmmm….I don’t know. I learned a lot at my last job where I was the producer of new media for a nonprofit, but about a month ago, I stepped down from that position, mostly because I don’t want to work 40+ hours a week for somebody else. I want to have time to spend on the show and other projects. So I’m doing some freelance work right now, but I’d love to land a steady 20-25 hour a week gig helping people communicate more effectively with audio, video, blogging, and/or other social media.

I am certainly open to doing PR stuff, partly because I find it interesting how all the parts of the media sphere fit together, and partly because I want to learn how to promote my own projects better.

I have some ideas for combining marketing, creative expression, and emerging communications technology that I’d like to explore. I’m getting the urge to get back into doing more visual art. And I want to keep working on the show, just making it better. I’m also interested in figuring out how to use contests to drive interest and engagement in the show and for other brands.

We just got our first couple of sponsors for a contest we ran, which was very exciting. So that’s where I’m at right now. It’s been a long and winding journey, but a good one. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next.

And, as an added bonus, a quick video interview with Jonny in response to SMC-DC last week with Chris Dorobek:

The Buzz Bin decided to turn the tables on interviewer-extraordinare Jonny Goldstein. Jonny is a well-known local social media expert, internet media personality, communicator, and teaching artist. He is also the executive producer and host of Jonny’s Par-tay with technical director Scott Stead.

Jonny’s Par-tay features people who do interesting work at the intersection of politics, culture, commerce, and social media. Jonny is passionate about cultivating creative communities on and offline. He currently combines community creativity and online contests to build brand image and awareness.

Here is one of Jonny’s award-winning winning haikus: cherry bloom pollen/gametes lewd spewn DNA/coats, clogs, your nostrils.

(Picture Credit: Carl Weaver)

BB: How did you come up with the idea for Jonny’s Par-tay?

JG:

Short answer:
I do the show, because technology has gotten to the point where I can. Why the name "Jonny’s Par-tay"? I liked the metaphor of a party. It’s not just a talk show; it’s a whole group of people who get together. There may be a guest of honor, and a host, but that doesn’t mean that there can’t be all kinds of interesting conversation between everyone, including the audience.

I am a curious person who likes to ask people questions. I also like to express myself in a multidisciplinary fashion (live performance, writing, collage, drawing, music, etc.). I’m always looking for ways to tie these interests together. I also am fascinated by the way communication technology is evolving. A talk show on the internet seemed like a natural way to let me indulge all these interests.

Long answer:
I’ve enjoyed interviewing people for as long as I could remember. I think having someone ask you questions about yourself is very fulfilling–face it, folks pay huge sums of money per hour to have people ask them questions about themselves. The recipients of that money are called "therapists."

I have actually done some of that therapeutic interviewing in the past as a crisis hotline volunteer. The basic protocol would be to get callers to open up and talk about what was on their mind. And it worked. I had people who were ready to kill themselves at the beginning of a phone call, who by the end had made a plan with me to keep living. Just because someone was interested in their story. It’s a basic human desire to be understood and listened to. I like helping people fulfill that desire.

I also enjoy learning from people. I believe that everyone is interesting. We’re all so complex and have so many layers of experience. I think that’s what makes me a good interviewer. People sense that I actually care about what they have to say, so they open up.

Specifically with Jonny’s Par-tay, it’s the 4th talk show I have done in the last several years. I did a web radio show while at NYU called "Jonathan’s Throbbing Boil." That was from the lobby of the Interactive Telecommunications Program where I was getting my master’s degree. I would just grab random passersby and starting interviewing them. It became a mini-hit among my fellow students.

Then I did a show on Manhattan cable access called "Off, Off, Off, Vegas," which evolved from a talk show I did at Burning Man in the Nevada desert. It was fun having the Manhattan cable audience as viewers. I had a phone line people could call in on. You’d get stoned kids from Harlem calling in, shut-ins from the Upper East Side. It was pretty awesome.

The third show was called Reinventing Television. I had just moved to DC to join my wife who is studying at the University of Maryland. This great guy in Seattle, Peter Raulerson, had the idea of using a live web video proprietary service to do webinars teaching photography and digital video.

The classes did not take off, and Peter said, hey, why don’t we try to do an online talk show? So he paid me to produce a weekly talk show about the rapidly changing world of video communications. We had guests like Zadi Diaz from EPIC-FU and Daniel McVicar who is a star in "The Bold and the Beautiful" and who also does great DIY online video stuff. After the show had run a few months, we were having a great time, but it was clear that we weren’t going to be able to monetize it any sustainable way anytime soon, so we wrapped it up.

So I got a job here in DC helping a nonprofit with their new media communications efforts. At the same time, all these free live streaming video services were springing up like Operator11 and Ustream. So I started playing around with them–streaming from my apartment and chatting with people, riffing off the top of my head.
Then midsummer last year, I was like, hmmm…I could do a talk show with one of these free services. There was a service called Operator11 that I liked. It worked kind of like CB radio—you would toss the video back and forth. So I started doing Jonny’s Par-tay.

I am interested in the social media world. I have blogged since 2003 and I was immersed in the early videoblogging movement, so naturally, the first guests I had came from that world. Also, I needed people who were at least somewhat comfortable with computers–Social media people, online video people, and such folks, were going to have some comfort level with getting the needed tech stuff to work well enough for them to be able to participate in the show. It made sense for that subset of people to be guests just because they would be able to jump the necessary tech hurdles.

About six months into doing the show, this guy Scott Stead, approached me and said he’d be interested in helping me with the show. He’s an engineer at CNN by day. He’s also an extremely, funny, expressive, talented guy who was aching for some kind of creative outlet. So he started running the tech during the show and then stepped up to help with some of the production and promotion. He also started chiming in live during the show.

It’s been great having someone to collaborate with. Scott has become a real friend too, which is, as they say in the marketing world, a special value added bonus.

BB: What has been your most popular interview to date? Why?

JG: I’d say it was Rana Sobhany. I think her segment was popular for four major reasons: three great, and one kind of not-so-great.

1. The topic was interesting and useful. She was there to help people how to figure out their brand and to get that brand out there. That is very beneficial for people, so naturally, it was a popular segment.
2. Rana participates actively in social media and knows tons of people. She got the word out effectively and people responded by watching the show.
3. Rana is a very lively, engaging, and knowledgeable guest
4. Here’s the icky part. We were using blogTV at the time. blogTV has a lot of users who are there to just to ogle women. We were featured on the front page of blogTV and a my guess is bunch of those folks came by to ogle. Not that we were doing anything very ogle-worthy, but still, having an attractive woman on blogTV attracts a bunch of these knuckle draggers. We’ve since switched to mogulus.com, which seems to have less of that crowd. Putting that to the side, Rana is a fabulous guest and we look forward to getting her back on.

BB: Tell us more about the Haiku project with Utterz. What inspired it?

JG: I am always looking for ways to combine things in new ways. In this case it was poetry, community, and mobile phone multimedia web publishing.

I grew up around poetry. My Mom is a published poet, and I have dabbled in poetry from time to time. Back in January, I was feeling an itch to start exercising the poetic part of my brain. I had also started using Utterz, which is a service that easily lets you record audio from your phone to the web. I have this kind of art teacher part of me that likes to encourage other people to create expressive work and share it.

So the idea came to me that I would do a haiku a day during the month of February and see if I could get other people to also write original haikus and record them using Utterz. It turned out great. People from all over North America submitted poems, some of them surprisingly evocative. I particularly loved Shashi Bellamkonda’s poem about Valentine’s Day, and Julia Roy’s poem about a guy who had badmouthed her.

A random outcome of the project is that I was discovered by a reporter for the DC City Paper who recruited me for their first annual haiku contest, which I ended up winning. Maybe I should go hit the pro haiku circuit.

BB: Where do you see technology for Web 2.0 and social media types headed? Audio, video, both?

JG: It’s going to keep getting easier and easier to record and share audio, video, and text with your "friends." Different people will have their different preferences and aptitudes. Some people will want to stick to print. They just aren’t into putting themselves out there via spoken or video communication. Some people have a hard time writing but are great at spoken or visual communication. Some people are comfortable with all three. But it will all get easier.

I think anyone who really wants to stretch her thinking about communications should read The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil. He projects what life might be like if information technology keeps exponentially improving. Whether you buy his premise that we are going to create fully intelligent, spiritual, creative, machines or not, if you read the book, I think you will be psychologically prepared for how much things might change in the next 20 years. We’re just at the beginning.

…to be continued…

Blogs are only as successful as the people who write, read, and comment on them. So, if you want your personal or corporate blog to be a success, then it only makes sense for you to take the time to read and comment on other people’s blogs.

Participating in the community, sharing insights, experiences, and expertise are all what makes social media an energetic and innovative tool for communicating. Commenting on blogs gives people the sense that you are passionate and knowledgeable about a topic, interested in reaching beyond promoting yourself and your brand/product/company, and genuinely interested in what they have to say. It also says that you are open to criticism and conversation.

One of the problems with a strong commenting campaign is that many people don’t have the time to commit to reading and engaging with relevant blogs. It’s important (and urgent) for bloggers to make the time to both respond to comments on their own blog and also leave new comments on others’ blogs.

Challenge yourself to one or two targeted comments a day, aim for at least five per week. Mix up the blogs you’re reading, see what other people are linking to, and make sure you’re adding something valuable to the conversation. Eventually, you’ll find blogs that you really relate to and ones where you get to really know the author. Those blogs make it even easier to contribute a comment to.

Chris Brogan demonstrates the power of comments in driving content for a blog post. Consider that BusinessWeek recently crowdsourced responses in the comments section on how businesses are using Twitter.

Comments are power. Commenting is easy, and the ROI is incomparable.

When CNN broadcasted promotion of last week’s Bloggers Unite for Human Rights movement, my initial reaction was Viva la revolution!

It was May 15th, 2008, the very day that Amnesty International was calling for all bloggers everywhere to simultaneously cover a human rights issue to educate the masses. No time to participate myself, Twitter was a helpful fall back. Dozens of others tweeted and blogged about human rights on May 15th, demonstrating their support of the initiative.

We’ve seen campaigns like this before, and sadly, watched them fall silent shortly after the main event. The unsustained momentum leaves behind a disenchanting question: What was the point of all that?

• Exhibit A - October 15, 2007. More than 20,600 blogs covered environmental topics as part of Blog Action Day. Twenty. Thousand. Blogs! 19 of which were on Technorati’s Top 100. Mainstream media picked up the story. It was a tremendous accomplishment, getting so many people - “influencers” - to talk about the same thing at the same time.

  After contributing a post to Blog Action Day last October, I found myself defending the campaign to my boss (who at that time was Alison Byrne Fields). Alison argued that it was a waste of time.

  In effect, she forewarned, “People are already aware of problems associated with climate change, so unless the point is action, then I’m not interested in this load of crap. If bloggers want to save Earth they should stop flying.” “But education is key,” I maintained. “This blogger campaign is meant to educate.”But we’re almost in the bottom half of 2008, and there is no sign of Blog Action Day Part II. What was the purpose of all that hype?

• Exhibit B - One week ago: May 10, 2008. Pangea Day. Backed by Chris Andersen and the TED Conference, Pangea Day rallied filmmakers to participate in a 4-hour global screening that took place at more than 1,000 locations simultaneously. A “synchronized film festival to . . . foster understanding and peace.” 2,500 films were submitted; 12 were chosen for the screening. A quick Google Blog search produces nearly 8,000 blog posts on the event.

  Newsweek’s Brian Bailker honed in on the weak spot of this type of campaign: ” . . . the type of person who would tune in to watch the Pangea Day pageantry is probably the least likely to be going around killing anyone in their spare time.” Oh. Right. What happens now that Pangea Day is over?

The Value is Self-Education.

The true impact of these campaigns is self-serving. All participants (hopefully) learn something about the issues they cover. In the end, that adds up to more potential for commitment. Awareness is the first step, whether you’re trying to spring someone from prison, get Gary Vaynerchuck’s book ranked #1 on Amazon.com or help an independent musician top iTunes charts.

But We can do More than Bum Rush the Charts.

Why corral bloggers (or filmmakers) if there’s no follow through? After you cross “raise awareness” off the list, shouldn’t you move on to the next step? The goal is action, advocacy, conversion. Especially when nonprofits are seeing a rise in demand, but decline in resources.

Richard Becker of Copywrite, Ink. helped coordinate Bloggers Unite for Human Rights. He wants to ensure that the campaign “is not just a flash in the pan.” Richard says, “It’s something we could all think about more often.” We need to move beyond thinking.

Who doesn’t want Amnesty International to successfully thwart the inhumanity in China, Darfur and Guantanamo Bay? When is the next Bloggers Unite event? What is needed to make an even bigger impact? Please hurry and tell us what our step is: update the homepage, send emails. A campaign for time, money, in-kind donations? Let’s give the revolution feet before inertia sets in, again.

Images: “Shannon” by kellykashcrafts and “It’s Raining Lucidity” by CoolPhotos.

Laurence Borel of Blog Till you Drop! discusses how the mobile version of the social networking site Aka Aki has been deemed the ‘ultimate Facebook on the go.’ Piloted in Berlin, the new system uses ‘mobile phone Bluetooth technology to alert people to other users logged on nearby.’ The users are able to view profiles, reveal whether a stranger is a friend of a friend, and other information (like pictures) on the cell phone screen.

Max Kalehoff warns marketers of blogging simply for the SEO on AttentionMax. According to Max, “SEO should be a positive byproduct of a company’s proactive and authentic participation in community. Social media should complement SEO strategies, but SEO should always be subservient to higher goals of connecting and interacting. When intentions or priorities stray, you risk cheapening or damaging brand reputation.” He also mentions two key questions regarding SEO and social media, “What is the intention and message of your behavior, really? And would your customers and stakeholders like you better because of it?”

The Leading Edge’s Sally Falkow reminds fellow bloggers about the social media conference, Executing Social Media, in Pasadena, this Tuesday, May 21 through Wednesday, May 22. Similar to the anticipated Social Media Club’s Blog Potomac, Executing Social Media will highlight over 15 PR, marketing and social media personalities such as Brian Solis, Chris Heuer, Phil Gomes, Jeremy Pepper and even Sally Falkow herself.

Marketing Shift reports that the internet may not be the best place for retailers to sell their products. According to a study by the Pew Internet and American Life project the results show one of two things, “either retailers haven’t yet cracked the code for reaching their customers or people are using research resources available to them to target their purchasing.” Some of the findings include that ‘consumers will price shop online, but purchase at brick-and-mortar stores and that shoppers use the internet to research what they have found or experienced in other places (radio, television, movies, print).’

Three little words.

They can save embarrassing moments, allay reporters’ suspicions, build trust with customers, and allow for forward progress? But can most PR people actually say, “I don’t know?” Or does such humility fly in the face of command and control centric PR (image by terren in Virginia)?

Most PR pros seems so concerned with looking good that they fudge the facts just to have an answer. No wonder this industry has such a bad reputation (Lest this article seem like a complete slam, social media has introduced me to many brilliant practitioners who have fantastic, honest and open approaches to PR).

Ironic isn’t it? A business about relationships that’s so concerned about saving face it can’t say, “I don’t know.” Hard to make a relationship work when you get busted.

That’s why we coach clients to tell the truth with the media. It doesn’t require acting like a tongue-chewing babbling idiot. The worst thing that can happen in an interview situation is getting caught in a lie. In media training, we encourage clients to say, “I’m sorry, I don’t have that information readily available, can I get back to you when our interview is over?” I’ve never seen a reporter say no.

This means more to a reporter than a bunch of BS that can come back and hurt their article, not to mention your reputation. In fact, this can make for a better source if the spokesperson or PR rep follows up promptly.

One of the reasons why social media speaks to me is its forced humility. Good social media revolves around this ethos. Now Is Gone discussed this as one of its seven principles. Why is saying I don’t know so important? Again, conversations trade on your word. Part of sharing experiences and collaborating requires honest bartering. It requires relating as openly as possible.

At the office? Over the years, I have worked with employers, employees, consultants and vendors. When someone says to me, “I don’t know,” it garners my respect. I may not be happy about the status of a situation, but such people allow me to work with them towards a common goal. Of course, those concerned with saving face are usually found out anyway…. and rarely is another transaction pursued.

Telling the truth means you don’t have to remember what you said. Telling the truth forces people to relate with you exactly as you are. Telling the truth provides the cornerstone for every good relationship.

Three little words. It’s amazing how far humility can take you. It can even make for better public relations.

An aftershock of a Trapani incident tends to be a wave of best practices posts (this great one by Jennifer Mattern/Darren Rowse came before Trapani). In reality, bloggers are people, and because each person has unique aspects to them and no blogger has to adhere to any journalistic code, blogger relations really comes down to individual relationships. As a result, many conversations deal with basic principles of listening and not overselling, oops, over-pitching (image by nickstone333).

Rather than rehash old content here, I thought it’d be fun to share some unorthodox ways to build relationships with bloggers. When you have a relationship, said acquintance (note word choice) is likely to listen to your pitch. All of these tactics require time investments so if you are looking for instant hits, go buy a list and spam some bloggers :P

Before I begin, these tactics are not for everyone. In fact, one I wouldn’t even recommend to my staff. But I’ve found they work, repetitively. So in homage to Todd Defren, I classified these by Jedi skill set.

Blog Crush: Use your magic middle blog to get targeted blogger to pay attention to you… How? Crosslink. Frequently! But your crosslinks must be relevant and meaningful to the person with whom you want to develop a relationship. Also be sure to comment on their blog, too. Skill level: Jedi Knight.

Interviews: This is a no brainer. Most bloggers want to be read, they want to be recognized, and they need visibility. Use your blog to help them. Further it recognizes that you have respect for others’ thought leadership, making your blog a larger community vehicle. The Buzz Bin features at least one interview every week, and this tactic really introduced the blog beyond the DC region. Skill level: Padawan.

The Challenge: Most bloggers have strong opinions, some of which you likely believe are incorrect. Call them out. That’s right. Call them out, challenge them. Publicly, perhaps in their blog comments, a social network, or even your blog. Make sure you have factual information to back your point, and don’t cave in.

It’s important that your views are sincere, that the tough conversation is a genuine one that you care enough to speak out on. To do so faithfully is in line with the force, but to make hay for the sake of generating attention borders on astroturf. Be careful young Jedi, the Sith are often attracted to the dark side of the force by its power. We don’t need any more uncouth PR people.

In your second or third discussion point, make sure to be deferential and pay proper respect to the blogger. Afterall, while you disagree, you also want to build a relationship here. The blogger will remember you engaged and did not slime him him/her with shameless PR shmooze. If you use strong relationship skills afterwards, you can use this challenge as the point where the blogger begins listening to you.

This is not a recommended tactic as it requires great skill, can corrupt you, and you must not be afraid to lose. Skill Level: Jedi Master/Sith Lord (Don’t be a slime bag).

Socialize: Use conversational social networks to begin talking and building a relationship with said blogger. In essence, use the medium to your advantage. An increasingly common tactic, but one that is not as easy as it looks. You actually need to have relationship building skills, not spamming skills. It’s about them, not you. Skill level: Jedi Knight.

Give: Ahhh yes. Give shamelessly, not just to your intended stakeholder, but to the general community that you want to play in. The fact of the matter is that social media is bigger than individuals and pitching. Building relationships often means being a good member of the community. With a good reputation through listening, comes a willingness to listen. In essence, you are paying karma forward.

Where to start? Here are ten tips with some more in the comment section. Make no doubt about it, this is the true way of the force. While easily recognizable, it’s hard to master. Skill Level: Jedi Master.

The launch of the ParentPower Index and Application (BETA), coincided with four interviews with prominent mommy bloggers conducted on the ParentPower blog. The best part of the project was getting to know many of the outstanding parents behind these blogs.  Here’s a sampling of each interview.  You of course can click through to see the specific interviews.

SAHM I AM & Mama’s Musings

The first interview was with parent blogger Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author of the book DIARY OF A MOTHER, and “SAHM I AM: TALES OF A STAY-AT-HOME MOM IN EUROPE”. She also is the publisher of the blog, Mama’s Musings.

A part from being an award-winning American writer and frequent commentator on NPR’s The Parent’s Journal with Bobbi Conner, Christine is one of a few American bloggers operating overseas in Germany - providing a fascinating perspective on life and parenting. Here’s a sample question:

GEOFF: How does Mama’s Musings continue the conversation?

CHRISTINE:I suppose you could look at it in terms of the grieving process.

My book, Diary of a Mother, was about denial through humor, then anger.

SAHM I Am is less desperate and transitions into acceptance.

Mama’s Musings is really a celebration of life with kids, what will make moms’ lives better, and a motley of personal stories tossed in the mix. It’s meant for people to feel better about themselves when they walk away, chuckling to themselves about the silly things that happen in life, and feeling grateful for what they do have.

PHAT Mommy

As part of our efforts at ParentPower to highlight parent bloggers, we interviewed Shannon Entin, homeschooling mother, blogger, web designer, and, as she puts it, “lover of all things internet.” Shannon is the author of PHAT Mommy, as well as a contributor to New Jersey Moms Blog, and a Web Guru at Blissfully Domestic.

In addition to being a talented woman and parent of 2 children, Shannon has been blogging since 2005, and also is very active in pushing RSS technology.

GEOFF: What do you hope your children will get out of social media?

SHANNON: Well, first I hope they will be smart about it. I personally love social media, but it can get out of hand. I don’t want my kids sharing too much. I plan to teach them how to use social media wisely — to use it to further their goals. What do I want them to get out of it? Education, friendship, support, and fun.

CityMama

I also had the pleasure of interviewing Stefania Pomponi Butler - professional writer and blog editor/producer of CityMama AND Kimchi Mamas. Known for her “keen eye for observation and her sharp wit”, Stefania, proud mother to “Bunny” and “Wallie” and wife to “J.”, writes about style, food, pop culture, and parenting with her own unique twist.

GEOFF: The parent blogosphere is extremely diverse. You recently wrote that you are a 1.5 generation Korean American. Does your cultural heritage provide a different view of the parent blogosphere?

STEFANIA: I am actually a 5th generation Korean-American and a 2nd generation Italian-American. My family on my Korean side arrived in Hawaii (an American territory back then) in 1898, and my father is Italian—he lives in Rome. This means that I don’t speak Korean but I do speak Italian! My cultural heritage provides a different view of the parent blogosphere only in that there are certain cultural practices particular to Asians or Italians that I can instantly relate to when I read other Korean-American and/or Italian parenting blogs. Other than that, the fact that I am Korean-Italian doesn’t change my view. I still have the same breastfeeding, diaper-changing, potty-training, preschool search, what do I make for dinner, how do I stick to my budget, “my kids are driving me nuts!” issues that most other parents have.

A Mommy  Story

We continued to learn more about why mom’s are passionate about blogging and the legacy they hope to leave their children, today we share insights from Christina of A Mommy Story. Christina, a “mom to Cordy the Amazon Warrior Princess and infant Mira, and devoted wife to an actor/writer,” offered her thoughts.

Here’s a snippet:

GEOFF: Tell us about the parent blogger scene in Ohio? Is it unique, or just another part of the country?

CHRISTINA: At first glance, it may not look like there are a lot of parent bloggers in Ohio. It took me a little while to find any, but since then I’ve met several, some of whom are now good friends of mine. I don’t know if the Ohio bloggers are a quieter group than most or if many of them just haven’t been discovered by the general population yet, but there are some excellent writers here in Ohio. I predict you’ll be seeing a lot more from several of them in the coming year.

Invites to Brightkite are flying like…kites. The location based social network has received a lot of buzz over the past weeks, and I was lucky enough to secure a beta invite to check it out.

Brightkite serves as a social network that allows users to share and find friends based on location updates. The stream of news (your location updates) is shared with your network. You can include photos and notes to go along with your location. For example, you can say "Starbucks" or "Office", or post a picture noting your location.

Integration with Twitter is key for Brightkite. Here you can see examples of recent updates from @technosailor and @corbett3000:

Cool new features include the ability to search for users, businesses, and even configure your location at varying degrees of accuracy. For example, you can choose to be notified when someone in your network is within 20-4000 meters of your current location.

Buzz Meter Ranking: 2 out of 4 Buzz Bees

Positive: It’s a useful tool to push the formation of real-world interactions from online relationships. It’s still in beta mode so we have a lot of opportunity to see the application evolve.

Negative: Some people may think it’s a little creepy to notify people where you are at any given moment. Privacy issues remain a high priority for mobile and location based services. Although, you can alter privacy settings to "trusted friends" or be vague about your exact location.

Other issues include the fact that it does NOT integrate with Verizon phones, and requires you to manually enter in your location every time instead of leveraging mobile location technology. Brightkite also requires you to join another social network as opposed to fully integrating.

Conclusion: Geo-social networks are important. Bright Kite steps up to the location sharing game, I just hope they are able to keep one step ahead in this crowded web app space.

Usually, we don’t post District of Corruption podcast episodes on the Buzz Bin as they tend to be more of a personal podcast for Geoff. However, this episode was unusually relevant for Buzz Bin readers given all of the brouhaha that blew up across the blogosphere.

Technosailor’s Aaron Brazell started us off as Geoff was late (doh!). Then we had a very long civil discussion about the whole blogger relations issue. We called Gina Trapani Rita all show. So sorry, Gina!

Ground covered included:

• Basic background
• Some of the causes, including undo pressure
• Whether or not all bloggers really have the power to blacklist vs. the top tier
• Press releases - why bother emailing them?
• Better uses of our time, including social good
• Flat out building relationships

Presto Vivace’s Alice Marshall joined us for a good part of the conversation and added a lot of great colorful insights.

Download Episode 19 - MP3.