ConvergeSouth, Be There...

While the act of writing an online journal is by nature solitary, I for one, do not blog in a vacuum. Instead, I join you from that pinnacle of push-button publishing: Greensboro, North Carolina. That's right, Greensboro. Don't ask me why, but this somewhat sleepy burg boasts a cyber-life that is both diverse and boisterous. Professors and politicos, columnists and cartoonists, techies and truck drivers - all slather their wit and wisdom across a local blogosphere that rivals even the stretchiest metroplex. Though only a peripheal member of this teeming scene, I knew enough to attend last year's inaugural ConvergeSouth conference - a gathering of thinkers, geeks and vagabonds hellbent on exploring the vast series of tubes that makes up our area's internets. As profoundly dorky as all that may sound, the whole weekend was a stone-cold jam.

Which is why I'm happy to plug the upcoming 2006 edition - a slightly scaled back summit that still promises to be a swift series of kicks to the cerebral cortex. Going down at NC A&T State University in mid-October, this gathering of laptop addicts will focus on Web use and the future of journalism - two subjects I could blather on about for hours on end. As a session leader last year, I did just that, addressing a room full of stern-faced journalism students on matters blogging and broadcasting. Having never been a stern-faced journalism student myself, I found I enjoyed the sensation and as always tried to leave a few news unit skidmarks up and down their cloistered halls of academia.

This year I'm not scheduled to take the floor, but I will play a small part in unveiling a mysterious figure, a blinding light, if you will. Even if you won't, ConvergeSouth 2006 will be well worth its free admission price. Where else can you hob-knob with the architects of a place they call Blogsboro and still look at yourself in the morning? See you there...