- Share This Post
- submit
- 66
-
Sparkle (0)
If you are attending the BlogHer annual conference this year there is plenty of information and lists that can help you prepare for the conference. There's the conference guide, this post and comments on BlogHer and this post from The Parent Bloggers Network.
Those posts are filled with all kinds of good, solid practical information like pack a sweater, wear comfortable shoes, bring lots of cards and don't call San Francisco "Frisco" or you might get cut.
What all that wonderful advice can't prepare you for is how you'll feel, how you'll react and what you will do with all that emotion. I'll share some of my experience with you and point you to other bloggers posts to help you to get as ready as possible.
Be prepared:
The hardest thing about the conference for me is that I'm an introvert. Not an introvert in the sense of not social - if anything I'm too social (more about that in a bit) but an introvert in the sense that I don't draw energy from being around other people (the way extroverts do - think politicians working a crowd) so I need alone time to recharge. I will not have a roommate this year for exactly this reason. I will need that bit of time at night to top off my batteries so that I can be prepared for another day of hours of socializing. If you're more dazzling and on behind a keyboard than face-to-face then build some alone time into your schedule. There's nothing wrong with going to your room and taking a nap or ducking out of a session and stashing yourself in a quiet spot and blogging. You don't have to stay for every minute at every social function.
It's not you, it's me:
On my twitter bio I list "hugs inappropriately." This self description is borne of my BlogHer conference experience. I have read a lot of blogs at some point or another. There's a good chance that I've read your blog at some point or another. You might not have ever read any of my personal blogs. You don't know me but I might feel like you are my long lost BFF. And upon meeting you I might very well attempt to hug you like a cousin you haven't seen in years. You might think I'm a freak. But that's the key. My behavior has nothing to do with you - I'm just an inappropriately hugging weirdo. So don't get caught up in wondering or worrying what other people are thinking about you. Trust me, they are way more concerned with angsting over their own behavior. And when you meet me - if you don't want a hug make an "X" with your fingers or give me a gentle elbow. If you are nervous and think nobody wants to meet you or cares about you or will talk to you - find me and I'll give you a big ole awkward hug or not - your preference :)
But I'm not a mommy blogger:
Me neither. I'm not a mommy, either. I'm also not married. Single, childless, over 40 - freak, right? Um, no. I fit into BlogHer just fine. I've been to every conference. And, yes, there are lots of mommy bloggers and bloggers who are married. And yet I still manage to have a great time and find my tribe, some of whom are mommy bloggers. One of the stories I always tell is of the first conference. A mommy blogger stood up and said she felt marginalized because mommy blogging was not respected. And the mommy bloggers cheered and they bonded and they drank and they cursed and they flirted with the nice dudes and the hot chicas and hell, everyone because they got it going on. I fell in love with the mommy bloggers that day. And they welcomed me back. I will always treasure the comment that Jenny (I learned at that first conference that many mommy bloggers are named Jen, Jenn, Jenny, Jennifer or some variation thereof) of Three Kid Circus made on one of my blogs telling me that I could be a mommy blogger because of my dogs (yes, I'm one of those people - hate away). Though I'm still
