Dropped in at Blognomics conference in Amsterdam

This morning i received an email from Johnathon Marks alerting me to an NRC Handelsblad (a dutch newspaper) article on blogging in a business/political and social contexts. This was a half day gathering of mainly more corporate bloggers, some journalists and curious business people (half the room raised their hands when asked if they blogged). I was there with some others including Colby Stuart, Ton Zijlstra, Elmine and Nev .



What really was amazing was to hear about the fast uptake of blogging as a political/economic and social tool in France. Nev has covered this before as has Wired just recently. It's great to see a surge forward outside of this Anglo-centric world. We have such a lot to learn from each other across language barriers. So follow the links above to read on which newspapers in France have adpoted blogging wholeheartedly and also you can visit Loic Le Meur's site, the French alpha blogger and VP exec for Six Apart in Europe. He delivered the news to us at Blognomics and is also hosting Les Blogs early next week in Paris.

So how can I make this post that little bit diffferent from just repeating the same old news and making it more relevant in the context of Lifesized, the blog reporting on new social software tools that specifically address how to measure our ideas, beliefs and emotions. And related tools that help support the creation of the space needed for this exchange to occur. The bloggosphere is rising fast. It reminds me of an old Woody Allen movie called Sleeper, where Woodie Allen wakes up in the future after a routine operation goes drastically wrong, returning as a freedom fighter disguised as a household robot. He has to prepare canapes for a dinner party. Finds a box of instant desert mix, adds water, and the result is an overflowing creation that does not stop growing! Even though he tries to hit the pudding with a stick, it keeps growing - the bloggosphere is here to stay!.

Ilse Media presented a new widget on their site, although i could not find it while visiting, which is a very basic measurer of sentiment. It poses a question and lets you answer from a drop down list of emotions. This is supposed to be a thermometer of the nation's pulse. I need to perhaps go and talk with them as my PeopleStats application is exactly in this area, although, far more powerful, not wanting to blow my own trumpet too much. If you hear of any other polling applications out there please send them my way. The most interesting release for me in the upcoming period has to be opinion exchange. This might be a big one.