Blogfest 2008 Coverage

Here’s a list of posts and articles about the 2008 Blogfest from those attending.

Brooklyn Streets, Carroll Gardens
Brooklyn Optimist
Brooklyn Skeptic
City by Storm
Creative Times
cyclechicny.net
Flatbush Pigeon
Gowanus Lounge
Jaki Levy
Lost in the Ozone
Luna Park Gazette
miconian
New York Shitty
NY Daily News
Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn
outside.in
Oswegatchie
Prospect: A Year in the Park
Reclaimed Home
The Road to Nowhere
Stickymap
SuperVegan
Sustainable Flatbush
Urban Seashell
WNBC, Angela Freeburg reporting

Related posts

The Brooklyn Blogfest 2008

The Brooklyn Blogfest 2008

My view of last night’s Blogfest attendees when I took the stage to talk about the Brooklyn Blogade.
View from the stage

Last night I attended the third annual Brooklyn Blogfest. I spoke briefly about the Brooklyn Blogade (about which there will be more in another post later today) at the end of a lineup of illustrious Brooklyn bloggers.

Blogfest Placard

I estimate about 165 people attended. There were 210-220 chairs on the floor of the auditorium; they were mostly filled, but it was not a packed house. I helped collect the donations at the door and kept a tally of everyone who paid; we only had three $0 donations. We had about 130-140 people at the door. That does not include staff, sponsors or media, who comprised an additional 30 or so.

Brooklyn LyceumChairsAssembled

Four Mikes
Four Mikes

Pre-show Briefing
Pre-Show Briefing

I didn’t get any shots of the speakers, since I was still busy staffing the table during the event. I got a couple shots of the shout-out, where bloggers get to introduce themselves and their blogs, and the after-show party.

The Shout-out

Blogger Shout-outLine-up for the Shout-out

After-show party
After-show party
After-show Party
After-show Party

Cupcakes from Red Mango Bakery
Detail, Cupcakes

Beers, lots and lots of beers, provided by outside.in
Beers

My official “Staff” badge for the event. Anne Pope of Sustainable Flatbush made up all our name tags. Her strategy was to make the name – Xris – larger than the blog name – Flatbush Gardener – so that people would have to actually come up to you to find out what your blog was.
Staff

Related Content

Blogfest
Flickr photo set

Links

See Blogfest 20008 Coverage

amNY profiles Flatbush

Tomorrow’s amNY includes an extensive profile of Flatbush in their City Living (real estate) section:

Good luck trying to get a straight answer on where Flatbush is. Encompassing 11 neighborhood associations, all of which can claim some stake in this emerging community, the boundaries are amorphous–something in which local civic leaders seem to take pride, given the great diversity that exists here.
New York real estate: Flatbush, amNY, May 8, 2008

In a refreshing change, the article expands the focus beyond “Ditmas Park.” A photo of a halal meat store on Coney Island Avenue illustrates the article.

While most of the recent attention has focused on the historic neighborhoods around Ditmas Park, other areas of Flatbush are thriving and on the radar for capital improvements.

One of several humming commercial strips that reflect the rich diversity of the neighborhood, Flatbush Avenue is lined with businesses catering to Dominican, Spanish, West Indian, Jamaican and Haitian populations (as well as blocks-long stretches of Pentecostal storefront churches). Indian, Pakistani and Afghan restaurants and markets occupy blocks of Coney Island Avenue. Target will be the anchor tenant in a new mall at Brooklyn Junction. And the long-closed historic Loews’ King Theater, a 1929 Art Deco movie palace ( Barbra Streisand worked the doors here as a teenager) may get a renovation.

All eyes are on the Newkirk Plaza area, one of America’s oldest pedestrian shopping malls, spruced up with decorative pavement and fencing, lighting and planters. The French bistro, Pomme de Terre, recently planted a stake near here, signaling to the rest of Flatbush that Newkirk is ready for its photo opp.

Next Week: Plant Feeding Frenzy at BBG

Next week is the annual Plant Sale at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the largest on the East Coast. The Brooklyn Compost Project will also be on hand, selling compost bins and providing information about how to compost.

I’ve already bought waaaay too many plants this season, but I’m still planning to buddy up with a neighbor and be there for the Members-Only Preview portion of the sale. Part of the experience is just rubbing elbows with a couple hundred fellow plant-o-philes, ranging in knowledge and expertise from seedling to Ent. And I’ll pick up a few additions as well, I’m sure. I’m taking the week off to devote to gardening and catching up with my Spring cleanup chores.

Members-Only Preview Sale
Tuesday, May 6 | 4:30 p.m.–8 p.m.
Admission with BBG membership card only.

Open to the public
Wednesday, May 7 (9:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.)
Thursday, May 8 (9:00 a.m.– Noon)

Admission to Garden & Plant Sale
Members: free
Adults: $8.00
Seniors (65 and over): $4.00
Students with ID: $4.00
Children under 12 accompanied by an adult: free

Note that, with each paid admission, visitors will receive a coupon for free-admission to use on a return visit to the Garden.

Special 50¢ Plants for Children
Conveniently located adjacent to the Children’s Garden. School classes may enter at 900 Washington Avenue or at the Flatbush Avenue gate. An ideal introduction to BBG’s Children’s Garden program. School groups are not permitted in main sale area. Admission is free for school classes.

FAQs

What do you sell?
Every kind of plant, both for indoors and outdoors: annuals, perennials, small trees and shrubs, roses, herbs, vegetables, all kinds of tomatoes (including many Heritage varieties), houseplants, orchids, hanging baskets…and more. Plants are the best quality at the best prices: unusually choice specimens, many rare varieties and native plants, handpicked and selected.

Will you have X (naming a specific plant)?
YES, we will have that or something very similar to it. Come to the sale, you’ll be sure to find what you want. There will be a huge selection, largest on the East Coast, better than a catalog because what you see is what you get.

Are all your plants grown at BBG?
All our plants are specially grown for the sale by selected growers, most of them local. [Short answer: No.]

Will there be lots to choose from on Wednesday and Thursday?
YES! There will be thousands of first-rate plants. There will also be free special events throughout both days of the sale—lectures and demonstrations (details above).

How can I get my plants home?
There will be a free checkroom where you can leave plants overnight and pick them up the next day.

Can I bring my own cart?
Yes, please do. [Done!]

Tell me about the Member-Only Plant Sale Preview.
Only members will be allowed in. You can join the Garden on the spot (annual membership starts at $40) to attend the Plant Sale Preview.

Thursday, May 8: The 3rd Annual Brooklyn Blogfest

Brooklyn Blogfest 2008 Banner

The 3rd Annual Brooklyn Blogfest will take place next Thursday evening at 8pm at the Brooklyn Lyceum.

The Third Annual Brooklyn Blogfest 2008 is an event for bloggers, blog-readers, those interested in Blogging, and those passionate about Brooklyn. It is open to one and all and everyone is warmly welcomed. No need to RSVP or be personally invited.
The Latest Blogfest Details, May 2, 2008

The audience, assembled and ready, at last year’s Blogfest
Assembled and ready

This is a chance to meet the faces behind the blogs, learn about the state of blogging in Brooklyn, pick up some blogging tips, hob-knob with your fellow wizards, and all such as that. I’ll be at the tail end of the program, speaking about the mostly monthly Blogades, started after last year’s Blogfest.

Admission is $10, $5 for students.

WHEN: Thursday May 8th, 2008 at 8 p.m.

WHERE: The Brooklyn Lyceum. 227 Fourth Avenue (at President Street) [GMAP]

HOW: R train to Union Street

PROGRAM (subject to change):

  • Video: Place Matters: Blogging My World by Blue Barn Pictures
  • Brief Welcome: Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn (Louise Crawford)
  • Speaker: Creative Times (Eleanor Traubman)
  • Speaker: Bed-Stuy Blog (Petra S.)
  • Video: A Walk Around the Blog Promo by Brooklyn Independent Television
  • Speaker: New York Shitty (Miss Heather)
  • Speaker: Gowanus Lounge (Robert Guskind)
  • Speaker: Blogger Smackdown by Gersh Kuntzman, editor, The Brooklyn Paper
  • Video: A Word from WNYC’s Brian Lehrer
  • Speaker: Top Ten Tips for New Bloggers presented by So Good (Heather Johnson)
  • Speaker: Outside.in, a resource for bloggers who blog about where they live
  • Video: A Tribute to Brooklyn’s Photo Bloggers (produced by Brooklyn Optimist)
  • Speaker: Bloggers Reach Out: What is the Brooklyn Blogade? presented by Flatbush Gardener (Yours truly)
  • ANNUAL SHOUT-OUT: Your chance to share your blog with the world introduced by Luna Park Gazette

Related content

My report from last year’s Blogfest
Back in the Day
My photos of last year’s Blogfest
All my Blogfest and Blogade posts

Links

The Brooklyn Blogfest “miniblog” on Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn
Brooklyn Lyceum

Sakura Matsuri this weekend

This weekend is Sakura Matsuri, the Cherry Blossom Festival, at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The weather cooled down just in time. The cherries are still holding at peak in my neighborhood, but there are drifts of petals swirling around. With rain predicted tonight and through the weekend, we may just get a soggy mess. We’ll see if BBG’s main display holds up for the weekend. I’ll be checking in on them before Botany class this evening, weather permitting.

The purpose of the mysterious camera at the end of the Cherry Walk has been confirmed. BBG released a timelapse video composed of over 3,000 photographs taken with the camera.

2008 Cherry Blossom Timelapse at Brooklyn Botanic Garden from Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Vimeo.

This timelapse was created by Dave Allen, BBG’s Web Manager, from over 3,000 digital photos, one taken every 3 minutes from April 18 to April 26, 2008, of Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s famed Cherry Walk.

The original music is by Jon Solo, a Brooklyn-based musician and producer.

Related Posts

Hanami

Links

See the 2008 Cherry Blossom Timelapse at Brooklyn Botanic Garden in HD on vimeo
Music by Jon Solo, a Brooklyn-based musician and producer.