Phil has a post that got me chuckling a little. It’s called Get global – literally and it bounces off b5’s VC funding that we announced earlier in the week and mentions the way we as a founders team of four (Jeremy, Duncan, Shai and myself) are yet to meet.
I reflect in comments what a bizarre journey it has been.
Telling your friends and family that you’re a full time blogger is a strange enough experience (you wouldn’t believe the looks I’ve received) but telling people that you just secured investment in a company that you started a year ago with people you’ve never met before leaves the ‘I’m a full time blogger’ remark for dead.
It’s got me thinking about the nature of blogging/new media and the way it opens up all kinds of connections with people you’d never have had reason to bump into otherwise. The connections can range from business partners, to those who leave comments on your blog (including those you wish wouldn’t leave comments on your blog) to those whose blogs you read etc. Some of them become daily connections and a few become close friends – most you’ll never meet.
So who would you love to meet from your experience of blogging?
Jeremy, Duncan, Shai and myself will hopefully meet in the next month or two for the first time (yet another surreal experience to add to the list). They’re obviously at the top of my list of people to meet from my blogging experience – but there are so many more that I’d love to sit down and have a beer (or a coffee) with.
If you could meet five or so bloggers in real life who would they be – and Why?
Leave a comment or write a post and let us know about it in comments below. It’ll be interesting to look over the lists that people come up with.
Excluding Jeremy, Duncan and Shai – here are the first five bloggers that came to mind for me (and the more I think about it the more I think I could come up with a list of 100 or so):
Andrew Jones – I’d like to buy Andrew (also known as the Tall Skinny Kiwi) a beer because it was him that got me into blogging as he was the first blog I ever read. He writes on Emerging Church, Spirituality, Culture etc (the topic of my own first blog) and he’s a daily read to this day. I admire him for his longevity in blogging and his creativity.
Aaron Brazell – Many of you will know of Aaron as he’s been a guest blogger here at ProBlogger off and on over the last year. Aaron is a guy that I speak with on a daily basis as he’s one of our core team at b5media. I’d like to meet him (and hopefully soon will) for a number of reasons. Firstly he’ll be fun to have a beer with, secondly I have to convince him that I’m not a complete tech idiot (it could take a few beers) and thirdly he’s show a real commitment to his work with us and me personally and I am coming to value him as a mate.
Brian Clark – Again – many of you will know Brian because I link to every second post that he writes. Brian is probably the blogger that I’ve learned the most off in the last 6-12 months. I appreciate both what he teaches on his blog but the way he does it. He embodies his message with his blogging style. Not only that he’s great for bouncing ideas around with and has given me some great advice in the last few months also.
Christina Jones – Ok – you’re all going to hit Christina’s link and wonder whether I’m a closet beauty product user – but it’s not the topic of her blog that makes me include her – it’s who she is. Christina is another b5 blogger/channel editor/project manager and is someone who has gone above and beyond the call. I admire her for many reasons but one of them is her ability to get things done. One of my many weaknesses is that I can be quite disorganized and impulsive – in this way CJ is my opposite. She’s also is compassionate, funny and passionate about the things she does.
Seth Godin – This is the person on my list who is least likely to know who I am (although we’ve exchanged a few emails from time to time and he’s been kind enough to link to this blog on occasion). I knew of Seth through his books before I had heard of blogging and admired his ability to put things that I ‘knew’ but didn’t ‘know’ into words so that I would ‘know’ them (that’s got to be one of the more confusing sentences I’ve ever written). I admire Seth’s communication skills, thinking and creativity and would just love to follow him around for a few days – just because.
Ok – so there are my five. They are largely people I’ve worked with or who I know reasonably well (with the exception of Seth) and are just the tip of the iceberg of bloggers I’d love to meet one day. I can think of 30 or so more even as I write this and know that when my head hits the pillow tonight I’ll think of many more.
But what bloggers would you love to meet in person?
