Agenda

If you're a blogger, and your blog contributes to your livelihood...whether through direct monetization or as a platform to get freelance and consulting work...then it's a business. But what does that mean? What should you be thinking about? Three experts are on hand to get down to brass tacks. Starting with taxes. Kelly Phillips Erb is back to give you the low-down. Linsey Krolik will answer your legal questions, including when incorporation makes sense. Finally Sabrina Parsons will try to demystify the number one question many freelancers and consultants have: How do I quote for my services and build a proposal that attaches the appropriate value to my time and the work I do?

FAQs=Frequently Asked Questions, and we've lined up a team of expert bloggers who know how explain the basics across many blogging platforms, protocols and philosophies. Do you have questions about the best tools? The right design? The latest in blogging "etiquette"? Look no further than these 4 kindly experts to give you the answers: Nelly Yusupova from WebGrrls Int'l, Melanie Nelson (aka Chilihead from Blogging Basics 101), Michele Mitchell (aka Scribbit) and Shazia Mistry.

10:30-11:10AM: Green, Social Change and NPO/NGOs
Led by BlogHer Social Change contributing editor Britt Bravo

11:15-11:55AM: Food, Cooking & Entertaining
Led by BlogHer Food contributing editor Kalyn Denny

Want to learn more about Birds of a Feather Meet-Ups? Join the discussion here.

There are now so many ways to get your word out, that every blogger has to make the decision: how far and wide do I want to distribute my content? Do I want it to be automated or selective? When do I start to feel like a spammer, not a sharer? Which tools are really effective, and which are just taking my content for free? How do I track my words, once I've set them free? How do I still protect my content? What about audio and video? We'll be talking tools like Twitter, Facebook, kirtsy, StumbleUpon, Digg, Qik, Utterz: all of which can be either well-used...or abused. Krista Neher moderates this discussion with avid users Anne-Marie Nichols and Gwen Bell who use the tools...and have opinions, backed up by data, about them all, and Esther Brady (aka faintstarlite) who will be on hand to talk video distribution.

Open source projects are a source of opportunity. Skill development, networking, career opportunities, confidence-building...you name it. A lot of us don't really know how these projects work, and we don't really know whether there's a way for us to participate if we're not actual code jockeys. This session will evangelize getting involved, at some level, with the one or more of the many open source projects out there. Join Technetra CEO, Alolita Sharma, Freebase community director Kirrily Robert and Mozilla.org's Chief Lizard Wrangler Mitchell Baker for this practical, and hopefully inspiring, session.

12:45-1:25PM: Fashion, Beauty, Style & Shopping
Led by BlogHer Fashion contributing editor Susan Wagner

1:30-2:10PM: Travel
Led by BlogHer's former Travel contributing editor and current author of an NYC travel book Suzanne Reisman

Want to learn more about Birds of a Feather Meet-Ups? Join the discussion here.

Engaging those outside the political blogosphere in political discourse...and action>

Is 2008 the year when every blogger is a proof point for the old battle cry that "the personal is political"? We are seeing a tremendous amount of interest and action around political issues and causes from bloggers who usually steer clear. They are galvanizing their readers to be more engaged and get more involved in a variety of ways. We'll talk about some of those ways with Twitter rabble-rouser Erin Kotecki-Vest, Momocrat Joanne Bamberger and a woman who exhorts us all to exercise the Power of our Purse, Diane MacEachern.

How do we win in November? Conservative women talk brass tacks (and tactics)

Conventional wisdom predicts that Republicans will have it rough in Election 2008, but the Party is known for being expert at rallying the troops, energizing its base and defying conventional wisdom. Join this discussion about the Republican Party's strategies to win in November and how bloggers...political bloggers and non-political bloggers alike, can help the cause. What is the message? And how can you help the party mobilize? RNC Online Communications Director Liz Mair will lead this discussion, along with conservative podcaster Fausta and Elizabeth Blackney (aka Media Lizzy).

We blog about our own self-images a lot, there's no doubt about that. But a lot of us also blog about our kids’ self-images. Our kids, at some point, become aware of their own physical attributes...and the physical attributes of other people too. Often we’re in the position of reacting to negative stuff they bring home. “You’re ugly, you’re too fat, your eyes are wrong, your color is different than your mom's” etc.

Sometimes it’s really hard to help our kids if we don’t feel good about ourselves. Have you ever been afraid they're actually picking up the wrong messages from your own attitudes about yourself? And how often have you wondered how to effectively counteract the messages we all receive from a society that markets the “super model” look to 9 year old girls and plastic surgery as a Sweet 16 present?

Children of all races, sizes, ages, and body types deserve to feel good about themselves: how they look, and how their bodies feel. Moderator Laurie Toby Edison will talk with Tracee Sioux, Kelly Wickham, Glennia Campbell and the collective wisdom in the room about strategies to help our kids like themselves as they are.
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2:30-3:10PM: Funding and incubation opportunities for women entrepreneurs
Susan Mernit will lead this session reviewing the various opportunities women entrepreneurs have for getting both coaching and assistance when seeking funding, and getting funding itself.

3:15-3:55PM: Women entrepreneurs
Susan will stick around and be joined by Patricia Handscheigel and other women starting and growing their own businesses. Talk everything from business models to exit strategies. Find and connect with other women hoeing this sometimes lonesome row.

It's easy in today's blogosphere to focus on the controversy and the commercialism. Hey, some people think there's a lot of that at and on BlogHer. But blogging is not just about ranting, and blogging is not just about raking it in. Blogging can also be about love, trust, positivity, hope, empowerment, quality over quantity, and transformations, global and personal. This session will give you some concrete examples of bloggers trying to contribute to their blogging communities, no matter the size or scope. Kyran Pittman hastens to tell us that "beautiful doesn't mean pretty...it's not all about rainbows and unicorns here!" Kyran is joined by some women working on beautiful and positive projects: Krystyn Heide from the Hope Revolution, Alyssa Royse from Just Cause It!. Jen, the leader of the JustPost project, found on her blog one plus two and Lucrecer Braxton, who hosts a monthly Art Slam initiative.

You probably remember last year's Blogosphere Code of Conduct meme. One code of conduct could probably never apply to the blogosphere...but do you have a personal code of conduct? Where are your boundaries? And do you publish them? Moreover, there has been lots of talk lately about how marketers blow it with MommyBloggers (and other bloggers too, for that matter.) Horror stories can be fun, but what if we could change the game? Do you have a code of conduct you wish marketers would abide by? Do you publish it? Do you outline how to contact you and who should bother? And let's be honest: Does your reaction totally change based on what you're being pitched, not on the quality of the pitch? Not every MommyBlogger is interested in that dread word "monetization." But for those who are, it will certainly be useful to talk about how we balance community, content and commercialism. Join Lotta Svoboda, who has tried many different ways to make money with her blog and finally found the most success as an Etsy seller, Devra Renner, who is a firm believer that she doesn't make money with her blog, but because of her blog and Kristen Chase, MommyBlogger and co-founder of the Parent Bloggers Network, so well-versed in creating and maintaining policies and Dawn Meehan who joined the momosphere after commercialism was already widely being discussed, debated and embraced...and took that ball and ran with it. They will discuss their varied approaches to the commercialization conundrum.

10:45-11:25AM: Talking About War and Peace: How Women are changing the security debate and creating a safer future for everyone.
Led by national security specialist and progressive activist Lorelei Kelly, along with a representative from Mothers Acting Up.

11:30AM-12:10PM: Who Better Serves Women Like You: Obama or McCain?
This session will be 100% Q&A between you, the women of BlogHer, and high-ranking advisors to each presidential campaign. RNC Online Communications Director Liz Mair is on hand to speak for the McCain campaign. Pennsylvania Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz is on hand to speak for the Obama campaign. They are ready to talk policy with authority. No candidate better serves all women, because women are not all alike. Come find out which candidate better serves women like you.

It sounds a little odd coming form us, given BlogHer has an ad network, but in fact there are other ways to make money via blogging, and this year we're going to explore some of them. Join these bloggers who have gone off the advertising path: Stephanie Agresta is an affiliate program expert, Kristen Hammond has become an e-commerce queen, Lynn Truong started her own blog network and is wiling to share the rather unusual business model she came up with for her and the bloggers who joined her, and Dana Loesch has started a local blogger network that can co-exist with her other blog advertising (OK, yes, the last two do make money from advertising, but the point is that they started these networks, they are their babies and a new business for each of them...and one could probably be started in other regional or content areas, so why not by you?):

Author, blogger and photographer Me Ra Koh is on hand to share as much as she can in her allotted session time. On the theory that fewer subjects with more focus is preferred we've actually got a thread up at BlogHer where we're asking for you to vote on which aspects of photography you'd like Me Ra to focus on. Come on over and share your opinion or at least cast your vote.

1:45-2:25PM: BlogHims @ BlogHer
Led by BlogHer attendee and network member Karl Erikson

2:30-3:10PM: Health & Fitness
Led by BlogHer Health contributing editor Catherine Morgan and Good Health-a-thon mastermind Kristy Sammis

Want to learn more about Birds of a Feather Meet-Ups? Join the discussion here.

Blogging creates communities, and they can take action for the greater good. But they can also take action to support individuals. Susan Wagner moderates this discussion with a trio of bloggers who have experienced the healing force of a community of blog readers who hang on their every word, and talk right back...always right when they needed to hear a voice come back out of the wilderness. Hear powerful stories about how Susan (aka WhyMommy), Laurie Kingston, LoveBabz and Christine (aka Flutter) feel the healing force of their blogging communities. Share your story too.

Join Lori from Weebles Wobblog, Monica Mingo, Pamela Tsigdinos and Melissa from Stirrup Queens for a frank discussion about what it's like to realize you are not on the fast track to motherhood. These women are in different stages of dealing with infertility issues, but there is one common thread. They all want or wanted to become a mom, and have found roadblocks and detours obscuring what seems to be so easy for others. Is infertility one of the last things that nobody wants to talk about? Not in this blogging community.

3:15-4:30PM: The First BlogHer PhotoWalk, brought to you by Shutter Sisters

Calling all photo enthusiasts! Grab your cameras and put on your walking shoes, it’s time for BlogHer’s first ever PhotoWalk. Tracey Clark, Karen Walrond, Andrea Scher, Jen Lemen and Stephanie Roberts (some of the snap happy women behind the collaborative photo blog Shutter Sisters) will be leading the group on a photo excursion around San Francisco’s picturesque Union Square. Stretch your legs and your creativity as we walk, talk and share our passion for photography. If you plan on joining us on our adventure please leave a comment on this post. We’ve also got an official PhotoWalk button for your blog! Grab the code at that post, RSVP in the comments there, and we’ll see you there.

Additional Room of Your Own slots during this time frame:

3:15-3:55PM: Women of Color Bloggers
Led by Megan Smith

4:00-4:40PM: Chicago Bloggers Meet-up
Led by Lara Colvin