BlogHer - Announcing the BlogHer '09 Call for Ideas - Comments

Another idea

LawyerMama — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:24:27 -0600

I haven't read all the comments here yet, so maybe this has been visited already.

In the political track, what about something discussing the jump from political blogging to political activism. I'm a member of a grassroots organization - Blue Star Families for Obama - made up of military family members that were supporting Obama for president. I'm the Outreach Director for the national board. Through developing new media and blogging for BSF4O (and my involvement in MOMocrats) I became involved in several local and national political campaigns off line as well as online.

I haven't thought it through entirely, but there's just a nugget of an idea in the back of my brain right now!

Lawyer Mama

http://lawyermama.com

http://momocrats.typepad.com

http://dcmetromoms.com

Photography and/or Using your blog to supplement your business

LawyerMama — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:20:45 -0600

I loved the lone photography session last year and noticed that it was PACKED! Sounds like something to visit in more depth. I'm always amazed to discover how many bloggers are also either professional or amateur photographers. A general photography session like last years would be great again. But it might be nice to have something more advanced. Not sure if that's getting a bit too specific for BlogHer though.

I know that personally, I use my blog - and an offshoot photography blog - to promote my professional photography business. So how about something more general: Using your blog or creating a blog to market your business. This may be something that's visited alread in the Business of You track or in BlogHer business, but it interests me.

So sorry my comment is late. I think my updated are going to an email address from my old office!

Lawyer Mama

http://lawyermama.com

http://momocrats.typepad.com

http://dcmetromoms.com

Photography

CityStreams — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 08:35:32 -0600

Sorry I'm late! I missed this post with all of my holiday preparations.

I've been blogging for about four years now and during that time I've discovered the power of a good picture in a post. As a result, I have a completely new approach to taking pictures. Other bloggers have taught me a lot, but I would love to learn even more!

By day I'm a teacher, so I'd be more than happy to pass on the things I've learned from blogging. I have no fear of public speaking :O) Thanks for calling for ideas. BlogHer '09 is at the top of my Christmas wish list!

~Cindy~

Citystreams

I know i'm late but..

zchamu — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:27:11 -0600

Just sent in another one....

Facing the MommyBacklash: Her Bad Mother faced disdain and outrage after being
featured as a mommyblogger in a national newspaper. Dooce is written off as exploiting
her children every day. The Momosphere in general faced a massive
backlash after being told they were "overreacting" about the Motrin
Moms ad. Is criticism about the Mommy Blogosphere fair or unfair? Is it
constructive or misogynistic? Is it legitimate or is it simply that the
rest of the world isn't used to Moms having public voices and what's
more, public strength?

Visit my blogs at ThreeSeven (all that's irrelevant and amusing) and
ecochick (all that's green, cool and Canadian).

If I got it in by the end of 11/24 in california does that count

GeekMommy — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:15:11 -0600

Yeah, technically, it's about as down to the wire as I could get it... (seriously, who got rid of November on my calendar? What do you mean my child is out of school for Thanksgiving tomorrow?...) but I got it in.

Either way, just reading thru these comments? This is going to be such a fun year at BlogHer in Chicago!!

Can't wait to see everyone!!

Lucretia (aka GeekMommy)

Raising a child in a digital world, still a digital girl

the power of social networking

AnissaMayhew — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:39:07 -0600

I'm finding amazing personal connections and talented people through sites like Facebook and Twitter and Digg and Stumble...I think it would be an awesome idea to have a track about how to navigate through these sites, how to use them to benefit your blogs and how to find others.

I've met others who are intimidated by the social networking aspect and i think that by showing the benefits and the how-to's of making your way in soc-net, it could make it a more valuable tool to bloggers.

Anissa@Hope4Peyton

Jill, That is definitely a

ByJane — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:31:03 -0600

Jill,

That is definitely a session I would attend! Hope it goes through. It would be the most provocative session there, I think.

By Jane

http://byjane.blogspot.com

http://midlifebloggers.com

Language

Jill Miller Zimon — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:22:42 -0600

I'm going to submit an idea about a session on language, labels, what do they mean - to us, to others, how do use them, should we use them, why, why not - with an eye toward the goal of communicating with one another and tackling the issues that we want to see tackled.

JillWrites Like She Talks

Food blogging content for BlogHer 09 please!

Kalyn Denny — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:05:45 -0600

Sorry I have been busy and haven't had time to send an official e-mail but I'm definitely hoping there will be some content specific to food bloggers (similar to what there was at BlogHer 07 in Chicago, please.) Love to see sessions on:

Food Photography (basic)
Food Photography (advanced)
Editing photos for the web
Copyright Issues (especially specific to recipes)
Tracking Ad Stats (I know Alanna has some ideas about this and would be a great presenter)
Marketing Your Food Blog
How to Deal with PR Requests

Thanks!
Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

I want to see a pop culture

Super Jive — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:05:31 -0600

I want to see a pop culture panel! Let's get some TWoP founders, some people who run major fansites, maybe a celeb blogger to talk about the impact of pop culture on blogging and vice-versa.

Blogher Pop Culture Editor | I, Asshole

thanks!

shaziamistry — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:54:21 -0600

wow, my ~~only~~ biggest fan! yay. thanks for the kind words, i totally enjoyed the panel and hands-on session as well.

there should be an awesome geek lab happening this year, i believe. and i hope i'll see you there!

shaz

Thank you...

Pamela Jeanne — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:41:18 -0600

I'm in the blogging without children group after throwing everything but the kitchen sink at my uterus to no avail. While I'm through the worst of it all and am now building a happy life as a family of two I know many women who are still in the throes of TTC ... which is why I felt the mommy-centric, parent-centric nature of the BlogHer conference I attended last year was so off-putting. Want to be sure mommy bloggers see we're not diss'ing them, we're just asking that we not be diss'd in return. From the comments I've seen here it's not just the infertile bloggers but the childfree by choice, single and younger woman not yet interested in all things mom who are looking for more diversity...

Pamela Jeanne

http://www.Coming2Terms.com

Call for Ideas

MyrnaL — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:45:29 -0600

I attended my first Blogher last year. At that time I was a new contributor to a blog and hadn't started my own blog. That's to give background to my comments/ideas. The value for me in the conference is first and foremost education and skill improvement. As an older blogger, I think you will find a cross-over between needed technical skills and "older" bloggers. We're having to learn everything from scratch in the solitude of our homes (most of the time)

I highly recommend segmented technical and business sessions based on experience-level. One of the most practical, insightful discussions I had was the "day after Blogher" (which by the way I have questions about) in a meeting with "GeekMommy" L Pruitt - talking about Twitter. I'd love to see more pertaining to International and global issues. I went to the one session and met N. Simon and several other knowledgeable people but I would love to see that expanded (or at least kept)

On the technical side I would be very interested in a practical video session - equipment, uploading, sources when to use versus photography etc.

The BOF were good in that they were smaller sessions but I will echo ByJane in saying it can be more awkward in a smaller session to walk out if it "doesn't fit".

I was unclear on the "Day After Blogher" - and when I went upstairs I was surprised to see the free-form structure - not bad, I just didn't understand when I signed up for it also, could you elaborate on the definition of the day, "Blogher Business"?

I personally thought many of the sessions were too large - commenting was difficult, the speakers had to speak to a larger experience base so they were either talking up to some or down to others. Lots of A/V issues and lack of seating.I saw lots of frustration. And, many of the speakers had no structure to their presentation either with each other or towards the audience. The reason Elise is so highly regarded (I think) is she comes prepared, stays on topic and paces herself so it all gets done. You can't do "free-form" to an audience of 200.

Many bloggers commented on the "mommy nature" of the ballroom and I would second that. Even though I'm a mom, I consider myself first and foremost a blogger and would appreciate sponsors who appeal to that rather than tons of sponsors who are targeting mothers with children under the age of 10. BTW, your kids grow up folks and your blog need to change with it so there is value in targeting blogging not mommyblogging..

Thanks for listening!

Myrna

www.tangerinetimes.com

www.twitter.com/bberrymom

Adoption.

mooshinindy — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:43:51 -0600

I'm back.

Adoption.

HUGE.

There is a huge community of adoptive parents out there. Ugly things can happen and having a track to discuss the many facets of adoption may be benefitial to many. This is where I give a shameless plug to my friend Kim who is an adoption SUPERSTAR. And her friend Mrs. R who is gaining a lot of attention in the adoption world.

Travel + Building Communities = Expat Life

ExpatAdventures — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 02:23:55 -0600

A whole travel track with photoblogging, monetizing, blogging about place, and EXPATs would be great. There's such a huge and growing group of expat bloggers, just starting to build community. Ties into many of the threads listed here.

Exciting for this expat who's going from isolation to community quickly!

Thanks!

Rebecca

Announcing the BlogHer '09 Call for Ideas

Elisa Camahort — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:17:16 -0500

While we're working on finalizing our BlogHer '09 venue contract, so we can announce that by the end of the month, I am happy to keep BlogHer '09 on your mind by announcing the Call for Ideas for BlogHer '09.

If you're thinking this announcement seems earlier than last year, you are correct! We aim to have this Call for Ideas running for a month and to be able to announce at least a skeleton schedule before the end of the year!

Question: Why a "Call for Ideas" and not a "Call for Speakers" or "Call for Proposals" or something like that?

Answer: Because BlogHers are a generous bunch, and there are plenty of you who like to recommend other people to speak and want to suggest panels you'd like to attend, not personally speak on. And we're are all for that...any idea is welcomed, collected and reviewed by humans.

BlogHer '09 Tracks

This year we're featuring five tracks, as follows:

Identity and Passions: This is the track where we'll talk about who we are and what we like to do. We'll have one day of sessions dealing with the most personal blogging topics. In the past we've covered what it's really like to blog about our gender, our race, our sexual orientation, our hopes and dreams, our privacy, our fears, our most sensitive issues. We'll also have one day of sessions digging into the passions that fuel so much of our blogging. In the past we've covered FoodBlogging, CraftBlogging, KnitBlogging, and we know there are many other subjects out there that stoke your inner fires. What are the subjects we've covered that we could have dug deeper into? What are the passions we've yet to give the microphone to? Let us know.

The Business of You: So many bloggers are treating the personal platform of blogging as a professional platform too, and this track will explore how to do it wisely and well. Yes, this is where the monetization subject will live, but we can also discuss ethics, contracts...even your taxes. These economic times will not be a distant memory by next July, so discussing how to make the most of the blogging you love from a business perspective will undoubtedly still be a hot topic.

Politics & Activism: Politics, activism, social causes. 2008 was a huge political year in the American blogosphere, so it will be interesting to see where we focus our blogging energies in the aftermath of the U.S. election. This is the track to talk about how individuals and online communities are making noise, making a difference, making change. Can global issues get more attention? Will those that got engaged in the political discussion in '08 stay engaged? Will there be even better tools available to raise awareness, consciousness and funds?

MommyBlogging: We launched this track for the first time at BlogHer '08, and we will be repeating it. As the momosphere grows, it also segments. In '08 we spoke about parenting special needs, children, respecting your children's privacy, infertility, adoption and pregnancy loss, helping your kids develop healthy body images and, of course, the commercialization of MommyBlogging. What do you want to dig into in '09?

Geek Lab: The Tech Track: After experimenting with a Geek Lab approach on the Reach Out Tour, we're thinking of totally blowing apart the old Tech track model of a limited number of static sessions trying to speak to an incredibly broad range of skill and experience levels, and instead offering a big Geek Lab where you can partake of mini-presentations, office hours with experts, small group hacking opportunities, individual mentoring opportunities etc. etc. If you've figured out one really cool thing you'd like to share with attendees, let us know what it is, how long it would take to walk people through it, and what skill/experience level it's for. We're excited that this year we may finally crack the code of bringing the right technical content to our extremely diverse attendees!

OK, those are the tracks, so if that triggers some great ideas, then this year please:

Email both me (elisa@blogher.com) and our new full-time Conference Programming Manager Jes Ferris (jes@blogher.com) and tell us the following:

- Who you are and why you want to speak
- Which of our tracks you'd like to participate in, and your experience/expertise/knowledge/perspective about that subject
- Specific links that highlight that experience/expertise/knowledge/perspective
- Your contact information and a link to your blog(s)
- Who else you think should be contributing

Question: What about Birds of a Feather and Room of Your Own sessions?

Answer: once we have a skeleton schedule published we'll ask registered attendees to submit the Room of Your Own sessions they'd like to lead. The goal is to present additional topics that may get missed in the regular schedule, so we'll wait until after you can see what that schedule is.

As for Birds of a Feather, I have a question for you all: Did you like having Birds of a Feather meet-ups scheduled during session times, or would you prefer to go back to doing Birds of a Feather meet-ups during lunch? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Question: So, how long do we have to come up with brilliant ideas?

Answer: We hope to receive all ideas in the next five weeks (by November 24th) so that we can start publishing the schedule by the end of the year.

We look forward to seeing/hearing what you come up with, what you want and what you're dying to see on the schedule.

BlogHer - Announcing the BlogHer '09 Call for Ideas - Comments

Another idea

Photography and/or Using your blog to *supplement* your business

Photography

I know i'm late but..

If I got it in by the end of 11/24 in california does that count

the power of social networking

Jill, That is definitely a

Language

Food blogging content for BlogHer 09 please!

I want to see a pop culture

thanks!

Thank you...

Call for Ideas

Adoption.

Travel + Building Communities = Expat Life

Announcing the BlogHer '09 Call for Ideas

Photography and/or Using your blog to supplement your business