PayPerPost to host blogging conference PostiCon…. Controversy follows

PayPerPost recently announced they will be holding PostiCon in Orlando and yesterday announced Robert Scoble (a member or our advisory council) will be giving the keynote.

Of course controversy insued. Robert disclosed that PayPerPost would be paying him a speaking fee (to his employer PodTech) on top of his travelling expenses. That got people up in arms.

Robert has now decided to decline their offer of a speaking fee and only accept reimbursement of his travelling expenses. /shrug I don’t see anything wrong with him getting paid or not getting paid particularly when he disclosed it on his blog.

More reaction at CrunchNotes, Ryan Stewart,

Chip Griffin

Honoraria are nothing new. Paying expenses for speakers is nothing new. The fact that Scoble disclosed it is admirable. Frankly, I’m not even sure it was necessary. Speaking at any organization’s invitation, with or without financial reimbursement, could conceivably bias a person anyway, so the mere act itself was probably sufficient.Â

But to me, the most troubling thing I take from this episode is the Blog Mob will even engage in self-righteous hysteria targeted at one of the more well-known and (generally) respected members of the blogosphere. We all need to remember that we can still agree to disagree. Despite what many bloggers seem to think, for most issues there is no right or wrong answer, simply two (or more) individual’s opinions.

So let’s all give Scoble a break.Â

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Joe Duck, webomatica, Dumpster Bust.

 Jim Kukral:Â

News Flash: Scoble and the other big guns are not real bloggers. They are brands. Real bloggers are 63 million people who write a blog about office furniture or their day at work. It’s a huge difference.

I have to take issue with this. If you have a blog and your not a spammer you are a real blogger. No matter your topic; be it sports, politics, business, technology, milblogging, godblogging, celebrity gossip blogging, or talking about your office furniture.

If you are making a living blogging and have a hundred thousands of readers a day or you post about your cat and get 2 readers a month as long as you are using blog publishing software to post it then you are a real blogger.

I started writing this because imo the whole “who is a real blogger” controversy is silly. Jim is just the latest to claim to be the final arbiter of who a “real” blogger is and who isn’t. Possibly failing to recognize by his own standard he is not (a real blogger) therefore how can he be qualified to say who is?

Now that I have taken the time to write it, I realize I am just as silly for responding.

/shrugÂ

 Off to watch a SuperBowl that I could care less who wins. Hopefully it’s a good game.

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