1- How did you get involved in this women’s blog project?
I was recommended as a trainer for this project by Patrice Barrat, who I met at a conference in New York last September and who was with us the first two days of the course. I’m here because I’m Chief Editor of Global Voices (http://www.globalvoicesonline.org), a project which monitors blog "conversations" round the world.
Through my work, I obviously know about blogs and how they work, but I also have experience in managing online communities. I live in Trinidad and Tobago, but as I was already in Europe in November attending a conference in Barcelona, the organisers took advantage of my being very close to Egypt to bring me over here.
2- What are your first impressions after one week of training?
I’m used to working in an environment where everybody has blogs and citizen’s media at their fingertips. When we discussed the topic at the beginning of the week, I realised that it was not the case for most of the participants in this programme, and that some even doubted the value of these new forms of expression. Nevertheless, after over a week of work, I am delighted to see these 20 women getting into the spirit of blogging and starting to wonder about content and opinion.
3- What are the motivations of these women from different cultural and social backgrounds? What has brought these European and Mediterranean professionals together?
Some members of the group have come to learn new technical skills to then integrate them into their work as a journalist. Others are aiming to train a community and see the blog as an arena for dialogue. Lastly, some see the project as the work of a journalist. If they have one point in common, I would say it is their determination to learn new things.
4- Have you already sorted out the graphics and an initial editorial line with these “bloggers"?
After much debate, we have outlined a very broad editorial line, the driving force of which being what interests and fascinates each participant, as well as what might interest our readers. We have nevertheless started to define specific topics of more universal import.
As for the graphics, since a blog is by definition an ongoing project, we decided to take advantage of all being together in Egypt, perhaps for the only time in our lives, to address more philosophical issues. Watch this space!