First DC Changebloggers Meetup

Some of DC’s leading changebloggers decided to celebrate Blog Action Day, October 15th, by hosting a meetup of like-minded locals. Organized by Alex Rampy, along with Qui Diaz and others, the occasion was taken as an opportunity to celebrate and discuss the use of new media to further social action. It was a great excuse to meet some of DC’s smartest social entrepreneurs as well.

In addition to the usual name tags, Alex provided chalk and construction paper for each attendee to write about their top cause — Poverty appeared to be the crowd favorite. While there, I had the opportunity to hear some feedback on Contribune, in addition to hearing about some other interesting projects. It is really an extrodionarily stimulating experience speaking with some of these people. Exchanging ideas with this crowd always leads me to new creative concepts, one of which has turned into a Knight Foundation application. Speaking of which, if you haven’t heard yet, there is still time to submit – $5 million for local news.

Paul Worsham took a number of photos I look forward to seeing (Paul has covered this event before). As the evening progressed, the chalk was increasingly used for more creative purposes, including a Contribune pronunciation guide authored by Qui.

While the event was a little unstructured, I enjoyed the chance to meet a number of really enthusiastic activists and look forward to more of these meetups in the future.

Additional Links

• Changeblogger Ning Network
• Changeblogger Wiki
• ChangeBlogging: Let the Meme Begin