The ChicagoNow Blogger Community has a little monthly ritual. On the last Wednesday of the month, Jimmy Greenfield, the Community Manager -- the guy who keeps ChicagoNow clicking -- announces a topic and gives all the participants one hour to write and publish a blog. He calls it Blogapalooza, because nothing is really big unless it is a palooza; I guess it could have been called Blognado, but maybe that name was already taken.
Many of the ChicagoNow bloggers palooz on the given topic. I have never been one of them. When it comes to what I choose to write, I am a bit persnickety. I wait for a great topic, or a nifty headline, or an ear-catching phrase to enter my right cerebral cortex. The idea either ferments nicely and I sit and write, or it turns to vinegar and winds up in our toxic waste barrel here in the lab for appropriate disposal. It was the same in the years I gave the annual Board of Education High School Commencement Address. I would be stymied for days or weeks until the right inspiration hit the right synapses. So even though I always get the Blogapalooza announcements, I have never participated. It just isn't my bag.
Nonetheless, I was aware the topic for last weeks 'Palooza was (spoiler alert) "write about goodbyes." A topic you can sink your keyboard into in many ways. I have penned a few goodbye blogs myself--to a missed mentor, to a marvelous mutt, to Thursday Tennis. But I now suspect Jimmy had a deeper motivation when he chose this topic.
This morning Jimmy notified the ChicagoNow blogger community that he was leaving his position and the blog site he had midwifed and nurtured to life. He is not leaving the Tribune, but moving over to the digital sports page. He is choosing a moment where Chicago sports is at a low point, so I know he isn't doing it for fame and glory, but perhaps he is seeking a local journalism area that needs his expert touch.
Jimmy, thanks for the insight and guidance. Thanks for the technical know-how you shared. Thanks for being the champion for all of us, with our varied backgrounds, our different careers, and so many novel reasons for writing. Go do your digital sports thing. I know your love is for the Cubs, but don't forget we are a two baseball team town.
So grab a cold one and remember, this blog's for you!
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Source: Our Biggest Fan Is Moving On, But Because Of Him We Will All Keep Blogging
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