Baltimore, bishops, and bloggers. Oh my.

I'm leavin' on a jet plane...Heading to Baltimore for what's being billed as “An Encounter with Social Media: Bishops and Bloggers Dialogue,” and I'll be one of the panelists making a presentation before the bishops and bloggers in attendance. The event will be held Sunday, Nov. 11, and will precede the annual Fall General Assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Here's what the USCCB had to say about the bishops vs. bloggers smackdown. Okay, okay, I'm kidding. Don't get all freaked out about it. From the USCCB:

 “We hope this event yields fruitful discussion and a deeper understanding of how social media and the Church can enrich one another,” said Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Communications and moderator of the event.

The encounter will feature a new study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), “Catholic New Media Use in the United States, 2012,” and responses to the study by a panel. Panelists include Bishop Christopher Coyne, auxiliary bishop and apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis; Rocco Palmo, author of the blog Whispers in the Loggia; Mary DeTurris Poust, a Catholic journalist, author and blogger; and Terry Mattingly, author of the syndicated column On Religion and the blog Get Religion.

When, I ask you, will I ever get another chance to make U.S. bishops sit and listen to me for 10 whole minutes? Probably never. So I'm jumping on this chance and looking forward to hearing feedback from the bishops and my fellow bloggers, who cover a wide range of Catholic issues -- from politics to catechesis to spirituality and more -- on their popular blogs and websites.

Stay tuned for updates...mostly through Facebook and Twitter. If you don't follow me there, now's the time to come on along. Join my Facebook author "fan" page by clicking HERE, and follow me on Twitter at MaryDTP by clicking HERE.