Bloggers Visit CDC

On last Wednesday, we held a blogger event at the Columbia Democratic Club. Many thanks to my friends Bill Woodcock (aka Marshmallow Man) author of The 53, Steve Charing, author of Steve Charing: OUTspoken,  and Tom Coale , author of HocoRising. They all shared their reasons for blogging, and their unique views of county politics and activities.  Tom’s stated that the motivation for any blogger is to “fight apathy.” Bloggers can be unencumbered to express their views and opinions, and may even be more effective at the grassroots level than established columnists. (although I have a loooongggg way to go to be as good as Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post.

Bill’s blog tends to be funny as well as entertaining. He purposely makes it that way to reflect his perspective of Howard County (or as he refers to sometimes as HFC…..use your imagination folks). He described his blog as taking a Stephen Colbert approach and applying it to Howard County.  Bill is a former president of CDC as well as a former member of the Howard County Democratic Central Committee. But his column doesn’t necessarily reflect the Democratic Party line. Steve’s blog is primarily rooted in the LGBT community, and keeps the reader informed about life and activities in that community. He has recently started reviews of local theater. As he said he’s one of the most sought after critics in the country.  ( I think that was meant to be a joke….but knowing Steve….)Tom’s blog offers his perspective of Howard County as a member of the Columbia Association, as well as being a practicing lawyer. One of his most recent blog offers a very nice summation of the President’s State of the Union speech. His opinion…true…but it provoked thought. I joked with him that my blog helped  to convince him  to change political parties. He assured me that it was "true!" (NOT!!)

My opinion is that on a local level, blogging is becoming the wave of the future. As county sections become smaller and more irrelevant in large newspapers, bloggers are starting to fill that gap. (although PATCH is also helping to fill that gap) They are  very opinionated,  but bloggers help to provoke thought, and form opinion. My angle for blogging is primarily political, but blogging can cover almost anything. My son Nicholas has started a blog about his Peace Corps adventures in Cambodia. It’s pretty good, and pretty funny….I wonder where he gets that from?

I think that the CDC learned a lot about blogging on last Wednesday. Some even learned what a blog was. Hopefully it will inspire others to write. I know that it has inspired me to try to blog on a regular basis….at least weekly.  I am inspired to write about the sequestration next.  As soon as I filter out all the cuss words……I’ll write it. Maybe I should do a restaurant review instead.