In blogs, and Anina, we trust

Take one fashion model, add a conference on blogging and what do you get? Enough breathless coverage in the blog community that you'd think Steve Jobs just pulled a Nano out of his pants pocket.

The coverage jumped into the mainstream this week with a glowing Wired story, which we'll use as the set up: "Anina, who struts her stuff on European catwalks and magazine covers, is a self-proclaimed geek and entrepreneur on a mission to turn the fashion industry inside out using an array of mobile gadgets and Web sites. Anina is one of the star attractions this week at Les Blogs 2.0, a Paris conference that has drawn speakers and delegates from around the world to debate the future of weblogs."

Numerous blog also lit up with details of encounters with Anina at the show, or their impressions of her from various interviews. Of course, not all bloggers were overwhelmed with her tech cred.

Interestingly, it appears Anina asked a blogger last summer how to increase traffic to blogs that are part of her 360 Fashion project. We can't say whether she took, or even read, the advice, but her appearance at Les Blogs five months later certainly didn't hurt.

Blog community response:

"Just to prove I did have dinner with a real live model, here's a picture I took of Anina and another where I'm in a picture with her and my wife is between us. Heheh. Actually, Maryam and her became good friends. When we were leaving they were literally dancing in the aisles together. I'll leave that image in your heads."
--Scobleizer

"Anina appears to be the first female geek on NerdTV. Check also 360 FASHION, her personal convergence between fashion and technology, also available directly on your mobile at micro.anina.net. No doubt about, she really has her stuff together!"
--m-trends.org

"Anina is, unsurprisingly, a major hit at the conference. Like the vast majority of tech conferences, men outnumber women here by a substantial margin, and I'm confident in saying that very few people here other than Anina have their bust and waist measurements prominently displayed on their websites."
--My heart's in Accra

"Hm, what sorts of expertise does she have in Bluetooth? Was she part of the standards committee? Has she written a Linux device driver? Or does she maybe just use a Bluetooth handset to connect to her cellphone while talking?"
--Chizang