>BlogHer 07: What I Thunk
>The Stinky Cheese story is forthcoming, which you will find funny whether you’re interested in BlogHer or not, but I know some of you are wondering what I thought of the whole conference and so, since I can’t really work it into any of the other posts, here goes.
I LOVED IT. It was one of the most fun things I’ve done in my life, ever.
It was not awkward meeting bloggers in real life. They were exactly how I expected them to be and in many cases, better. Redneck Mommy, for example, is not only a fabulous writer, but also a total babe. Chris and Y and Lena were like my long-lost best friends. SJ is delightfully quirky and hilarious. I would have been utterly lost without Kimberly. And there were so many more women I met whom I’d love to spend more time with in the future- and plan to. There was no awkward getting-to-know-you phase with the bloggers I knew online and loved- In every case, we just jumped right in and laughed and drank and partied like we’d known each other for years.
I worried a bit about the cliques that I’d heard had formed during BlogHer 06. I didn’t find that to be true at all during BlogHer 07, although frankly, I wonder if everyone else felt the same way. Certainly, friends hung out with friends, but I never felt excluded by another blogger and I hope no one else felt that way, either. Obviously, the more heavily-trafficked mommybloggers were in attendance because they could more easily justify spending the money to attend, but I thought the less well-known mommybloggers had every opportunity to hang out with whomever they wanted to without feeling out of place. Hell, the Great Daring Young Mom even invited me to her room. Need I say more?
Interestingly, this year, the corporate types were the ones who created the tension, holding parties with guest lists that made for awkward moments when one blogger was invited to an event and her friends weren’t. That was disappointing, but perhaps unavoidable.
Networking-wise, BlogHer was absolutely worth the time and money. I had conversations with book publishers and agents and now have their business cards, should I decide to pursue that route. I’ve already received a writing job offer from the weekend. And I’ve had a promising discussion about a big deal project that I’m really hoping will pan out. None of this would have happened without BlogHer. Take that, Penelope.
I heard some complaints about some of the sessions (and voiced my own), but personally, the “blogging to book deal” session made the entire thing worth my time because listening to the discussion helped me solidify what I really want to do next (and as I said in a prior post, it isn’t necessarily a book deal- I say “necessarily” because while I’m not actively pursuing a book deal, I also wouldn’t say no if an agent contacted me and begged me to write something!). I also loved the panel with Amy Sedaris. She cracked me up and made the whole thing very entertaining. Several mommybloggers came and skipped the sessions, but I would sign up for them again in a heartbeat.
And so I want to go again. And again. And again. I want to party with Heather B. and Susie Sunshine again and have a longer chats with Kristen and Rebecca and get to know all the other bloggers I met briefly, but could tell I would have loved. And I’m pissed that I somehow missed Dutch and Belinda. How could that have happened?? And I think that any one of you could go and have fun, particularly if you can convince a friend to come along for the ride or meet you there. It is much easier to meet people if you have a partner in crime, like I did.
I’d love to know what those of you who went thought, even anonymously. Did you find it cliquish? Did you get much out of the sessions? Did you network? Was it worth the money?
And if you have any questions, ask them in the comments and I’ll try to answer them.
Okay. Back to the funny stuff. And, um, the Perfect Post Awards.
>I’m just doing the post-BlogHer tour and happened upon your site! I don’t think we met but after that post, feel like we did. :-)I think BlogHer was a blast. I don’t think there was so much exclusion as it was a bit overwhelming to make ALL the rounds. Regardless, I’m glad for the little circles of friends I met. Here’s to ’08!
>1. Totally worth the money. It was awesome.2. I networked only to the extent of giving out cards and telling people about my new blog.3. Didn’t get much out of the sessions, but a couple were quite good.4. Clique-y? I think it’s natural to want to hang out with a circle of friends you have things in common with. Nothing wrong with that. But I would not say clique-y. Everyone was very open and friendly and approachable.
>I had a great time, and meeting you was a highlight. I started by hanging out with my homegirls from Silicon Valley, but once I cut free from the herd (so to speak), I really had a good time meeting new people. I hope the big deal pans out. You deserve it. Call me if you need legal advice. In my spare time, when I’m not getting drunk at conferences, I’m also a lawyer.
>I did meet some amazing women, unfortunately I did feel it was a bit cliquish. That said, I had the opportunity to meet amazing women I would have never happened upon any other way.
>There is a reason I have been silent. It is because I am SO FREAKING JEALOUS of you right now! Seriously though, it looks like it was a blast. I feel so left out…sniff, sniff. All those fun women partying and I’m at home counting down the days until school starts? GAH! So. Not. Fair!Good luck with your deal/plans. I’m very intrigued as to what they may be. Keep us posted!
>ooh the stories are so exciting! I hope I can go next year!!
>The only thing that I’m miffed about was that I didn’t have enough time to chat with everyone – including you! I only had enough time to register how gorgeous you were in person and to sympathize with you during that branding your blog panel.Next year, baby.
>Well, neither I nor my friend were invited to any of the parties, so now I feel COMPLETELY snubbed. Okay, I’m joking.I had my issues with some of the sessions, but I LOVED meeting everyone. I’m a “small time” mommy blogger and proud of it. I totally felt accepted and, in fact, wish I had MORE time to meet more people. My Google Reader is workin’ overtime since the 100 or so blogs I’ve added since Sunday.
>P.S. Did REAL SIMPLE really take back their swag? That is so awful! I want to hear more.
>Well, I wasn’t invited to a party and went anyway and it ended up being one of the most awkward moments EVAH. And you will learn about it soon. I promise.As far as the cliques go, I felt like there were a few people who would have maybe liked to hang out and didn’t feel comfortable saying so, but I was meeting so damn many people at once that I couldn’t focus enough to do anything about it- and so next year I’m going to just make a blanket statement on my blog that anyone who wants to hang out and crash parties and eat cheeseburgers needs to give me their contact info when we meet and I will keep them informed on the wheres and the whens of all evening activities. Because the more the merrier, no?
>The Real Simple Story is coming soon. Sooooooon.
>I really wish I could have gotten to know you at the conference! Were it not for that short time on the bus, I wouldn’t have a new favorite blog to read! Seriously – what was UP with The Corporate Sponsor? I’m not naming it here because they don’t deserve the clicks. -stacy
>It was totally worth it. I found it completely un-cliquey and the best fun I have had in a very long time. If we discount the eye incident of course.And now I have you on my cellphone and will be texting you non-stop. Ask your girls how to do that 😉
>Lindsay – It was lovely to get to meet you in person! I had a great time at the conference too. Way to go on the Penelope thing.
>Given that I was at the conference all of 67 minutes and still managed to introduce myself and chat briefly with at least a dozen people makes me think it’s definitely worth it if your main goal is networking (or the less-corporate-smarmy-sounding “meeting new people”).
>I agree with your assessment 100%. It was great meeting you. And high five on the deals. Awesome!
>Interesting about the whole Real Simple thing, because I almost went to that when 17 people were all “Come! It’ll be fun!” because that’s how BlogHer is, you invite people everywhere. But didn’t and am somewhat thankful because did they really take away swag?? Who does that?? Moving on, it’s really hard to be cliquish when talking breast pumps to a woman with a McDonald’s bag on her head. Because you’ll bond over the love of french fries. And that bond is forever. So don’t worry if I begin stalking your blog.
>Ha ha! I’m totally stalking you back, Heather B.Networking is such a funny word. I’m really, really bad at it, but it happens organically at BlogHer. People just find you. I really enjoyed it to the extent that I felt like I could come home and tell my husband that financially, this trip was worth taking because of a, b and c.When really, I was only there for the party.
>exec parties? Wow, I feel like a loser 🙂 I wasn’t invited to any of the fancy soirees and I’m in publishing. I loved it, however. It was honestly a bit exhausting and overwhelming, but it’s something special to meet the people you’ve been chatting with online.Cheers, Feliciahttp://www.feliciasullivan.com
>I thought this year was so much better than last year. I had a great time and I didn’t feel excluded at all.
>i do think it was less clique-ish than last year. but even last year i met a ton of fabulous women.i still wish i’d gotten to talk to you more. i probably could’ve used that convo about the breast pumps. i’m taking all the hints from moms that i can get. because november isn’t that far away at all.(yup, i was the pregnant lady in the room who was loving the fries as well. mmmmmm.)
>glad you had fun! i’m hoping to go next year, do they know yet where it will be? i sometimes feel like a social dweeb, so its nice to know it felt natural. 🙂
>As a small town gal who likes to rock back and forth in the corner, with her fingers in her ears and not make eye contact with the peeps surrounding her, I found the enviroment relatively comfortable and easy to talk to one another. Not clicky at all.My one regret? There was just not enough time to oogle you in private. And you are very oogle-worthy. Now, do you smell something? Smells like someone farted in here….Wink,wink.
>I’m brave….I can post this. I haven’t gone to Blog Her either year I have been blogging. The first year it was too late. But the 2nd year, I had read all the posts from the previous year and it sounded waaaay to intimidating for a “small” blogger like myself. You pretty much solidified my feelings. With talk of book deals and agents, is it really the right place for small bloggers or just big time bloggers who want book deals? I would be completely bored in a session on how to get a book deal. Heck I just want to get through the stinky diapers tomorrow. And I really wouldn’t know who was important and who wasn’t because I don’t read everyone, maybe only 5 or 10.
>Oh no, I was on the Business session track, so I got mostly business advice. You would’ve liked the Art of Life track, which focused more on writing well- one session was even specifically for and about bloggers who don’t have much traffic and like it that way.What I liked about it was that I felt that mommybloggers with all kinds of traffic variations could hang together- and I hope that can happen even more next year.Also, the mommyblogger contingent was just part of the whole BlogHer experience. While most of the moms knew who I was, the majority of the conference had never heard of me. I’ve never felt so stupid, having to answer the question, “So, what’s your blog about?” so many times. Because my answer just sounded so dumb. “It’s about, um, my life and um, I have four kids and um…”
>I didn’t go because I didn’t think I could rationalize the cost. After reading more and more post-BlogHer posts, I think I can benefit from it next year. I’m like kendra says: a small time blogger. Thanks for sharing your stories!!
>Twas an excellent time, indeed. I can’t wait for next year!
>I briefly got a chance to say Hi which was fun…I thought everyone seemed to be socializing quite nicely together. Especially after a few chocolate martinis!!The networking was amazing as usual and I quite enjoyed the sessions. OK, and although I love my boys maybe, just maybe the opportunity to hang with bloggers (who are all quite interesting) without kiddies for three days makes it fun not matter what!:-)
>I can’t believe I only got to talk to you for 5 seconds at the closing party. Wah. Next year!