It’s something I often hear when I attend events where I’m invited for being a blogger: What exactly do I do? I know a lot of people are familiar with social media. And at one point or another, everyone encounters blogs when surfing the web. But not everyone is familiar with what a blogger does. More particularly, not everyone is familiar with what makes an event relevant to a blogger’s field of expertise.
Case in point: a few days back, I attended a meet-and-greet with the Aussie band Hi-5. After the usual question and answer session, it was the cast members’ turn to ask us what blogging was all about. I’m pretty sure they’re familiar with new media, as they do admit running their own Facebook and Twitter accounts. But perhaps what’s not clear to some of them is the relevance of our meet-up and interviews with them. Maybe they’re more used to the usual gatherings with the mainstream media, where they get featured in magazines, newspapers or televisions hows. Where does a blogger fit in the picture, then?
In my mind, what makes me a relevant part of this particular gathering is that I have pre-school aged kids, who are the very target audience of the band’s television show and upcoming concert tour. And I do run parenting blogs, too (both for Splashpress and my own). So for a publicist promoting a tour with this demographic in mind, I’m probably a very apt candidate for being part of a blogger meet-and-greet.
Sometimes, though, I feel as if I have to justify myself. “I run a tech blog,” I often explain when I attend gadget launches. “I run a lifestyle blog,” I say when I attend food tours. “I run entertainment blogs,” I explain when I get invited to movie premieres.
Some people I know carry Media ID cards given to them by colleagues in the mainstream media. These give them better access to events in which the organizers are perhaps more familiar with mainstream media, and not as familiar with new media. Hey, even blogging rockstars can be just ordinary people when they’re in the offline world. What more with the rest of us mortals?
How do you explain your credentials as a blogger? Or do you have to?
