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In Ukraine, Blog Camp Draws 300 Bloggers from Seven Countries

Internews Ukraine Bloggers and new media experts met at the first international blogging conference held in the CIS/Baltic region - BlogCamp 2007.

(November 14, 2007) Close to 300 bloggers and new media experts from seven CIS and Baltic countries attended “BlogCamp 2007,” the first international blogging conference held in the region. During the 2-day conference held in mid-October, participants discussed blogs, online communications, social journalism and Internet marketing, among other topics.

The event, which was co-organized by the local NGO Internews Ukraine and Transitions Online, was dubbed a nonConference because of its informal, self-governing nature. Participants determined the schedule and topics of their presentations and organized registration and technical assistance.

The “BlogCamp2007” format was based on the popular “BarCamps,” an international network of user generated conferences, whose philosophy is to share information from the camps with the world.

The topics introduced by the participants included an investigation of the Ukrainian blogosphere, blog technologies, commercialization of blogs, and using blogs in marketing and PR.

 “To my mind, the format of “BlogCamp” proved its vitality,” commented Sergiy Petrenko, Director General of  Yandex Ukraine. “I liked that every half hour the session topics were changed. Also there was no strict agenda.”

Roman Ivanov, head of communication services of Yandex Russia, agreed. “BlogCamp provided an opportunity to discuss topics which came to mind unexpectedly,” he said.   

Samson Sholademi, journalist and well-known blogger from Russia, said, “In my opinion, the informal atmosphere gave all participants much positive energy, emotions and new ideas. I am glad that such an event was conducted.”

“BlogCamp 2007” was also supported by the Open Society Institute, Home PC magazine, Hi-Tech Pro magazine, InternetUA, eMobile magazine and PRP Ukraine.