I did it. I spoke to ‘my people’: bloggers and all those passionate about social media and getting the(ir) word out. BlogWorld, in Las Vegas….back again after my CrossVegas fest just a few weeks ago.

As I engaged with bloggers from around the globe, I was able to get out of my 'little' shell of cycling and learned of the content they write about and it's diversity. And it is as diverse as…well, anything on earth. It ranges wildly from politics to sex to sports to health to hobbies. When talking with another blogger your subject matter wasn't the core of the conversation as it was universally accepted between you as you engaged with other bloggers that you were sincere and focused on your area of expertise. You were sniffed out quickly if not. It truly was refreshing. You vibed on the passion of the other bloggers….1000’s of them. The counter balance were all those blogging for sheer profit. It’s not looked at as evil per se, just insincere. It’s an odd balance to strike when you are trying to be taken seriously.

So I reached out in my presentation to bloggers who were ‘long tail’ primarily. Those with limited visibility and trying to learn more about how to get their word out for various reasons…some related to monetizing as a side income, others that they feel in their heart they’ve got something to say.

The “Top 10 Blogosphere Trends” is what I went on about for 45 minutes breaking down some really interesting data….data which was used earlier in the day by Technorati CEO Richard Jalichandra for their  ‘state of the blogosphere’ report we contributed data to.

So how is all this relevant to Mud and Cowbells and cyclocross? Well it’s about obscurity, actually. And the fact that obscurity (a.k.a. the long tail) is becoming more and more mainstream. The community has voices and some voices become authoritative…whether controversially or with general agreement from the blog’s readership. I look at M & C as a voice with a passionate reader audience who contribute to the discussion…and thus the authority we collective create ion our subject matter: ‘cross. It’s truly inspiring. A really fuzzy line is being drawn between professional journalism and layman authoring. Much talk of the ‘professional blogger’ occurred at the conference and it is a term that I am just not comfortable with….yet by analysis of the data I fall directly into the demographic believe it or not.

So for those that are bloggers, I give you my preso from BlogWorld. It was recorded and I’ll get that media as well but here’s my deck. Enjoy!