BLOG IT: Two bloggers type on their laptops at the auditorium of the BPPT building on Jl. Thamrin on Saturday during the second Pesta Blogger, an annual gathering for bloggers. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)

Gathered in an auditorium in Central Jakarta on Saturday, bloggers from around the country whistled and cheered as an MC read out the names of their communities.

"There's Komunitas Angin Mamiri from Makassar," MC Panji Pragiwaksono said, pointing to a group of bloggers cheering hysterically in the crowd.

"There's Cah Andong from Yogyakarta," he shouted over the growing din.

More than 1,000 bloggers from across Indonesia came together Saturday for Pesta Blogger 2008, held at the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology. The second annual blogger gathering, supported by three ministries -- the Communications and Information ministry, the Tourism ministry, and State Ministry for Research and Technology -- this year drew twice as many bloggers compared to last year's attendance of 500.

This year's Pesta Blogger them, "Blogging for Society", shed light on a unique development in the Indonesian blogosphere: real life blogger communities.

While last year the organizers gave awards to individual bloggers and dubbed the chairman of Pesta Blogger, Enda Nasution, as the *father' of Indonesian blogger, this year the focus was on awarding local blogger communities.

"We want to acknowledge and appreciate blogger communities' contributions to society," Pesta Blogger 2008 chairman Wicaksono said.

The "Blogging for Society Award" went to Yogyakarta-based Cah Andong, for their work with charities through their group.

Created in 2006 in the wake of the Yogyakarta earthquake, Cah Andong is made up of around 100 bloggers who meet frequently and organize charity events. The group also has a portal cahandong.org that aggregates postings from their bloggers.

The "Most Promising Blogger Community" award went to the Bali Blogger Community.

While bloggers traditional communicate in the 'blogosphere', in Indonesia bloggers have taken their interaction one step further and created off-line communities.

There are around 300,000 bloggers in Indonesia, with almost every city supporting online communities.

"I think it is becoming a typical Indonesian thing. Indonesians like to get together, so it is natural that they would want to meet each other off line," Enda Nasution said.

A guest blogger from Australia, Anthony Bianco, said he rarely saw bloggers come together in his country.

Bianco was among the five foreign bloggers invited by the Tourism Ministry as guest speakers. The other speakers included Mark Tafoya from the U.S., Jeff Ooi from Malaysia, Mike Aquino from the Philippines, and Mr. Brown from Singapore,. The guests traveled to Yogyakarta and Bali before attending the Pesta Blogger event Saturday.

Last year, the first ever Pesta Blogger was given the stamp of approval by the ministry, which even declared the occasion National Blogging Day.

Communication Minister Muhammad Nuh last year famously promised that no blogger would ever be arrested during his tenure.

The ministry's Director General of Telematics Cahyana Ahmad Jayadi this year repeated that message of assurance, adding that Nuh also followed his pledge with "as long as it does not violate the constitution".

"I can confidently say that if someone threatened the safety of Indonesian President Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono in their blog today, that person would be arrested," he said.

The Indonesian "blogosphere" was recently shook by a Wordpress site that defamed the prophet Muhammad.

Nuh pledged that his office would arrest the unknown blogger whose site was terminated following the uproar.

Prodita Sabarini blogs at ombakblog.wordpress.com

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