Yesterday, while most of the United States was tuned into the upset that was the Giants-Patriots game, a blogversary occurred. As of February 3, 2008, this blog has been floating around cyberspace for three years. I never thought it’d last that long; for me, it was just a way to gain some writing practice, vent about politics, and have some fun. Instead, three years and one platform change later, it’s turned into something a little bit more momentous. For one thing, I’ve taken a couple of trips, thanks to this site. I’ve met new people and reconnected with old friends. Most importantly, in my own small way, I’ve felt like I’ve been able to contribute my thoughts to larger discussions of interest to others on many topics, whether focused on deafness or more general subjects.

I’m not sure how long I’ll continue this, but for the time being, Mr. Sandman’s Sandbox is still alive and chugging along. As I reflect on the last three years, I want to say one thing: thank you, those of you who take the time to stop by and read my lengthy ramblings. Thank you, those of you who take the time to comment and interact with me on various posts. Thank you, those of you who nominated me in 2006, 2007, and 2008 for the Blog Awards (the 2006 version was hosted and directed by Ridor; the last two years, of course, under DeafRead). While the win last year was gratifying, just being nominated was honor enough. But the best recognition is from my readers/commenters– that in itself is reward enough.

Speaking of the awards, part of the reason why I didn’t recognize the actual blogversary date was because I was on my way home from the DeafRead conference in Burlingame, California. I had initially wavered about going, for financial reasons; I knew I’d probably enjoy myself seeing old friends and meeting new ones, but I admit to having a couple of reservations. I decided to go, and I do not regret it one bit.

Last year’s conference at Gallaudet, under the direction of Jill Bradbury, was not a “bloggers/vloggers” conference, per se; it was a conference on Gallaudet and the Tent City protests, using bloggers/vloggers/commenters as panelists, based on their perspectives in various forums. It was a great conference, and I enjoyed the opportunity to meet people I had previously only known through the deaf blogosphere. For example, I had the chance to meet members of the DeafDC team, including Shane Feldman, Bobby Cox, and Allison Kaftan. I reconnected with people I’d known long ago, like Amy Cohen-Efron. I got to know better people I’d met briefly just one or twice; for example, Ryan Commerson. Another plus was spending time with old friends, such as Frarochvia and Neil (our resident Deaf Firefighter). So the conference served a dual purpose: a chance to contribute further to the dialogue about Gallaudet, and the opportunity to meet new friends and reunite with old ones.

Later, I had the opportunity to attend another conference at Gallaudet: 150 Years on Kendall Green. Here, I was fortunate to meet the lovely Barb DiGi of Deaf Progressivism fame. Although we didn’t have as much time to chat as I would have liked, it was nice to again be able to put a name with a face!

That brings us to this past weekend, which was the *true* “Bloggers/Vloggers Conference” so many wished for (or thought that last year’s conference at Gallaudet was!). Hosted by DeafRead and sponsored by Sprint, the gathering was just south of the San Francisco airport, at the Embassy Suites, right on the bay.

The night before, the Bay Area DPHH offered a special edition of DPHH, in downtown Burlingame. I decided to attend, after driving up that day from Los Angeles. Upon arriving, I spotted some old friends, and mingled a bit. That night I again had the opportunity to match names with faces; the reverse was true, as Jon Savage immediately recognized me, even before I’d had a chance to introduce myself! At his table was DRMZZ, aka Mike Schmidt. Again, a new friend and blogosphere peer! In the back room, I was fortunate to meet DeafRoger, Adrian4ASL, Ben Olson, and LaRonda, among others. The relaxed, casual atmosphere lent itself to a very social evening, in which I met new people, matched names to faces, saw old friends, and reconnected with acquaintances and former classmates.

The next day, we gathered for the conference. The first session was the keynote: Tayler Mayer and Jared Evans both provided an overview of DeafRead, from its origins to the present to previews of the future. It was a good summation of where we’ve been and where we’re going as members of DeafRead.

Now came the hard choices: which sessions to sit in on? As a “PC person” (although I’m not always PC about PCs, I’m PC for now…), I joined Jon Savage and his audience; I was not disappointed. Savage blended humor and tech savvy in a very clear, straightforward presentation on how to start vlogging using PCs. He took us through the types of equipment, the costs of such equipment, and how to start making a vlog. The highlight of this was his demonstration of the quality of each method: video camera, personal digital camera, webcam, and cellphones. I was surprised to see that digital cameras had the sharpest picture of all (at least in my opinion)!

Across the way, Amy Cohen-Efron was doing the same for Mac enthusiasts. While I obviously did not see that talk, knowing Amy’s background and training, I knew that group was in good hands. I left the first lecture musing about the possibility of experimenting with vlogging sometime in the future. Who knows…?

The next workshop I attended was Jared Evans‘ discussion of how to maximize exposure for your blog/vlog. While I already knew some of the information he shared, it was a good summarization of how to best publicize a site. Jared pointed out that “Jared” by itself generates plenty of random sites (including Jared of Subway fame), but “Jared Evans” led to the very first link being “Jared’s Rambling Thoughts.” My mind flashed back to recent searches done out of curiosity; two sets of keywords that pop up frequently when people click on my site are “sex sandbox” and “penis sandbox”. I’m not sure I want to know about WHY people are searching for information on genitals, sex, and sandboxes, or what they’re hoping to find once they get here, but it definitely made me think about how I want to advertise my site! All in all, it was great to have Google demystified and learn how to optimize my audience. One thing that stuck in my mind was the need to be timely– something I obviously haven’t been good at lately… *wince*

We then broke for lunch. Afterwards, when we all returned from our respective meals, there was a choice between an advanced vlogging workshop and LaRonda Zupp’s presentation, “Maintaining a Positive Blogosphere.” I figured I had learned enough from Jon during his workshop and that I probably would be best off experimenting on my own first, so I sat in LaRonda’s corner of the room… and was blown away.

All of the sessions were fantastic, but this was one of the most organized, interesting, and well-led presentations I’ve sat through. We first discussed why we participated in the blogosphere, then we talked about the pros and cons of doing so, and finally, we learned about different ways to reduce or eliminate conflict. Each time she brought up a new point, LaRonda used a personal example, either using people that were in the room, or bloggers/vloggers that we knew. Each time, it was a neutral or positive mention, but it made us that much more engaged in what she had to say. NAD, take note: if you need a presenter for a topic on psychology, mental health, or a related subject, look no further than LaRonda!

The final sessions of the day produced the greatest conflict for me: on one hand, there was Charles Katz’s discussion of the impact of the blogosphere on our Deaf-world, but then again, there was Adam Stone, who would delve into legal issues. I knew that Charles’ background in Deaf Studies and his lifelong involvement in our society would mean an interesting session, but the historian/political junkie in me tugged me towards Adam. I kept sneaking peeks from time to time though, and even Adam himself admitted he really wanted to be watching the other panel. It was reminiscent of NAD scheduling a Deafhood session at the same time as a Gallaudet Protest session during the Palm Desert convention– what to do, what to do…??

Adam did a great job though, first taking us through our legal responsibilities as bloggers/vloggers, and then exploring whether bloggers/vloggers were responsible for comments/content left by commenters and others. While Adam isn’t a lawyer (and wisely prefaced his topic with a caveat that he wasn’t a lawyer) and thus couldn’t provide a definite answer, it was still interesting to talk about the differences between public figures, private persons, and the moral, ethical, and legal responsibilities of participating in the blogosphere.

The last event were the soapbox sessions. Three topics were chosen: 1) should interpreters be allowed to use ASL vlogs for interpreter training? 2) Does DeafRead have a mission statement? If “yes,” then what should it be? If “no,” should it have one? and 3) What do the terms “deaf” and “deaf-centered” mean? Should DeafRead be “deaf-centered”? The DeafRead human editors recused themselves from leading or participating in the soapbox sessions; instead, DJ Kurs and LaRonda Zupp managed the event, with Kurs acting as gatekeeper and Zupp as stage manager. The 45-second comment limit led to numerous people being dragged off stage by an invisible cane by the polite, efficient LaRonda, with several people exceeding the time limit again and again. Note to DeafRead and NAD– perhaps a presentation or panel on how to boil down ideas and comments to the bare essentials? It’s a necessary skill sometimes!

I thoroughly enjoyed the soapbox, and quite a few people had thoughtful, meaningful comments to make on the three topics. I just hope that the discussion will now spill over into the blogosphere; it was the only real regret I had from the Gallaudet conference last year, that our papers/presentations didn’t lead to follow-up discussions that would then really benefit both Gallaudet and the community.

The conference closed on a high note, and people left, either to go home, to recuperate, or in my case, to change into something nicer for the banquet. That evening, a packed room dined on fruits, cheeses, vegetables, potatoes, fish and meat, and sampled different desserts as they chatted with friends new and old.

Originally, the actual awards ceremony was planned as a quiet, quick affair, but as Master of Ceremonies, Joey Baer outdid himself and prepared a monologue, lined up entertainment courtesy of Tyler and Sean Berdy, and selected presenters to give the awards themselves. This last touch was very reminiscent of the Oscars, as tastefully dressed Deaf men and women, all successful community members, stepped up in pairs to showcase our deaf blogosphere.

In my mind, all of the people in the room were winners: we bloggers and vloggers are already winners for giving our time and energy to participate. Our readers and commenters are winners for joining us at the table to discuss our world and the issues that involve us. The awards ceremony was simply a validation of that, to recognize among an already excellent community those that made an impact on us in the year 2007.

I left that evening thinking that we are on the edge of a new frontier: Deaf society is changing, and rapidly so; some of these changes are exciting and exhilarating. Other developments are scary and potentially disruptive. But instead of shrinking away, we are meeting the challenge by harnessing a new technology: computers and the realm of cyberspace.

Yes, this past weekend was a rather small gathering if you look purely at the numbers: most of the people there were from the San Francisco Bay Area/California, with others flying in from as far away as Boston, Toronto, and Atlanta. But in the year 1880, in Cinncinnati, Ohio, a couple hundred or so people gathered from 21 different states to attend a national congress. The birth of what would be the NAD occurred with just a relative handful of deaf people, compared to the actual deaf population at that time. Yet today, the NAD continues, with their biennial conferences attended by thousands. This past weekend, just over a hundred people participated in a single day’s workshops. Who knows what it will be like ten, twenty, or thirty years from now? How much influence will this new sphere of influence have?

I have no idea what the DeafRead board intends to do. But it is my hope that we can continue to have these gatherings, whether annually, biennially, or even longer periods between (but not too long!). It’s not about the awards; it’s about what we do best: meet in person, explain and exchange ideas, and return to our respective homes as stronger, better people, inspired to, as Joey Baer puts it, “Think globally, act locally.”