NBN and Irish music

Much has been written about the various panels and speakers; for reports check the Israeli bloggers on my sidebar.

Zavi Apfelbaum of the Israeli foreign ministry mentioned Ireland as a country that had recently invested in a “brand.” The Orthodox wedding I attended last week featured Irish music and most everyone (except me of course) knew how to dance to it. Coincidence?

What I have been thinking about since the conference is the relationship between Israeli and non-Israeli bloggers. Those of us who live here can present an insider’s perspective on Israeli life. Whether we promote aliyah, defend Israel’s policies or discuss our day-to-day lives, we know that because of our language and background our main audience will always be American (until NBN becomes even more successful, or mashiach comes, or both). We cater to that audience, or at the very least keep it in mind. Much of our feedback is from the Americans. So I enjoyed hanging out with Israeli bloggers for a while. We tend to forget how much we have in common.

For next year, I suggest small groups and perhaps one keynote address. This will allow bloggers to choose topics that interest them and give everyone a chance to talk. And we all know bloggers like to talk. Sitting in the back I became a passive spectator — and I use the word spectator loosely; you had a better view from the webcast. But I did hear every creak of that annoying door.

Comments

  1. When mashiach comes we’ll have the biggest Jblogger conference of all. After all, we’ll all be there. And which of us won’t have post our reaction?

  2. I like Juggling’s comment. But just in case we have to have another conference like this year’s, I with you about the smaller groups. Also more meeting and greeting time.
    (I love Irish music and it is lots of fun to dance to.)

  3. Thank you again for reaching out to me and my relatives when I was in Israel earlier this month. I’m so sorry that I didn’t know about the conference or I would have worked to extend my stay. Of course, now I can try to plan around it! đŸ™‚
    Speaking of which, is there any site or email you can recommend that would help me stay up on news of the next gathering?
    Have a great week and again, thank you.

  4. mother in israel says

    The American bloggers were there to publicize NBN among their large readership. And his panel was about increasing readership–nothing to do with Israel.

  5. mother in israel says

    Jill, I don’t know.

  6. I really agree with this, which is why I was confused about why Gil was a panel speaker. His blog is a halacha blog which touches tangentially on Israel. I never thought of him as an “Israel blog”.
    The whole thing reminded me of when I discovered blogs when I worked for the sochnut a few years ago. When I showed them to my boss, she was so excited and her response was “let’s do something with them”. I think NBN had the same response, but I don’t think the planners really spent enough time with them to understand how they work and what they’re about to effectively plan a conference.

  7. AAAAAAAAAAUGH!!! I had almost removed the memory of the squeaky door from my mind. Almost.

  8. mother in israel says

    Abbi, you’re right, but having American bloggers panel about increasing readership doesn’t contradict that title.

  9. I remember some kind of tagline of the conference being “Taking Israel Blogging to the Next Level” but maybe I’m imagining that.

  10. so next year somebody please bring swome WD40!!!!! Ideally I would have loved if EVERYONE spoke – I kept imagining all the incredible minds that were in that room. But I guess alot of you already “know” each other through reading the blogs – I still haven’t got the answer that RivkA had asked – how do you all have the time, not just for blogging, but for reading each other?? and how do you not get lost as one blog refers yet to another and another and another????
    MII – I don’t know if I’ve thanked you sufficiently – it was the first time ever that I experienced protexcia!!!! and it was a pleasure hearing some of the panel group – I look forward to lots of reading WHEN I HAVE TIME!!!!!!

  11. I liked the panels, but I also would have liked some smaller groups, to meet more bloggers.

  12. With regard to audiences, I have to say that while I do have a lot of visitors from the US, I’ve also got lots of readers in Europe, Australia, etc. I don’t even think I could say that my main audience is American, based on my stats, and I definitely can’t say that I write with an American audience in mind, no matter what the topic.