07/17/06: BlogHer News

Welcome to the BlogHer Newsletter.

Below we talk about the latest news about BlogHer Conference '06, the latest changes to the site, and other opportunities for BlogHers. Pull up a browser and stay a while.

BlogHer News

Update #1: The latest headlines about Conference '06

There's daily news about the conference, as we are now less than 2 weeks away from zero hour. Here are the latest headlines from the BlogHer Conference blog.

-Availability: A few tickets are still available for Day Two, available online here. Don't miss the many compelling sessions featured in this jam-packed schedule.

-Audio Team volunteers still needed: Not satisfied unless you can get into Day One? Well, the only remaining way to get into Day One is to join our team of Audio volunteers. In exchange for helping us to get the entire conference recorded, we'll provide a free full 2-day conference pass. You don't need to be an expert, and you don't need to have your own gear (although, of course, we won't turn away podcasting gurus with professional gear!) Read all about the requirements and how to volunteer here.

-Movie sneak-peek: MomsRising is bring a sneak preview of their new documentary, The Motherhood Manifesto, to BlogHer, showing the hour-long film as part of our Saturday night cocktail party festivities. Be among the first to see this powerful new call to activism! Read all about it here.

-BlogHer? BlogME, baby!!: Seven women are kicking off a BlogMe online mixer Monday so that everyone--whether you're going to be in San Jose or not--can get to know each other better. Lisa Stone tells us how to join the block party: Add the BlogMe button to your site, invite a friend to answer some of the crew's questions, post the answers to your site, link her and then tag ten friends from our list of to continue the interviewing process. Kudos to these hostesses with the mostest-es: Mocha Momma, Karen Rani, Table for Five, Queen of Spain, Ninjapoodles, Sarah and the Goon Squad and How the Urbanites Adopt.

Follow all the conference news here.

Update #2: How to win a FREE trip to BlogHer 2007! All you have to do is write a story...

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See that writing contest banner in the upper right of your screen? Well, BlogHer Conference '06 sponsor OurStory has decided to launch a story writing contest. The theme is vacations: the good, the bad and the ugly. All entries will be stripped of the submitter's name and given to a panel of judges which includes our own Lisa Stone (who blogs about it here on BlogHer and here on OurStory.

And the grand prize is (drum roll, please) an all-expenses paid trip to BlogHer '07!!! You heard that right. And for those of you who are wondering, we are sticking to our pledge to move BlogHer eastward in 2007. You'll just have to attend the conference, or watch the newswires to find out where!

The contest only runs through July 27th because they're going to announce the winner at BlogHer '06! So, submit your story today.

Update #3: The latest headlines about BlogHer.org

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Preparing to take that little "beta" sign off the site we have been working diligently on the site.

-Site Upgrades: You may have noticed that yesterday the site was pretty much in read-only mode. Well, as our membership and traffic grows, and with the conference less than two weeks away, we knew we had to upgrade all the infrastructure. We have successfully upgraded our server situation, and as of this morning you should be experiencing a faster, fiercer BlogHer!

-USAToday blogger thanks BlogHer's Middle East editor: Kudos to Mark Memmott, the USAToday blogger who credited Contributing Editor LDW for her post this week, "The Opposite of Peace: Middle East spiraling "from bad to worse," say bloggers inside". She begins: "I am not going to sugar-coat it: Women blogging from the Middle East for the most part reflect the long-standing passions and rock-hard perspectives that are the undergirdings of today's violence. Writing from the States, Mother under Occupation weighs in on the situation..."

Catch up with the rest of BlogHer's editors here. From the lighter side of trash TV and chocolate and spaghetti, to the changes at leading videoblog Rocketboom and who should make decisions for a terminally ill child and much more, they are surfing far and wide to bring us the best of the bloghersphere.

-Newsletters, and how to optimize them

Thank you for the feedback we've received on the newsletter format, and how it comes across in your various mail clients. We've gotten two pieces of advice from our technology partners, FeedBlitz. The first is regarding those of you using Entourage. FeedBlitz is aware that older versions of Entourage have a problem opening and parsing these newsletters. This is only fixed by updating to the latest version of Entourage.

In addition, it seems that some of you are receiving the newsletter, but without our pretty BlogHer customized template, so it just looks like a long list of text, with the actual content starting unfortunately low in the email. According to our partner, images must be enabled in your client to receive our newsletters looking their stylish best. Many web-based clients, in particular, have images blocked as a default setting, and that's why you're getting a text-only version of the newsletter. Please do keep sending in feedback on the newsletter. Our partner is very responsive and open to as much user feedback as they can get!

That's the update. Do you know someone who has been denied the pleasure of the BlogHer News newsletter? They can sign up to share the fabulousness that is blogging by women, in this and our other newsletters, right here. Forward to your heart's content...really...we don't mind :)

When next you hear from us BlogHer Conference '06 will be over, and we'll be working on the next event. So, until then...

Elisa, Jory and Lisa