08.30.07
KATU Blogger Meetup
I went to the KATU Blogger Meet-up last night. I had a blast, actually. To tell the truth I wasn’t sure I wanted to go because I’ve had a lot of pre-conceived notions about News stations in general, and I also – like many of the bloggers I talked to – thought there must be some ulterior motive for the Blogger Meet… like, I dunno, world domination and pie.
I think I went expecting to discover some evil master plan, or causes mischief, as well as to meet some of the faces of people I know online, but have never met in person.
Cut to the KATU building at around 7pm whereupon, I discover – not only have I been being a big dork in my own stupid judgmental way, but the guys at the station are actually pretty cool. I went with Erisian who, as usual was a ball of fun on the fast track and made me relaxed enough that after a couple of chocolate dipped strawberries I loosened up and started chatting and once I gat started – holy blabbermouth, Batman! I didn’t shut up for almost two hours! Maybe part of the evil plan was blabbermouth truth serum in the strawberries…hmm.
As I was telling PortlandK2BossMan and Matt Davis (edibly-adorable) about the bliss quest and Ghosts of Seattle we were joined by SeattleSisterStationBossDude. Then PortlandK2BossMan mentioned that the basement of the KATU building gave people the creeps and some employees thought it might be haunted.
So I said, “I have my handy Neutron Particle Accelerator pack in the jeep. You want me to check it out?”
To which I was interrupted by Erisian so he could tell me that it’s actually called a “Proton Pack.”
I think Chadely and I’ve had this discussion in the last week.
Anywhoo, PortlandK2BossMan led the way and a group of us descend into the terrifying bowels of the KATU News station on Sandy Blvd. Despite what I was expecting – there were no manacled bodies of the bad show producers chained to the wall cringing at the crack of light into the dungeon. There were however, aisles of canisters and boxes of tape dating way back to the late 60’s. It was actually surprisingly clean and organized for a basement that people avoid. There were no electrical flickers or moldy scents, just the lingering oppression of a basement and the shuffling feet of our group on the cement. I took a bunch of pictures and told the PortlandK2BossMan that I thought it was safe to say the basement was secure. No ghosties. I hope I didn’t ladle on the sarcasm too heavy, because I was actually really having fun!
I can blog about that adventure some more, but the thing that really struck me is that the guys hosting the event were really cool. So I had to do a quick re-evaluation of why I was so surprised.
It came down to the preconceived idea that I had - whereupon I foolishly believed that News guys are crotchety old fuddy-duddies who were more interested in stories about tragedy than humanity.
Huh.
The three guys I talked to were not interns, or low on the totem and they were really freaking fun to chat with! PortlandK2BossMan stood with me by the water bottles and gabbed about the coolness of Portland and the integration of information sharing in the modern age of bloggers – and I realized that all the ideas I had about what I thought the News station was – would have to be revised. I would also have to let down my prejudices about the news community as a whole, and open myself to the concept that; Not all news guys are old and crotchety, and the shift in human awareness is calling for –nay, demanding more human interest stories and by meeting the local bloggers, KATU is taking steps to reach out to the community voices (that in and of itself is freaking awesome and worthy of note), and did I mention the chocolate covered strawberries?
Most bloggers on the invite list didn’t show, which didn’t surprise me because most of the web community, geeks and bloggers of Stumptown are probably at Burningman. Also, statistically, most bloggers are somewhat antisocial – hence the internet personas.
All in all it was a fabulous evening. I touched some Bliss. Got my social groove on for a bit and enjoyed the company of some local voices, news ninjas and the antics of Erisian. I got to explore the not-haunted basement of KATU, eat good snacks (uhm, strawberries dipped in chocolate, good times) and play in front of the green screen.
Erisian took some pics for me, one of which showed me giving the finger to Seattle. Not a great way to sell books to my Seattle based readers, I know. It’s the good old rivalry of Stumptown versus Watertown. No worries Seattle, if I had to pick a second city to live in besides Portland – you’d come in a close third.
So the moral of the story is local bloggers rock! KATU is taking a positive step toward information sharing with the peeps at ground level where most of the really good stuff happens. I should have pitched their ears off while I was standing face to face with them, but I was so caught up in the fun, I didn’t think about it. Maybe next time. And get this, I had so much fun that I actually, spontaneously hugged a man named Terry who had introduce me to the Bossguys. Me, Athena, just hugged someone cuz I was happy. Weird. I totally think the Strawberries were spiked with something….
