Breaking News: BlogHer Moves East in 2007

This might be good to do for Photoshop & Dreamweaver too. Maybe as a Q & A session where a few fairly knowledgeable people could field whatever burning questions beginners might have.

Virginia

http://www.webteacher.ws/
http://first50.wordpress.com/

I'm a videographer and media maker in DC (plus newer BlogHer enthusiast). --Can't wait to learn more about your members. Chicago this summer? Oh precious yes!

Jill F.
New media joyleader
Http://Livingwithgeeks.wordpress.com

One of the beauties of blogging is you don't have to be at all geeky to do it, but in case there are a few who would like to get down with their inner geek, here are some ideas:
CSS basics
CSS layouts
How to be accessible
Adding code to your blog template for ads, searches, Flickr, tag clouds or whatever
Search engine tips
HTML basics
Working with images

I'd also be interested in topics about writing for the web or writing well and about education.

Virginia

http://www.webteacher.ws/
http://first50.wordpress.com/

Thanks for moving it a bit closer to home.

"There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not here any more." -The Ghost of Christmas Present

Someone once said to me that popular blogging does not equal good writing. I approach my blog the way I do any professional writing, and I'm wondering if people view their blogging the way they do other fiction/poetry/journalism work that they do. We could talk about styles, influences, themes, use (incorrectly or correctly, and whether that matters) of punctuation, grammar, capitalization, etc. Words are our medium, but we've never really talked about that.

Surrender, Dorothy - When I was your age, we just let them ride in the back window.

I'm new to BlogHer, but not blogs...I found out about the '06 conference ONE week after it happened thirty minutes from my house. Big DARN!

So, I am SOOOOOO going this year! From the West, on to the East...since I am from the east...it'll be like coming HOME!

:-)
Kathy

I'm human. Definitely not perfect, but using my powers for good. I like sharing stories, listening to yours and growing every day.

Visit me at http://www.kathybisbee.com/blog
or at http://www.ourstory.com/katfyssh

I think I peed myself a little after reading it would be in Chicago. I was just telling a fellow blogger how much I wanted to go to BlogHer but it was too far. Now it's where I LIVE!!! OMG I'm thrilled and so much for getting any sleep now.

I'll be keeping watch for updates and opportunities to help out.

I am a new member and so look forward to being with all you women in New York and Chicago!!!
I have only been to upstate New York...so the Big Apple will be much anticipated.
Also I'm with you Izzy76 we must have some Cocktails and Karaoki!!!
;';'
';''
Nancy Dillon
The Truth About Skincare
http://skincaretruth.blogspot.com/

I really am looking forward to this, since I missed last year!

This is exciting as I may actually get a chance to go home! It will be 2 1/2 years at conference time since I've been back home for a visit..just depends on the money (if any) and the two kids and convincing the hubby as well..

thepenninepen.blogspot.com.
In a world gone mad, I choose peace.

Yippee!! Chicago may actually be doable for me.

How about a session on blooks and blooking?

Laurie
www.notjustaboutcancer.blogspot.com ( http://www.notjustaboutcancer.blogspot.com )

I'm so excited, my earlobes itch.

I have no budget for air travel to either coast, but Chicago, pretty much smack in the middle? That, I can do.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, for making it more "centralized."

It's going to be better than Christmas Day for me.

Chicago is so close to me! Now, I'm excited!

Note to self: attempt to become a serious blogger so people may at least know your blog exists.

Hey, I've got 200 and some odd days... it could still happen.

Welcome to my small world BlogHer! Hope this is the first of many successful east coast events.

I have read about BlogHer '06 and it seemed like THE MOST FUN EVER!!! I would love to attend as Chicago is one of my most favorite places in the world. I am new to the blogging world and would love to meet other "mommy bloggers" as well as other bloggers and learn how to really get my blog off the ground!!

A crew of us are planning to come...even though I live in the Bay Area and I can't believe you're making me fly to Chicago. Now I have to get rid of my gel insoles... ;)

And I agree...buttons!

Melissa
wakingupastonished.blogspot.com

Seriously, anyone who is thinking they have some great ideas about either Chicago or NYC or would like to help in any way please do shoot me an email with your contact info and areas of interest. I will definitely be calling on you!

Thanks!

Elisa Camahort
BlogHer and Worker Bees
elisa@blogher.org/elisa@workerbees.biz

Greetings Ladies,
I've been to known to host many friends and family in Chicago and would LOVE to help plan some festivities in this fine Windy City! Count me in. Can't wait to meet y'all...

Blagica (blah-gee-tsa) Stefanovski
Chief Guide
Gals' Guide ( http://www.galsguide.com )

I hope to be there...

I do have a pic, but the site and I are arguing...

From the Camera Obscura ( http://homepage.mac.com/baroose/iblog/index.html )

I am so glad to hear that '07 will be on the East Coast - well, sort of :).

Chicago! That's a five hour drive from the Detroit area, I can do that! Road trip! Party barge!
Missy ( http://missymckerroll.blogspot.com/ )

If you want to give me your contact info, email me ( elisa@blogher.org ), and I'll add you to the volunteer list for Chicago :)

Thanks again!

Elisa Camahort
BlogHer and Worker Bees
elisa@blogher.org/elisa@workerbees.biz

Hi - I wanted to get involved, so if you do want to organize a "hospitality" group or something along those lines, count me in, a happy local!

Excellent! My department is actually looking a blogging as a communication/education tool -- this looks like a great conference for that as well!

I'm so excited for Chicago '07! Whatever you're offering, I'm buying! But I have one request...can we have some music/dancing/karaoke one night after the cocktail hour? It would be so fun!

I followed a lot of the media coverage of BlogHer and I did not at all feel like the media representation/advertising was pitched toward mothers. It seemed geared towards women, in general, and I think the fact that there was ONE panel out of 29 for blogging mothers speaks volumes. The names and content of the panels was posted for months and anyone who read it could see that this was not a mother-centric conference at all. That some sponsors wanted to reach that demographic is insignificant, in my opinion.

I am so excited it's so close to me next year. I am actually considering going, mostly so I can go and drool and talk like a moron in front of all the awesome chicks I read every day.

Question, how many of you stood in the background and took pictures of your blog-idols? Because I'll probably do that too.

I second the request for a lay-out-design panel, I am extremely challenged in that area as well!!

www.ceece.net ( http://www.ceece.net )
Far From Perfect

A session on how to make blogging a positive, rather than a negative, for tenure would be kind of useful for academic bloggers like myself. (There are loads of related issues here, such as where blogging fits in the terrain of professional communications, whether blogging can be a way to secure or provide mentoring that one's department or university does not, etc.)

And to your point, we can always work on stronger outward messaging about how inclusive we want the conference to be.

I certainly hope we'll see you in 2007!

Elisa Camahort
BlogHer and Worker Bees
elisa@blogher.org/elisa@workerbees.biz

Sepcifically I think I would prefer to see some food-themed blogging sessions suitable for everyone at blogher. After all, food is something that absolutely no one at the conference can do with out and as such is an important issue.

I wouldn't like to put food bloggers in danger of forming a clique when most of the agreement here is that everyone needs to pull together instead of distancing themselves.

In addition to practical sessions (food photography is an excellent one), the politics of food, budgeting food and health implications of what you eat are all things that might appeal to a wider audience.

Becks & Posh ( http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/ )

I am active on several group blogs. I would imagine that you might only need a couple speakers who use group blogs in different way.

The discussion could be about:
-instructing the newbies in "etiquette" and "editing technique" without sounding too controlling.

-deciding the qualifications to join.

-formulating the "rules" for the blog.

-citing the differences between a group blog the more familiar "group discussion board" (advantages and disadvantages of both).

This could be a great panel!!

Debra
A Stitch In Time ( http://astitchintime.blogspot.com )
Deb's Daily Distractions ( http://debsdistractions.blogspot.com )

While attending a session that covered CSS this time around I had an idea for next year: A session devoted entirely to learning CSS (and probably some HTML and custom blog-engine tags, too) by editing the default templates provided by the various blogging services/applications (e.g., WordPress, TypePad, Blogger, Movable Type). It's how so many web designers and developers learned themselves -- by looking at and dissecting existing code. Would that kind of session be interesting to you, Smarti?

At the other end of the scale, I'd love to see some sessions aimed at folks who are already experienced web professionals (or at least experienced bloggers who already know how to modify their templates and "primp" their blogs). I don't have a dream agenda worked out in my head yet, but perhaps some sessions on:

- Trackbacks: What they're good for, how to use them, and how to keep them spam-free (if possible)
- Comments: To Open or Not to Open? with some discussion about comment deletion policies, dealing with trolls, keeping the conversation on track, eliminating comment spam, how long to keep comments open, when to cut them off, etc.
- Breaking out of the box: Creating a unique, yet navigable design for your blog -- perhaps even one that doesn't shove everything into two or three vertical columns!

As for general, non-technical sessions, I'd like to see:

- Collaborative blogging: How to blog as a group. This would make a nice panel discussion (though it might make for a big one if more than one blog, each with multiple authors, were to be represented :).

I'm going to keep thinking about this and will post more ideas if any occur to me...

I'd love to see a session on food photography. It's definitely a hobby of mine, and though I'm not a foodblogger per se, I do post food photos on my blog all the time. I'd like to be posting better ones!

Yes, if I had realized that it was for more than just mommies, I would have gone. It's just that the media representation/advertising was all pitched toward mommies, and I don't fit into that demographic, so I didn't look any closer.

I like a balanced approach, so that all kinds of women can participate. I've been blogging since 2002, and women have gotten short shrift in the blogosphere.

The fact that the media portrayed BlogHer as "MommyBloggerCon" did you (and me) a disservice.

1. Group art project
2. Thematic exploration of a concept in a new social media space
3. Call to action --> offline action

Jenny, I'm getting in my car now to drive hours to your house and high-five you.

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone )
Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com )

I'd love to see some tracks specifically for food bloggers. (We promise there will be A LOT more food bloggers next year.) How about:
food photography (including food styling, something I'm terrible at)
food writing

The photoshop session would be good too, as well as a general session about photo editing tools and how they compare, what they do, etc.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen ( http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com )

Hi Lisa:

I would love to teach a hands-on session at either or both of the 2007 conferences on using Photoshop to correct and prepare photos for posting to blogs and websites. I've written a bunch of books and articles on the subject and have taught it many times. Anyone interested?

Jan

Jan Kabili
Blogher Contributing Editor Technology-Web-Social Media ( http://www.blogher.com/topic/technology-web )
Also blogging at The Unofficial Photoshop Weblog ( http://photoshop.weblogsinc.com )

Heh, I think I just commented on your blog?

The media take may be one thing, although I think the media positioning was very strongly on women bloggers as a powerful consumer force, not just mommies. You may not like the consumerism angle either, but that's the common thread I saw.

Whatever the media representation, the conference never pitched itself as just being for Mommies. Again, I urge folks who are interested to review the schedules and see if they couldn't have built themselves a full day of sessions that were interesting to them. Politics, business, sex, academia, blogging identity...these all got as much schedule space as MommyBlogging.

But I also have to say that though childless by choice it doesn't mean I can't be interested in and moved by the experiences and expression of mothers. And I certainly don't think we should ask women to check any aspect of their personal identities at the door before participating to make people who don't share that aspect more comfortable.

Elisa Camahort
BlogHer and Worker Bees
elisa@blogher.org/elisa@workerbees.biz

Yeah, well, I didn't go this year because the conference was pitched as being for "mommy bloggers", and I didn't want to be party to conflating feminism with obligatory parenting.

If anything, I was really offended - it seemed like a bunch of mommies were cheapening my and other women's efforts as serious bloggers by reducing blogging by women to the mommy track, with a side of fashion and diet.

You might want to watch how you get represented in the media, since the whole "mommyblogger == female blogger" thing was how the conference was promoted and talked about on mailing lists and in the newspapers beforehand. "Mommy" and "Woman" are not synonymous - one is a subset of the other.

Who requested vacation 2 years in advance, (not for Blogher, but for a vacation lol). It was amusing, but unfortunately very necessary.

~Denise
Daily Dose of Denise ( http://flamingohouse.blogs.com ) and Fast Times @ Homeschool High ( http://fasttimes.clubmom.com )

I'm just sayin.

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone )
Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com )

You know how to take a photo! Care to stage a group shot? ;0)

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone )
Surfette ( http://surfette.typepad.com )

...can I ask for days off without my boss thinking I'm cracked?

__

Flooded Lizard Kingdom ( http://www.lizardkingdom.org )

Heroine Content ( http://www.heroinecontent.net )

I think I almost starting crying when I read it was in Chicago. I've put my husband and inlaws on notice that I will be MIA that weekend and might even take a couple extra days! I am really looking forward to meeting so many of my blogging friends but have the fear of being the biggest dork there. Oh well. Yeah for Chicago, my old stomping grounds!

Look Busy...Here Comes Jesus ( http://www.twise.blogspot.com )Trish

I am so there! (To both of them!) Yes, be afraid. Chicago won't know what hit them. (Neither will New York!) As soon as you catch your breath, let's get this bad boy planned and ready to shoot out of the gate! (So to speak, "y'all")

~Jenn~
Mommy Needs Coffee ( http://mommyneedscoffee.com ) | Mommybloggers ( http://mommybloggers.com )
BlogHerContributing Editor, Mommy and Family ( http://209.59.186.51/~blogher/?q=blog/jenn-satterw... )

Ok,it is official now, because I have Kaboodled it. ;-) ~TW ( http://ramblewoman.blogspot.com )

I am so down with Chicago.

I hadn't even heard of BlogHer before this spring when a friend of mine said she wanted to go to the conference, so I had no idea what to expect going in. I was surprised, overwhelmed, and inspired (all of those are good things).

There's equal opportunity to attend and absorb, and to take this conference and make it what you want it to be. Either by getting involved in the organization of it, or by being an active, willing participant. I did more of the former this year. I want to do more of the latter next year.

It's gonna be so awesome.

That is awesome. If I can help - please let me know!

Jill A Warner
www.jilbean.com ( http://www.jilbean.com )

Oh, and does Oprah know we are coming?

The Circus is in town! Visit me at Three Kid Circus ( http://threekidcircus.com ).

I'm so there.

Session-wise, I'd like to see a workshop-style session were a group project is created - be it an art gallery, a thematic exploration of a concept, or a call to action of some sort.

I want to leave sessions with a fire lit under my ass to act. I want to be inspired and challenged.

The Circus is in town! Visit me at Three Kid Circus.