I was invited to attend a meet and greet at KOMO TV tonight.

The invitation came as a surprise I admit, but then I thought about what the bloggers represent in the new age of media.

The media has lost its traditional dominance in news and reporting, and for the last few years the bloggers have taken the front lines in discovering and breaking news stories.

Now, I don't feel the traditional media is obsolete, not by any means.  It is just that there is another source of information that is available and that provides people not just a choice, but a wider variety of information.

The old school media has its priorities and biases, and the bloggers help fill in the gaps. 

I got to meet Kathi Goertzen and Todd Johnson of KOMO TV news, both of whom are as nice as they appear on TV.

And as these pictures show, the inmates took over the asylum, and we invaded their brand new News Studio and the set of Northwest Afternoon.

Mr DeMille, I'm ready for my close up.

I went hoping mostly to meet a few local bloggers whose work I have read and even crosslinked.

I found three that I knew:  Michael Hood of Blatherwatch, David Goldstein of Horsesass and Stefan Sharkansky of Sound Politics.  I didn't speak much to Michael, but I found David to have a funny, self deprecating sense of humor, and a pleasure to talk to.  Stefan was warm and seemed very genuine.

What I was reminded of was that regardless of the stories we write, and the opinions we have, we are still first and foremost people, with personalities and everything.

My blog deals with political, social and cultural issues, mostly.  I delve into science, literature and music from time to time as well as religion and humor.

At tonight's event were bloggers of all stripes, including tech bloggers and cooking.  Again, a good reminder that one of the greatest qualities of the blogosphere is that it is incredibly diverse.

Fisher Communications had an incredible food spread just to make it that much better.

All in all the food was good, the people rocked and I think the event was a success.

I'm looking forward to the next one.

(PS.  I even got a KOMO TV coffee mug)