Hey guys!

Good things always come in threes! Bloblive is making its third stop in Philadelphia. If you've missed the first two bloblive Philadelphia events, it's not too late to jump on the idea train and get your idea moving. If you're a bloblive veteran, you know bloblives are full of networking, creativity, innovation and fun. Join Philadelphia's fellow big thinkers who continue to inspire bloblive.

What have you been thinking about lately?

January 15, 2009 | 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM | McGillin's Olde Ale House | 1310 Drury Street, Philadelphia

Between Chestnut & Sansom Streets and 13th & Juniper Streets

Drink specials start when doors open at 6:00 PM

Idea sharing and live video streaming begins at 7:00 PM EST

Follow all of our bloblive events on Twitter.com/ideablob and tag your Tweet #bloblive to join the discussion.

Bloblive is an interactive idea sharing event where entrepreneurs come together to share their ideas, get feedback, and give advice to other entrepreneurs. It is a place where people are able to expand their minds in an informal and exciting environment. The event will be hosted by Ami Kassar, and he will definitely inspire you to think big and take action.

Ami Kassar escaped business school to launch Shop2Give, a philanthropic web startup in 2000. After the bubble burst, he moved east to join Advanta Bank Corp where he is currently the Chief Innovation Officer. He leads a team comprised of a multi-disciplinary force of creative thinkers committed to helping small business owners and entrepreneurs. He purposefully seeks out the impractical and improbable in order to push the boundaries within the company and the financial industry overall. These days, when he isn't focused on innovating, he's public speaking, dancing and spending time with his wife and kids.

Definitely make sure to stop by to share your ideas, and to expand your mind. If you are interested in scheduling an interview, please free to contact Jennifer Sherlock at jsherlock@advanta.com or by phone at 215-444-5592.

We held last night's blogger meetup in NE Philly at The Grey Lodge Pub.

Like the last NE Philly effort, a great time was had by those that came, but the numbers were underwhelming (both efforts - last year's and this years) - just 3 folks came out. This contrats from CC Philly meetups where 6 to 15 people are the norm with minimal reach out.

We'll be attempting to hold meetups across the entire city if my energy holds up. I think the more of us meet face to face and connect the better.

There are three reasons for the low turnout I can see:

1. There are more bloggers around Center City then NE Philly (doubtful)

2. NE Philly bloggers are less connected to the main veins of communication about meetups in CC (meetup.com)

3. NE Philly bloggers are less likely to meetup in the first place due to undetermined reasons (doubtful)

4. I didn't reach out in a way that would attract more bloggers (most likely - my communication skills leave much to be desired).

Now, it needs to be said that to some, NE Philly, West Philly, South Philly, North Philly, seem like they are on different continents from CC Philly. But each can be reached within minutes of each other. This is a big city, but not *that* big.

So it comes down to culture and communications.

Plan on two meetups next month, one in NE Philly and one in CC Philly. It may take a while to establish the NE Philly meetup, but it will be worth it.

On the same note, if you would like to help organize, let me know (I'll be replying to those who have already sent me emails hopefully later today). Lets get this started all across Philly :)

Thanks to those who came on by:

Scoats
Mark
Merecat

We had a great time, good conversation (and great fries and beer - The Grey Lodge Pub is a terrific spot for a night out), so it was a big success. May it grow into a larger one.

Be seeing you,

Karl

Comic Energy presents "Give Thanks To Sketch Comedy" a tribute to the
beloved craft that creates a tremendous amount of laughter.

Plan to be on hand to witness a re-enactment of the first Thanksgiving,
see a Jewish Pizza Shop, Krunkie's still trick-or-treating, the turkey's
revenge, and much much more.

"This show is a combination of the combined effort of our weekly shows at
Tori's with some of my favorite material I have written as of recently which
I am really looking forward to sharing with our crowd", says producer JD Daly.

It's no doubt that Comic Energy has been thriving since being named Philly's #1 Sketch Comedy Troupe, and MyFoxPhilly's Hot List winner for #1 comedy club. The troupe performs an all new 8-sketches
every Tuesday night at Tori's on South Street. Tickets for this weekly event are
available at the door, a resonable $5 entry fee to see Philly's best when it comes
to sketch and local standup comedians.

"Lets Give Thanks To Sketch" is a tribute to sketch comedy, coming from Philadelphia's
original sketch comedy troupe, and if your into comedy this will be one hot ticket!
Plan to be on hand to see some of the funniest sketch comedy you can
ever witness in person. Tickets are available through the Comic Energy website at
www.comicenergy.com...or by calling 215-514-7508.

Thank you for all of your support and we look to see everyone out for a
rockin good time Nov. 24th at Doc Watson's Pub (216 S. 11th
Street)...all of the fun begins at 7pm :)

We had a Northeast Philadelphia Meetup yesterday. We had a great time. As expected, turn out was small, consisting of only three folks Rose, Tony and myself. But then again, we didn't post it to the Meetup.com calendar, and I sent the email announcing it very, very late in game. The Center City Meetup started the same exact way. Small steps :)

Next month's NE Meetup is now scheduled.

Don't forget this upcoming Saturday's Center City Meetup.

To keep up with Philadelphia Meetup activity, we've launched a new channel on Philly Future.

Previously, get togethers were posted to the Events channel, but looking at the history of postings there, a reorganization made some sense.

After re-tagging anything posted to Philly Future that looked applicable tonight, one thing became clear, the terrfic job Scott has done since he took on the Center City Meetup's stewardship. Wow has it grown over the past couple years! Long may it continue to bring people together.

I'm hoping that the NE Meetup will take off in a couple months, and along the way will be looking for folks, in other neighborhoods, to start Meetups in their communities.

Hi everyone,

This Saturday the Center City Blogger Meetup will be gathering.

Many of you - me included - have not been able to make it. Some of have avoided the group because we perceive it as political (it's not), some because they don't like venturing into CC on a weekend, others, the scheduling has been pretty bad.

Me - I became a daddy (and got a herniated disk, had the day job get extremely busy, my mom almost died (a few times there - COPD), etc, etc - it's been a busy year).

Lets restart this conversation and make this happen.

We are all bloggers, we're all Philadelphians, regardless of race, regardless of religion, regardless of political persuasion - and we can hang out at someplace neutral - have a few beers (or wine, or soda, or bottled water - whatever your preference) and maybe make new friends.

That's the true power of the Web - beyond networking - beyond the holy dollar - it's the chance to connect.

To make this easy, lets just meet at Chickie's & Pete's on the boulevard, 3PM Saturday, same time as the CC Meetup. Long term we can move it to a different day, that way folks can make each Meetup if they wish.

Like the CC Meetup, this one will start small and develop a core of people that regularly attend. Hopefully, this will become the second in what will be blogging Meetups across the Tri-State area. So many of them, that it will be impossible to avoid scheduling conflicts, but more importantly, so many, that there will always be a pathway to get together with local Philly bloggers in your neighborhood - or someone else's.

The last time I put this out there I had hoped being the catalyst was enough. The conversation pretty much died. This time, well, as I mentioned previously, I'm back - I'm personally going to be there, and I'm really anxious to meet a bunch of you for the first time.

Stay tuned for a 'State of Philly Future' post. It's time to share the good, the bad, the ugly. Along the way, there's a lot to learn about running distributed online communities, learning from mistakes, and the wonder of the Web :)

Urbi et Orbi,

- Karl

P.S. - remember - it's Tuesday night, Drinking Liberally night. If you have a similar blogging related get together - tell Philadelphia and the world here.

March is here, and you know what that means: March Blogger Madness! That's right, a number of the best (and best looking) Philadelphia Bloggers will once again descend upon The Ten Stone to talk about blogging, Philadelphia, and whatever else strikes their fancy. You sure as heck don't want to miss out on the fun, do you?

Here is the info:

Saturday, March 17, 2007, 3:00 PM

Where:

Ten Stone Bar & Restaurant

2063 South St

Philadelphia, PA 19146

(215) 735-9939

Look for the bloggers in the semi-private back room, and make yourself at home. Please feel free to RSVP via meetup.com or by leaving a comment on this post.

Ah February, the month of love. And you know what? I'd love it (see what I did there?) if you would attend this month's Bloggers' meetup. There will be warmth, drinking, talking (some of which might be about blogs), and food.

Here is the info:
Saturday, February 17, 2007, 3:00 PM

Where:
Ten Stone Bar & Restaurant
2063 South St
Philadelphia, PA 19146
(215) 735-9939

Look for the bloggers in the semi-private back room, and make yourself at home. Please feel free to RSVP via meetup.com or by leaving a comment on this post.

Philly bloggers, you want to start the year off right, don't you? There is only one way to do that, my friends, by attending this month's Philly Bloggers' Meetup. Food, beverages, and bloggers all add up to a good time in my book.

Here is the info:
Saturday, January 20, 2007, 3:00 PM

Where:
Ten Stone Bar & Restaurant
2063 South St
Philadelphia, PA 19146
(215) 735-9939

Look for the bloggers in the semi-private back room, and make yourself at home. Please feel free to RSVP via meetup.com or by leaving a comment on this post.

I have been a bad event czar, it is true. Not only did I miss the last two Philly Blogger Meetups, but I neglected to remind folks that they were even happening. However, this month I shant forget! Join us for the Philly Blogger Meetup tomorrow, Saturday, December 16, 2006 at 3:00 PM for lots of fun.

Here is the info:
Saturday, December 16, 2006 at 3:00 PM

Where:
Ten Stone Bar & Restaurant
2063 South St
Philadelphia, PA 19146
(215) 735-9939

Look for the bloggers in the semi-private back room, and make yourself at home Please feel free to RSVP via meetup.com or by leaving a comment on this post.

South African filmmaker and artist in residence at Temple’s Institute on Disabilities, Shelley Barry will be presenting her new work at the Film and Media Arts Department on the Temple University campus, Thursday, December 7th at 7:30pm-9:00pm. Shelley's work ranges from traditional to experimental documentary, narrative and video art. She explores the cinematic aesthetics of filming from her wheelchair and also engages in subject matter that cross reference disability and sexuality. She is a recent graduate of the MFA program and has to date won 5 awards for her films during her student years. Shelley is also a published poet and has actively worked in her country as a disability activist serving the Presidencies of both Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki.
For more information on the films, contact Shelley directly.

DATE: 7 December 2006
TIME: 7:30-9:00pm
VENUE: RM 3, Basement, Annenberg Hall
ADDRESS: 2020 North 13th Street, Philadelphia , PA 19122

We invite you logon to the Disability Studies Meetup website, http://disstud.meetup.com/1 Once you are there, be sure to RSVP so we will know to expect you, and feel free to share your suggestions on ways to accommodate your needs.
Sponsored by the Institute on Disabilities and the Film and Media Arts Department at Temple University.

3:00 PM at Ten Stone Bar & Restaurant. More details here.

I'm sorry I haven't personally made a Meetup in quite a while, and this month still won't be able to make it, but that's no reason to stay away and get to hang out with your fellow Philly bloggers over a beer or two :) I'll be back in the mix shortly.

Remember, we're having a conversation to set up our second Meetup, this one in Northeast Philly. Take part in the discussion here. Lots of options.

This Saturday is the third Saturday of the month, and you know what that means: The Philly Bloggers' Meetup! Why wouldn't you want to spend a nice Saturday afternoon hanging out with bloggers? Check out the details and get ready to join us at The Ten Stone.

Here is the info:
Saturday, September 16, 2006 at 3:00 PM

Where:
Ten Stone Bar & Restaurant
2063 South St
Philadelphia, PA 19146
(215) 735-9939

Sadly, I will not be able to attend this meetup, as I have a wedding to go to (not mine, mind you. Ladies, I'm still single). Look for the bloggers in the semi-private back room, and make yourself at home Please feel free to RSVP via meetup.com or by leaving a comment on this post.

This Saturday is the third Saturday of the month, and you know what that means: The Philly Bloggers' Meetup! Why wouldn't you want to spend a nice Saturday afternoon hanging out with bloggers? Check out the details and get ready to join us at The Ten Stone.

Here is the info:
Saturday, July 15, 2006 at 3:00 PM

Where:
Ten Stone Bar & Restaurant
2063 South St
Philadelphia, PA 19146
(215) 735-9939

Just look for the guy that looks like me and you'll know you're in the right place. We will be in the semi-private back room, so don't fret if you can't see my very handsome face as soon as you enter the Ten Stone. Please feel free to RSVP via meetup.com or by leaving a comment on this post.

The Philadelphia Blogger Meetup, managed by Scott and held once a month in Center City has been a huge success. Each month participation grows and word has spread very far.

As such, I think it's time to encourage new meetups across Philly, and maybe even across our Tri-State area.

I've had very little time lately to trek downtown during weekends and know if a meetup were available somewhere in Northeast Philly, I'd have a higher likelihood of making it. I'm sure there are others out here like me.

So what say you folks? Are there enough of you that want to make this happen? Any volunteers that would like to join Scott in managing these new meetups? Any ideas for where to start them?

The Philly Bloggers' Meetup has come and gone. This month's was the best yet (and it doesn't matter that I say that after every meetup). How could it have been better? If you were there!

Sadly, you weren't, but these fine folks were:

• Marc from The Mantrilla Blog
• Joy from Clever Hack
• Tom from Tom Kim
• Michael from Online Sales Success
• Ashley from Pop Scholar
• Kate from Starting a Landslide in my Ego
• Ellen from The Sam and Becky Boo Show
• Melissa from SquarePeg
• Ben from overly connected
• Luna from Strolling Luna
• Owen from Asymptomatic
• Albert from Dragon Ball Yee and Messy and Picky
• Kate from Messy and Picky
• Tony from Merecat
• Marisa from Apartment 2024
• Yours truly from Blankbaby

We are joined by non-bloggers (like Thad) and former bloggers (like Wade Bloggs and Becky). It was one happening meetup, and next month's can only be even more fun