Watching from afar

I didn't get to attend... The many jobs I hold and a low travel budget kept me from attending the Block by Block Community News Summit. It was a chance for many small community news start-ups to meet together, get to know each other and talk about the future of journalism. I may not have attended in person, but technology allowed me to keep an eye on the event from afar. My favorite mode of watching was the #bxb2010 hashtag. I loved it so much I archived it with TweetBackup so I can look back and find the many teachable moments shared during the meeting in Chicago. I also kept track of it from a live feed and live blog through the Reynolds Journalism Institute (where I had a fellowship in 2008-09). The leader of the event, 2009-10 RJI fellow Michele McClellan, also kept a Block by Block blog. I enjoyed the discussion during the event, but I think I'm even more interested in the aftermath. Many of the attendees and journalism organizations are still talking about the meaningful weekend. Small journalism organizations don't often have a chance to see so many people who understand each other. Small journalism organizations don't often have a chance to discuss the challenges of funding and the future of funding whatever we consider the future of journalism.

Here is a list of some of the great blog posts and discussions I've followed today: Howard Owens: For -profit, non-profit and ??? Susan Mernit: Block by Block 2010: Time for the next steps Nonprofit Communicator Blog: Online news experts descend on Chicago Megan Garber (Nieman Journalism Lab): Block by Block: Once you've launched, what's Phase 2 of a community startup? Anne Galloway: Bit by bit, "Block by Block," small online news publishers find their way

I realize there are many more posts and talks in the days to come, I'll try to continue to add links here.