I’ll admit it — I’m a snob in many ways. And yea, it reared its ugly green head a few months ago when I heard that Hammer — yeah, that’s right, *THAT* Hammer — would be one of the “experts” at TechCrunch40 (then, merely 20). I wasn’t the only one questioning his “new media” or “business” qualifications [and I use the latter loosely; according to the oracle, his ‘business’ acumen is what’s relegated him to the D-list]. I mean, if they wanted the everyman’s opinion, why not choose a blogger randomly from the crowd? (points to self) Or, any other D-list celebrity?

Well, it turns out there is in fact a connection. As Allen Stern — who is covering TC40 like I hope I would (asking questions and generally trying to be a shit disturber as nicely as possible), points out that Hammer’s new new media company, DanceJam is in fact backed *by* Mike Arrington and a bunch of others.

Huh.

Well, in this world of disclosures it would have been nice to have this tasty morsel of information when Hammer was announced as an “expert” panelist at the Conference. I mean, his improved (as it was nonexistent previously, although he does have a blog — good for him) visibility in front of the new media digerati is a pretty good “coincidence”, as DanceJam is launching TODAY — in the MIDDLE of the conference.

Well, all I can say is that it was well planned, and, it seems well executed. Don Dodge, for one, seems to have been impressed.

All I’m impressed with was how Machiavellian this was.

Or was trying to be, if, for example, we didn’t know that Mike Arrington, who runs this conference, decided to put the front man of a company he is backing back *INTO* the limelight as a an “expert” — when said frontman has been *out* of the limelight for years and is by no means an “expert” — just in time for said company to launch.

So, I’m not at TechCrunch40, although it seems like a great time.  I like Allen Stern’s coverage of the event, which is over here, and what’s interesting is the observation that none of the experts were all that critical.  Now, if anyone else ponied up $2500 a ticket and wants to correct this observation, please go ahead.  But I’m not all that surprised, to be honest.

Its difficult to be critical — or rather, its easy to be “easy” — when you know that your reputation is on the line; there is huge audience in front of you; and, that what you say could determine the potential to be invited back as a speaker.  I mean, what if you say something colossally stupid?  What then?  I suppose the safe thing is to clap your hands and say “That was a great job — you took that song and made it your *own*.”

So I’m a tech blogger of the new media persuasion. And there’s a conference that many new media bloggers are going to — perhaps you’ve heard of the one Mike Arrington and Jason Calacanis is putting together, TechCrunch 40.

Now, I’m *not* going to TechCrunch 40. Its not because I don’t want to (because I’d love to see what Hammer has to say about new media). Its because of a lot of things really. I can’t get time off my day job as a medical resident. My parents and my wife’s parents are out of town, so no babysitting help for my wife. Flights to SF aren’t cheap. And so on.

Translation? I don’t really do *this* (points to blog) as a living — as a sole thing that I do.

So, does not flying across the country to go to a tech conference where “major” tech bloggers are going … does that not make me a “real” blogger? I mean, if we use Jason Calacanis’s recipe for being an A-list blogger, going to a couple conferences a month (actually the original post says “per week”)Michael Arrington of TechCrunch and not me is part of the prescription, right?

Clearly then (at the risk of dredging up that horrible blog convo that won’t go away) I’m not an A-list blogger, but does not going to major conferences not make me a “real” blogger?

I don’t really know the answer to this, except that I used to think that whatever notion of the “kind” of blogger I am rests in the perceptions of you — my readers. And while its true, we are judged by the content of our posts, its *also* true that the promotion of your blog is an equally important activity.

And the promotion and marketing of one’s blog is often determined by how many people you know, and how well they know you; and its only made a whole lot easier and more powerful when those connections are made in person.

I’ve been blessed with being able to meet some pretty interesting and relatively important blogging folks in my time blogging. And I don’t know where this blog would have been without those relationships.

But if you never met any people “live” though, and made all of your relationships virtually — well, *could* you, and still be regarded a “real” blogger? I suspect the answer is a hearty “yes”, albeit that its probably harder.

Harder to make connections, harder to really report on what’s actually happening, harder to convince people about who you are, and harder to make who you are memorable. Because all you’ll really have is your writing, and your ability to connect online.

Which, I suppose, is what we all started with, and are eventually, judged upon.