Best Intentions—to Hell or Accomplishment?

A guest post by Batya

I understand that DovBear, Gil Student and others were finding the Jblogger Convention rather staid and boring. We Jews may be known for our arguments, but the truth is that we jbloggers are a mostly mellow bunch. And the programming, best described as serial pontifications, especially as it appeared on even the largest screen, must have looked like we were sedated after lobotomies.

But why did you guys take it out on me?

As soon as I had heard that there was to be a Jblogger Convention, I decided to utilize the opportunity to promote the jblog carnivals, especially my Kosher Cooking Carnival and the newly resurrected JPIX. I walked around the convention with signup sheets, trying to recruit hosts, and I wasn't shy about reminding Steve of webads that he had promised me "question time" at the mike. I used it to spout my spiel about the jblog carnivals, community (since most of the panelists had used the term), and that was it. I was surprised that Gil Student used his "right of reply" to put down as a very insulting idea that he could be in the same "community" as most of us jbloggers.

Then, post-convention, my husband sent me a quotation from DovBear, who's that?, who claimed that I had gotten up and self-promoted saying: "Read my blog."[*] Mistakenly, kav zchut, I had thought that maybe the recording wasn't clear, but later I checked and that wasn't the problem. I ended up discovering that DovBear and Gil had considered the convention boring and wanted to get some debate going, to shake things up. [**]So I was the fall guy.

Well, you can't have much debate when we had no right of reply. The panelists spoke to the microphone, not to each other. There were no discussions, except far from the microphone. If the convention was really the first, then next time there should be dynamic not static programming.

I'll end with a confession. I'm not a DovBear reader, not at all. I have a hyper-aversion to anything or anyone extremely popular. It's a residue of my parents' constant warning: "If everyone is jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you do it, too?"

But maybe all those hoards are right and I'm wrong. DovBear's a mensch for inviting me to send this to his blog.

Sincere Thanks,

Batya, Shiloh Musings, me-ander, The Eye of the Storm , yes, all three.

PS: Sorry, but I don't buy books.
[DB: Mine is less of a book, and more of monumental, life-altering tome.]

[*] I didn't mean for it to seem like I was quoting her verbatum. DovBear regrets the misunderstanding.
[**] I was not trying to "shake things up" I was just being my adorable self. DovBear regrets being his adorable self.