July 14, 2009 

U.S. Embassy Sponsors Pesta Blogger 2009

Bahasa Indonesia

Jakarta – For the second year in a row, the U.S. Embassy announced its sponsorship of Pesta Blogger, the largest annual national-level gathering of bloggers from throughout Indonesia.  U.S. Ambassador Cameron R. Hume and Director General of Applied Telecommunication Cahyana Ahmadjayadi made remarks at a joint press conference where they praised Indonesian bloggers' efforts to use technology to provide access to information, and as a critical means of free expression in a democratic society like Indonesia. 

Ambassador Hume noted that freedom of expression is an integral part of any sustainable democratic system. “Indonesia has a strong, vibrant democracy, and the robust growth of its blogging community indicates that,” said Hume. 

Ambassador Hume blogged for the first time this year, shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Indonesia in February, on the State Department’s official blog, “The Dipnote,” (http://blogs.state.gov/).  The Ambassador also noted that, like President Barack Obama, the U.S. Embassy now has a Facebook “fan page” and invited people to become fans of the U.S. Embassy at: www.facebook.com/jakarta.usembassy. 

The theme of Pesta Blogger 2009 is “One Spirit, One Nation.” Imam Borotseno, Chairman of Pesta Blogger explained choice of theme, saying “blogs and other social media have a great power to overcome physical, religious and cultural distances to bring us together as one nation with one spirit,” said Borotseno. “In Indonesia we have been blessed with strong blogging communities in cities large and small villages through the archipelago, who can play a constructive role in national unity.” 

This year’s Pesta Blogger will engage communities outside Jakarta and Java. In partnership with the U.S. Embassy, the Pesta Blogger committee is organizing multi-city blogging workshops (or “Blogshops”) and smaller, regional Pesta Bloggers  from July until mid-October. The Blogshops are designed to encourage more Indonesians to blog constructively, critically and with a sense of social awareness. Cities include Balikpapan, Bandung, Palembang, Samarinda, Makassar, Medan, Malang, Yogyakarta and Surabaya.

Pesta Blogger 2009 will be held on October 24 in Jakarta. It is supported by the Ministry of Communication and Information and is organized by Maverick and Bubu.com.

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U.S. Embassy, DEPKOMINFO and Bloggers United by Blogging

Jakarta – (from left to right) Shinta W. Dhanuwardoyo, CEO of Bubu.com, Cayhana Ahmadjayadi, Director General of Telematics at DEPKOMINFO, Iman Brotoseno, Chairman of Pesta Blogger 2009, U.S. Ambassador Cameron R. Hume, Hanny Kusumawati, Head of New Media Division at Maverick Communications, and Enda Nasution, founder of Politikana.com, at the press conference for Pesta Blogger 2009.  The U.S. Embassy is sponsoring the event which is scheduled to take place in Jakarta on October 24.  This year’s theme is “One Nation, One Spirit,” and regional blogging workshops, or “Blogshops,” will also take place in 10 other cities throughout Indonesia.

For more information about the U.S. Embassy Jakarta’s activities, please visit http://jakarta.usembassy.gov/.

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