BLOGWORLD WRAPUP: So, I had a good time. But what’s the big picture? Well, first the show was better than I expected. It was the first iteration of a blogosphere trade show, but it ran smoothly with no major glitches. The exhibitors, etc., were far more polished and professional than I expected. There were lots of new companies offering new products, and a lot of energy. Political blogging has been around a while, and although it’s still growing, it’s no longer exploding like it was in, say, 2002-03. That’s led some people, who mostly look at political blogs, to think that the blogosphere as a whole is in the same state. This thing reminded me just how wrong that is.

It really underscored to me how big and diverse the blogosphere has become. There were lots of big bloggers I barely knew of, because they’re in areas I don’t follow. Some tech folks were telling me that they liked it because, going to the tech conferences, they saw the same people every time. I think a lot of political-blogger types felt the same way. There was plenty of cross-fertilization.

But the bottom line is that the blogging pond has gotten very big, and there are a lot of big fish in it now. I think that’s a huge success for the blogosphere.