Why? So he can point us out in a AAA line up? (No just kidding...erh...somewhat)

By the way Sara, I can't seem to find the InsideEd facebook fan page at all. Did anyone else report problems?

Oooh! Oooh! Wouldn't it be fun if, when we meet, we try to match the person up with their alias? I bet I could spot Skeptic or Hamiliton Parent across a crowded room. I'd like to meet Wise Educator, Land of Oz, and David Ortiz. I already know what Bill looks like.

Dependent upon when and where, I would be game.

I'm not all that concerned about my annonimity, probably more my kids, but I don't think I've said anything too harsh about their current schools. The bigger problem for me is the chaos of my life caused by a 40+hr/week job, kids' extra curricular activities and keeping up with house & home work. I might be able to make it, but the fact that I can type on-line for a few minutes during a coffee break at work or while hubby's fixing dinner is one of the reasons I can find time for this blog.

Sounds good!

I'm all for a meeting of the minds. Clearly I don't mind putting myself out there. As long as I can grab a pint, I'm on board

Sounds great to me!
And for Alrighty Then....Im flattered you want to meet me! Somehow I dont feel as full-of-hot-air in person though....
:)

I'm glad there's interest, so let's start on logistics. Assuming we meet on a weeknight, would 6 p.m. be a good time? Any suggested locations? Nights better/worse than others? And does it matter if we do it during MSA weeks? Since this was Bill's idea, I definitely want it to work with his schedule, but I'll try to accommodate as many others as possible.

We'd love to join you, just let us know when and where!

Would enjoy meeting up to talk about education in Baltimore as well. Evenings work well.

Alrighty Then: Do you have a Facebook account? As long as you do, the link from our homepage seems to be working. Or, after you log into Facebook, just do a search for "InsideEd" and it pops right up.
(Incidentally, I did not have a Facebook account until The Sun asked us to create this fan page.)

How about 6 p.m. on either Monday, March 30 or Wednesday, April 1? Our multimedia editor suggests Teavolve in Fells Point as the location if they're willing to accommodate us. I've never been, but she says it's a low-key space with something for everyone: food, beer, cocktails, coffee and (my beverage of choice) tea.

Teavolve sounds good. Both dates are also good.

This is a great idea for all readers of the InsideEd Blog. Kudos

Unfortunately, I will be out of town on those dates but go for it and I will be there in spirit.

Either date is good. Slightly concerned about confidentiality. I think this blog is an important step toward freedom of speech in the City Schools without fear of reprecussion. Being able to have honest dialogue at all levels has always been a problem in BCPS.I don't want to loose the comfort zone that this blog provides.Still in all, we seem to have the schools' best interest at heart so......let's get together.One final thought.HOW can we get more staff, parents, and community members involved with the blog? I tell everyone and I have put up the posters.Any other ideas?

Interesting. I wonder if we can ween Bill off the kool-aid he's been drinking and introduce him to some real stuff.

Wise educator: Thanks so much for helping us spread the word. I'd love to get ideas from folks here on how we can attract more people to the blog. We created the Facebook fan page to help increase our visibility -- if you're on Facebook and haven't joined as our fan yet, please do! I'm also Twittering (Tweeting?) now to build a bigger blog following -- sign up to follow me at twitter.com/saraneufeld and encourage your colleagues to do the same.

I'm in as long as Bill or Interesting Observations buys me a spiced chai tea latte.

OK, Bill, where are you? :-)

Guess what? You dont need to identify yourself by your blog alias at the meetup -- thats up to you...

Identified or not, if the conversation is about school, don't you think you'll be able to guess who's who? My only surprise would be commenters who have gender ambiguous id's that I'd guessed as male or female and gotten wrong.

Whoops, I think I must have closed the browser before my response posted. Thought I had responded awhile ago! I'm definitely in, and Lea will join with me. Look forward to it.

I'm in...can I suggest we do Monday rather than April Fool's Day?

Have we decided on a date, time, location? We should make a call and then move forward.

JayZee: See my post from yesterday. It will be 6-8 p.m. Monday, March 30 at Teavolve. Hope you can join us.