That friend who was just a virtual friend, who somehow found my blog (I can't remember how) and we bonded over book blogging and just sort of knew we were kindred spirits, and I feel like I link to her or reference her all the time, but now I've realized that I didn't actually ever write about how we met up over the summer, even though that was the best thing ever (how did I forget to blog about that)?
So anyway, now we are real life friends! And she's really super awesome and fun. For the past few weeks, we've been working on a super fun little project that was entirely Amy's idea, but you can better believe I jumped on this bandwagon as soon as she suggested it.
Drum roll please...
Basically, Blab is a new social media platform that combines a little bit of Google hangout, Periscope, Podcasting, and Twitter. It will be a little bit like a video conference call between me and Amy, but one that anyone (you) can view live and even comment on while the show is going on. Of course, if you can't watch the show live and participate, don't worry. We'll record each "episode" of our show and I'll post the video link with show notes a day or two after each show.
So, I'm sure you all have a million questions. I'll answer as many as I can preemptively think of.
Q. Wait, are you saying that you are participating in a really new social media BEFORE it's become a household name? Yes, I know. This is super weird. I've never been an early adopter of ANYTHING before, so this is kind of a big deal (and would not be happening without Amy). Is Blab going to be the next big thing to take over the internet? I have no idea. It might fizzle and die and then our show would be dead too. But for now, it's seems like a great platform for a low-key, fun little show.
Q. What is your show going to be about? Books, of course! Well, our first show is mostly going to be about us. We're going to introduce ourselves a bit, take turns asking each other random questions, that sort of thing. But after the first episode the focus of each show will be some book related topic or theme, like book awards, new releases we're looking forward to, books vs. movies, or whatever else strikes our fancy. Occasionally we'll probably do a mini book-club type episode where we both read the same book and talk about it, but that won't be every episode. Also we may even host guest interviews (!), but usually it will just be us talking about bookish things. We plan to end each show with a recommendation segment, where we both recommend our favorite books on a theme. So, if you're interested in watching two nerdy friends talk about bookish things, or interested in beefing up your to-read list with our recommendations, or interested in chiming in with your own thoughts on our topics, this show is for you!
Q. When? Great question. Our first show will take place one week from yesterday (eek!) on Thursday, November 19th at 9 PM Eastern Time, 8 PM Central Time, 7 PM Mountain Time, 6 PM Pacific Time. In other words, yes, we are competing with prime time television programming, because we think it will be that good (no, actually, it's because our kids will be in bed then so we can hopefully have a conversation without being interrupted). We plan to host the show on a monthly basis, but dates and times will likely vary (hello, we are busy moms here).We'll always try to announce at least a week ahead of time.
Q. How do I watch? So, if all goes according to plan, I believe you can just come right here to my blog next week and I'll have the link up and running to the live feed. Anyone can watch our show, but if you actually want to participate and comment, I think you might have to have a Twitter account to sign in (but I might be wrong about that, not sure). If you are unable to join us for the live show, you should be able to watch it at your leisure when I post the archived video afterward.
Q. Should we be expecting high quality programming here? Ack! Well, you should expect some fun and passionate nerdy book talk, but look, the whole point of this being a "live" show is that it will be not edited, not fancy (we are not techy people), and not highly produced. I've watched a few of these blabs now, and there are technical difficulties and mess-ups and minor little things like that because it's LIVE. That stuff happens. I'm already a little bit nervous about the idea of this thing, because, you know, it will be me in person. You will see me and hear me (so I won't be wearing pajamas, which will be a sacrifice, since as you know, that is the biggest perk of blogging) and it will be unedited and I'm just a little intimidated by that. But I'm also excited because it should be SO MUCH FUN! Even if no one watches the show, I'm just excited for the chance to hang out with Amy some more (albeit virtually).
Okay, that's all the questions I can think of right now. (Feel free to hop over to Amy's blog to check out her announcement of our project.) Just remember to mark your calendars and join us next week.Thursday, November 19th at 8 PM Central Time. I'll see you then (or, actually, you'll see me).
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