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Bloggers Flock to Harvard for Writer's Convention

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (October 1, 2003) -- BloggerCon 2003 will convene on Saturday, October 4 and Sunday October 5 on the campus of Harvard Law School. It's one of the first conventions of people who use and study weblogs as a medium for journalism, business, research, medicine, scholarship, art, culture, education and politics. BloggerCon is hosted by Harvard's Berkman Center for the Internet & Society. Weblog pioneer and Berkman fellow Dave Winer will lead the two days of discussions. Faculty and students from universities worldwide are participating, as well as business, media and technology leaders. Harvard Business School and MIT's Sloan School of Management are providing support.

"BloggerCon brings together all who are interested in the development of weblogs as the 21st Century's first new communication medium," said Winer. "It seems every month the power of the individual voice becomes a more important part of cultural, scientific and political life, world wide. As centralized information flow characterized the 20th century, the new century emphasizes the power of the individual. Harvard is the perfect venue for a seminal blogger's convention because of its focus on the liberal arts and communication, and as the home of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who defined the American values of self-reliance and the power of the individual, where his bicentennial is celebrated this year. Blogging isn't just a technology now, it's a medium," he continued.

Weblogs have become a factor in the 2004 presidential campaign, a development that's reflected in the BloggerCon program. The first day includes a panel discussion among the chief bloggers of the major presidential campaigns, including Howard Dean, Bob Graham and the Democratic National Committee. This event is completely non-partisan, all current major party campaigns that have weblogs have been invited to participate.

Major print publications including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are represented in the program, providing balance to the enthusiasm that's certain to be offered by famous A-List bloggers. Presenters include: [Macro error: Can't call the script because the name "berkman" hasn't been defined.] (Listed in random order.)

BloggerCon will also represent a milestone in the integration of radio and weblogs, with public radio personality Christopher Lydon hosting a live webcast emanating from BloggerCon, and taping segments for programs to be broadcast in the future as well as being made available for free download through the Berkman weblog server in MP3 format. The entire program will be available under a Creative Commons license.

Day 1, Saturday October 4, has a single track. Sunday's program, which has five tracks, and includes free training in weblog writing, is open to all people who are interested in weblogs and is free of charge.

The BloggerCon weblog is at /. Contact Wendy Koslow the Berkman Center for the Internet & Society at 617-495-7547, bloggercon@cyber.law.harvard.edu.

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