SYDNEY, Australia – 15 May 2008: The growing influence of blogging is again evident at CeBIT Australia 2008 with the return of the BloggerZone, a dedicated physical space and digital platform provided exclusively to the blogger community.

The return of BloggerZone to CeBIT Australia 2008 means that bloggers will again be given the same exhibition showfloor facilities as mainstream media. In fact, the BloggerZone has been described accurately as “Just like the Media Centre – but with more comfortable chairs.”

After the positive feedback from some of the more than 200 bloggers that attended the show last year, Jackie Taranto, Managing Director of CeBIT Australia 2008 organiser Hannover Fairs Australia, said it was a no-brainer to again make the investment.

CeBIT Australia 2008, the largest business technology trade event in the region, runs at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour from May 20-22.

“The blogger community is a growing and valuable information source, especially within the ICT industry,” Ms Taranto said. “Our investment in both the physical space and digital platform last year made us the first trade event in the country to give bloggers the same kind of facilities as mainstream journos – and it worked.”

“Bloggers responded positively to the initiative, and the CeBIT Australia generated keen interest online as a result. We’re more than happy to recreate the BloggerZone for CeBIT Australia 2008 – and we’re still the only trade event that does it,” Ms Taranto said.

BloggerZone 2008 Special:
Mahalo.com founder and former Sequoia Capital ‘Entrepreneur in Action’ Jason Calacanis will visit the BloggerZone to meet face-to-face with the local community. All registered bloggers are welcome to attend this exclusive event.

Who: Jason Calacanis, Mahalo.com
Where: BloggerZone, Hall 3, CeBIT Australia 2008
When: Tuesday, May 20, 1.45pm-2.30pm

The BloggerZone concept is the brain child of Hannover Fairs Australia IT Director Gilad Greenbaum. The physical space gives bloggers respite from the busy showfloor and wireless connections to upload posts. The digital platform is aggregates all CeBIT-related posts through the GoCeBIT.com.au, linking directly back to the contributing writer’s blog – hopefully raising their profile.

BloggerZone Breakfast Special Offer:
The first 20 bloggers to RSVP will be invited to a special pre-event breakfast hosted by Gilad Greenbaum and high-profile blogger Hugo Ortega from the UberTablet blog.

To RSVP, pre-registered bloggers who have either submitted their blog feed when registering for a CeBIT pass or have submitted it to www.gocebit.com.au/feed-submission-bloggerzone should email bloggerzone@gmail.com with “Breakfast” in the subject line. Be the first through the doors to see the show – and enjoy some coffee and pastries on the way through!

What: BloggerZone Pre-CeBIT Australia 2008 Breakfast
Where: The BloggerZone, Hall 3, Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre
When: 8.30am, Tuesday May 20

More than 200 bloggers attended CeBIT Australia last year, taking advantage of the facilities.

“Like a lot businesses, Web 2.0 methods and practices present real opportunities for CeBIT Australia, as well as a few challenges. But we value blogs as a growing content channel, and we want to want to make sure we properly engage with this community,” said HFA’s Ms Taranto.

“And apart from all of that, while CeBIT Australia 2008 might be a serious business technology exhibition, we also like to have fun. There was such a great buzz around the BloggerZone last year, that I’m more than delighted to put it on the showfloor again for 2008.”

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