BlogHer - BlogHer Business 2009 - Comments

This is amazing

mothergoosemouse — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:25:52 -0500

You three are amazing.

I was disappointed to miss BlogHer09 after being a loyal attendee at BlogHer06-08. But now I'm more excited than ever to attend BlogHer10.

Thank you for all the careful thought and hard work you put into everything you do.

Julie @ The Mom Slant

Hoping to make it!

Al_Pal — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:01:54 -0500

I haven't been to BlogHer [yet], but hope to be able to this year. The improvements sound good, and the coupons really sound excellent -- I know leaving swag behind is a big issue, particularly if it is liquid in a bottle that is above the carry-on limit.

Cheers!

Just riffing on that for a second

Jill Miller Zimon — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:34:46 -0500

I got my start as a freelance writer by writing about parent/kid gift-giving issues and parlayed that into an every other month column that's now in its sixth year in a regional family magazine. But most people in blogging know me from my political writing so go figure. There's no question that topics related to a writing track can dovetail with parent blogging - so I wanted to point to the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop conference is a great one to take a look at for the kinds of sessions they provide re: writing as a craft and then how you use that craft for whatever your topic/interest might be.

All sounding great - so glad I've registered already for BlogHer '10.

Jill Writes Like She Talks

Thanks for listening

whymommy — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:00:03 -0500

Thanks for listening -- it sounds like you're really being proactive on addressing issues (as you have been in the past), and I'm off to sign up for BlogHer 10!

Susan

http://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com & http://motherswithcancer.com

Yes on coupons!

whymommy — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:56:10 -0500

A big YES on coupons. They're easy to carry, don't cause problems, and allowed me to consider the product at my leisure.

In fact, when I did my Big Swag Roundup (http://reviewplanet.wordpress.com/2009/09/06/blogher-swag-2/) weeks after the conference, I found that sponsors who provided coupons stayed on my mind a LOT later than those who brought product -- and I was much more likely to go back and purchase that item again later, without a coupon.

The only exception to this was where I had to go to a store I don't normally visit -- like the GAP jeans. I haven't bought them yet. But Trop50 and Ragu? Have been on my list nearly every week since. And I've already ordered again from Land's End, which had slipped off my mind -- but slipped right back with a $10 coupon in my bag.

Susan

http://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com & http://motherswithcancer.com

Question sorry haven't had time to read through properly

Sharnia — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:28:15 -0500

HIya I am new to blogher and from Australia. I am new Mama also.

It is my dream to go to NYC it is also my dream to become a fabulous blogher.

I would love to attend this event - at the moment it is but a pipedream but I want to make it a reality.

My question is when do you have to book and where can find out more about it - can you point me to some further info.

Sorry if the info is right in front of my nose I am in a hurry and just excited at prospect.

Are there many Australians who attend?

What kind've things could I expect to get out of the conference if I do manage to go?

http://chroniclesofsharnia-sharnanigans.blogspot.com

Blog platform tables, water, green super hero, swag, writing...

Beth Terry — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 15:13:47 -0500

I love Liz Henry's idea of having tables for each of the blogging platforms in the Geek Lab with experts on each of them. I don't necessarily need to see the code printed out, but it would be great to speak with experts on Blogger, Word Press, etc. about specific issues/questions. I've been using Blogger since 2002 and am getting ready to migrate over to Word Press which is a completely different ball of wax. And I don't need a whole session on Word Press, just answers to specific questions. Actually, I need this right now. Maybe you could send the Geek Lab to my house this week.

Water -- totally with you on needing more stations clearly visible. And please let's not provide plastic cups at the water stations next year. I know you guys probably didn't know the hotel was going to do that. At several conferences I've attended (with just as many people), actual water glasses are provided in the rooms rather than disposables. Or at the very lease, perhaps compostable cups could be provided, although I don't know that NYC has composting facilities so that's probably not a great idea. My vote is for durable glass and providing some incentive for women to refill their own bottles. Don't know how that could work. Maybe random prizes for women "caught" filling up their bottles throughout the conference?

Oh, what if one of the sponsors provided a green superheroine who would wander around the venue all weekend spotting acts of greenness here and there and rewarding them with some green eco-friendly prize. Acts of greenness could include filling up a reusable water bottle, filling up a reusable travel mug with coffee (assuming the alternative is a paper cup), putting something into the correct recycle bin, turning unwanted swag in to the swag recycling room, etc.

And about that swag recycling, definitely was great in '08 and not so great in '09. Any chance of getting Zwaggle back again? Also, we could really use a swag recycling area Sunday morning as everyone is packing and realizing they can't fit everything into their suitcases. That's when it would be especially useful.

And just to reiterate everyone else, hooray for more writing sessions!

Oh, and one more I just thought of... how about a session on blog layout. Not technical but design-oriented. What makes a blog look enticing? What makes it easy to read, navigate, and what makes it look crowded and junky? How to readers' eyes actually view a blog and what draws the eye where you want it to go? These are issues I wrestle with all the time.

Beth Terry
www.fakeplasticfish.com
@fakeplasticfish
FaceBook

As always

LadyM — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 01:22:24 -0500

I am impressed with the thoughtfulness and thoroughness of your response to the community! Can't wait for the writing track.

Lady M blogs at http://www.empress-m.com/

I'm guessing you mean BlogHer Food?

Elisa Camahort — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:22:30 -0500

BlogHer Food is a one-day conference this year on Saturday September 26th. Yom Kippur starts at sundown on the 27th. Actually, we were aware of that. I'm a non-observant Jew, so checked with a couple of the Jewish bloggers in our community about it. We decided to go ahead, but can see how, especially if you're the one hosting on Sunday evening, traveling home the day of is not the optimum solution. Next year we'll likely do the Food conference in October, and we'll keep our eyes open for the same situation.

Elisa Camahort Page
BlogHer
elisa@blogher.com

My BlogHer profile truly shows you everything I do online...Check it out!!

Thanks Heather

Elisa Camahort — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:17:06 -0500

And we have to thank the community, again, for providing actionable, constrcutive feedback when we asked for it. That makes ALL the difference.

Elisa Camahort Page
BlogHer
elisa@blogher.com

My BlogHer profile truly shows you everything I do online...Check it out!!

Chosing the dates.

FreshRachael — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:55:36 -0500

I'm sure you got this before, but I have to say I was really dissapointed that this conference is taking place on the same weekend as Yom Kippur. (It's the most important Jewish holiday.) Maybe next year, you could double check that sort of thing? Really sad so many Jewish food bloggers can't participate because of that!

That said, I really do hope to participate some day. It seems like an amazing event!!!

Printing out the code!

Liz Henry — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:03:02 -0500

I love your thoughts on this! The drop in and hang out did end up
working for the last afternoon of the conference. It's like it took a
while to hit its stride. It can be a little rough, because some tech problems are 10 minute ones and others take hours!

One idea I've been mulling over is to
have "Tour of (platform) code" for major platforms. WP, Typepad/MT, and
Blogspot. But with this addition: having tables or areas of the room
for each platform, with big printed posters up with some of the
code/panels/elements of the blog's back end marked up and labelled with
explanations! So, a visual learning aid to get people thinking and
looking and talking to each other about it. I'm a big fan of printing
things out on paper. It's amazing how clarifying it can be, looking at,
say, the html for blogspot blog, printed out, with big arrows in marker
that say "THIS IS THE HEADER" and "YOU PUT A WIDGET HERE".

Another idea relates to Megan's suggestion. Get people to sign up ahead of time, but based on a goal. "I want to put pictures on my blog" or "I want to rearrange and add to the widgets in my sidebar so they're most effective for readers" would be excellent goals. If people were grouped by goal, then despite them being on different platforms and the "how to" being different, the groups might be more cohesive and end up helping each other out.

-----------------

Liz Henry

Composite: Tech & Poetics

lizzard@bookmaniac.net

Exceedingly Pleased

HeatherSolos — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:37:18 -0500

Elisa,

I have to say of all the things I've read about BlogHer and the conferences this has excited me the most. Thank you for listening to those in the community and those watching the community as an example.

Look forward to seeing you both again

Elisa Camahort — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:36:50 -0500

Leah and JD, thanks for the kind words. JD, perhaps you should just follow Leah's lead and make it a family trip. How can your husband not want to go to NYC *with* you? And there's plenty for him to do for those times you don't want him hanging around ;)

Elisa Camahort Page
BlogHer
elisa@blogher.com

My BlogHer profile truly shows you everything I do online...Check it out!!

Now, that brought me back, Kelly

Elisa Camahort — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:33:40 -0500

"As a long island girl, I have no excuse not to take the LIRR into Manhattie "

Awesome. Haven't heard anyone say "take the LIRR inro Manhattie" in a long, looong time :)

Elisa Camahort Page
BlogHer
elisa@blogher.com

My BlogHer profile truly shows you everything I do online...Check it out!!