Soldiers' Angel - Holly Aho

But did you really miss anything? That seems to be the question this year. This year's motto could have been "Deja Vu". Or "Been there, done that, already have the t-shirt". Perhaps this year's theme came across as 'unless you mix this with something people are already planning to attend, no one will show up'. I have to say, that mixing the Milblog Conference with the BlogWorld Expo was a mistake. For many reasons.

But aside from the BlogWorld Expo, how worthwhile an experience was this year's Milblog Conference? As usual, it's always great to have the reunion with fellow bloggers and friends. But what was to be gained from the panels and issues discussed in each? I can't say the panels or panelists were necessarily lacking, but some new blood in the mix would have been nice. But worst of all, was having sponsors of the conference step in during a particular panel and use up 20 minutes on non-blogging, self promotioning issues. These speeches would have been better given before or after any panel, but taking up almost half the time of a panel that is supposed to be addressing blogging related issues? Tacky, to say the least.

I do think that minimal effort was placed in planning and organizing this conference. Several other blogging groups had conferences over the weekend, and their footprints were clearly left in the expo. I do not think this was the case with the Milblog Conference. It seemed almost the hope for this conference was that the steam of past years would push the conference this year. It did not. If it were a movie, I'd give it 1.5 stars. And I wouldn't see it in the theater. Probably wouldn't buy the video. Maybe watch it if it made it to a public tv Saturday night flick.

I still think that milblogs are relevant today. I still think the yearly conference could be something great, an awesome meeting of the minds. But perhaps to do that the milbloggers need to step up and work together to do something great. We do it all the time with our blogs. Let's not stop there!

We have a chance each year to make an impact for good, bring a voice to our military, and influence opinion. I'd be happy to place my name at the top of the list of those willing to put some effort and donate some time into making this conference just that. How about you?