You did it!
If you filed your post for today, you’ve completed the 2011 WordCount Blogathon – congratulations.
Please join your fellow blogathoners at a wrap party celebrating your victory on Wednesday, June 1, on Twitter at 10 a.m. Pacific time. To participate, use the official blogathon Twitter hashtag, #blog2011.
We’ll share what we liked, what we hated and what we learned from blogging every day in May. Even if you didn’t participate in the chat, please join us, especially if you missed signing up or are curious about it – it’s a great way to know what’s in store in case you want to sign up next year.
Raffle Prizes Announced
Everyone who blogged all 31 days will have have their name entered in a drawing for prizes that will be announced at the end of the hour-long live chat. Those prizes include:
- One hour of resume help, PenPoint Editorial Services, Danielle Buffardi, owner
- 500 business cards, two-sided, two-color, Next Day Flyers
- Online course, Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting, American Writers & Artists, Inc.
- Blogging class, choose from WordPress 101 (4 weeks), Growing Your Blog (4 weeks), Blogging for Passion and Profit (6 weeks), Syndicating Your Blog/Column (TBA), WriteBlogLearn, Jane Boursaw, owner
- Membership, Knowledgewebb tech training for journalists website, Amy Webb, proprietor, Julie Sturgeon, sales manager
- $25 Amazon gift card
- Book, The Literary Ladies Guide to the Writing Life
- E-book, Pub Speak: A Writer’s Dictionary of Publishing Terms, Tracy Marchini
- AP Stylebook, your choice of print, online or iPhone edition
Never Participated in a Twitter Chat?
If you’d like to join us but haven’t ever taken part in a real-time chat on Twitter or don’t already have a Twitter account, here’s what to do:
- Log onto Twitter. If you don’t have an account, all you need to sign up is email address, name and password.
- Find the Search window. It’s at the top of Twitter’s main page. Type in “#blog2011.”
- Read the search results. The results are shown reverse chronological order, with the newest showing first. Scroll down to see what people are saying.
- Join the conversation. Type in your own 140-character tweet in the What’s Happening box on your Twitter home page. Include the hashtag #blog2011 at the end so your tweet shows up in other people’s #blog211 searches.
- Make following the conversation easier. Use a Twitter add-on such as TweetGrid, TweetChat or HootSuite. Of those three, my favorite is TweetChat, which automatically adds the appropriate hashtag to your tweets and shows only tweets related to that chat.
See you at the party!
I’ll be there.
wish I could join you but am rushing into a meeting. Thank you again Michelle for a GREAT blogathon!!
The chat is tomorrow @ 10 a.m. Pacific time, which I guess means it’s June 2 for those of you in India, Asia, etc. Time zones make it confusing.
Michelle
Michelle, just wanted to send along my thanks for organizing the Blogathon. This is my second year participating and both times have given me a new enthusiasm for blogging, which I hope comes through in my posts. Looking forward to the chat tomorrow.
Thanks Jen, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s chat as well. I’m guessing it’ll be packed.
Michelle
wouldn’t miss it…
It’s been a fantastic experience and delighted to meet many of you.
Laura Newman
Thanks Laura, I love your approach to your blog. You’re one of the journalist entrepreneurs that I write about here so often; it’s great to see the passion and professionalism you pour into your work. You’re a great role model for fellow journalists considering how to tackle the digital media age.
Michelle
I will be traveling in Tennessee and Kentucky with my husband tomorrow and won’t be able to participate in the Blogathon finale. It sounds like loads of fun, and I will be thinking about all of you, my fellow bloggers.
Michelle,
A big Thank You for everything you did. The ease in which your shared your experience and knowledge made this blogging challenge so much fun.
I enjoyed the challenge and rigour of posting every day and will be continuing it after this.
I can not participate tomorrow in the tweet chat but will be sure to read it later. Merci 🙂
Over the years, I’ve written how-to articles, first-person columns and also taught at journalism school, so sharing information comes second nature. I’m glad you found it helpful.
Michelle
Thank you so much for organizing this event, your time, and all the knowledge generously shared, Michelle!
Since it was last minute when I discovered the Blogathon, I did not have any expectations about it. I was amazed though from the wealth of precious information I gained from simply participating.
Honestly, I wished I had the time organization talent like you and most fellow bloggers, and could have engaged myself more specially in commenting and visiting other blogs, rather than race almost everyday to put up a post.
What made me get over the persistent mushrooming self-doubt I experienced through the Blogathon was focusing on improving myself by reading through all the tips you shared!
More power and success to all your endevours, and I look forward to next year!
Thanks Joanna. This is the fourth year for the challenge and every year I get something different out of it.
As for “mushrooming self doubt” remember that people come into challenges like these with all levels of experience, from absolute beginners to experienced professional writers. And everyone is looking to get a little something different out of it, whether that’s launching a blog, getting back into the habit of daily writing, or redesigning how their blog looks. In that regard, it really is like a marathon, you’re not trying to beat the other guy, you’re going for a PR (personal record), trying to improve your own performance.
Michelle
This has been a great experience. I hope to attend the Live Chat. Thanks so much for organizing this and making it so much fun.
Kristi, I’m glad you had a good experience – keep blogging.
Michelle