I quite enjoyed John’s performance. I’m sure there are a number of claims that people (bloggers) could quarrel with, but all in all, I thought it was an enjoyable presentation.

Jonathan, you missed a really fabulous musical session by the Pixtons. Really good stuff.

Aaron B

I look forward to your thoughts/feedback.

http://mormonstories.org/?p=25

As with Margaret Starbird’s presentation on Mary Magdalene, there was no time given for Q&A. Quite a shame, and quite a difference from last year’s symposium.

It seems, this year, that we were half the number present from last year (I wish I knew the exact numbers; something like 60 participants last year, and 30 or 40 this year), and that at least 30% of the participants this year seemed to be visitors and guests from other regions…

Which was why I was so excited by John Dehlin’s presentation on the Mormon Cybergalaxy. I started laughing, inwardly, near the end of John’s presentation when I realized that what Steve Jones (who introduced John) was saying about John’s “passion” was that John gets really excited about this topic. Yes, passionate was the right word… It was infectious.

I’m curious, Jonathan, what reactions did you see during John’s presentation? And how, if that’s what you meant, did that correspond to the slide of the Feminist Mormon Housewives site? You’re quite right; these blogs will now get some increased traffic.

I kept wondering, however, all throughout John’s presentation, when do people have the time to blog or read and/or participate in other’s blogs? And just because we can, should we? Is it socially and ecologically wise?

And Aaron was right: you missed a great hour of music with Tom Pixton and his musical children (live and recorded). His daughter, Skye, played the guitar and sang with her husband, and Tom played a recording of his son’s rendition of Adam-ondi-Ahman which was fabulous (and can be downloaded at http://www.claytonpixton.com) and has stayed with me all weekend. But the song that has been in my head all day today was the Mack Wilberg rendition of Praise to the Man. I love how some music resonates so deeply within me (especially live music) that it makes my skin and scalp seem electrified. Even if it’s silly music. Even if too much Mormon music is performed ostentatiously these days…

And I really enjoyed the final hour of “The Best Ideas in Mormonism”, which felt like a mini-Testimony meeting…

Wow! What a long post! And you, Jonathan? Now that John has posted the audio file, what about your Sunstone NW lunch-break interviews that you recorded? Will you ever share it? It really made me wish I had an iPod of my own…!

I was actually hoping to bait Aaron into posting the rest of the review for me. Thank you for your mini reviews. I agree, McLemore’s presentation was quite enjoyable and focused on what we are all about in the end – becoming more Christ-like.

I really regret not having had a Q&A with the presenters, and you are correct that it seemed like there were more people last year.

As to your question of the “sustainability” of blogging, I personally think that it is a wonderful way to spend time… It seemed like there was quite a bit of interest and a lot of note taking during John’s presentation (especially with the FMH slide). The question that people kept asking me was, “where do you find the time.” Well, where do we find the time to do anything. Everybody has time to spend, whether it be TV, exercise, reading or whatever. It is how we allocate our time that is the big question. I don’t watch TV, mostly because I find it banal, so I read and write in the evenings. I also check the blogs in between moments at work to stay sane. It doesn’t take time to stay engaged as much as it takes volition.

I too want to hear your interviews, Stapley. I hope some of it is salvageable.

Aaron B