Do You Live Blog?

I used to live blog. Whenever I attended events, I would bring out my laptop, connect via the provided WiFi or through my mobile phone, and then post photos and updates as they happen. It’s either I have one long post, which I add to every so often. Or I break it down into different posts, depending on the importance of what I had to say.

I see many people doing this, too. Post-event updates usually include a ton of links to bloggers who have posted about events live. This is made even easier today, with netbooks (ultraportable laptops), smartphones, the iPhone, in conjunction with other software that make quick updates easier, such as QIK for video, Shozu for photos, and the like.

But after a while it got tiring. Rather than sit back and enjoy the speaker presentations, I found myself having to jot down notes, or at least try to remember the gist or main points. Instead of getting to meet people face to face, I found myself communicating with the guy next to me via instant messenger.

I’ve come to realize that the point of these events is not only to share knowledge (and probably promote stuff), but rather for people to actually get to meet each other physically. We are a connected world. Bloggers get to converse and “meet” each other even when continents apart. But we seem to have lost the ability to converse face-to-face.

I have previously agreed to the idea that your blog is your business card, and that blogs are the new “digital handshake,” which means people can usually search for you and get in touch with you through your blog. This underscores the importance of having something tangible. At the end of the day, when you return to your country, town, office or home, the folks you would remember are those whom you’ve had meaningful conversations with–perhaps those you’ve exchanged an actual, physical handshake with. And for me I make it a point to exchange business cards, or to at least write down names and contact details. Having something tangible helps me remember people better.

These days, whenever I feel I need to post live updates, I just do so via Twitter. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it doesn’t take much of my time. And then I can later on reconstruct or summarize the updates I tweted into a full-fledged blog post.

Perhaps live blogging is best if it’s part of your job, or your publication’s mission to really tell the online world what’s happening in real time. For some, it’s important to have first dibs on the latest WWDC or MacWorld announcements, for instance. But this might not always be the case for every blogger.

Do you live-blog? I’d love to know how you do it, and why.