BlogCon - Charlotte - 2012

I'm at BlogConCLT in Charlotte, NC, today for training and networking.  This is a great conference with something for everyone, no matter how long they've been blogging.

One of the things that surprised me today is the number of bloggers who have not been to a BlogCon before.  Last year in Denver was my first time and I learned a lot about being a better blogger.  I know this will be very worthwhile with new friends and new contacts, along with a host of new blogs to read as we endeavor to provide an alternative to the MSM.

I won't be blogging all the topics like I've done with other conferences, but will definitely cover Katie Pavlich, author of Fast and Furious: Barack Obama's Bloodiest Scandal and the Shameless Cover-Up, who is our lunch speaker today.  There will be a memorial to Andrew Breitbart this afternoon and then a FreedomWorks candidate reception this evening.  Josh Mandel, running for Senate here in Ohio, is one of their endorsed candidates, though I do not know if he is able to attend tonight's reception.

Tomorrow's agenda includes an update on health care, Deneer Borelli, Stephen Moore, and a session on the Constitution and today's issues.

BlogCon is presented by the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity. 

Benjamin Franklin, a printer by trade and publisher of one the United States’ most prominent early newspapers, once said, “a newspaper in every house… [is] the principal support of virtue, morality, and civil liberty.” Today, Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity carries on that legacy, animated by the belief that voters need real information to make informed decisions about their government – and that the American public simply does not have enough.

Franklin Center was established in 2009 to answer this need – and already provides 10 percent of all daily reporting from state capitals nationwide. We support an in-house team of state-based reporters and act as a capacity-building service provider for organizations that sponsor investigative journalism.

With transparency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility as our watchwords, Franklin Center identifies, trains, and supports journalists working to detect and expose corruption and incompetence in government at the state and local levels. Our competitive advantage lies in our ability to train reporters, to produce investigative news content, and to hold government officials accountable.

They will be offering a Citizen Watchdog Training in Westerville, OH, on May 12th. 

In 2012, we launched our information activist training program, Citizen Watchdog. Recognizing that many of the greatest threats to our freedom and prosperity occur at the local level, where there are often no reporters or citizen observers to hold elected officials accountable, we will raise an army of citizen journalists, trained and equipped to serve as watchdogs in their local communities.

I will be one of the speakers at this training and will be covering Ohio Public Records Law.  I hope you'll join us!