Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Going to the Show

Times Square

I have just returned from the BlogHer '10 conference in New York City and my mind is sufficiently blown.  2400 (mostly) women bloggers converged on the New York Hilton and other neighboring hotels for a long weekend of activities.  I had been faithfully reading about BlogHer for some time now, hoping to prepare myself.  I had never even been to New York City before, how was I going to survive this huge conference? 

So much happened over the course of four days that it might take me several blog posts to address all of it.  There were the people that I encountered.  Meeting my fellow bloggers, old friends and new, conference sponsors, public relations people, marketers, even Alexis Stewart.(that story definitely deserves it's own post!)  There were parties to attend, events hosted at the conference and invitation only parties that I wrangled a few invitations to.  There were instructional sessions that I sadly made it to few of.  There was the Expo Hall where brands were waiting to talk to us all.  There was the Voices of the Year gala where amazing posts were read by their authors.  There were moments stolen away from the insanity to sit and talk with friends. 

One of the best things that happened for me was the connection with other bloggers.  In the light of cameras filming interaction, FTC regulations for bloggers, reviews left and right, it can feel like I have entered a very commercial world.  At the conference you are able to see the number of people who care about what they are putting into the world.  You meet the moms who just want to help other moms save a little money.  You meet women who want to support other women in business.  You meet moms who just want to assure the rest of us that we are doing the best we can.  You meet women who just have words burning up their souls, and a blog is the best way for them to get it out.  The diversity of the community is awe inspiring. 

The challenge that is before me is to take what happened there and apply it in this space.  I have been stuck since Sunday night trying to figure out how to represent everything that happened and everything I learned.  I heard that many people have writer's block after a conference like this and I completely understand.  Where do you start?

The beginning is probably the best place to start so tomorrow look for a post about my fun on the Kodak Big Apple Bus Tour. 

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