Ecuador: Sharing the Knowledge on BlogDay · Global Voices
Carlos Suasnavas

For the past 4 years, Blog Day has been celebrated on August 31. Ever since the Israeli blogger Nir Ofir gathered bloggers in 2005 and realized that the date 3108 resembled the word Blog, blogospheres around the world have been commemorating the date by collecting 5 blog recommendations, as a way to encourage unity and spread the word about blogs.
Poster for BlogDay in Ecuador 2009
This year in Ecuador, a group of blogging entrepreneurs, led by María Cristina Martínez of the blog Ciudad @ City [es], started the “Virtual Gathering of Bloggers.”  The free event was held in Santo Domingo de los Colorados, where the conference speakers were retransmitted in the form of a virtual BarCamp, and one could virtually participate from anywhere in the country by following the live stream featured on the website or on various social networking sites. The presentations included podcasting, microblogging, and social networks.
Martínez explains that the event attempted to unite the bloggers in order to create a large collective for fellowship [es]:
Este proyecto (sin fines de lucro) tiene como objetivo generar un espacio de encuentro virtual para bloggers en ocasión del día Internacional del blog; donde se discutan, expongan, compartan – interactivamente – temas en torno a la blogósfera y la Web Social, y aportar de esta manera en algo a su desarrollo integral y evolución; así como a la alfabetización digital de los internautas hispanohablantes.
The event took place over two days on August 30-31, and included the participation from special invited guests and speakers from Mexico, Spain, and Argentina.  In order to promote the event, the Día del Blog [es] site was created, which included forums, free electronic books, and technical assistance for experienced bloggers, but also for those that wanted to open their own blogs. The Twitter account @diadelblog [es] was also used to help others follow along with the event.
The group of bloggers, who helped coordinate the event, know that having a blog also means being able to teach others and share their knowledge, which is something that attendee Nati Wolf of the blog La Chica de la Luna [es] states:
Quienes tenemos un blog sabrán lo grato que es tener uno, pero también sabrán que se debe tener mucha perseverancia y ganas de compartir para poder mantener un blog.
These types of initiatives help ensure that the internet and the world of web 2.0 stop being for only a few privileged, and that was one of the goals of the event's organizers.