Flickr Photo: TravlrAfter I sent out a message announcing our Drupal Webinar Series, my in-box filled up with "Isn't the first one of those scheduled for Inauguration Day? Aren't you going?" messages. It was only after I started composing an auto-responding "Hey, buddy, some of us have to work" snark that I realized I was jealous.

While we will be projecting coverage on the wall here at the NTEN office, those of you actually attending can help the rest of us share in the inaugural experience, social media-style. 

We're still days away, but you can try to make the time go faster by participating in Slate's "The People's Inaugural Address", an experiment in collaborative writing. Then, you have to get there, which may be no easy task. To help:

• You'll probably want a map of some sort. The Washington Post has a nice one, including the parade route and locations of the always popular portable restrooms.
• There's also a free iPhone app, featuring maps, that will also let you know how far you are from the steps of the inauguration, if that's something you care about. ("That's right, son, I kept moving until I was exactly 2,009 feet away.")
• Andy Carvin and the terrific team responsible for the Twitter Vote Report have expanded on that idea with Inauguration Report 2009. If enough people tag their tweets with "#inaug09" or "#dctrip09", you should be able to find out which checkpoint has the shortest wait.

Once you've claimed your spot, start sharing!

• First, read the Citizen Media Law Project's essential guide to documenting the inauguration.
• Join The Chronicle of Philanthropy's inauguration Flickr group.
• Tag things! The Inauguration Report 2009 team would also like you to tag your Flickr photos and YouTube videos with "inaug09" or "dctrip09".

As you post, those of us pretending to be productive can follow along at the aforementioned Inauguration Report 2009 -- they have a widget! -- or on Twinauguration 2009, which is attempting to aggregate just about every bit of content you produce.

Oh, and if you make it into one of the Inaugural Balls, I'm sure we could put together quite the prize package for anyone able to send us a pic of you in some NTEN gear next to our 44th President.

If you have any more good inauguration-related resources to share, post them in a comment.