Thanks Susan!

Kalyn Denny — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:32:42 -0500

Thanks Susan. I could not agree more with your appreciation for how the internet has made it easier for us to connect. (And what could be more fun than learning about new foods from all these bright, creative people all over the world? Not much if you ask me!)

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

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Susan Wolfe Bittle — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 20:03:24 -0500

Kalyn, every point you've made is spot on. Your WHB will be the second event I've hosted, and I completely agree with all your sound suggestions. Point # 1 is especially crucial in terms of event hosting success. Sure, everyone wants links; they are one of several barometers to chart connectivity and popularity in the blog world, but Technorati is notorious for not keeping your links accurately documented. These are the times where you have to take the high road and focus on the real reason you blog and enjoy events to begin with, the fundamental joy of sharing food and the gratitude that the internet can connect you to people, places and cuisines that you probably never would have known before the advent of the WWW.

Two Years of Weekend Herb Blogging, and Thoughts About Running a Blogging Event

Kalyn Denny — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 18:01:50 -0500

Flash back to October 8, 2005. I'm a relatively new food blogger with my first point-and-shoot digital camera, and Weekend Dog Blogging and Weekend Cat Blogging are popular events in the food blogging world. I don't have a dog or a cat, so I post a photo of a bucket of basil on my blog and call it Weekend Herb Blogging.

Truly it was a joke, but somehow other bloggers caught the vision. Indira joined in week two, by week three, Ilva was asking in the comments about posting herb recipes, and week four there was a complete recap including Farmgirl's gorgeous oregano. Gradually each week more and more people started writing about herbs, plants, vegetables, or flowers, and Weekend Herb Blogging was born. Fast forward to October 2007 and this week we're celebrating the two year anniversary of the food blogging event that started as a joke.

I've been more than a little surprised, and completely gratified at the way this event has lasted and people have developed loyalties to it. Truly some of my best blogging friends have turned out to be people I've met through herbs. I've loved being a part of it, but one thing that's completely clear to me is that the success has been due to the quality of the entries, added to the natural curiosity that people have about unusual herbs and vegetables, and certainly not anything I've done. I just lucked into bringing those two things together in a way that people seem to think is fun.

These days there are official rules for Weekend Herb Blogging, a permanent page where you can check Who's Hosting Weekend Herb Blogging, and archives of the WHB Recaps written by various hosts from all over the world. People sign up more than six months in advance to be host for a week, and interesting and unusual entries keep coming. Tomorrow I'll be posting Weekend Herb Blogging #104, a collection of links to recipes from 68 food bloggers, featuring vegetables combined with herbs for the Doubly Delicious celebration.

In the world of food blogging there are events galore, so many that we need a calendar to keep track of them. I don't know if other types of blogging genres have anything comparable, but for every type of cooking specialty, there's an event. Events are fun, they're a good way to get your blog out there, and they share information and build a feeling of community among food bloggers. I don't claim to be any kind of expert, but I have learned a few things in two years of running Weekend Herb Blogging, so here are some of my thoughts on running a blogging event.

1. It Can't Be About the Links
True, when you're organizing a blogging event people will be linking to you and you'll be linking to them, which is a good thing. But events that are mainly focused on getting links are not going to last. In my opinion, events which are most successful will be about sharing information, having fun, and building good will among the community more than anything else.

2. Use Good Manners as Host
When people are entering a blogging event, they deserve to be acknowledged and thanked promptly in the same way you would acknowledge and thank someone if they gave you a gift. As host and creator of Weekend Herb Blogging, I spend hours every week visiting the blogs of everyone who enters. (The entries are fascinating, so it's not much of a burden, but it can be time-consuming.) When I'm the host at my own blog, I try to respond as soon as someone sends me their entry, so there's no doubt I've received it.

3. Have Rules, But Be Flexible
As host of a blogging event, you should assume that people are giving you their best efforts. Bloggers can be notoriously bad at following directions, so you'll need a few rules about what qualifies as an entry, when the deadline is, and possibly linking protocol. For Weekend Herb Blogging, we went a long time without official rules, but the event ran a lot more smoothly after we added them. But try to be flexible, especially with people who are newish bloggers who honestly just don't know what to do.

4. If There's Worthwhile Content, Create a Record of the Event In Your Archives
You probably don't need to maintain an archives for events which are just about sharing photos or answering memes. But if the event contains content people might like to refer to, or things that might be found by Google, create some kind of organized area in the archives, linked from your main page, so that people can come back later and find something they saw earlier.

5. Remember, It's Not About You, It's About What Others Are Getting Out of It
I said it earlier, but I will repeat it again: the long term success of any blogging event is due to the quality of the entries more than anything one person does. I can't begin to tell you how much I've learned about herbs from the interesting entries people have sent to each week for Weekend Herb Blogging. I've heard from literally hundreds of people who've told me how much they look forward to reading the interesting posts each week. It's the value that people are getting from it that makes the event continue to be a success.

Blogher Food Editor Kalyn Denny also blogs at Kalyn's Kitchen.

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Thanks Susan!

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Two Years of Weekend Herb Blogging, and Thoughts About Running a Blogging Event