First time having been there, and needless to say I was impressed!
Norm has already touched on some of the conversation (McDonnell looked very relaxed and confident), and I was gratified to see that blogging has broken out of the periphery and into the mainstream in terms of information (practically everyone raised their hands when asked if they read blogs).
Good news is that some folks seemed interested! Good! But how?
May I suggest:
(1) Find a group of people interested in blogging, or go it alone! Good examples of group blogs would be places like Bacon’s Rebellion, Commonwealth Watch, and Sic Semper Tyrannis. It helps if you have a wide group of people with similar interests who all enjoy talking about a specific set of issues. Alternatively, you have one man shows such as what you see here. Whatever you feel will be the most effective, go for it!
(2) Take the plunge! Blogger is the most popular website for blogs online, but there are other places such as Typepad. There are many other online communities as well that offer blogging-type services, but for worry-free starts, Blogger might be your best bet. Just follow the instructions, pick your template (and Blogger has some very good templates) and e-mail me if you have questions…
(3) Get blogging! Here’s where stuff becomes fun! Post something great: a good op-ed, the reason for the blog, a good policy idea, who you are, anything to get going.
(4) Take a tour of the Virginia blogosphere. If you’re reading this, you’ve started here… but check out (and link to) other websites as well. Everything on the left is a great read! Be sure to comment on posts you like on other websites — it’s a good tip to others to check out what you have to offer.
That’s the quick-and-dirty how to manual. Hope to see a flush of great blogs emerge soon!