Wriging Thread: How did Blog Action Day work for you?

How did Blog Action Day work for you?

silvertje — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 12:35:46

After some hesitation I blogged about climate neutral hosting. After I blogged about it I received feedback from the hosting company and they want to talk about making me an offer to change hosting companies. That was the good side of it. I yet have to receive the offer but still.
Other than that, it felt odd to blog about something that is not within my blog its focus so I don't think I would do it again.

How did Blog Action Day work for you?

Nuthatch — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 05:29:30

I did it for both my 9rules sites, which both have to do with the environment, in a way.

At Coffee & Conservation, I posted on the 5 top actions coffee drinkers can take to help the environment, and got a modest amount of traffic as a few unrelated sites linked to it.

At Bootstrap Analysis, I wrote about how birders can help have a say in areas that are developed by using the data they collect to contribute to public comment periods. I really liked the coffee post better, but someone Stumbled this post, and I got a huge amount of traffic.

Because I signed up at the Blog Action Day web site early on, I actually got more hits from their web site BEFORE the day, because my blogs were on their front page of participants.

How did Blog Action Day work for you?

pelf — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 15:04:54

I was away for a bestfriend's wedding but I scheduled a post on Blog Action Day.

But prior to that, I hosted a month-long blogging campaign on matters related to the environment @ The Giving Hands.

How did Blog Action Day work for you?

Karsh — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 09:08:58

RightOn, inadvertentgardner: thanks for your comments! We're hoping that the strong storms right now stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada will give us some rain, but it probably still won't be enough. I think come November, we'll start hearing more restrictions from the city government if we don't get more water soon.

Oh, and our governor's suing the Army Corps of Engineers. Don't know what to make of that just yet considering how far along we are in the drought stages, but I suppose every little bit helps.

How did Blog Action Day work for you?

inadvertentgardener — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 05:25:58

Cooper, your post was terrific. I'm glad others enjoyed it -- I definitely did.

Ozone42, I see your point, but in my case, it wasn't all that much of a stretch. It was sort of a stretch, but definitely not a huge one.

Palmettoart, I second that -- that post was definitely very well done.

RightOn, but the post PalmettoArt linked to was about someone taking action -- I thought that was great. And while I agree, it's better to be doing what needs to be done, I think it's important to also raise voices.

Karsh, coincidence or not, that was an important thing to write about. Scary stuff...raising awareness is so important.

Estarla, thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it. I tend to post pretty regularly on environmental stuff, just by virtue of what I write about, but I like your interest in "just enough" -- I'm always interested in reading more about people's perspective on that.

How did Blog Action Day work for you?

cooper — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 23:24:13

Good for you. I didn't notice as I have yet to put you on my reader because the Conservative version hasn't come out yet. ;)

It was no biggy for me I have been a member of "Save the Waves" for some time, so I didn't feel as though I was doing anything which strayed from what I do in real life.

How did Blog Action Day work for you?

RightOn — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:11:21

Nor does turning pink for October but that didn't seem to stop people.

Notice I'm not Pink...

I did it and received more negative feedback than good so I reversed it.

How did Blog Action Day work for you?

estarla — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:37:49

I thoroughly enjoyed your post, inadvertantgardener. :)

I wasn't even aware it was Blog Action Day, so then it follows I didn't post in celebration of it. Instead, I just continued my series of posts on my Europe trip a few weeks ago.

Arising from my own increasing interest in environmental issues, though, I plan to make more posts (okay, maybe just one or two, total) relevant to those causes. And it's not simply because it's a trendy thing to do, or because I adore Al Gore (I don't), etc. I've just had a conscientious interest in the concept of only consuming "just enough." For instance, I reserved a smartcar for their debut in the US in 2008. So that's one post. Who knows about other stuff? I'll see what I feel about blogging about...when the time comes.

How did Blog Action Day work for you?

cooper — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:32:48

A Blog post won't change much.
Nor does turning pink for October but that didn't seem to stop people.

How did Blog Action Day work for you?

RightOn — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:28:20

Dude I hear about that drought on the radio every morning... that ROYALLY sucks.

I even heard the Corps of Engineers has basically given Atlanta a big ol middle finger as far as assistance. 80 some odd days until you run dry, OUCH.

How did Blog Action Day work for you?

Karsh — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:26:35

I wrote a post, but Blog Action Day was on the same day I drafted a post idea about the drought down here in Atlanta. So it was more coincidence than anything.

How did Blog Action Day work for you?

RightOn — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:47:37

I'm with Ozone... a post on my blog trying to get people to pretend that they care wouldn't even make a ripple.

Seriously... if you're THAT concerned about the environment you would ALREADY be doing what you think needs to be done. A Blog post won't change much.

How did Blog Action Day work for you?

palmettoart — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:43:54

I do an art blog, and like Cooper don't normally post environmental issues; however I know another artist/blogger who picked up trash at the river just so she could blog about it honestly, from a first person point of view. Here it is, if anyone's interested. I thought it quite well done.

How did Blog Action Day work for you?

Ozone42 — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:29:59

I didn't post. This whole idea reminds me a little too much of the "Let's all not buy gas on Friday, that'll show big oil," concepts.

I think it's even more silly for those who blog about specific topics and have to stretch to fit this in.

By all means, talk about the environment. Don't do it as part of a fad, if it's important to you keep it up and show it. If you want to be trendy go buy one of those ridiculous magnetic ribbons and stick it on your car.

How did Blog Action Day work for you?

cooper — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:17:02

Not from 9rules, but I participated.

I don't post on environment for the most part because I don't have time to research it therefore I choose to go with something which I have a personal interest in the coastline - specifically surf waves around the world being destroyed by development and pulp mills.

My readers don't have much interest in the environment, but it was a fine short post done for purpose of participation, one which some people enjoyed because it was on a brief foray into a subject they don't usually think about - waves.

How did Blog Action Day work for you?

inadvertentgardener — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:32:38

I'm curious who else from 9rules posted as part of Blog Action Day, and what response you got to your posts? Did you enjoy participating in the event? Did you get good traffic? Was it a challenge to fit the topic into your general blog topic?

Since I blog about gardening, it wasn't that hard to wrap the topic in to what I was writing about anyway, but I enjoyed the opportunity to tie together Marion Jones and garden chemicals -- a connection I'd been thinking about making since the latest stage of the scandal broke, but that I hadn't tried to pull together yet.

I had at least one commenter direct me to their Blog Action Day post, which I liked -- it gave me a chance to see what other folks did. And I know Dave Seah posted something, too (and Dave, if you're reading, I'd love to hear what you thought about participating, since it was a little outside your usual subject matter). But how about the rest of the madding crowd?