Blogging @ SAJA

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I sat with an august group of bloggers last Friday at the SAJA convention in NYC. Jen Chung of Gothamist sat to my immediate left. Others who made the lineup were Prashant Kothari of Finding My Voice, Anil Dash of Six Apart, Mark Dery of NYU, Nimesh Patel of Mahoot Media (and Badmash fame).

While I conceived the panel on blogging for the convention, Mimi Hanaoka of InTheFray.com moderated it with great dexterity, pinching us from time to time to think about how blogging figures in the grassroots mobilization of society (if it does at all), as a part of the democratic process.

There are so many aspects of blogging that I am just discovering. Issues on privacy, advertising and the general lack of access for the majority of people to the kind of technology that makes blogging possible was discussed. It made for an interesting experience.

Rupa Datta, a recent Columbia University J-school grad in the audience sat upfront with her PC laptop propped up on her lap … blogging! The wi-fi signal at Lerner Hall made it possible for her to post her thoughts on her own blog as the panel on blogging unfolded.