Interview Project: Have Your Say

[Ack! I had no idea how terrible this
looked in Firefox! It's being fixed!]

I've been waiting a year and a half to write this post.

On March 21 of last year, thirty-two pairs of open adoption bloggers interviewed each other on their blogs. The Interview Project, as it was dubbed, exceeded every expectation I had going in. The participants blew me away with their enthusiasm and insightfulness. Connections were made, blogs gained new readers. It rocked--because you all made it rock.

As soon as it was over, I knew we had to do it again. And that we needed to make it bigger--open it up beyond the open adoption community to the whole of the online adoption world

When the one-year anniversary of the project rolled around this spring, it felt too soon to do it again. I thought we'd wait for the two-year mark and go for it then.

Then November--aka National Adoption Month--kept creeping closer on the calendar. Originally (and still officially) designated to promote awareness for the need for adoption from the foster care system, National Adoption Month has been diffused to include all adoption and used by just about every adoption agency and professional for their own marketing. Every year we're bombarded with media pieces and events that try to compress adoption into shiny, tidy soundbites that don't match the complex realities of adoption as I've witnessed it (and often exclude birth parent and adoptee perspectives altogether).

The more I thought about it the more excited I got about dropping the interview project into the middle of National Adoption Month. Let's have our say while having some fun, making some connections outside of our internet corners, hopefully finding some new blogs to read in the process.

Let's do this! Mark your calendars for the 2011 Adoption Blogger Interview Project on November 17.

If you are a blogger who (1) writes at least occasionally about adoption, (2) is interested in meeting a fellow writer with different views and experiences, and (3) wants to extend a welcome into your own online space, this interview project is for you.

Loads of details, button codes, and the registration form are all here on this page. In a nutshell, registration closes on Friday, October 28. You will be paired with another blogger and have about two weeks to acquaint yourself with their blog and exchange questions. Interview posts go up Thursday, November 17.

Pairing will be random, with a caveat. When you sign up, you'll have the chance to let me know about any special requests. For instance, maybe you're a first parent who wants to be paired with another first parent blogger. If the first blog that pops up randomly doesn't fit your criteria, I'll spin the virtual wheel until I can match you with a blog which does (as best I can). Adoptive parents (a group which obviously includes me) tend to dominate online adoption forums/conversations, both in numbers and tone. I hope the optional limits on the randomness will help make this a less emotionally risky venture for adoptees, first parents, and others who would like to participate but are perhaps wary. (If those last two sentences made you say, "Huh?" I'd be happy to talk about it more by email.)

Please help spread the word (use http://bit.ly/interviewproject if you need a tidier URL) and remember to register by October 28. I hope you'll join in!