Lots happening around the 20 Something Bloggers community lately!

This post will help update you on what you may have missed, and what to expect in the near future.

Feedburner

If you were subscribed to the feed at our old blog hosted with Blogger, you’ll notice (hopefully) that you’re reading a new post from TwentyTwenty!  It took us a while, but across oceans and on the last few minutes of a laptop battery in the African outback we finally got our feeds worked out.  If you haven’t picked up the blog feed yet, please do!  You can grab it up at the top of the blog, or click here.

Badge Update

This is especially for all of you out there who are blogging on wordpress blogs that are not self-hosted…we finally have a badge for you to put in your sidebar!  The javascript “I’m a Member” badges don’t work in the wordpress environment unless you hosted your own blog, so lo and behold (and thanks to Nico) we have this:

If you need some help with getting it to work on your blog or sidebar, or getting it to link directly back to your profile, drop into the Tech Help forum and someone friendly with some tech skills will help you out!

Blog Swap

The Blog Swap will hit blogs next week.  If you’ve signed up, give us a minute and you’ll get an email and details on who you’ve been partnered up with.  Big thanks to Jon Bishop, who’s made the Blog Swap possible.

#20SB Tweetback Chat

Yesterday an impromptu feedback discussion started on twitter between 20SB members and moderators about features, events, and overall improvements to the community for old and new members.  It was incredibly helpful to the 20SB Team; we are very mindful of making 20SB a better place for everyone to hang out, get involved, meet new friends, and grown their readership.  Going forward we are going to try and have these Tweetback Chats regularly…we will shoot for monthly and see what everyone thinks.  The hashtag for those chats will be #20sb; that means you add #20sb to all your tweets during the conversation and the whole thing can be easily tracked using a tool like Tweetgrid.

In the meantime, if you have ideas for the network, please feel free to hit up the Community Team via email, twitter, or on the network.

Upcoming

Due to the Tweetback chat yesterday we quickly added an Event Calendar to the network.  Now you can see roughly when new events like next month’s Blog Carnival and Blog Swap will occur.  We hope this gives you an idea of when to expect these fun events so more people can get involved.  We will always announce these things here and via twitter too.  Make sure to follow 20SB on twitter!

New feature rollouts and improvements will continue as we get things functional.  Some features we are hoping to push forward include:

• a network Newsletter (which would resemble this blog post) to keep everyone updated on what’s going on
• a Featured New/Undiscovered Member award, much like our monthly Featured Blogger
• an improved voting system for all our voting needs

That’s it from us for now.

Keep on blogging and spreading the word about 20SB!

Thank you, fellow 20 Something Bloggers! The Carnival Team flipped (in a good way), when we saw just how many of you entered this month’s blog carnival, which was sponsored by the very benevolent Ben & Jerry’s!  Originally the deal was that the first 50 people to enter would be given a coupon for a free pint of Ben & Jerry’s new Flipped Out ice cream.  Well – that all changed.  Ben & Jerry’s saw how many of you were entering and decided to award ALL OF THE ENTRANTS with a free coupon!  Congratulations!

So many great entries were submitted that it literally took us hours to read all of the entries and picking our favorites was difficult (to say the least!).  Again though, Ben & Jerry’s came through, and instead of picking just six winners, we were able to choose seven.

Check out the following bloggers who chose to flip out their blogs and take us back to the beginning, and are the official winners of the Looking Back Blog Carnival, sponsored by Ben & Jerry’s Flipped Out Ice Cream:

Box of Jack

“I’ve been crying, she says. She admits it so easily.

How is it that I can figure out you’re lazy and manipulative when we’re not even close and we don’t know each other that well?”

Daisyhalos

“My kids know now, so the ‘cat’s out of the bag,’ so to speak. Now, it’s time to let you know what’s been going on in my life to the extent of what my children know.”

Distracted Spunk

“Most people on the East Coast are asleep now, and it’s not something I’m used to yet. I’ve been here two months, and I’m not used to being one of the few people online at the end of the night.”

Late Bloomer’s Revelations

“finals
the first few weeks of may
signifying the end of my freshman year of college”

Reeder’s Corner

“Thank you to everyone that sent me birthday wishes! I love that on a single day I get so much love… it’s awesome. I thought in honor of my birthday, I’d list the 25 things I’ve learned in 25 years – so here goes:”

The State That I Am In

“A little over five years ago I ran away from Los Angeles for the weekend and went to San Francisco by myself. It was a spur of the moment decision, I needed to get away and clear my head. I left about two hours after I decided to go, and called all the necessary people on the road. ”

Your Wishcake

“Much to my dismay (more so to my better half), I have come to the conclusion recently that there is a side of me that hasn’t manifested itself until this point in my life.”

I am Monica Geller.”

Each of these winners will receive 25 coupons for Ben & Jerry’s Flipped Out that they can in turn share with their readers for redemption in the United States.  Congratulations!

While you’re at it, follow Ben & Jerry’s on Twitter or catch them on Facebook!

Please check back soon to participate in the next 20 Something Blog Carnival!

If you hadn’t heard on twitter or in the blogger community, this month’s Blog Swap sign ups are open!  Last month we had over 140 bloggers matched up to swap blogs for a day and introduce themselves to a new audience.

It’s a blast, and you can sign up here!

Hey folks!  This is our interview with last month’s featured blogger, LiLu from LivItLuvIt!  We’ve pulled this month’s interview off in a more interview-y (yes, it’s a word) method, so we hope you enjoy.

Big thanks to Mom In Real Life for putting this together, too.

Without further adieu…LiLu!

What got you into blogging?

I’d been reading my heroine The Bloggess for months when I branched out and discovered that other (local, nonfamous) people did it too. Finally a good friend of mine bullied me into starting one of my own, and I’m so glad he did. It took me a while to get going and find my rhythm (that’s what she said), but I feel like I have now and I wouldn’t trade the community I’ve found through it for anything.

How long have you been blogging?

Since Sept 07, so a couple years, give or take.

What has your experience been on 20sb.net?

Well, MINE’S been fantastic, because they were kind enough to feature me last month! Kidding aside, though, it’s been great- it’s nice to be able to search for groups that relate to things I’m interested in, and the message boards always provide some much-needed distraction when I’m at work. I only wish I could have made the meet-up, but there’s always next year!

After people have read your blog (and of course loved it) what blog/website should they go to next?

Hmmm. I’d probably send them over to my homegirl and Facebook wife, Maxie… if they want more of MY sense of humor, that’s their best bet to find it.

What is it like being a 20sb in DC during these times?

It’s exciting, actually. We’re just now being recognized as a mainstream entity; not just weirdos lurking behind a computer screen. We are a huge group of impressionable consumers who read each other, and the corporate world is beginning to acknowledge the value of that and respect/reward us for it… which, yeah. That’s really freaking cool. WE ARE THE POWER!!!

What is the most surprising moment that has happened as a result of your blog (friendship, meetups, crazy stalkers, etc)

The most surprising thing, for me, has definitely been the friends I’ve made. My best girl friends in the area are ladies I’ve met through the blog, which is awesome and amazing and I will totally milk it for all it’s worth, because I now can’t imagine my lives without them. And I have had absolutely ZERO crazy stalkers, WTF is up with that? Maybe because I’m so crazy myself…

What would you tell your past blogger self now that you’ve been blogging for a couple of years?

The first thing I would tell myself as a new blogger is to study up on your blog etiquette. Other bloggers feel very, very strongly about the things in that post! Make your page user friendly and easy to read before journeying into the blogosphere. Then, don’t be scared! Write honestly, comment honestly, and don’t be shy… bloggers don’t bite, and we all love feedback/making connections of any sort. I’m always astonished and appalled when someone says something like “I imagine you’ll never see this comment since it’s so far down…” I read each and EVERY comment, and truly appreciate the time someone took to write it.

What is the one picture you have that really captures YOU?

Oh, lord. This is gonna be hard… but it’s probably the one that was on my 20SB profile forever, of me being goofy and stuffing my face with cheeseburger. That about covers it.

What is the one picture that you have that you would NOT want your readers to see (I triple dog dare you to send that one too)?

Now THIS one, I knew exactly what to send… if wearing this kind of Snuggie-licious joy on my face isn’t embarrassing as hell, I really don’t know what is.

The world needs a hero, what is you superhero name and your superpowers?

Ooo, I’ve already blogged about this, actually. I’d probably be called “Mistress Shartster”, and I have the power to make anyone shit their pants! Think about it… everyone would bow to you… or poop themselves. Awesome sauce.

And finally, do you have anyone you want to give a shout out to?  It can be of the “Look at me now bitches” style.  Don’t worry, this is a safe place.

I’ll shout out to every last one of you who, for some reason, seems to find me entertaining and has stuck around at my lil ole corner of the innerwebs. You rock my socks off.

(No, really. They’re all the way across the room!)

A big thanks to LiLu for the time.  If you haven’t, go over and check out her blog!

Originally posted here: Normally, this post would go up on the TwentyTwenty blog as an official “thank you” to the brands who got involved with our recent 20 Something Bloggers Ultimate Meetup in Chicago. It will be re-posted there, and that may be where you’re reading this.

I know that everyone who was involved with the four days we spent in Chicago last weekend were grateful and flattered that so many groups had an interest in helping to make the weekend enjoyable and exciting. 20 Something Bloggers is not a network of professionals, it’s a community of friends. It’s a young community founded two years ago, and it’s one in which even the simple act of donating a sticker or funky water bottle is still wholly unexpected.

The reason, however, that this post is here, on my personal blog, is because this “Thank You” is an intimately personal one.

It’s from me to the groups that worked with me to bring this weekend together, because now that the dust has settled and I look back on eight months of successes and failures I realize that the one thing I wanted to happen with this weekend gathering was to show bloggers and the world that there was a real community among twenty somethings.

I spent countless hours working out details for Chicago, simultaneously upgrading our network so that anyone who thought our group was a good fit for their brand or message would see a welcoming online world that matched the offline dynamic of our meetups. The brands and teams that I’m directly thanking today justified that hard work, and in my opinion are at the forefront of Generation Y marketing and engagement.

To every single one of the people who stepped up and contributed to our meetup; I am deeply, deeply thankful.

Specifically, I want to point out the efforts of a few organizations who went out of their way to be a part of last weekend.

Brand About Town has been busily touring the country and engaging bloggers (lots of our 20SB members, in fact) as brand ambassadors for their clients. They are on the forefront of digital engagement. Along the way they caught wind of our meetup, and even though it was a very last minute connection they went out of their way to get on board and help us make the weekend a success.

Farmstead Wines, founded by Anthony Nicalo, was involved in this meetup from the minute it was conceptualized. A rare artisan wine importer, Farmstead hosted us for a fun and educational wine tasting on Saturday afternoon. You should really follow them on twitter, and you should be ordering your wine from them. A true master of their craft, Farmstead has a personal, face-to-face relationship with every farmer/vinaroon with whom they work.

The Chopping Block, a premier Chicago recreational cooking school housed our wine tasting, and after a hot trek across the city it was really nice to walk into a spacious, airy kitchen that anyone would dream of having in their home. Their very big, very beautiful home. Everyone who worked there was extremely helpful and a wine tasting in a dream kitchen was really the perfect Saturday afternoon respite for a group who’d been sightseeing for two days. TCB is getting is on twitter as well! A great foodie follow.

Rebel Bar & Grill, a Chicago establishment in Wrigleyville, hosted us on Friday night for our ice breaking cocktail mixer that turned out to be a huge success. We had a huge turn out, and I want to specifically Dan Latino, the bar owner, for being such an incredible resource to me time and time again. Danny’s completely reliable, flexible, and actively interested in building relationships with his customers, and for that reason I keep going back to him. His staff reflects that…they’re all funny and friendly and constantly searching for ways to improve your experience. If you’re local, I enourage you not just to check out one of their bars, but seek out Danny or a manager, because they want to meet you.

And finally, TweetupBadges, a really cool and more importantly a really responsive badge producer provided us with name badges for the weekend, which have popped up in lots and lots of our weekend photos (check out the TweetupBadges Flickr group). The badges were worn proudly, sparked lots of questions about our meetup and blogging in general, and if you knew how quickly I was able to send proofs to Rich, the owner, and get these things in my hands you’d be absolutely floored. He even went to our community front page and pulled a color scheme and header image which turned out to be a much better look for the badges and the one we went with.

This is just a few of the many groups that became a part of last weekend’s blogger meetup. Jenn, who I adore for her help in planning and making the weekend run smoothly, just wrote a great post recognizing some of the others, and she’s even giving away some of our extra swag. Head on over there to check it out!

In the end, it was a wonderful weekend, and I’m happy to have been a part of such a monsterous collaboration.

If you feel the urge, please leave your comments and thanks for these and the other brands or people involved in the comments!

Congratulations to Alexa of Cleveland’s A Plum! She is the 20sb Featured Blogger for the month of July.  20sb fans of Alexa nominated her for this award and their votes have put her on the front page of 20 Something Bloggers! Go on! Read her!

The 20sb Featured Bloggers are voted by their peers every month. Your favorite not featured yet? Then vote for them here!

A huge thanks to the groups that have been involved with us as a group of bloggers, especially to Brand About Town, an innovative marketing company that is a darling among our bloggers, and The Chopping Block and Farmstead Wines, whom provided us with a great Saturday afternoon wine tasting.

This weekend’s meetup was amazing!

Having just “finished” planning a blogger meetup in Chicago that those of you not attending are probably a little sick of hearing about, I thought I’d shed some insight on what that process was like, and how it might be done better. I think that 20 Something Bloggers is very unique in the way that it fosters quite a lot of offline blogger interactions.

20SBers want to hang out together! When it’s just a handful of bloggers who live in the same general area, planning a meetup is a pretty simple task. When, Where, Who, and How Will We Know Each Other? When you all know the area, this is easy as pie.  Becoming Facebook Friends a week in advance even saves on the identification issues.

Bigger meetups can be more challenging. These aren’t your everyday friends…you don’t know exactly where people are coming from, how they’re traveling, or how well they know the areas you know.  You don’t know their budgets.  One or two might actually hate sushi (gasp!).

In these cases, I definitely have some advice.  Lots of advice, in fact, so I’ll stick to just the basics for this post.

1. The Coalition: It’s best to form a coalition of locals who want to do something fun together, before contemplating a truly epic blogger meetup that invites people in from out of town.  Every meetup needs a group of instigators who will handle the details.  People who know the area and can help everyone else get to where they need to be.  For some, attending a blogger meetup is fretful enough…you’re meeting people from the internet, after all.  Driving around in circles looking for a restaurant only adds to the discomfort.
2. Give It Time: The more lead time you give a blogger meetup that involves, say, more than 10 people, the more successful it’ll be.  Every meetup inevitably has last minute adjustments, but especially if you want to entice out-of-towners to make it, give them some time to make travel plans.
3. Don’t Go Remote: Pick a spot that’s got other options.  If you decide to meet up for dinner, pick a place with some back ups nearby, in case the group gets too big on you or the place just doesn’t work.  It happens…trust me. In addition, when dinner is done, you’ll have a few places nearby to grab drinks or dessert…conversations sometimes need a jump start and moving locations is a great ignitor.
4. Use Tools: Even the smallest get-together benefits from using online tools.  On our network, we’ve launched the Events tool to aid with local and larger meetups and tweetups.  Facebook is a great event planner.  A tool like Twtvite works great for basic tweetup planning.  The days of mass email planning are long gone, friends.  Use these tools because they make life easier for you and your attendees.  You need to have an “official” source of information.
5. Talk About It: It might seem obvious, but make sure you’re mentioning your gathering as the event gets closer.  Things fall out of my head pretty easily…if I hear about your meetup a couple times over a month, one of those times I will probably be in front of my calendar.
6. Blog Stalk, Or Don’t: Some people believe that to meet a blogger, you need to have their life history down.  I haven’t found that to be the case…sure a little background on who someone is can’t hurt, but a room full of bloggers is usually filled with “So who are you?”s and nerd talk about twitter, blogger platforms, and anonymoty.  As a blogger, you’re already far more prepped for meetup chatter than you think you are.

There you have it…the basics to a meetup.  The main ingrediant is fun bloggers, which fortunately tend to be the same bloggers that like to go to meetups.  Blogger meetups are sort of a ready-made funbomb in that way.

Stay tuned, because when our Chicago meetup is over, I’ll probably expand on this to include advice for multi-day meetups with hotels and sponsorships.  That’s an entirely different ballpark!

Leave your own meetup and tweetup tips and ideas in the comments!

So, we know there’s been a bit of down time on the Blogger Carnival lately, but now we’re back up and at ‘em.  If you aren’t clear on how a Carnival works, there’s an explanation at the bottom of this post!

There is actually a bit of a twist this time. The topic this month will be “Looking Back“; we actually want to see who you were when you first started blogging. We’ve partnered with Ben & Jerry’s this month as they premier their new line of Flipped Out ice cream that’s opened from the bottom so the cookies and fudge at the bottom of the container can be enjoyed first.  That’s right guys!  We’ve got prizes!  Free ice cream!

Here’s how you participate: Flip out your blog and pick a post from your first 2 months in blog-land that shows your mentality and outlook from the onset of your blog. New bloggers (anyone that has been around for 6 months or less), don’t worry – you can still participate – just submit a post from your first 2 weeks. Re-post that post to your blog.  Show your readers your past. Be sure to mention the Blog Carnival!

Important: This sentence needs to appear somewhere on your post, just to make sure every one knows what’s going on:  “This post is a part of 20SB’s Looking Back Blog Carnival, and Ben & Jerry’s is awarding free ice cream to lucky bloggers and readers!”  You can link back here for details or explain it all on your blog.

On to the prizes: Ben and Jerry’s has graciously donated coupons for their new line of Ice Cream – Flipped Out. The first 50 entries will get 1 free coupon (so get your entry in now!), and then the 6 posts that the Carnival Team picks will get 25 coupons each, to be shared with your readers! You can dole out the coupons however you like.

To enter, just email Carnival.20SB@gmail.com with “Carnival: Looking Back” in the subject line. Email the link to the post you want to submit, as well as the link to your 20SB profile. If you’re not a 20SB member, join now, so you can send in your entry!

Entries should be in by June 30; we’ll announce the winners during the first week of July.

Good luck, and have fun. We’re all excited about seeing who you were ‘back then’…

- Carnival Managers:  CurlySu (@susannaloewy) & Fantabulously Frugal (@fantabandfrugal)

For those of you who are new around here, the Blogger Carnival is a way for you to introduce yourself and your writing to everyone else. We pick a topic, you write a post (on your blog) related to that topic, and submit to our Carnival Mangers a link to your post.  Then we read through the submissions and showcase some of the most interesting entries.