One of the elements of the Blogosphere that’s often a feature, not a bug--especially in retrospect--is that if you don’t write about something fast enough, somebody else will. And often he’ll come up with a better take than you would. So for a quick summary of Saturday’s event, I urge to stop on by Jeremayakovka’s blog for his thoughts on Blog*Fest*West, our gathering in San Francisco this past Saturday. And note the photo in which I appear to have Karl Rove’s mind-control rays, or maybe simply frickin’ lasers--really, is that too much for me to ask for, people?--burning through my eyeglasses. (Or maybe I’m just eyeing the Guinness.)

I will add though, that in addition to my co-conspirators, Cinnamon Stillwell and my wife Nina (who organizes parties the way that von Braun plans moon landings), the handful of major league hitters who bravely signed up for this test flight were a particularly nifty line-up.

There was Roger Simon, the co-founder of Pajamas Media, who attended along with two of his trusted lieutenants, Neil Spolin and Aaron Thies. Joanne Jacobs, who virtually invented education-themed blogging in early-2001. And Mickey Kaus, whose pioneering Kausfiles Blog/E-Zine is what inspired Glenn Reynolds to start blogging. Which in turn, chances are, inspired your blogging--or at least blog reading--addiction. Combined, you’ve got a pretty good running start towards assembling the folks who originally brought you the center-right side of the Blogosphere in the days immediately after 9/11, in one room.

Blogging, like most forms of writing, is a solitary task--which in a way, makes perfect sense. No matter how big your readership, it’s purely a one-on-one relationship with each individual reader, whether it’s via the printed page or the page click. But it’s great to get out and mingle with others in your field. I’ve been to a few previous blogger gatherings, including a Denver Blogger Bash in 2004, early conspiratorial neo-pajama-con planning in the mountains over looking Silicon Valley, the subsequent November 2005 wild & crazy pre-launch party in the bowels of the Seagram Building, and the actual launch of Pajamas the next day high atop Manhattan in the Rainbow Room.

But ever since I started blogging in early 2002, I’ve been on the lookout for something like what we eventually dubbed Blog*Fest*West out here. Fortunately, so have lots of other folks, and it’s a safe bet that Saturday is merely the first of an ongoing series of get-togethers. Needless to say, we’ll let you know when the next one is happening--and hope you can drop by for a handshake. And maybe some Guinness.