First Aussie blog conference kicks off in February

The conference, to be staged in a yet-to-be-determined Melbourne venue on 25 February, is the brainchild of Mick Stanic, a former executive producer with the Singleton Ogilvy advertising agency.

"What I want to do is look at the business aspects of blogging," Stanic says, citing the success of Microsoft software developers' blogs as a tool to interact with end-users as a model he is keen to explore. "This is not for the sociopolitical bloggers or the education market. What I am interested in is how we use it as a channel to communicate to people, and how we use it properly."

Stanic shares this interest with Trevor Cook of high-profile PR and lobbying consultancy Jackson Wells Morris. Cook's blog explores similar issues, and Cook is helping Stanic to identify and recruit speakers.

Stanic recently resigned from his job to organise the conference, which will feature eight sessions covering topics ranging from corporate blogging to using RSS feeds. His plans call for banquet style seating at round tables rather than a traditional theatrical presentation, while WiFi connections will be ubiquitous so attendees can blog live from the event.

A final speaker list and venue are targeted for confirmation by mid-January, when tickets will go on sale and are expected to cost around AU$150.

If the conference goes well, Stanic hopes to organise others. "I think there's a need for higher-quality technology conferences in Australia," he says. "Too often we pay AU$2,000 to have the same people talk to us about things we've heard before".