Sunday, November 28, 2004

The Wisconsin Bloggers' Network

I've thought on the topic of a Wisconsin network of bloggers this weekend, and what follows is little more than an electronic brain storm. This is not something that I see coming fully into fruition before the New Year.

Anyway, on to the thoughts. In my mind, any kind of network would really be seed for more refined networks/alliances/coalitions down the road. Because of that, I think a large, inclusive umbrella would be called for. Blogs could be of any political persuasion, and could have any mix of content, with one exception: Members would have to have an interest in and a proven record of talking about current events. Otherwise the door is wide open to anything from e-journals to sex blogs, and I would like to see there be some content theme in addition to the Wisconsin bond. I'd also propose that any potential members have a minimum of one month's worth of content. This is because the list will be much easier to maintain if it doesn't have to be culled regularly. By bringing Wisconsin bloggers together under a big umbrella, I think it will create the opportunity for smaller, tighter groups to form.

Now, to the issues I haven't yet come to a firm opinion on. First, should this just be a free standing set of links that everyone cut and copy code to include on their member sites, or should there be a new central blog for this? I'm not personally sure I can maintain two separate sites myself, at least not for the next 6 months or so. Next, this venture needs to have a nice collection of member sites before it even reaches its birth. If it starts with about 8 to 10 member sites, then it has a chance of growing a bit. If it starts with just 4 sites, this thing is going to be pretty flat. Finally, I need to bone up on some technical things before this goes anywhere, because I'm not exactly sure where to start, code wise.

Finally, here's where I would need help. I know of about 6 Wisconsin blogs, most of which are linked to on the left side of this page. Two of those sites are quite a bit bigger than the rest of us. I would need anyone who is familiar with other Wisconsin blogs to post them in the comment section, because we will need to do a little PR to bring members to the table, big and small. I'd also like to see a good brain storm list of names for this to be put in the comment section. I'd also like to see a little discussion on my thoughts in this post, because I am in no way committed to anything yet. Participation in the comment section will help determine whether I decide to put forth the effort to tie this whole thing together. I know 3 or 4 of you would be interested in joining a Wisconsin blog network, but I'm curious to see how much effort everyone really wants to put into this. I'll do the heavy lifting, but I want to make sure that there is going to be good, active participation from everyone.

Okay, that's where I am right now. I anxiously await the thoughts of others.

3 comments:

Administrator said...

I have had the same rough idea. I am a listener of the hugh hewitt show. He is a radio talk show host out of california but has a lot of friends in the minnesota area and their blogs are called "the northern alliance", which anyone familier with the Afganistan campaign, was the term for the northern contingent there. I am a conservative christian who can talk and blog on almost any subject. My blog has quite a variety of different sites that show my varied interests. I have been trying to put together a list of more center right blogs in the wisconsin area. I also list some of the more interesting left leaning blogs from wisconsin. I dont have a particular interest in having just anyone joining the list. I would like to see it limited to bloggers that blog at least once a week, have an interesting blog that reflects their interests and that gives people a chance to rant or post on anything from politics to daily life.

Lucas said...

Nods to Blog General. I agree with most of what he said. I'm interested in a blogging coalition from Wisconsin, especially one that would have a focus on thoughtful conservative politics. I would not be adverse to including liberal blogs in the Wisconsin round-up so long as they are labeled as such and not crude as some of I have run across tend to be.

BTW, my blog may be one to add to your list of Western Wisconsin bloggers.

Phoenix said...

I think it is a great idea, and I would be very interested in participating. I'm relatively new to blogging, but I have been at it since August. I post on current events and tend to be conservative. Count me in!

http://villainsvanquished.blogspot.com