BlogHer '10 Speaker Guidelines: The Philosophy Behind BlogHer Sessions

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When planning the first BlogHer conference back in mid-2005, we knew we wanted our session format to be a bit different than the conference norms at the time. Interactive. Engaging. Participatory. Practical. And no shilling (aka commercials or stump speeches masquerading as usable content and actionable information).

We enlisted the help of a volunteer to draft our initial Speaker Guidelines and then worked with a volunteer committee to fine tune them. 

The Speaker Guidelines we send to all speakers today are imperceptibly changed since that first 2005 version. And it's little wonder why. Ashley Richards drafted that first draft, and she was apparently a conversation whisperer and community prodigy. Her first draft barely needed fine-tuning to begin with.

But what a team we had to fine-tune it: Mary Hodder, Susan Mernit, Maria Niles, Nichelle Stephens, Nancy White, and of course Lisa and Jory. Um. Wow. 

Every year when we distribute these, speakers ask if they can pass them around and pass them along. And we are always thrilled to have them do so. This year was no different, and I thought: Why don't we publish these too?

So here they are: The BlogHer '10 Speaker Guidelines

We hope you will review and get a sense of the kind of civil debate and interactive conversation we encourage in person, not just here at BlogHer.com via our Community Guidelines.

Look forward to hearing what you think!

Elisa Camahort Page
BlogHer
elisa@blogher.com
My BlogHer profile truly shows you everything I do online...Check it out!!