Here’s the official Blogathon calendar. If you’re participating in the blogathon, use it to help plan your posts for the month. One note: if you’re doing the blogathon, it’s up to you whether or not you participate in theme days.
2012 Blogathon calendar of events
April
April 24 – Read tips from a blogger who’s done previous blogathons on how to post every day without getting burned out.
April 25 – The WordCount Last Wednesday monthly chat is devoted to the blogathon. Worried you can’t come up with blog post ideas? Haven’t ever scheduled posts before and are wondering how? Ask your blogathon questions during this hour-long chat, which starts at 10 a.m. Pacific time. Use#blog2012.
April 30 – See the list of 2102 Blogathon sponsors, and find out what prizes they’ll be giving away in a raffle for bloggers who successfully post 31 days straight.
May
May 1 – The blogathon begins.
May 2 – WordCount publishes a blog roll of participants.
May 5 – This and every Saturday during the blogathon, I recap some of the week’s most interesting posts from participating bloggers.
May 7 – Theme Day #1. Participants are encouraged to write on the same theme: “5 movies that have inspired my blogging.” Theme days don’t fit into everyone’s blogs, so it’s 100 percent up to you whether you play along or not.
May 14 – Guest Post Exchange Day. This blogathon staple encourages writers to trade guest posts with another blogathoner. Past guest post exchanges have led to lasting friendships and regular guest post exchanges throughout the year. The best ways to find a partner: post a message on the Blogathon Google Group or on Twitter, under the blogathon hashtag #blog2012.
May 21 – Haiku Day. Last year’s haiku day was so popular it’s back for an encore. Pick the topic of your choice and write about it in this simple poem form. Find out more about it on this how to write haiku page and read these haiku examples from last year’s blogathon.
May 23 – Theme Post Day #2. Participants are encouraged to write on the same theme: Finish the phrase – “If I started blogging today I would….” If you had it to do over again, what would you do different – use WordPress instead of Blogger.com? Pick a different topic? Share your wisdom to help other bloggers.
May 28 – Wordle Day. Celebrate Memorial Day by using the Wordle word-cloud tool to turn your words into a picture. Then go relax, your blogging work is done. If you’re not sure what Wordle is,read these instructions for using it.
May 30 – My usual last Wednesday of the month chat is rescheduled for June 1 so we can use it for the blogathon wrap party (see below).
May 31 – The Blogathon ends – you did it! Participants who posted all 31 days can collect an “I did it!” badge to display on their blogs.
June
June 1 – The Blogathon wrap party and raffle drawing take place on Twitter at 10 a.m. Pacific time. We’ll share what we liked, what we hated and what we learned from blogging every day in May. The raffle drawing takes place at the end of the hour. Use #blog2012 to participate.