having just returned from a 4-day trip to Chicago where I attended the BlogHer ’09 conference, an annual coming-together of women who blog, I want to sort my experiences into three categories: things That Exceeded My Expectations, things That met my Expectations, and things That Underwhelmed Me. Voici:
Things That Exceeded My Expectations
– Mon attitude. I expected a lot more awkwardness from myself, and a lot more moments of self-doubt when I introduced myself to people. less ability to smile at strangers. Instead, I was friendly and generous with the hugs. Go me.
– Les personnes. I was a virgin to consummating online friendships and I made an effort to attach faces (and bodies) to some of the names I know from blogging and tweeting. I have known Alma and Lisa by means of email and blogs for three years; meeting them in person was my a lot of spectacular highlight. I am still smiling when I think about the time spent with each of them. And, I loved connecting with the chicks from Today’s Mama, Mayberry Mom, Amelia Sprout, BostonMamas’ Christine, Marie from Make and Takes, BabyCheapskate Angie, and mucho more. I certainly will gush a lot more about these if you ask me in person.
– awareness of our blog and book. I anticipated meeting fewer people who are familiar with Les Rookie Moms. Debbie from Mamanista was especially generous with sharing how our book inspired her, and Amy said that when people ask her “What do I DO on maternity leave?” she always says, “Read this book.” VRAIMENT GENTIL!
– The method Party. I have been working part-time in the method office in San Francisco with their brand communication team. We thought of a small cocktail party at BlogHer that would allow some people against dirty to meet Rachel and Anna from method in a low-pressure drop-by suite setting. I was thrilled with the action and the party. bloggers heart method. Le savais-tu?
– Le swag. There’s no question that seeding product with bloggers is likely to spread word of mouth for that product. We have big mouths and like to use them to influence others. The number of companies who jumped on the opportunity to get their products in our fast-typing little hands was astounding. And, specifically, the team behind the Social Luxe party set up a mind-blowing collection of goodies for us to take home. If you’re not jealous, you must be.
– The Sheraton. very fast elevators, very comfortable bed linens, and a very generous water flow in the shower.
– real conversations with real people. I tend to judge whether or not I can be pals with someone based on how much make-up and hair product they are wearing (Very little is the acceptable amount), so I was attracted to some amazing chicks from Portland, Gina and Katherine. Danielle was the cutest pregnant person serving cheeseburgers. Tracey Clarke is like an old BlogHer pal at this point. I hung with Mike, sharing water and not dancing together at a party. Wild times. Susan Wagner shared her current work/life situation with us at a cocktail party and then later, at the airport debriefed on the whole conference. An unexpected pleasure at 7.30 am on a Sunday morning.
Things That met My Expectations
– My packing job. I had enough clothes, shoes, and accessories to wear each day, and not too lots of that I felt silly for over packing. I will award myself a travel merit badge because I haven’t accomplished this delicate balance too lots of times.
– The conference keynotes. terrific job with the jumbotrons, BlogHer, because we could really see the readers in the community keynote, which was a treat. The content was pretty good throughout. The community keynote featured inspiring writing, but frankly it went on too long. I think fifteen contributors would have been nice.
– a lot of of the panel sessions. I would like to see the bar raised higher for the both the panelists and moderators. several were not as prepared or professional as I expect them to be. I’ll echo Susan’s request that the moderator works harder to control the content and not let the talkative audience derail the subject at hand. I also want to voice Lynn’s idea that greater emphasis on writing would be a good direction for BlogHer. Ironic, isn’t it, that there is a session on search Engine Optimization, but not on What Makes a good blog Post? There is a session on brands and Bloggers, but not on good blogger Etiquette: Appreciating Your Readers.
– The shapewear. I wore a Yummie Tummie tank top, as an experiment. It was given to me by the creative girls collective in buy to allow me to be a brand ambassador for Yummie Tummie. (See, aren’t they clever?) This non-binding undergarment gave me a gentle squeeze around my torso that would have made my profile appear a tad slimmer than it really is had I been wearing a a lot more fitted top. The great thing is that the squeezy part goes down pretty low, holding in the loose skin my 82 weeks of (total) pregnancy has gifted me, and the very bottom of thiLe débardeur est un matériau de t-shirt, donc si je voulais qu’il ait l’air de couche, j’avais ce choix. (Si vous êtes intrigué, permettez-moi de partager un code de réduction.)
Des choses qui m’ont déçu
– Conseils de Tim Gunn. J’ai eu la chance de rencontrer Tim Gunn, ce que j’apprécie beaucoup. Il était gentil, tout comme il apparaît à la télévision. Quand je lui ai demandé une idée de mon blog sur la mode pour les mamans, en particulier, “Qu’est-ce qui doit faire partie de l’uniforme de chaque maman?”, Il a-t-il reconnu que les mamans avaient besoin de réconfort et de capacité à être agile. “D’accord, il comprend”, pensai-je, en espérant qu’il transformerait cela en une perspicacité avant-gardiste, comme des leggings sous une tunique ou une robe ou une alternative à la sueur qui n’engagera personne. “Lavable”, a-t-il dit. “Tout doit être lavable.” Euh, franchement? C’est sans intérêt. Devinez qui a parrainé son apparence? Je vais juste m’en tenir à sa liste des dix premiers comme point de référence.
– Le swag. L’obsession du butin était un peu trop. À la fin du jour 2, j’ai été fait en entendant parler. Je me tenais dans l’ascenseur avec un groupe de jeunes blogueurs, les bras pleins de butin, parlant de Swag. En écoutant leur conversation, je souhaitais que cela s’arrête. Il y avait une famille en vacances dans l’ascenseur avec nous. J’ai été gêné par la conversation liée à Swag qui se déroule devant cette charmante famille. J’ai demandé à la mère si elle pensait que sa fille, environ cinq ans, aimerait le boa rose que je portais autour de mon cou. Elle m’a dit que sa fille adorerait ça. J’ai donné le boa et je suis sorti de l’ascenseur, essayant de retirer cette sensation sale et coupable de mon corps et de me distribuer de l’événement.
– Ma capacité à dormir. Bien que le décalage horaire de deux heures et le manque de tâches de garde d’enfants m’ont encouragé à dormir jusqu’à 10 h 00, un fuseau horaire central, j’étais éveillé à 6 heures du matin sur trois jours et 7 h 30 un jour. Faites le calcul et demandez-vous pourquoi je n’ai pas pu dormir après 5 h 30 sur l’horloge de mon corps. Je ne sais pas, mais clairement, c’était une occasion manquée de dormir qui n’est pas possible dans ma maison.
– Déjeuner parrainé par Ragu. Que puis-je dire? Je suis à la fois un snob alimentaire et un snob de marque de biens emballés, et Ragu n’est conforme à aucun de ces biais injustes. Que les cœurs et les ventre de ces blogs avec beaucoup plus de palais démocrates aient été conquis par les portions de parmesan de poulet très importantes préparées avec le ragu. L’année prochaine, que ce soit le propre à Newman, s’il vous plaît.
Juste ou injuste, c’est ma critique de Blogher 09. Et maintenant pour les photos>
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