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Today we are excited to announce that most of the break-out sessions have been added to the BlogHer '11 online agenda. As we explained in our call for ideas, these break-outs are just one segment of programming at BlogHer, but they are an important one!
Here are the components, including what we're announcing today, and what is still to come:
Step 1: BlogHer-programmed sessions: Announced today
Check out the agenda, and you'll see programing in our five conference tracks. We programmed 30 sessions from the hundreds of submissions we received...pulling together the best ideas the community had to offer and adding in a few of our own. We have not yet fully confirmed every speaker for every panel, and there are still a couple of panel slots we are hotly debating. But the vast majority of programming has been set. Here's a look at a highlight or two from each track, and remember the full BlogHer '11 agenda can be found here.
- The Write Brain track is focused on the craft of writing, and what you can do with it. This year we heeded the calls for a back-to-basics writing workshop, and we have some English teachers on hand to remind us all why the passive voice is so so bad! We also have introduced our first-ever "double-wide" panel -- a full afternoon workshop focused on developing juicy blog content. Three instructors will walk you through the steps from ideation to creation to manifestation of the excellent blog post. Day Two in this track is focused on how to write about your writing...pitching articles, proposing a book, turning text into scripts.
- The Minding Your Own Business track is meant for the bloggers who want to monetize or already are. These are perennial favorite subjects at any blog conference, but we're throwing in a couple of twists. For example, you've probably heard a lot about bad P.R. pitches. have you ever heard about bad blogger pitches? Some P.R. professionals are ready to share how bloggers can quickly boot themselves right out of consideration for opportunities. We also have multiple sessions focused on talking specifics...making the secret sauce not-so-secret is our goal this year,
- The Social Media Geek track is all about the tools we love and how to get more out of them. Another request we've heard for years is for "office hours". Rather than panels or sessions, Day One will be our BlogHer version of the Genius Bar. The BlogHer Geek Bar is open all day...because it's always 5PM somewhere :) On Day Two we will dig into a few important innovations that many bloggers are adding to their offerings...video, multimedia and community outside the comments.
- The Changing the World track is about the power social media gives us to change our communities, society, the culture, the political landscape and more. Its amazing potential doesn't mean that there aren't also pitfalls. This year we're going to talk about a few of the problems...and of course, real solutions we've seen work in the wild. For example, we're excited to talk about media literacy, how to get it...and how to make sure the next generation has it too. We're excited to talk about the Own Your Beauty project...and whether if we change our internal perspectives, we can actually change the culture at large, and even the socio-economic landscape! And of course we'll talk about how blogswarms and Twitter revolutions really do happen and really do make a difference. The Changing the World track is nothing if not ambitious!
- The Changing Yourself track is about blogging's direct impact on our lives. We're covering some new and interesting topics this year...like blogging a failing or failed relationship, or blogging your imperfections...but also talking about how you keep the fires burning inside, whether you're an individual blogger or managing an active online community. In other words: This is BlogHer #7; let's explore the seven-year itch!
As they say: There's all that and more, so check out the full BlogHer '11 agenda here.
Step 2: Birds of a Feather
Over the years, we have done Birds of a Feather meet-ups in one of two ways: Lunchtime self-organized groups, and scheduled meet-ups during session times. This year, we're doing both! There were so many great panel submissions about so many great segments of the blogosphere that we are devoting two meeting rooms to a series of three scheduled Birds of a Feather meet-ups per day. Each will have an identified discussion leader to rally the
