MMMmmmm, delicious chocolate for bloggers.

Find AAN’s Laura Fries at the reception tonight.

[I’m probably the only one with turquoise fishnets and pigtails.]

Need a spot to chill your brews? Try an old AAN favorite - fill your sink with ice, and toss ‘em in!

If you see him, wish AAN’s Senior Editor Jon Whiten a Happy Birthday (which was yesterday). He’d kill me for posting this, but that’s kinda the point.

Thanks to the Portland Hilton for finding me a plate for the Safeway cake and candles I scrounged up to surprise Whiten with.

I swear I’m not just trying to get free chocolate, but hoping someone will give me the lowdown (because I don’t feel like trusting the Internet) on what weather to expect (as in, what clothes to bring). Hot? Raining? Cool at night? Spazzy packers wanna know. -julia

Portland’s Alma Chocolate will provide the sweet, sweet reward for 2007 AAN attendees who contribute* to this here community blog.

Post thoughts on a session, a guest speaker, nightlife or your Portland adventures, and take home a chocolate concoction by Alma. Or just email your convention pictures to Photos *at* AAN *dot* org - be sure to include your name in the body of your email as a photo credit.

Blog participants who’ve earned their cocoa will be listed in the “Chocolate Winners!” column of this blog.

Alma Chocolate can also be found on Saturday’s Farmers Market tour [see events].

Oh, and wifi? We’ll have it throughout the convention area. Folks staying at the Hilton will have complimentary Internet access with their room.

* And by contribute, we mean a little more than a post that says, “I want free chocolate!” :)

Hey all! AAN has joined the lemmings on Facebook. Join our group, and feel free to add pictures - especially any embarrassing shots of executive director Richard Karpel. We added the convention as an event on Facebook as well, so you can add your convention party pics there AND to AAN’s Flickr account (just email pictures to photos *at* aan *dot* org, and they’ll appear in our Flickr photostream).

And, well, if you’re still feeling it, you can add us as a friend on MySpace as well.

2.0 Links

• AAN on Facebook
• 2007 AAN Convention on Facebook
• AAN on MySpace
• AAN on Flickr

It just so happens that AAN’s big confab is taking place at the same time of Portland’s fab Gay Pride Festival. Co-winky dink? I think not.

For those who have a little extra time on their hands and want to participate in one of Portland’s most colorful must-see events, head over to PrideNW.org to get the low down on Storm Large and her “Balls” (of Rockstar Supernova fame), dykes on bikes, parades (for both people and pets) and all the other activities that will take place at the Pride Fest in Tom McCall Waterfront Park on Saturday and Sunday, June 16th and 17th.

For alternative events that will be going on around the city (including a street party in front of the Ace Hotel on Father’s Day) check out Willamette Week (wweek.com) as soon as you hit town. Need more titillating information? Contact convention chair Byron Beck at bbeck@wweek.com. He’s a big homo who has already promised AAN’s “gay caucus” (all six or seven of them) they will have a really good “gay ol’ time.”

Or you can download (from the Portland Oregon Visitors Association) a pdf of “Gay Portland: A resource guide for the GLBT visitor” at www.travelportland.com/glbt/. The “Gay Portland” brochure highlights Portland’s resources for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender visitors.

Fellow AAN webbie types (and those who love them)…

I’ve been asked to give a presentation (and follow that up with a white paper) at the convention this year on the topic “Online Event Listings Best Practices.” While I’ve made it my mission to surf many, many member (and non-member) websites to get ideas and see what works, I thought I’d check here to see if I could generate a response or two here to the following questions:

1. Do you (techie, editor, publisher, etc.) feel like your pub is *currently* doing a particularly good job of listing events on your site? If so, please contact me and let’s chat about what you’re doing different or particularly well.

2. Are you working on (or have you recently completed) a new event listing tool? Or a new implementation of event listings? If you’re out there and I haven’t talked to you yet, please let me know so I can get the scoop.

3. Have you done any local market research or focus groups regarding event listings online and/or in your paper? I’d very much like to talk to anyone who has done such a thing.

Please reply here, call me at 601.362.6121 x3 or write me: todd at jacksonfreepress dot com. Anything that needs to be embargoed or should be kept confidential, etc., will be — but if you can contribute to this “best practices” effort, it will be very much appreciated. Thanks!

- Todd Stauffer
Publisher, Jackson Free Press