Milblog Conference Posting #3

Well the conference opened up this morning a little late, but that is expected after the party last night at the Penthouse Club. The room has slowly filled up now. I met many more people this morning that I have talked with either on the phone or through email. I was able to meet Jack Holt from DOD Live Bloggers roundtable and Wendy from the Army PAO office. I have CJ sitting next to me, Marcus in front of me, and Toby Nunn

Toby Nunn and I

behind me… I am truly in the company of great soldiers and phenomenal bloggers.

The session opened with a video from LTG Caldwell, who is the Commandant of the War College. LTG Caldwell is one of the biggest proponents of blogs, and in fact has made it a requirement for students to blog (Army Majors and higher) as part of the curriculum. LTG Caldwell could not make it in person so he sent the video and sent a couple of his staff to the conference.

After LTG Caldwell’s statement, JP gave a nice opening speech full of some ok humor and some really good laughs. Of course he has to have his own APPLAUSE sign, but hey you got to do what you got to do. JP had fun poking at me, CJ, and Matt Burden. Actually Matt has been the butt of jokes and ribbing all morning, but he takes it well because he knows it is with good intentions.

Andi from Spousebuzz and JP from milblogging.com

From there, we go into the first session titled, Areblogs still relevant? This panel is moderated by Ward Carrol from military.com and the panelists are Matt Burden, Phil Carter, CJ Grisham, and Greyhawk.