I was super happy that I was able to make it down to the Cincinnati Blogger Convention last week at one of my favorite places in all of Cincinnati, the Mercantile Library. Chris Messick - who has to be the world’s least grumpy librarian (he’s actually cheerful and friendly) - helped orchestrate the whole thing, which, I have to say, seems to have been a rousing success.

Though I was only there for about an hour and fifteen, I really liked the experience. I have found out recently that I rather enjoy geeking out with the geeks.

And today, Mr. Messick so politely sent us a list of all conventioneers replete with links to their respective blogs. So, here I post.

5CHW4R7Z (http://www.5chw4r7z.blogspot.com/)

Bad Pitch Blog (http://badpitch.blogspot.com/)

Building Cincinnati (http://www.building-cincinnati.com/)

Buy Cincy (http://buycincy.com/)

CETconnect (http://cetconnect.blogspot.com/)

Cincinnati Area Commercial Real Estate Trends (http://cincicommercialrealestate.blogspot.com/)

Cincinnati Blog (http://www.cincinnati.blogspot.com/)

Cincinnati Dealer (http://www.cincinnatidealer.com/)

Cincinnati Locavore (http://cincinnatilocavore.blogspot.com/)

Clark Street Blog (http://clarkstreetblog.blogspot.com/)

Die Fladermaus (http://mattvant.blogspot.com/)

ENCORE (http://encorecincinnati.wordpress.com/)

Girlfriendology (http://girlfriendology.com/)

Gonz O’Lager (http://gonzolager.blogspot.com/)

Hello, Gerard (http://hellogerard.blogspot.com/)

Joe Wessels (http://joewessels.net/)

Juliet & Juliette (http://julietandjulietteblog.com/)

Kate’s Random Musings (http://www.katesrandommusings.com/)

Keeping it REAL Estate (http://livingcincinnati.com/)

Kelly the the Max! (http://kellyhudson.blogspot.com/)

Live Green Cincinnati (http://www.livegreencincinnati.com/)

Liz Wu Music (http://www.cincychic.com/component/option,com_mamblog/task,show/action,user/id,808)

Make Cincinnati Weird (http://www.makecincinnatiweird.com/)

Mommy Bits (http://www.MommyBits.blogspot.com)

Cincinnati Women Bloggers (http://www.CincinnatiWomenBloggers.blogspot.com)

My Wine Education (http://www.wine-girl.net/)

Not Really a Book Blog Blog (http://nrabb2.blogspot.com/)

Permasmirk (http://permasmirk.com/)

Prospective (http://prosepective.blogspot.com/)

Queen City Survey (http://queencitysurvey.blogspot.com/)

Queer Cincinnati (http://cincywestsidequeer.blogspot.com/)

Soapbox (http://www.soapboxmedia.com/)

Strategic Public Relations (http://prblog.typepad.com/strategic_public_relation/)

The Journey is the Reward (http://blog.morristsai.com/)

Turning the Page (http://www2.cincinnatilibrary.org/blog/)

Urbanophile (http://theurbanophile.blogspot.com/)

Wine Me Dine Me (in Cincinnati) (http://winemedinemecinci.blogspot.com/)

With my attendance at the aforementioned convention and the frequent comment I heard being, “You need to post more often,” I have decided that I will. Now, I’ve decided this before, so we’ll see how it goes. But I have now reasons (more than just the nice requests for more Joe-tent) to do the bloggy thing. I will expound later on. Meantime, enjoy some of these wonderful Cincinnati blogs!

I don’t talk about blog stats much - well, at all - because there isn’t really much to say. I average about 60 to 100 unique visitors a day - with random peaks and valleys - and that has been fairly consistent for several months. But a few weeks ago on April 17, when the earthquake hit Cincinnati, I received nearly 1,100 unique visitors. Woo-wee!

The earthquake woke me up so I decided to get on the computer and start blogging. Within 10 minutes I had made my first post and updated with more for the few hours after that. So, I got a barrage of Google hits on the subject. That was pretty cool.

Also, I’ve added a few widgets to the sidebar. A while back I added a Twitter widget (to go with the Flickr widget). Just a few days ago I added the Google Reader shared posts widget.

Twitter, if you haven’t discovered it yet, is a cool little application that asks the question: What are you doing? I update it as much as I can through my cell phone (either by sending text messages or using the phone’s Web browser) or by going to the Twitter Web site. Or my new toy: Twhirl.

The Google Reader is an RSS feed reader that allows me to read text (or a summary) and see some photographs from several Web pages at once in a single Web page. It also allows me to hit a “share” button that puts up the blog posts I think are worth checking out, which then appear on Report This! I highly recommend the reader - and checking out the posts I share.

I also added some Google ads to the sidebar as an experiment. I more or less just wanted to see how it worked and how quickly pennies added up. Turns out the only people making money off this blog is Google! Expect the ads to come down soon.

Looks like upgrading to WordPress 2.5 solved my weird database problems, that I suspect might have been created my my cheapo Web hosting provider, IPowerWeb, when they upgraded their (our?) control panel and did some other wizardry. Now, the Web site is back up and running smoothly. Now, I’m thinking I might go ahead and re-design the site a little bit (already took off the “new” in the title - ’bout time) in the days ahead. I love tinkering around and learning how to do all this stuff myself.

By the way, I have to tip the hat to the developers of WordPress. The new version is really nice and has added some very nice features. Plus, it appears to have taken a way a lot of the clunkiness that existed in prior versions. Thanks, guys! This Internet thing is kinda cool

I have been recently adding some content to this Web page, along with a much-needed “Contact Joe” form.

Now you can find updates on the “Published Works” page, including my recent Cincinnati City Hall and Hamilton County goverment coverage for The Cincinnati Post. There are also links to two pieces written in the last few months for Cincinnati Magazine.

To boot, I also have added a ton of photos taken in the last few months. Enjoy!

Just about every journalist gets the daily e-mail from Florida’s Poytner Institute. Their slogan “everything you need to be a better journalist” is a good characterization of how useful the site and the organization has and continues to be for many working in the media. Their daily e-mails, especially one called “Romenesko”, is chock-full of links and articles and tidbits of information about what’s happening and changing in the field. And nowadays, it’s lots.

As Blogs take more and more hold on the mainstream media landscape, I often wondered how my experience of determining what and what not to write about on this Blog corresponded to others who were writing on a Blog, especially those who now did as part of a new job requirement. There’s also a fair number of journo-Bloggers in my Blogroll who just do it because they want to.

So, it was good to run across this article from Poytner’s Chip Scanlan which pretty much sums up why I Blog. Reading it I thought I almost was reading my own reasons and I began to feel more comfortable about what I was doing here. Report This! is an experiment, to say the least. One that scares me half the time (for fear of which future editor might be reading it), and delights me the other times (because I can express myself and, according to my hit counter, somebody actually reads it).

So, I thought I’d share this. I appreciate Chip for being so frank in his reasons and helping me realize they are some of my own. Lowered expectations, my ability to see something, then write about it. Freedom, ah, glorious freedom. And I can get un-stuck from my doldrums and write about something I care about and get it out of me. Then, I can move on. This Blogging is cool stuff.

It’s still me. Joe Wessels.net is just getting a new look.

After much thought and prolonged discussion (years, really), I have finally revamped my Web site. Where’s the goat? He’s gone. Miss him? You can still view my Web site, as it was last updated by adding “old” in front of my old domain name. For example, to get to the old main page go type “old.joewessels.net” without the quoatations marks into your Web browser’s address bar.

I’m really excited about what I have accomplished here. There will still be a few noticiable changes in the Blog over the next few weeks, and likley into the future. But this will put everything about me in one place, elminating the need to have a seperate Web page, Blog, etc. I will now stop updating my old Blog and everything from that site has been imported here. I will be working on updating links on this Blog to my old personal Web site. Some may not work right now, but remember add “old” in front of any link (where the “www” would normally go) and it should work.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by. Check back soon for new updates and new changes.

I have made some minor updates to my personal Web page at www.joewessels.net. Most notably are adding photos of my niece’s birthday party (which I already wrote about on here), changing, adding and deleting photos in the “My Computer’s Slideshow” section, plus adding a page with photos I took earlier this year in Northside both at the Gay Pride Festival and the neighborhood’s Fourth of July Parade (both a hoot to witness and shoot).

I’ve also made mention on my site of a Web page that will be about the new radio show I am launching October 14, 2005 - independent of the one I did this summer. No name, Web address or other information has been announced yet - but stand by. There’s cool news (I’m excited about it) on the horizon. As soon as it is finalized I will Blog about it here and update the link on my Web page.

I’ve also re-opened my guest book to comments. I’ve had problems with spammers using it to post copious, lengthy diatribes about penis enlargement and hope that they’ve moved onto more fertile pastures. And if someone who knows me decided to direct penis enlargement companies to my Web site - as a favor - I thank you. They worked. And that’s all I got to say about that…

Last evening I was a panelist during a joint meeting of the The Women’s Circuit and the Cincinnati Programmers’ Guild. The topic? Blogs.

I was joined by two other local bloggers - Peg Haustetter and Brendan Cronin - and ex-blogger Kat Jenkins. In front of a small group on the 27th floor of the Chemed Building downtown, Guild president Troy Davis moderated and drilled us on the how and why of Blogging, including some talk of how Blogs are changing the way news is covered and treated today.

It was neat to see a few people had actually read my Blog prior to the evening. Though I really do this for myself and to hone my craft, it is always certainly cool to know people read what you write. Thank you!

It was a neat discussion, interesting to learn why people Blog (and why some, like Kat, stopped), and what the group thought about the medium. Overall I really enjoyed the evening and would like to thank the Programmers’ Guild and The Women’s Circuit for inviting me and shining light on this topic.