Ottawa has its "Third Thursdays," Boston and Silicon Valley have their Social Media Clubs, Coos County now has its very own group of folks that are "bloggin on the Androscoggin" Despite our (we hope fading) image as "the backwards backwoods,
there's a small but rapidly growing group of North Country bloggers and
tweeters that are promoting the north country, and their own businesses
via social media. So we had our first official "Tweetup" -- a meeting of social media afficianados organized via twitter the popular social networking tool that restricts communications to 140 characters. It was held last night at TexMex in Berlin and for a first try, it was a great success, fueled by Michelle's excellent margaritas, and one we hope to repeat on a monthly basis -- somehow "Third Monday" doesn't have the same ring.. anyone want to come up with a better name?
So far, like all other ventures in the north country, it's a very diverse group.
Our group included Erik Eisele, (in the light blue shirt) the local reporter for the Berlin Reporter, who also writes a wonderful blog called The Last Print Journalist. It's a terrific mix of reflection and news, and is one of the few things in life that make me wish I was in my 20s again. He also inspires a wonderful perspective on the future of both Berlin and journalism. See, I was Erik when I was in my 20s, a print journalist working for a local paper --"The Rosedale Observer" in Maryland - -a local weekly not unlike the Berlin Reporter. Like Erik, I spent my days interviewing local business people and interesting characters and going to city council meetings -- and like Erik, commuting to a home on the other side of the county. Unlike Erik, I wrote my stories on an electric typewriter using special copy paper that produced my stories in triplicate. And Rosedale's biggest problem was suburban sprawl, not attracting tourists.
We were also joined by Richard Tessier, (in the dark blue shirt) who writes The Moose is always Loose in Dummer blog and runs the Great Northern Moose Lodge a wonderful bed and breakfast just up the road from Berlin.
And, by Robin Anderson who runs the wonderful resource, www.northernnh.com
and who is also a Reiki healer, social media expert, and the proud owner of a new Flip,Mino HD which made me drool. Robin represents the new entrepreneur in the north country, who tends her own business, but also follows Shel Israel and Queen of Spain, two of the "stars" of the blogosphere, who happen to be friends of mine.
As is common these days, it wasn't long before our conversation turned, as most conversations in Berlin do these days, to the efforts to rebuild the North Country economy around tourism, and a knowledge and creative economy. Last weekend was a big one for Berlin, between the Rally cars and the big motorcycle event known as Thunder in the Mountains As always, there were two very different Berlins. There was the old, small town Berlin, that reeks of community, packing the bingo hall in front of my house on Friday night, and showing up for church early on Sunday morning. These are the folks with white hair who look at me with awe as I run up the hill in front of my house, and cheer me on. They look at each other, and across the street, noting the progress I make on my house. They do not look up at the mountains or out at the river, because they've seen it every day of their lives.
Then there are the tourists, looking a bit lost, finding their way around town, but mostly looking at the mountains and the river and appreciating the awesome beauty of our little town.
Erik raised the question of how well these two Berlins will coexist as, increasingly, Berlin is seen as a tourist destination -- a development that is crucial to Richard's business. We were all pretty optimistic about the prospects. If nothing else, the first Tweetup was definitley a sign that the Berlin's future has arrived.
Recent Comments