GREAT ADAPTATIONS

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B.A.B.S. – Bay Area Bloggers Society

BABS is: A group of writers, bloggers and blog-interested fellows, forming a “bloggers society” in the San Francisco Bay area. This is intended to be the start of a movement which brings online communication into onground community, where we can learn together, meet in person, share resources, and vitalize our local communities by increasing our collective skills and intelligence in online media.

(”Blog-interested fellows” includes people who don’t have blogs. For example, voice actors who can record audio for the web, videographers, website owners and journalists, as well as the many peripherals to blogging.)

Who is behind this idea?

Hi there. I’m Suzanna Stinnett, a local author, website owner, public speaker and online content teacher. I’m the author of “Little Shifts,” a book about engaging your creative life through small, incremental changes. I live north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin county, where I can often be found giving talks and workshops on new media, particularly online content and micro-blogging. My website is Great Adaptations.org, and I also write on Examiner.com as the SF Boomers Examiner. My deep interest in technology as a community-building tool fuels my passion for helping people navigate the learning curves and avoid the pitfalls of overwhelm.  I love to see people develop their own innovative creations of community.

BABS exists to help each other to help others. Online communication is a natural agent for positive social change. BABS has its own social good project, which is to bring valuable online content into audio in order to provide greater access to our visually challenged citizens.

We meet in central locations all over the Bay area. Meetings usually begin with a half hour presentation by one of our valued guest speakers. After the talk, we address questions by our participants. A Q&A follows, and we may break into specific topic groups to continue our learning for the evening. BABS supports its members in creating audio versions of blogs, creating a readily available bank of material for the sight-challenged, and educating the public on audio tools and best practices for audio accessibility.

We support the art of blogging as a valued cultural experiment and a moment in the evolution of human communication. Members learn and teach technology, content, social media, and responsible practices in blogging.

Objectives of BABS: In addition to support of blog development and local relationship building, we will:

· Develop a site for high-quality audio versions of existing blog material with access tailored to visually challenged users.

· Create an online guide to teach web standards for sight-impaired access and ADA compliance.

· Hold an annual conference for BABS.

You are welcome to make a request for a local meeting. Suzanna will come to your community to initiate BABS, and add your location to the guest speaker calendar.

JOIN BABS: We’re on Meetup.com/BABSociety

Follow Suzanna on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ brainmaker

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