Dang it. I forgot my notes from the WAA conference to support my entry tonight at work.
I looked around for a topic to blog upon, but ultimately decided to update the Theatre Blogs section of my site with new links. Enjoy!
As I passed by The Playgoer’s blog, I came across a quote of the day from a Terry Teachout entry two years ago. (Unfortunately, because of the change in Artsjournal.com blog structure, the link to Terry’s entry is incorrect.)
There was a part of Terry’s writing that made me ashamed of myself.
The difference, of course, is that arts bloggers can’t count on a cataclysmic event to stimulate interest in what we’re doing. We’ll have to publicize ourselves, not only by linking to one another (though that’s important) but also by reaching out to potential readers who don’t yet know what a blog is. That’s why I always include the www.terryteachout.com URL in the shirttails to the pieces I write for the print media. That’s why I remind you each morning to tell someone you know about this site. People who come here will go elsewhere, too.
For all my talk about the lack of arts bloggers out there implying the need for more voices and discussion—when I had the opportunity to mention my blog at the WAA conference last week I balked.
I either didn’t mention it or glossed it over when I was talking. I don’t know why. I can honestly say I often didn’t think many of the people who were talking were that much smarter than I was (if at all) and that I didn’t want them reading the dumb stuff on my blog. (Though granted, some of my stuff isn’t the quality I would like it to be.)
Even if what I write isn’t as good as I might want, the things I link to are worthwhile reading. The only reasons I can think I didn’t mention it as much as I should have is 1- In some cases I figured I might be writing about the people in the room. 2- In other cases I didn’t think the people I was talking with would get what the whole blogging thing was about.
In the second case, I should give people the opportunity to get it or not on their own and not decide for them. In the former case, I am pretty circumspect when it comes to including identifiable details about people with whom I disagree and I also often state my criticisms to people before they ever appear on my blog. People may not like that I discuss problems and challenges here, but they aren’t learning about where I stand from my blog.
Foolish people have less reason to worry that what they say and do will show up on my blog in identifiable form and more to worry about from other people in the room gossiping about what they did.
So I am resolving now to talk more about my blogging, the great stuff I am learning through that process and promoting other intelligent bloggers in the process.