Five days late, but a report nonetheless: The Chapel Hill Bloggers Meetup had a new location (Panera Bread), where we hogged a corner of the cafe and tried to ignore the unexpected noise of the place. In attendance: Jane Peppler and her friend Eric, Tom Ciszek, Bernard Glassman, ae, Ruby Sinreich, Tim King, Corey Reece, Justin Watt, Roy Kim, Brian Russell, Jackson Fox, Rob Zelt, Bruce Loebrich and me. We first bantered a bit about how public the meetups are and whether anyone could blog them (if you’re sitting in a public cafe, expect your comments to make it to the web, natch). Bernard talked about how the Internet allows patients in a controlled drug trial find each other and share their experiences with the therapy even before the researchers get the data. “That blows the science,” he said. Ruby proudly shared that she’d had three blog successes that week: Orange Politics contributors and readers liveblogged the Chapel Hill Town Council meeting and its discussion about gay marriage in NC; WCHL interviewed her for a news story about the liveblogging; and she was a guest lecturer at a UNC communication studies class, with her presentation posted here. Ruby also mentioned that both Carrboro and Chapel Hill have e-community committees, and she encouraged bloggers to participate. Bernard, for his part, challenged us to “blog the butt-ugly drug czar site." Bernard has launched Let Me Close the Door First, a blog inspired by an earlier bloggers meetup. Tim promised to send his wife and fellow blogger, CeCe (spelling?) to the next meeting. We look forward to meeting her. Brian trumpeted his first public service announcement in his podcast, and that led to a discussion about creating a nonprofit effort to host PSAs on a public server. Roy told us a bit more about his tabulas community of bloggers — mainly 17-year-olds, and they’re running up is hosting fees. This week, if my request for use of the Johnston Center classroom gets the nod, we’ll have Roy give us a tour of his creation. Jackson and his wife are watching all the Best Picture films, in order (they’ve skipped only Gone With the Wind). He’s a big fan of the new television series remake of Battlestar Galactica. I showed the Atlantic Monthly’s annotated David Foster Wallace article (see this for a good discourse on hypertextuality of print). (Ruby mentioned 13th Gen, but I can’t remember the connection.) See Roy’s post on hypertext. What else did I miss? On a parting note, let me express my gratitude for all the bloggers who have participated in our weekly Chapel Hill Bloggers Meetups. I’m thoroughly enjoying the company. I’m still searching for a permanent spot for our weekly meetings, a place where we can chat, socialize, demonstrate blogware and have free parking. Any suggestions? EDIT 3/14: Added Roy hypertext post link.