Here’s a look at the official schedule:
2009 Conference Registration: $50
Hotel Room 1 Night: $300 (depending on where you're staying)
Generous Donations from Attendees and Sponsors: $13,000
Somehow believing that you'll be sober and make it to breakfast by 7:45am on Saturday: priceless
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For more information about the 2009 MilBlog Conference (April 24-25 near Washington, D.C.), visit: http://conference.milblogging.com/
Read the entire story here and thank you to GreatAmericans.com for all their support.
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The 2009 Milblog conference website was recently updated.
Addition to the Agenda – Troy from Bouhammer.com and SOG Media will be hosting a screening of Scott Kesterson’s film At War. Troy has more information about the screening and fundraising for the film here. Also, he'll be personally hosting the screening and he'll be on-site to answer any questions. He's also hoping to have Scott call in live from Afghanistan at the very start of the screening to do an introduction of the movie.
Panels – If you’d like to see a breakdown of all the panels, go here.
Don’t forget to register – There are still some seats open, so if you need to register for the conference, go here.
Note, Seriously though, having the Milblog Conference back in the D.C. area is great. Because, let's face it, D.C. is the perfect venue for the military and media. Gambling aside, Vegas? Not so much.
Thankfully the only bet I'll be placing at this year's Conference is that I won't pass out before 8 PM at Friday night's festivities. Whaa? You've never drank so much that your spouse finds you eating catfood out of a dumpster? No? Pffftt.
Then you haven't lived my friend.
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Over the last several weeks I’ve been an avid user of Twitter - the popular micro blogging tool with millions of users. It’s actually a really freaking cool social networking tool. And in my opinion, it’s the best social networking tool available on the internet because of it’s ease-of-use, ability to reach a mass audience, and it’s simple design. Plus, you can tweet directly from a mobile device like a BlackBerry. My first mobile tweeting experience was several weeks ago at the National Press Club while attending the pre-screening of Brothers at War.
If you haven’t signed up yet, I recommend you give it a shot. Especially if you want to extend the reach of your military blog online. I’m nearing the 10,000 follower milestone *wiping away tears from face*, and not only have I been able to spread the word of Military Blogs to a whole new audience and have conversations with people from all over the world, but the amount of traffic back to my website has significantly increased. Even more interesting, there are hundreds of military folks who tweet from the frontline (for example @scott_kesterson) and from the homefront. In fact, many of those who tweet don’t even have an online blog, but just a micro blog.
If you’d like some tricks or tips for building a large following, I’ve got five words for you: Follow everyone who follows you. Some recommend against it, but it works for me. Sure, you might have some completely random followers by doing this, but in many cases some of my most unusual followers are those who re-tweet military news that I post.
Heck, I had a Twitter conversation the other day with a Mahogany Desk (can’t recall it’s name), but really good people...
Just saying, don't limit yourself if you're trying to build a following.
Anyway, drop me a line at milblogging@gmail.com or an @mention to my twitter account, especially if you have some good military blog news to share. Or if you have questions about Twitter. I’m always happy to share.
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(Haaretz) Serving in an elite combat unit makes moments of respite both brief and precious, yet Danny Brothers, an American immigrant, devotes most of his free time to his blog. In "Israeli by Day, American by Night," Brothers writes about throwing grenades and breathing in tear gas as part of his training, but also describes what it's like to celebrate holidays in the army or to miss a commander. Lengthy explanations about the brigade's inner workings take turns with tidbits about "memorable moments," such as the time a commander barked at a soldier: "Tuck in your shirt and straighten your uniform like an officer in the German army!"
Although Brothers, who immigrated at age 24 in September 2007, only had to do six months of compulsory service, he volunteered for a year and half so he could enter the Golani Brigade. He soon came to the conclusion that Anglo servicemen are much less grumpy than their native Israeli counterparts...
Read the entire story here.
Here’s a link to Danny’s military blog indexed in the Milblogging.com database.
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At 9:30am that morning names will be drawn at random for an opportunity to drive one of the armored vehicles. In order to be entered in the drawing you must RSVP to tanktour@nmaw.org and you MUST possess a valid driver’s license. Only those people who have RSVP’d in advance of the event will be eligible to win. You also have to be present when the drawing is held at 9:30am on Sunday April 26th. There will be a few opportunities for attendees to ride in these armored vehicles throughout the event, but only a handful of people will be able to drive them.
If you have any questions or want to RSVP please send an email to tanktour@nmaw.org
Those who already RSVP’d have been entered in the drawing, so there is no need to RSVP again.
Sweet, I have a valid driver’s license (even after 3 speeding tickets in the last six months) so I’m hoping to win the drawing. For the record, I got pulled over while driving a car, not a tank, so uh, I should be ok. Plus, getting a speeding ticket in a car is bush league. Pfft. I wanna get pulled over in a tank.
While I’m on the subject of speeding, I got pulled over one time while at a dead stop in traffic. *expired tags* When the officer asked me if I knew why he pulled me over, I responded: “Was I speeding, Officer?”
True story.
Learn more about the upcoming National Museum of Americans in Wartime here.
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For more information about the 2009 MilBlog Conference (April 24-25 near Washington, D.C.), visit: http://conference.milblogging.com/
At Great Americans, we're proud to share the stories of real-life American heroes that too often go ignored by today's mainstream media. To that end, we're pleased to highlight some of the likeminded bloggers who have demonstrated their support for our vision by recently posting Great Americans content for their audiences to enjoy.
Read the entire story here and check out some awesome videos at the same time.
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Fellow military blogger, freelance writer, and friend, CPT Lee Kelley is now published. His military blog Wordsmith at War has been featured everywhere since it’s beginnings in 2005, most notably in Time magazine. We spoke months ago about his upcoming book release, so I’ve been anticipating this for some time. And if his book “Fire in the Night” - a collection of creative essays – demonstrates the same exceptional storytelling abilities as his blog from Iraq, it’ll be well worth your time. I spoke with CPT Lee Kelley a few months back, when I was working with Andi to have him speak at the upcoming Milblog Conference on the “Beyond Milblogging” panel, but unfortunately he’s not able to attend in person – but word has it he’s got something planned for us at the Conference even in his absence.
Here’s more about the book:
“Already a freelance writer, Lee started a blog when he was sent to Iraq in 2005. His family and friends expected to read of his experiences, and a blog was the perfect medium. A hometown reporter visited his unit in Iraq, and Lee ended up on the front page of the Salt Lake Tribune. That's how it all began. Since then, he's been in the top 10 military blogs on milblogging.com for years, featured in TIME magazine, read some of his essays on radio shows, and even been on the local news in Salt Lake City, Utah. Through it all, readers have been very supportive of Lee's writing and he has received thousands of queries about when he might publish a book. Here are 53 of the most popular essays. They have been adapted from the blog, and writing that he's done in other forums, such as The New York Times and Doonesbury.com. All of the work in this book was either written while he was still in Iraq or as a direct result of his experiences there.”
On his website Wordsmith at War, he writes:
“To all of you who have supported me in so many ways since I was deployed in Iraq, and to all of you loyal readers who continue to follow my adventures as a single Dad and freelance writer, THANK YOU. Please stay tuned, because Wordsmith at War will have a new look and a totally re-energized approach soon ...”
Note, It’s nice to see more military bloggers going beyond just military blogging. Considering the success of CPT Lee Kelley’s blog, it’s no wonder he went down this path. I could’ve written a book about my deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq as an Infantryman, but I’m pretty sure you could get a box of rabbits and some crayons, and the rabbits could write a better book than me. The rabbits wouldn’t even have to be real. They could just be stuffed animals. Just saying...
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JP: What has been the most rewarding thing personally with blogging about your war experience?
Solomon: Finding out I had the capacity to construct a feasible outline of my recollections and then post them on my Blog. I did not know how good these postings were until reading them again after Feb.2nd of 2009. That was when I first noted the emotional values I had included in these postings.
JP: In past wars there was no internet.Was Operational Security a big deal during your wartime experience?
Solomon: The question about Operational Security was very persuasive to the new recruit. Every time he heard the expression while in Orientation referring to "The Articles of War" he was reminded of Security slacking by "death or such other punishment as a Court Martial may decide." This persisted until the Landings on France. Gradually decreasing as the Germans were in full flight and more worried about exposing their flank than where the attacking forces would strike next. Christmas of 44 the counter attack by enemy soldiers in Allied uniforms soon brought back to the most strident Security measures until May of 45.
Here are links to the previous questions he answered for an online interview:
More Q&A with with Normandy D-Day Veteran and Oldest Known Military Blogger, 86-Year Old Solomon Fein
Online Interview with Normandy D-Day Veteran and Oldest Known Military Blogger, 86-Year Old Solomon Fein
Check out his blog here.
Note, So yeah op sec + violation = death. And seriously, what better way to deter blogging than punishment by death? In all seriousness though, if I ever get deployed again, I’ll be blogging about unicorns. You know, jumping over rainbows. I wrote about unicorns and Care Bears on my last deployment, and guess what? I never got into trouble for violating op sec. Not once. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
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Tips for chronicling a deployment, @sgtdanger who runs the military blog www.sgtdanger.com kicks off his mobilization today. If you’d like to offer him some tips, he’s asking for advice on the best methods for chronicling a deployment. I personally recommend taking an HD camera and videotaping the entire experience, but hey that’s me. *sniffle* I’m still waiting on an Oscar.
New Marine Military Blog, Thanks to Robin who sent me a link to a new Marine military blog. She forgot the link in the first email she sent me, then followed it up by blaming her two teenage kids who are sucking the life force out of her. I can honestly say blaming it on my kids is not the first thing I'd think of, but then again, my little goblins are only 2 and 8.
Milblogging Discussion Boards, are getting spammed. To make matters worse, they’re not bots, but actual people going to the trouble of registering a live account, activating it by email, and more. I’ll be shutting down the discussion boards permanently in the next release of Milblogging. Thanks to Wendy and Sherri who alerted me to the spammers. And also, to my discussion board moderator. He turns 3 years old in a few weeks *less nap times*, so he should be on top of this problem soon.
Letters to Soldiers, is a wonderful organization you should be involved in if you have some free time. It’s a volunteer program that’s been around since 1999 sending letters, care packages and support to our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and a hospital in Kuwait. I’m all for this, and think letters are important, especially when they’re handwritten. Like I’ve said since 2004, “Do not send a typed written letter about your personal life to a soldier. Receiving a typed letter about your personal life is the lowest form of support known to a soldier.” Send a handwritten letter. Just saying.
Lunch w/Matt Daniels, last Friday I had an opportunity to have lunch with Matt Daniels the founder of www.GreatAmericans.com. Talk about an entrepreneur, Matt has a lot of energy and you can hear it in his voice when he talks about ordinary people, extraordinary deeds. He hopes with Great Americans to give kids idols like troops, firefighters, and law enforcement. Instead of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. I’d have to agree with him, except when it comes to the Olsen Twins. But I’m biased since I was basically raised watching Full House. That Joey, what a riot!
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The diary was written by the young soldier George Henry Scott Douglas, from Kelso, and follows his daring trip on his boat the Vampire.
He fell in love with the ship while serving with the 34th Regiment of Foot (The Border Regiment) on Corfu. He bought the boat, obtained leave from the army and set off on an exciting cruise with two of his friends.
The resulting journal is full of tales of pirates and thieves but also reveals fascinating little details about the life of a 20-year-old man in a very different age.
Read the entire story here.
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The Mudville Gazette appeared in a USA Today article. Here’s an excerpt:
“At Arlington National Cemetery a few minutes ago, President Obama helped lay a wreath for National Medal of Honor Day.
As the widely read "milblog" Mudville Gazette explains, this is "a day dedicated to honor our American heroes who have given much to our country." The blog has a collection of links to other posts about the day. It particularly recommends this essay at Stars and Stripes by retired Army Col. Robert Howard, a Medal of Honor winner...”
And Blackfive appeared in today’s POLITICO headlines:
“Rep. John P. Murtha knows something about taking enemy fire — from his two Purple Hearts in Vietnam to the recent salvos over his ties to lobbyists and defense contractors and the alleged exchange of earmarks for campaign contributions.
But he’s sustaining incoming of a different sort from Uncle Jimbo, aka James Hanson, a former special forces soldier-turned-military blogger who has the Pennsylvania congressman in his cross hairs. Hanson is laying down a barrage of virtual shells, demanding Murtha’s ouster and demonstrating the furor veterans groups and their websites are capable of generating online...”
It’s really great to see military bloggers appearing in the news more and more, especially when they’re the bulk of the story. Mudville and Blackfive have been around for a number of years and are two of the original blogs in the milblog community. They regularly write compelling content that draws the attention of pundits, the MSM, and thousands of loyal readers.
I’ve never been good at writing cutting edge content. So me, I like to keep it simple.
What’s great, is more and more military bloggers are taking their blogs to the next level beyond just a simple online diary, into widely read military news sources. If that’s your goal, keep at it. And if you’re planning to attend this year’s Milblog Conference, one of the panels will be discussing this very topic about taking your blog to the next level. It should be a great discussion.
On a side note, I’ve taken my Tweeting to the next level. In the past 3 weeks since I started actively using my Twitter account I have over 3,500 followers (*wink wink* I follow back). Twitter is a great way to get your message out to other audiences who might never know anything about the military, or even know what a milblog is.
And Twitter is fun and really doesn’t take much time. I spend the better part of 3 minutes out of my day tweeting about things I’m doing: like eating Hamburger Helper and other breaking news.
Uh oh, it’s almost my bedtime. Must go tweet...
Next tweet: *Time to slip into something more comfortable. My favorite cartoon pajamas I got for Xmas: Thunder,,Thunder...Thundercats , HO!!!!*
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Read the entire story here.
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Mike, who writes A Year In Afghanistan, wrote a brief tribute to his fellow Airman SSgt Timothy Bowles, Military Blogger & SGT Christopher Abeyta, SPC Robert Weinger and SPC Norman Cain, who were all killed last week by an IED in
Mike was also on the mission, and I'm sure he could use some words of support and encouragement.
Please visit Mike’s blog here.
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Sgt. Christopher P. Abeyta, 23, of Midlothian, Illinois, was killed last week while serving in Afghanistan. Sgt. Abeyta and three others who were with him, Sgt. Robert M. Weinger, Spc. Norman Cain III, and SSgt Timothy Bowles, were also killed when the vehicle they were riding in was struck by an IED.
Sgt. Abeyta ran a military blog from Afghanistan called The Chronicles of Butters! and according to a news story Sgt. Abeyta had kept a journal since he was 11-years old.
The SouthtownStar reports:
"Sgt. Abeyta had survived a year in Iraq and was on his second deployment in eastern Afghanistan, in the region that borders Pakistan, when the vehicle he was riding in hit an improvised explosive device set by the Taliban..."
The SouthtownStar story also shares his passion for writing:
"While deployed, he wrote entries in his ever-present journal, stories on two blogs and letters to his family. His mother held tightly Tuesday to one from November, which she read aloud on her back patio, demanding that his grandmother, Elvira Abeyta, and local veterans gathered around her know the man she raised.
"I know you don't enjoy the path I have chosen for myself but trust me it's so very rewarding," she read. "You know I know it bothers you that I am here. ... but what kind of person would I be, Ma, if I didn't try to make this better.
"OK?" she said at the end. "That's my son."
My prayers and thoughts go out to the family, friends of Sgt. Abeyta and all of America’s fallen and wounded. If you’d like to make donations, according to another SouthownStar story:
"The Abeyta family has requested donations be made to a fund for the family of Spc. Norman Cain III, 22, who died with Abeyta in the same explosion and left behind a wife and two children..."
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Writers have grappled with the issues of war in fact and fiction: Ian McEwan's Saturday ruminated on the pending war, and Rajiv Chandrasekaran's Imperial Life in the Emerald City vividly portrayed life in the Baghdad green zone.
The sensitive, angry poetry of the First World War has found a latter-day counterpart in the “milblog”, an entirely new literary genre: blogs written by soldiers in real time, an unfiltered and violent sort of poetry from the front line. The war has also produced more traditional forms of poetry, including Simon Armitage's deeply moving poems of soldiers returning to a changed society. Pop music has joined the chorus.
Read the entire story here.
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SGT Danger, a fellow Tweeter and Military Blogger, writes about why he's a Milblogger.
(SGT Danger) The strategic command of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has changed hands numerous times since 2001, through a dozen generals and their staffs. But the soldiers do the heavy lifting: the driving, the shooting, and the dying. For every general’s story told on NPR and Fox News Sunday, there are tens of thousands of soldiers on the ground whose stories are not told. I don’t know that the story of a bunch of Army truckers will end up being compelling, profound, or even very interesting. But I’ll be proud to tell our story anyway...
Read the entire story here. Follow SGT Danger on Twitter here.
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For more information about the 2009 MilBlog Conference, visit: http://conference.milblogging.com/
At Great Americans, we’re proud to share the stories of real-life American heroes that too often go ignored by today’s mainstream media. To that end, we’re pleased to highlight some of the likeminded bloggers who have demonstrated their support for our vision by recently posting Great Americans videos for their readers to enjoy.
Read the entire story here and while you're over there watch some videos of Great Americans.
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Basically it’s people saying how great the Army is, safety videos, and a scanty selection of soldier-generated content. In other words its no “kittens inspired by kittens”, the closest TroopTube answer to which is a bunch of hopelessly uninspiring videos of a golden Labrador called Bella.
Read the entire story here.
Bad Idea: TroopTube.
Good (No no, Great) Idea: GreatAmericans.com
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