Mario Sundar's Speakeasy

Well, the bloggers of the world/bay area did unite and it was one heckuva party! Barring my personal trials of trying to find a parking spot in the city (Grrr…), the Hotel Utah experience was awesome! Got to meet some really cool people who are making a difference by blogging. It just reminds me time and again that the “Long tail” concept is alive and kicking.

But, I digress…Back to more important stuff about the party. I got a chance to meet a friend instrumental in getting me started on this blogging voyage – Jeremiah(J), who was there, along with his camera and microphone. You can find a whole bunch of pictures that J & others posted on Flickr as well as some that he posted on his blog as well. He also did podcast interviews with a bunch of us which you can find on his website. (Update: Unfortunately, the podcast was “lost in translation”/tech issues). But if you’re in the mood for a podcast, just check out the latest podcast from J’s Podcast Roundtable.

I thought I’d make a quick list of the four bloggers/web 2.0’ers (I dont think that’s a word!) whom I met yesterday who left an impression with me —

(i) Shel Israel
(ii) Tracy Sheridan
(iii) Chris Salazar
(iv) Dr. Les Chu

(i) Shel Israel – Co-Author of Naked Conversations, blogger of RedCouch fame

It was great, finally, meeting somebody whose blog you’ve read for ages and then when you get to meet them, they are more fun than they sound on their blog! Shel’s that kind of a person. Full of energy, brimming with ideas and passionate about blogging. Its evangelists like him who propel blogging forward towards greater heights. I also got a chance to hear first-hand, some of the more interesting anecdotes on his journey as a blogger. I also got to hear about his upcoming world-tour where he hopes to meet bloggers from different countries or should I say continents while spreading the blogging message!

Shel, it was great meeting with you, keep blogging and keep evangelizing!

(ii) Tracy Sheridan – CEO, Waxxi

How many of you have heard of Waxxi (multi-user podcasting)- the new podcasting kid on the block, that makes podcasting look so old-school. I’m sure many of you have heard of them, by now, since Waxxi was recently profiled on Tech Crunch and that’s the web 2.0 equivalent of hitting it big time.

Tracy runs Waxxi and is responsible for coming up with some great ways to take podcasting to the next level. The most interesting tidbit I heard was the phenomenal pace of growth of Waxxi within overseas markets. It was also great hearing from her some of Waxxi’s future plans. Boy, are they gonna rock or what? All the best, Tracy. Keep up the great work! Check out Tracy’s blog here.

(iii) The Intern Blogger

How many interns do you know, who blog? Well, Chris Salazar does. When I went to business school, I did have a couple of jobs (part-time) and ran the student body association — but then I can’t imagine working full-time, going to school AND blogging. That’s dedication for you. Chris ran over to the event after attending Finals and that shows you his enthusiasm towards blogging. Check out his blog

(iv) The Chiro-blogger

Dr. Les Chu, A chiropracter who blogs! Yes, he does blog…and he does a good job at it. Currently, he’s reaching out to his peers from the practice and we got to discussing strategy as to what his long-term goals are. It’s amazing to see how practitioners from different professions see the benefits of blogging and are slowly but surely gravitating towards it. Check out Confessions of a Chiropractor – the blog.

If you want to check out a few other people you wouldn’t have expected to find blogging, just head over to Jeremiah’s post on that topic.

Well, there were others who attended last night’s event whom I didn’t get a chance to meet – Michael Arrington (TechCrunch), Tara Hunt (Pinko Marketing), Brian Oberkich, etc… I guess I’ll meet them next time around.

Hope to see some you bloggers/readers as well, the next time we meet!

Filed under: Miscellaneous