The Middle Tennessee Blogger and Podcaster's Group Meeting Recap

Today was the Middle Tennessee Blogger and Podcaster's Group Meeting.

I arrived at Espresso Joe's in Smyrna, TN at 1:05 PM. The meeting didn't start until 2 but I had to set up the podcasting equipment and was planning to use a new tool to record the show and wrote up my show notes. All this took more than the 55 minutes I allotted. As the members began to arrive, I was still downloading.

Big Orange Michael began recording while I downloaded and made test audio and played back. Then I created the new file and we began recording. At the end of the show, I saved the file but now it has no content, so I will have to figure it out. However, I recommend that you go out to WildVoice.com and have a look at their free podcasting software. You can mix and create sound effects while you record. We had some good stuff but I have my notes and am going to recap as best I can.

To begin with, we spoke about the special announcement. The special announcement is that the October Blogger and Podcaster's Meeting will be a little different in that we will be meeting as a panel of experts at Belmont University. We will be live podcasting, streaming directly to iTunes for this event. Asked to participate are: Amy D., Kathy T., Michael H., Gunner, Michael A., and Kathryn C. The invitation has been extended to Middle Tennessee Blogger and Podcaster Group Members. If you are a member and would like to participate, let me know. For those who have confirmed, I will need a bio and a image. I also ask for your permission to post on the MTBPG members page. Thanks to Paul Chenoweth of Chasing the Dragon's Tale, for kindly orchaestrating this. I look forward to the opportunity as do others of MTBPG.

Next, I made the announcement that Blonde Mom and Malicious were planning a blogger's Bunco game at Mothership BBQ in Nashville, TN on September 29th from 6:30 until 8:30 pm. for more information, visit Musings from Malicious.

Kathy T. got mention, again, in the Rutherford A.M. on page 10 of the September 13th issue. It was regarding the name of LaVergne Lake Elementary School. Lately, a lot of controversy has surrounded her blog. Go out and check it out at http://lavergne-tn.blogspot.com.

Discussion about the happenings of the LaVergne blog led to discussion about what makes a town a good town and what it was that some businesses were saying that was holding LaVergne back. Michael H. of Big Orange Michael mentioned that a business person he knows pointed to the fact that LaVergne doesn't have liqour by the drink and that high end restaurants weren't coming there because of it. I happen to agree that this is mostly true. It was shortly after Smyrna passed theirs that Logan's moved in.

Amy D. of Bad Bad Ivy and LaVergne, TN blog also threw out the idea that LaVergne needs better retail selections and not just auto stores. I'm going to back her up 100% on the idea of bringing IKEA into town. I'm a Smyrna advocate and don't really care which end it is on but I'm all set to spend some of my disposable income on IKEA products and believe that if Smyrna or LaVergne would build it, they would come. I believe they would come from all around. This is the kind of store that attracts young, affluent people and since Williamson County doesn't have one, I bet you they'd be willing to travel to LaVergne or Smyrna to shop at it. Either town, build it and then let's all, collectively, say, "Go Rutherford County, Go Rutherford County!" When I lived (briefly) in Denmark, IKEA was the cool store. It brings back some fond memories.

Then we began the discussion about what was pulling some of our communities down and it became apparent that we all have the best interests of our communities at heart so I think we all need to partner together to make our neighboring communities the best they can be and support our neighbors as they support us because we will always only be as good as our nearest neighbor. And if our nearest neighbor sucks, then, eventually so will we so if you are reading this post, take pride in your neighborhood. Help your neighbors out and reach out to other communities to help them as well.

Gunner of No Quarters and This is Smyrna, TN talked about the Smyrna Town Meetings he's been attending and some conversations he's had with the local government workers who are actually reading the Smyrna blog. Gunner says that the the city attorney, Michele Elliott, reads This is Smyrna, TN. Gunner does a great job of covering local politics and is a true citizen. Oh, and Michele, drop us a line sometimes.

We also talked about the new development, Lenox of Smyrna. I gotta tell you, I drool over this concept of the older style homes, sidewalks, shopping and greenspaces all within walking distance. I think this is the most awesome concept. I think the smaller shops in neighborhoods is an idea whose value has been once again realized. There are so many advantages to having shops close to home. Take a closer look at the planning here. This is fantastic, I think.

Michael H. talked about Mr. Roboto's charity event coming up. I suggested doing a Rutherford County Blogger's charity event so if you have ideas, let me know.

The topic of conversation then turned to Michael A. of Mashby. Hey, Michael, I aspire to be as geeky as you. If you haven't visited his blog, go on out there. He has created a podcast called Simply Digital and it is worth a listen. Michael is also a volunteer member of the Nashville Palm User's Group. Don't know what this is? Visit http://www.npug.org to find out more. They are giving away some cool stuff at the next meeting and I'm seriously thinking about attending.

I suggested that the blogger's get together and turn a camera on and do some improv and see what we come up with. Anyone interested, drop me a line. This is somewhat in the vein of Whose line is it anyway if you want to think of it that way but it can be something much greater.

Those who we missed:

Kathryn Coble who is liveblogging a yard sale
Malia
Christian Grantham
Kerry Woo
Chip

Also, This is Smyrna, TN may have a new contributing member. We were waiting to meet Amber M. who contacted us about contributing articles but, sadly, she was unable to make it. Contact us, Amber, and perhaps we can schedule something.

If I've missed something, please let me know.