<rant>

I keep getting invites to these blogger conferences.

I've been to a couple of blogger conferences. These schmoes are used car salesmen. Okay, no, I don't mean that, but seriously. Everything is about how to make money. Listening to the conversations, they don't care about the political/religious/moral/environmental/whatever viewpoint they are espousing, they laugh at their loyal fans and fervent followers.

They're cutting edge; brilliant marketing and technical skills. You would not believe the number of hours, and dollars, they put into their bleading edge blogwares and websites. They're constantly working on new and innovative concepts to show they're more informed, cooler, attractive. There is no doubt in my mind that the blogging industry represents some of the highest developments of IT.

There's this extreme cachet to being able to say one is a "pro blogger," I just don't get it. The ability to be cynical, often rude, and an obsession with what others are saying about you and your intellectual "turf"... well, I probably have the pre-requisites, but I usually prefer to not be rude. I guess what I really lack is the absolute drive to make money from a blog.

I'd rather focus on communicating than making money off my audience, thank you very much.

</rant>