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Milblog Convention round up

by Jonn Lilyea••29

Overall, I had a real good time at the Conference. Our reputation as the “Susan Lucci of the Milbloogie Awards” remains intact since we were nominated four years in a row and still haven’t won. Here are the winners by category;

Best U.S. Army Blog; The Rhino Den
Best U.S. Military Spouse Blog; **Wife [Widow] of a Wounded Marine**
Best U.S. Military Parent Blog; Semper Fi Parents
Best U.S. Military Supporter Blog; Character Does Matter
Best U.S. Marine Corps Blog; One Marine’s View
Best U.S. Navy Blog; USNI Blog
Best U.S. Coast Guard Blog; Ryan Erickson
Best U.S. Air Force Blog; Aim High Erin
Best U.S. Military Veteran Blog; You Served
Best U.S. Reporter Blog; The Unknown Soldiers

We compete in a very tough category so I wasn’t really surprised that we got beat. But heartfelt congratulations to CJ, Marcus and Troy at YouServed. And thanks to all of the folks who expressed their disbelief that we didn’t win. I don’t really ever expect to win because we piss everyone off eventually. It’s the nature of this blog and the reason we blog with disregard to the conventions. I also don’t read other blogs, nor do I know what they’re doing, because I want to remain independent. I urge you to read them all, though. They all provide an important dimension to the conversation.

And, of course, I’m a pariah at the conference, now, because I did what I said I was going to do – I called out Rick Maze of Military Times, Brandon “Beeker” Friedman, and that Tarantino guy from IAVA. Rick Maze told the absolutely fabricated story about how I made his dead mother cry because we wrote “vile” things about him. Here’s the link to the “vile” things we said. The only thing that I can figure he considers vile is the truth about him manufacturing quotes. If the truth is vile at the Military Times, I don’t think I’ll be reading it anymore.

StrikeFO took this video of the whole encounter;

My whole point was that Maze shouldn’t have been invited to the conference at all, because he has no interest in veteran’s benefits. He kept calling for a “shared sacrifice” from service member and veteran to help balance the budget. “Shared” hints that there’s someone besides the Defense Department that is sacrificing, too, but that’s not happening. The budget is being balanced by cuts to defense, solely.

Beeker and I hugged it out afterwards, over lunch. So we’re cool. But he pissed me off on the panel because the only excuse he had for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs being screwed up was “It’s Bush’s fault” not that he said that, but he hinted at it.

But I got to spend the whole weekend with my editors from Business Insiders, Robert Johnson and his lovely and delightful wife, Jenna and the equally lovely and delightful Eloïse Lee, my handler, and they got to meet almost all of the bloggers there. I hope they enjoyed themselves, because I certainly enjoyed spending the conference with them. They were a great substitute for not having TSO and his wife around. And Jamie – it just wasn’t the same without USO Girl Jamie there.

Robert is an Army veteran and manages the Military and Defense vertical at Business Insider, that’s unique because it hard to find a journalist who ha military service and actually write about the military.

I also got to meet the Mad Medic known to readers around here as Doc Bailey, and StrikeFO who writes at the Duffel Blog.

Doc Bailey was saving the world one person at a time. While we were socializing at the Carpool, one of the locals keeled over (I know he has a knot on his head from falling straight back onto the concrete floor). Doc moved so fast that I didn’t even see him rush around the table (if you knew how big Doc is, you’d think it was amazing that I didn’t see him) and treated the guy until the EMS folk arrived. The next day, Doc won a $100 Visa card in the raffle, so I guess karma was working it’s magic.

Participation was anemic compared to years past (I’ve been to all of the Conferences except one), so I hope the folks who plan these things take more time planning which weekend they pick for next year and listen to the bloggers when they express concerns about the dates. But I enjoyed myself and got to see all of the people I wanted to hang with again.

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29 thoughts on “Milblog Convention round up”

  1. Yeah, Mother’s Day weekend for a conference…bad idea.

    And Maze isn’t gonna be friends with us anymore? Fuckin pity.

  2. Jeez, Jonn, it sounds like you could use a little decompression time blowing shit up at the HHC 🙂

  4. I’ve been to two, the first one and the fourth one… There is a lot of good that has come out of the milblog community, and there are a whole bunch of men and women whose lives are better because of the attention and good work by the “usual suspects”.
    Unfortunately, there has also arisen a few “cults of personality”; some folks who have amassed enough “star power” to wash out the “little guys”… (I will allow a wee bit of resentment to escape, because I wasn’t blogging to gain a prize, but it turns out that there was a competition… And when afforded a chance to rub elbows with the “top dogs”, I was pretty much shunted aside. Wasn’t really a big deal, I didn’t have anything earthshaking to say, but while a relative few were soaking up the limelight, it soured the experience for me. My last milblog conference I attended when I got back from a year in Iraq, and the “spark” just wasn’t there… By then the “top dogs” had been identified, and I wasn’t a part of it anymore…
    It’s all good, and I’m not holding a grudge, but that’s my reason for stepping back away from the circus.

  5. I don’t know Jonn, you did say he looked like a snot nosed kid who has been caught lying. If anything could make a mother cry…..
    /sarc

  6. This is still my favorite place to lurk, I don’t care what the voting says. 🙂

  7. Jonn, you are a big meanie head. (sniff). How could you say VILE things about that poor little boy? (sob) I know they were VILE things (sniffle) because he used the word VILE about a dozen times in that video.

    Of course, I read the post he was referring to, and to paraphrase “The Princess Bride”; I don’t think that word means what he thinks it does.

    At the risk of being VILE, if Maze can’t take the truth he should keep his manjina home.

  10. Oh and yeah, I am always happy to be a bridesmaid in the milbloggies. White is so not my best colour!!! 😉

  12. Don’t feel bad Jonn. WOTN has never made it past a nomination either. I’d still vote for TAH as best of class, if participated in any capacity.

    Good to see you challenge the partisans on that panel, but why did you pull your punches?

  14. Jonn:
    This is a great blog. Being the Susan Lucci of milblogs isn’t too bad. Susan Lucci is hot!

  15. Hell my mom has called me worse, and if what you (truthfully) said about him was enough to send her shuffling off her mortal coil, well….

  17. Jonn, if she cried, it was because she had proof that her son had been making things up, not any “Vile” thing you had uttered. In that post, you seemed very mild-mannered compared to your norm, but you did demonstrate proof of your points.

  18. I don’t really ever expect to win because we piss everyone off eventually. It’s the nature of this blog and the reason we blog with disregard to the conventions.

    And why I feel so “at home” here.

    I see Maggie got a hug in for me. Doc Bailey said he tried? Hugging Beaker don’t count, BTW.

  19. Great meeting you Jonn — and the rest of the great folks at the Mil Blog conference. Definitely a worthwhile experience. I think the highlight — besides Jonn getting up and calling it like it is — was Col McGhee of the Tuskegee Airmen.

  20. Dude, Susan Lucci was nominated 19 times before she won in ’99. NINETEEN TIMES. And I thought you won last year? Or was it B5 and they wanted to give it to you? I just know you guys should have an award on your mantle. Seriously.

    I listened to the livestreaming of the first panel before I bailed and I don’t recall much said about milblogs. This WAS a milblog conference, right?

  21. Strike, it was great meeting you, and laughing about LT HE wishing she knew how to use a compass when she came in. ha ha

    John, Also a pleasure. Thanks for the mention but really it wasn’t that big a deal (did get a free drink out of it)

    I got to meet the Powerpoint Ranger, and Uncle Jimbo, i tell ya I felt like a Goldfish thrown in the Pacific ocean.

  23. I find that invoking your dead mother crying about a post by the person standing in front of you as the reason you are not going to answer a question is really a lame move by a pussy. You were up there to answer questions, Maze, so answer them. Don’t be acting like you have sand in your vagina and get all indignant just because someone that has criticized you in the past is now asking you a question in front of a room full of people. Cowboy up or get your whiney ass off the panel.

    Google this comment, Rick.

  26. Dang! I missed the whole medic adventure. I wonder if that was before or after our little clump got thrown out of the Carpool…. But, yep. It was a good time socially. Make that, a great time. The panels? Not so much. WTH was up with those MSM-types talking to bloggers about the travails of writing for Big Media? *snoooorrre….*

  27. Don’t know for sure, of course, but presumably the panel was being paid by someone to answer questons or pass along information to those who paid to be there to get those questions answered or receive that information.

    So instead those who paid to be there were insulted by those who were being paid to be there?

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