Married to the MOB

I arrived late —around 8 pm — at this year's Minnesota Organization of Bloggers (MOB) reunion party at Keegan's, but it was like walking into a place where everybody knows your name. Quintessential MOB host Mitch Berg (Shot in the Dark and Northern Alliance Radio Network) hailed me immediately, introduced me to several new MOB members, and collared several who already knew me to let them know I had arrived.

I had some great conversations with Dan McGrath from Minnesota Majority, who asked me to add Dan Conry's web sticker to the sidebar of this blog (done). It was great to see fellow west metro bloggers Derek Brigham, Nancy LaRoche, and Guy Collins from Freedom Dogs. I got a hearty "ahoy" from Captain Fishsticks, a.k.a. Craig Westover from the Minnesota Free Market Institute. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to greet David Strom and Margaret Martin (also of the Minnesota Free Market Institute) before they left. Also present were a number of blog readers wanting to meet and greet MOB authors in person.

Minnesota has a vibrant blogger community, especially around the Twin Cities where a conservative offshoot of the MOB has its own web site, True North (which I helped to establish). It feels more like a community rather than merely a blogroll after an official gathering at Keegan's. The MOB counts among its members political activists mostly of the center-right, media personalities, lawyers, nonprofits, libertarians, and just plain folks. It is free speech and "peer production," as they call it nowadays, at its best. Being a member of the MOB has introduced me to many fascinating people whom I never would have met otherwise.

Thanks to Brian "Saint Paul" Ward (Fraters Libertas), Mitch Berg, and all members of the MOB for establishing and maintaining our merry band of bloggers.

See Freedom Dogs and Shot in the Dark for detailed recaps. There are also photos and comments on the MOB Party Facebook page.