This is something I’ve wanted to do for some time now, and I’m happy to kick it off at LIFT: provide a crash-course in blogging for non-bloggers.

I know many people attending LIFT are already seasoned bloggers like myself. Most people reading this post probably are. I wanted to offer something to those who are not so immersed in the web as us.

So, basically, this is a three-hour workshop to open a blog (from scratch, I plan to use Wordpress.com), twiddle the basic settings, learn how to publish, and talk about blogging. I’m always amazed that though the media now sing “blog, blog, blog” in every publication, many people haven’t really had a chance to get near one and see how technically easy publication is.

So, if you know anybody who is going to LIFT and isn’t (yet) a blogger… send them to my workshop ;-)

Quoting from the workshop description, here’s the stuff it’ll cover:

First, on the “blogging technique” side:

• opening your blog
• discovering the various options and settings offered by the blogging tool
• how to publish a post or a page
• linking to blog posts or websites
• organizing one’s content with tags and categories
• managing comments
• choosing a design for your blog and managing sidebar content

Second, on the “blogging culture” side, we might talk about:

• blogs vs. “normal websites”
• different uses of blogs (personal, corporate…)
• dealing with openness and conversation in a public space (negative comments…)
• blogging etiquette and ethics
• reading other people and how to promote one’s blog
• other “Web 2.0” tools to use in relation with your blog