Blogging Master Class: 2 December
21 Nov 2008 | Filed Under: Boot Camp + Ireland + Marketing
Everyone who attended the Train the Trainers course in August agreed to offer their own free class in turn, and I’m fulfilling my promise to Damien Mulley by holding a Blogging Master Class on 2 December, 2008 in Cork. This is an excellent opportunity to meet other bloggers, learn some new blogging skills, and get your arse kicked by me without having to pay for it like normal clients do.
What’s a Master Class? It’s a term from music education and refers to a particular format for learning:
The difference between a normal class and a master class is typically the setup. In a master class, all the students (and often spectators) watch and listen as the master takes one student at a time. The student usually performs a single piece which they have prepared, and the master will give them advice on how to play it, often including demonstrations, and admonitions of common technical errors. The student is then usually expected to play the piece again, in light of the master’s comments.
And whilst I’m not pimping myself as a blogging master (there is no such thing), that’s broadly what we’ll be doing. Over the course of the afternoon, we’ll take four people’s pre-prepared blog posts in turn, and edit for content, formatting, voice and technical details like images and linking. As with a traditional master class, this will be an actual, hands-on learning experience. Unlike a traditional master class, there will be no cellos, but there will be lots of group participation.
That will take two or three hours, and we’ll wrap up with a mini-workshop on maximising and marketing your blog, because when you put that kind of effort into your posts, God knows you deserve some readers.
The workshop will cover:
- What and when to blog
- Writing compelling content
- Using categories and tags effectively
- Learning from statistics
- Promoting your blog
- Strategic linking
- Cheap and cheerful tools
Although the exercises are always good practice, this course is more geared towards business bloggers than personal bloggers, and preference for hands-on editing will accordingly be given to those blogging in a commercial capacity.
Date: 02 December, 2008
Time: 1 – 5 PM
Venue: Lancaster Lodge, Washington Street, Cork
Cost: Free. Woo hoo! Parking also free
Bring: Laptop, wifi thingie, draft blog post
So if you’d like to come along, please click here to register – I’m happy to do this with a minimum of three people and maximum of twelve, and I promise it will be fun.
And that yes, there will be fag breaks.
Update: There are three eight people signed up already, so this gig is definitely on. Woot!
Phil says:
oh this sounds great, good for you for putting it on.
Friday, 21 November, 2008, 8:28 pmDamien Mulley says:
Fantastic, delighted to see this happening. I can go asking about for rooms if you wish.
Saturday, 22 November, 2008, 11:49 amJoe Scanlon says:
Really looking forward to this – It will help greatly to get me started i feel :-)
Saturday, 22 November, 2008, 7:46 pmThanks!!
Joe
Keith Shirley says:
OK – Fingers crossed – I just registered.
I thought Damien’s idea was very interesting and I was too late to register for his training.
Sunday, 23 November, 2008, 12:15 amRed Links 24/11/08 : Alexia Golez says:
[...] is giving a free blogging masterclass in Cork next [...]
Monday, 24 November, 2008, 6:09 amDamien Mulley » Blog Archive » Fluffy Links - Monday 24th November 2008 says:
[...] to learn about blogging in Cork before Christmas? Chat to [...]
Monday, 24 November, 2008, 6:17 amAedan says:
Hi Sabrina – Thanks for organising this. Just registered. Really looking forward to it.
Monday, 24 November, 2008, 1:10 pm– Aedan
WillKnott.ie » Blog Archive » Dance, give, type and nom. says:
[...] Dent (probably accompanied by Emer the I wonder dog) is actually a Master. She is going to give a masterclass in blogging on December 2. The difference between a masterclass and a class is that the pupils get to stand before the rest [...]
Monday, 24 November, 2008, 9:33 pmCiara Crossan says:
D’oh!!! Don’t think I can make it, there’s a clash with Genesis CORD Interview. Sorry lovie, but at a chance to scoop €20K from Enterprise Ireland I really can’t skip it! :(
Tuesday, 25 November, 2008, 1:03 amSabrina Dent says:
Oh noes! Ciara we’ll miss you – might sort out some kind of video or something but yuck.
Anyway, there are ten as of now so that’s grand. I’ll close the registration form when the room’s packed if we get that far. Really looking forward to seeing you all on the day!
Tuesday, 25 November, 2008, 2:30 pmSteph says:
Would love to attend but alas, must turn up for work in smelly Dublin that day. Best of luck with it :)
Tuesday, 25 November, 2008, 3:01 pmDave Allen says:
is this for beginners? I’m setting up a blog for my sister at the moment. Won’t be ready for another week tho. I think this course might be too soon. I think I’ll just give her my own crash course on Wordpress.
Tuesday, 25 November, 2008, 11:25 pmAnn Donnelly says:
Do participants then need to give a class in something in the future?! Would like to meet some of you guys and pick up some tips.
Wednesday, 26 November, 2008, 10:18 pmSabrina Dent says:
Dave, it’s not a WordPress class, sorry – it’s open to beginners but it’s really about the content and not the platform.
Ann, no, you don’t have to give a class at all. We’d love to see you!
Wednesday, 26 November, 2008, 10:31 pmSabrina Dent: Pixel Pushing Ireland » Master Class Format for the Win says:
[...] are the presentation slides for yesterday’s Blogging Master Class. Though they only formed a small part of the course, I fully intended to get them up last night. [...]
Wednesday, 3 December, 2008, 10:52 am