This morning, I woke up to Jude’s post on Blogging, Friendship and Community. At first glance, you may think that you have read this post before. Jude is one of the six bloggers who attended the Bloggers’ Meet-Up on Vancouver Island this past July. While she does discuss the get-together (with some never seen before photos), she also goes on to ponder why people blog, what keeps them blogging, and ultimately how friendships and communities develop in our current world. It’s a very articulate and thought-provoking piece. I encourage you to read it here:
Retirement Reflections 
Thank you for sharing this post, Donna. I agree on how blogging develops connections and friendships. You made me smile on the “never before seen photos”. I added more thoughts to Jude’s site:)
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Hi, Erica – It has been fun to read all of our different perspectives and reflections on our meet-up. I look forward to seeing you again soon! 🙂
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It’s terrific to read six posts on the blogger meetup with unique views from each of the attendees. For me it’s like reading good short stories on a theme that I enjoy (blogging, friendship, and community). I left a comment on Jude’s site. Thanks, Donna, for sharing this post.
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Hi, Natalie – Thank you for commenting both on Jude’s site and here. I greatly appreciate your feedback. That is much better than you saying “Oh no, NOT another reblog on that meetup”! 🙂
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Yes, yes! I so agree. Wonderful that you were able to meet up with some of your blogging friends.
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Hi, Laurie – I’ve been very fortunate to be able to meet up with such wonderful bloggers in real life. If you ever find yourself on Vancouver Island, please do not hesitate to give me a shout!
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Will do!
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I wrote a long thoughtful comment on Jude’s blog … only to lose it. I didn’t have the heart to try and reconstruct it 😕 Am I the only one who chronically has challenges with BlogSpot?!!
The gist of my comment was that regardless of how clunky our initial foray into blogging might have been, ultimately those who stick with it understand that the point is simply to be ourselves and not worry about the approach used by others.
I think that’s why these meet-ups, like yours last month, work so well.
Meeting in person is simply a formality. The friendship was foraged long before the face-to-face.
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Your struggle with BlogSpot is shared by many. I have gotten in the habit (when I remember) of copying my comment until I’m sure it actually appears.
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Copying comments, and saving them until they appear, is a VERY good idea. I need to remember to do this!
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Great idea. BlogSpot is one platform that I never seem to get a published comment 😕
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Great idea!
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Hi, Joanne – These are very wise words. The friendships were forged long ago. The meet-up was simply another expression of that friendship.
I am sorry to hear that you had difficulties commenting on Jude’s original post. Thank you for taking the time to share the gist of that comment here. It is a comment that is very worth reading!
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Well said, Donna … ‘simply another expression of that friendship’ 🙂
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I also have problems commenting on Blogspot and lost many long thoughtful comments. Janis has such a great idea of copying the comment!
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I’m glad to hear that it’s not just me! I’ll have to try Janis’ idea in the future. Trying to reconstruct a lost thought is not so easy.
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Thanks, Sam – I like Janis’ idea as well. When I was self-hosted, technology errors and comment mishaps were a constant struggle for me. Knock on computer, since I switched from self-hosted, blogging has been so much easier for me (and, I believe, for my readers as well). 🙂
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Oh no Joanne, I’m sorry that you lost your comment. WordPress and Blogger do not play well together. Currently my pet peeve is that on many WordPress blogs I have to type in my full credentials for every single comment that I leave, which is very time-consuming.
What I have found works to not lose comments on Blogger is to 1) refresh the page before you comment 2) never use Preview to review your comment before posting it (it’s glitchy), and 3) if the comment disappears, hit the back arrow in the top left, and when your comment reappears select and copy it, then refresh and post the comment again. (Steps 1 and 3 also usually work for lost comments on WordPress blogs too unless they went to the spam folder.)
Jude
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Thanks Jude! It would never have occurred to me to simply hit the backspace to see if the comment would reappear!
I don’t think I’ve successfully left a comment on your space in a long time. Hopefully your suggestions will correct that 🙂
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If the backspace button works for each of us, that would be awesome. Fingers crossed!
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Great post! Thanks so much for sharing, Donna. I love all of the photos.
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Thanks, Jill – It was fun opening Jude’s post this morning and seeing shots of our meetup that I had not seen before.
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I was wondering if we’d hear from Jude about our get together. I hadn’t seen some of the photos before either.
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Hi, Janis – See what we started by meeting up 3.5 years ago. Who knew that all of this would evolve?! 🙂
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Looks like fun, Donna. Thanks for sharing Jude’s post. Once again, I picked up a few helpful nuggets. – Marty
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Thanks, Marty – I agree that Jude snuck is several wise nuggets in this post. Very worth the reblog! 🙂
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I have made some wonderful connections through blogging, Donna and I’m very excited that I will be adding you to my list of meeting Bloggers In Real Life. I love that distance doesn’t interrupt friendships formed. Have a lovely day, my friend. x
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Hi, Sue – I can’t believe that it is almost time for our meetup. I truly can’t wait!
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It’s wonderful to meet up with bloggers for a chat 🙂
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Thanks, Sam – I completely agree!
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I know you all had a good time and I commend you on getting the get together organized. I’ve always wanted to do such and although others have been interested we’ve just never seemed to come together. Ok, off to read Jude’s post now.
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Hi, Dee – I’m sorry that your blogger get-togethers didn’t work out (yet). Thank you for visiting Jude’s site. I greatly appreciate it.
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Donna, thanks so much for reblogging my post. And thanks everyone for all the thoughtful comments here and on my blog!
Jude
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Thanks for the introduction to Dr Sock. Jude has captured many of my “wish I knew’s” in her post.
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Hi, Jo – I thought that you and Jude would hit it off. I believe that you have many things in common.
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Have so enjoyed reading all the posts on this topic. Wonderful get together and so much fun reading all the recounts of it. Thanks for the intro to Dr. Sock!
So far have met TWO amazing women who follow our blog and vice versa. It was an absolute pleasure and very memorable.
Peta
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Hi, Peta – Thank you so much for dropping by and commenting. I promise that this should be the last post on this topic…at least I think that it is! 🙂
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Thanks for the heads-up Donna. I’m headed over there now. Happy Thursday!
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Hi, Christie – Thank you for dropping by Jude’s site. Happy Thursday to you too!
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