I'm at NY Bloggers at the SOHO Apple Store, sponsored by Gothamist.

Publishers's panel: Calacanis, Denton, Jarvis (host)

• The Apple Store's auditorium is packed.
• Weblogs inc.: "Turning weblogs into a business?"
• There seem to be a lot of media types here.
• The audio setup is poor and it's hard to hear in the back row.
• A number of others in the audience are live blogging.
• JC understands that non-subscription blog traffic is monetizable; he underestimates how much revenue it could generate. He's talking about $3-5k per blog per month now, $50-100k per blogger eventually (50/50 revshare).
• The Apple Store's wireless network just went down.
• Gizmodo's dildo-on-a-bicycle post lost Microsoft as an advertiser. Will blogs sell out?
• JC: 'Bloggers must not become journalists.' Bloggers sacrifice accuracy for speed, but self-correct better/faster than journalists (?)
• ND: Revshare for bloggers makes them less likely to offend advertisers; 'separation of church and state'
• Peter ??? moved from Gizmodo (ND) to Engadget (JC) (!)
• JJ: The FCC will eventually crack down on blogs; where will we find the edge?
• JC: Blog publishers empower/serve bloggers; don't edit
• JC: Experimenting with subscription-based blogs
• JC: Advertising vs. syndication; full-content syndication = lawsuits
• Users demand aggregation; how can it be accomodated? ND (kinja?): Need to give visibility to less-frequent/less-known bloggers

Technology panel: Hourihan, Dash, Ford (host)

• MH: Blogs made web publishing and syndication simple
• AD: It's still not that easy (relative to hotmail); most ppl want to communicate with a small number of friends/family, not be a pundit read by thousands
• MH: What do I use my blog for? What do I write about? Give ppl some areas of focus
• PF: Structured blogs (with pre-set questions) become redundant and boring
• AD: F+F blogs not interesting to web-at-large; privacy/security are important, need to control who's reading [MF: integrate social networking and blogging]
• Lots of discussion about whether there shoud be multiple versions of MT for novices vs. power users (AD: for; MH: skeptical)
• Q: Blogging tools vs. CMS? AD: important for MT product strategy, but not in general (?); people want to use blogging tools to run sites because they are free/cheap and everything else is a mess
• Q: What is a blog system if Slashdot is a CMS? AD: Slashcode is a bad example, perhaps Vignette
• Q: Could blogging replace bookmarks in browsers? MH: Possibly AD: Use of blogs to keep links is going down; ppl don't want to manage their links, just have it taken care of (iTunes) - Audience: try del.icio.us
• MH: Bring weblogs into schools (writing, computers, research skills) AD: Expand social reach of blogs; blogs as particpatory medium; cool tools (Blogdex, Wallop, del.icio.us)

Editor's panel: Chung, Steele, Sicha, Salmon (host)

• JC: I'm doing this because Jake told me to
• LS: Bloggers worry about dayjobs; terrified that employers will find out. JC: At the office: 'That girl has some sort of website'
• LS: I like to write; this looks easy and fun CS: I'm an idiot; I get my intern Henry to write it
• CS: 'The website's never gotten me laid'
• Most blogs are mediocre JC: Everyone gets critical, they want to be heard LS: I press the delete button [for hate mail] CS: The Internet is full of crap; people are learning how to write on the Internet
• Any harm to editing? JC: Of course I would like proofing; I can't blog all day CS: Bloggers don't work well in isolation; don't throw out everything from the print world LS: Best leads for posts come from email
• The pressure of big-time blogging: JC: I love blogging, I'm thankful for it, but it's hard CS: I'm writing all day; Christmas Eve sucked
• Individual bloggers vs. group blogs
• LS: Publicists have discovered weblogs (free stuff, party invites)
• Afraid of popularity? JC: There are some filters; my mom reads the site CS: Worry about PR agents, freebies; the ethics of blogging
• Why is your blog popular? LS: Natural fascination with LES; Focused media
• Could all blogs have 1M readers? JC: Depends on how ppl change media habits LS: Can a niche blog compete with other niche media
• As blogs become corporate, how can readers participate? JC: Blogs want participation CS: Blogs resist corporate smell; need a clear split betw adv and editorial

CS: Site launching tomorrow: defamer.com (Hollywood industry blog) blogging