Meet the Bloggers Salon

The salon got off to a rocky start, being that Pearl of the Orient was closed, but we ended up at Beachciff Tavern. Once we got all sorted out, we ordered drinks and got started–here’s a bit of the discussion that ensued.

Present: John Ettorre, Tim Ferris, Gloria Ferris, George Nemeth, Daniella Lindquist, McKala Everett and Tina Vance

- First off, we’ve determined that Daman, Jonathan and Hitch aren’t the same people and that I’m only married to one of them.

- Daniella opens with the Blogger’s Salon discussion, we find out that George is a woman of substance.

- George wants a blogging poncho, tangent number one.

- Interest from Betsey Merkel and Ed Morrison in the Meet the Bloggers salon.

- Tim is wondering if the salon can be seperate from Meet the Bloggers and have a salon that is outside of the Meet the Bloggers brand, apolitical.

- McKala wonders about using the Meet the Bloggers recordings in an educational setting for school civics.

- Salon only has ties to Meet the Bloggers through recordings and transcriptions, doesn’t have to be political, even though politics has been a major part of it, but it can be around different things. _-George_

- Salon is a think-tank to present new ideas. _-Tim_

- The salon is recorded and published _because_ not everyone can attend. It’s here to use technology to increase technology and participation in the civic discussions that we’re having.

- Questions: are we going to transcribe? Are we going to formalize the salon to the point that it’s recorded? Do we want them to be that orderly? Transcription can be difficult with multiple people participating in the conversation. If there’s a way to sort transcription out, that’s fine, but if there’s not, we don’t need to worry about it at this point. The major goal is participation in civic discussion.

- Salons will discuss someone’s achievement, it will be by invitation. Also we can get together for discussions on concepts and issues.

- Discussion about different possible interview subjects…. _Don’t want to talk about the interviewees in public before we have actually contacted them._

- Who embodies good? Who embodies the positive in Cleveland? Concentrate on the people that touch lives that don’t get recognition. Where are the people and things that _keep us here?_ Find the space for the right stories.

- Personality profiles and written intros before the actual salon, so that people can get to know the person before the salon and ask pertinent question. All our subjects will be from or have ties to the NEO area.

- Talking about podcasting and the salon. _Chris, we’ll be talking to you, and by we, I mean me_