This was a comment on Debbie Lawrence’s post called Storm Watch 2010…but man it was sooo good, I needed it here too…
I consider myself in a very odd position in this storm. First of all, I went to Blissdom last year and one of the first bloggers I met that I didn’t already *know* (as in online know) gave me a piece of advice. I took it and I’ve grown exponentially because of it. She didn’t give that advice to the attendee’s in her session though. Why? I’m not sure, but that one piece of knowledge was what I was seeking. The rest was gravy.
I met some of my best online buddies right now. I’ve roomed with some of them at other conferences. The networking freakin’ rocks. The sessions….can be summed up by the advice of that one blogger at that one dinner the first night.
I also attended Mom 2.0 Summit. It was a sponsored trip. The highlight of the trip was when Guy Kawasaki sat down at his computer and said, "let me show you a few things" to a full room in the opening keynote. The rest….was gravy. Oh the networking was more than wonderful. But, honestly, I’ve figured up the costs of that trip for me this year, about $1500. For networking? Unless I have a sponsor again, that simply can’t happen.
I have a room reserved for Blissdom. Not a ticket bought for the conference. Networking. It is within driving distance and I can sit in the lobby and enjoy the chatter of the online women I *know*.
I attended two other conferences last spring. The Social Networking Conference which was again sponsored and I had this teeny tiny role in and the Florida Conference for Women which was partially sponsored and I had another teeny tiny role. The networking at those 2 was no where near the level of the others. It was a different crowd.
You see, I’m not into drinking, dranking and drunking. And the crowd at the last two I mentioned was extremely business like. So, while I didn’t spend time hanging out and "networking", I made some awesome business contacts that have transpired into a bit more than just the friendships. And don’t get me wrong, the friendships are great. I live in a remote area and as far as friends go? OnlineisaboutallIhavebesidesmyimmediatefamily.
I went to Blogher. I networked. I was fortunate enough to be part of the Ford bloggers tour and that was great and a wonderful learning experience, especially considering my husband‘s love for Mustangs. The rest of the conference…………….was………….a……………….b….l…………..u..r…………
I didn’t attend one session. I spent my time in the hallways chatting. I would go from group to group networking. Not drinking, not partying but chatting. Then I spent an enormous amount of time in the lobby online, watching the Twitter Feed, watching the people do ridiculous things in the name of swag and…..I met a few more great people there…albeit several of them…ok most of them were men. Go figure.
That trip this year would set me back about $2K and it is the week my youngest child starts kindergarten. To network? No, I don’t think so. If you are wondering why I didn’t attend any sessions, because after that first night at Blissdom, with that one blogger and that one piece of advice, not one session had managed to live up to the depth of that…and so….why bother?
I came home from Blogher beaten down and downtrodden. I wanted to go to Type A Mom because *everyone* was going to be there. I even asked to speak because if the one blogger with her one piece of advice was going to go to conferences, speak on panels and not tell everyone what she told me? Then I was wanted to do it. I was denied.
And then I became even more disgusted. I wanted some concrete information on how to do some concrete activities. And no one had that answer….or no one was willing to give me that answer anyway. It was a lot of "you can do it" and "you just have to do your time" and "work it and it will happen for you". I’ve been doing this 10 years….that motivational-fluff is old.
Fast forward some more and the GirlfriendsGuide Conference was rushing up and I couldn’t make up my mind. And, then I saw that my favorites Charles Orlando and Jenn Fowler were speaking. And I signed up with the cheapest conference fee EVER. And I did it from home. And I can re-do it now. And guess what? Not only did I meet another prolific person in the online world, Kevin Roy, he actually Skyped for almost 2 hours with me later that night regarding a question I asked during his session.
2 hours! That’s 2 hours outside of his conference session of an hour. That’s more time and advice than I have received from any one blogger anywhere. And, what I learned from him will eventually (as in when I get my butt in gear and actually take some action) be just as beneficial.
And I didn’t go to Type A Mom but I read about it in various places. It sounded like fun….for networking…..but the sessions….more motivational fluff. And, if I need motivational fluff…..I can find that almost anywhere and certainly somewhere that costs a lot less.
Blog World Expo? I wanted to go. I tried to go. It just didn’t happen. I wasn’t even interested until I actually spoke to one of the guys at WordCamp in Birmingham and he put me in contact with one of the conference guys. They had something that I thought I wanted to hear. And I made a half-hearted effort to get there. I had options…..but even still…none seemed to be good enough to leave my family for a weekend of….what could possibly be….simply networking.
I asked someone that was going to check out some of the sessions that I had been turned on to. And, he didn’t. Nor did any of the other 8 or 10 people I *know* that went. So, chances are, I wouldn’t have made it either.
So now what?
Well, I’m in a strange place. I want a conference. But I want it my way. I am seriously considering a conference in February but mostly because it is a great deal, it has at least 2 of the speakers lined up that I have already learned from and I know I can count on and my family can go and it will still be a great deal.
I will discuss it more with my husband tonight and then we will decide. But in the meantime……..I"m in that storm…much like a good bail of hay just getting blown around from one side of the barn to the other side of the pasture with but one needle in my haystack and that ….that was inserted on the first night, by one blogger….who didn’t tell anyone else that great piece of advice………
Please understand, I mean no ill will toward anyone, especially conference coordinators…I just wish…..I just wish I could get someone to listen to me……and maybe I am the minority here. Because the conferences with 50 plus speakers in two days time with less than 500 people…well they seem to be selling out so obviously they are pleasing at least one group of bloggers……..
For me…right now…I’ll stick with networking…after all, that’s what I do best isn’t it? Talk and talk and listen and listen and talk some more.
PS: (I stole that from Jenny, heheheh) I Googled one of the conferences that I mentioned above yesterday…..and they actual conference site was the number two site on the page……guess who was number 1? Yea, me, hahahaha, see that Ego in yesterday’s post on Perception.
It was cold at midnight when we were hanging the birthday banner…..
You can’t have turkey on the kid’s birthday…not when he wants spaghetti…so…we had spaghetti (or actually they had spaghetti – I can’t chew yet) and Birthday cake….I can at least mush up some cake…now can’t I?
I love my husband……and it’s high time I told you about it….
has treated me like a queen since 2001…….he cooks dinner, he got up with night-waking babies…..he mashes my strawberries for my yogurt and strawberries because I can’t chew them….
Abby on NCIS and no NCIS Los Angeles is really a cool show…..this woman has a hysterical role, I love it….
I’m getting a Christmas Tree that hangs from the ceiling from a sponsor…..more details next week as it rolls in here and up to the ceiling….
I’m not much of New Year’s Resolutionist (is that a word) but I have to make more time for my adorable kids and my awesome husband….totally awesome
Geez he is cute…….and 5…
And, this guy, he has seen me through so much…and he has stood by me the whole way, never wavering….as my mom wondered at the silliness of him making me mash my own strawberries and make my own pudding….*smiles* sweet, I love this man
I could Twitter these…but if they are more than 140 characters long..they should be a blog post….but really not many more than 140…
but this guy…he is 5 today…..
my bite is off, what does that mean for me from a recovery from TMJ surgery and getting well?
Survivor Samoa recap after Tuesday night’s NCIS, how did we get along without a DVR?
8:47 PM: just answered someone else’s booty call…….how hysterical
Checking Out Facebook, watching some crap on TV…I hate it when he has the remote…argh…oh but what an adorable man he is…just not when he has the remote
As of late, I’m changing gears ,much the way I explained a couple of months ago that I would like to. And, that means several things. One, I’m teaching, two, I’m designing sites for others and getting paid for it, three I’m writing what I want and when I want with no pressure…..
And, I’ve been featured in a placed or two that you might have missed.
The latest feature is Children and Coping with Adult Illnesses which is a feature on Type A Mom and then I was featured on Collective Bias as a Internet Media Strategist, I’m not sure how many of you saw that but it was a feature of me from the feature that my local paper did of me. Killing two birds with one stone there, how about that?
So, although I look really bad, black eyes and incisions near my ears, the surgery seems to have been a success thus far and hopefully I will get over eating 14 gallons of jello, applesauce and pudding before the 4 to 6 weeks are up that I am not to chew.
So, go check some of my other sites out and hey, shoot me a guest post and I’ll get you up here, on my education blog or on the Blogalogues blog, just where ever your post fits best, we can get you in there!
I’ve written a few posts already about Blogher but this is the final one. It is only befitting that I arrived home to find we have no internet service. That was on Wednesday (it’s Saturday evening) and so, with that, I’m going to put out my final thoughts and post it whenever I get internet back or I make it back to a fast food restaurant with Wi-Fi.
Let me say this as a preview of my thoughts…..being without internet has made me think long and hard about what I have to say, just so you know that I didn’t sit down in haste and write some bunch of crap. I am home, I’ve emptied all the bags, worked on laundry and carefully studied my feelings about Blogher (and read Jen Lancaster Pretty In Plaid in 2 sittings because people, she is THAT awesome).
Part Two: The greatest sponsors out there for anyone.
Part Three: The next four hundred great blogging women that I met. (Four hundred might be a bit of overkill but as I haven’t started writing them all down yet, I’m just guessing there’s that many)
Part Four: The Most Famous “Nice” person on the Earth
Part Five: Two of the biggest fakes in the blogging world that I’ve ever met
Part Six: The single most snotty and unbearable blogger I’ve ever met.
Part Seven: People I missed and I may just cry because I wanted to meet/see them soooo bad.
So, here goes…..
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PART ONE – THE FOUR GREATEST WOMEN IN BLOGGING
1. Stacie from StacieinAtlanta and The Divine Miss Mommy came to my rescue on more than one occasion. We didn’t get to hang out like I had hoped we would but when I sent out an SOS because I had lost my wallet, Stacie was the person who showed up with cab fair and an extra 20 bucks for the remainder of the weekend. Stacie was also the person who I spent the most time with at the Atlanta Mashable Event so if you are looking for good bloggy friends, Stacie is an excellent person to start with.
2. Stephanie from BizzieMommy was my roommate. She endured what any other roomie that you’ve never met before would have to endure. And, I think we did quite well as we often managed to share a cab without even planning to do so. So, in the future, if you need a roommate, I can say to you that Steph is a great choice and will treat you well.
3. and 4. Kim from CraftyMamaof4 and Crafty Mama of 4 and Beth of PlusSizeMommy or The Plus Size Mommy are tied and not necessarily for 3rd and 4th. I simply got my brain to them in this order. They were my rock at Blogher. The let me lounge on their bed when I thought I wouldn’t be able to walk another step. They drug my arse to a few places that I really didn’t think I wanted to go but had a blast once I was there. They volunteered me to volunteer at an event that I wasn’t invited to volunteer at originally. I managed to talk Beth’s ears off the first night out of excitement and then only got like 3 hours sleep before hitting the trail for the Ford event…but oh my, it was the greatest weekend with these people. Honesty, they were fabulous. I can’t say enough about them. I have no idea how they were able to run and rip all weekend like they did because I couldn’t keep up with them for anything…they are machines people, machines.
PART TWO – THE GREATEST SPONSORS OUT THERE
This is again not in any order other than the way my brain thinks about them over the course of writing.
1. I’ll start with Stacie who was kind enough to help me with a room in Atlanta for 2 nights before I actually flew to Chicago. We had planned to have dinner together but we were both running crazy trying to get our stuff together. Like I said above, I didn’t get to spend enough time with her. The best part is… Atlanta happens to be my favorite city ever and it’s a car drive and a weekend hop away. So, look out girlfriend, I’m coming after you.
2. My flight was on a buddy pass on Air Tran which doesn’t fly out of Birmingham so that was why I wanted to go to Atlanta early and rest up (I’ve explained my penchant for fatigue already). A great sponsor by the name of Joseph who is the owner of J n J Collections was kind enough to help me get this flight arrangement. He also provided me with some great jewelry to wear at the event. I even gave away a $25 gift certificate (and as soon as I have internet, I’ll remind you who it was because right now, my brain is fried).
3. Slim Perfect, Girlfriendology, MuffinTopless and Oh Social were rocking the house. I had an awesome make-over (from Bombshell Artistry) and if you didn’t see the photos of that transformation, you missed it all. The best part was that I had sent my Slim Perfect items ahead of me via UPS and they didn’t make it. And, the dress I ended up wearing was absolutely nothing short of “meant to be”. The shoes I had were my black flip flops with the big black and white zebra striped bows on them and the dress…not only did it match and fit, it was given to me by the sweetest woman I know. Folks like Carole aren’t around every corner just handing out clothes now are they?
4. Ford was another party responsible for part of my trip. I slept on a super comfy bed at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers courtesy of Ford and I was able to take part in a tour of the Ford plant and meet many great people during that event, including but not limited to Scott Monty.
5. The biggest and bestest (is that a word, screw it, I’m using it) sponsor was the Affinia Chicago who are listed in your airline guide as one of the “must see” places in Chicago. Their lounge on the roof, known as the C-View, hosted a tweet-up on Thursday night for the Bloggers and hey, how cool is that? When I was being escorted to my room on Thursday evening, the bellman asked me who I was and why I was in Chicago. I gave him a rough low-down on me and my purpose. When we exited the elevator, he asked my room number, I gave him the number and he looked at me again with a surprised look and said, “Who are you again?” I laughed and asked why, he made me stand in the hall while he prepped what he called the “best suite in the building”. He lit the rooms with the diming lights, the bathroom with it’s glass shower and all. It was really just as awesome as the photos (see flickr jamcgyver is my username over there, but you can search for Blogher and seen thousands of photos) make it look.
6. My Precious Kids was kind enough to send me 300 of the car seat tags and I graciously handed those out.
7. Lap Belt Cinch, Inc or more commonly known as SeatSnug sent me 3 seatsnugs to give away and as I said, the winners will be revealed when I am online long enough to find out.
8. The Blush undershirt sent to me in burgundy which I wore more than I probably should have but it was awesome and it made my too short shirts look so cool, is something I will wear a lot, I can assure you of that.
9. And, there was the awesome pants that came to me via Dreamsacks and I really didn’t want to take off. I could have worn those suckers the whole weekend and then some.
10. Kelly Lynch Ring of Vital Earth Traditions sent me 2 shirts from Hawaii…yes you heard me right, from Hawaii which I graciously accepted and wore and again, major comfort zone.
Part Three: The next four hundred great blogging women that I met. (Four hundred might be a bit of overkill but as I haven’t started writing them all down yet, I’m just guessing there’s that many)
Again, these are only in the order that I pick them up out of the stack.
Barbara Jones from Everywhere! I mean really, this woman is a super hero.
Last and certainly not least…..
So Mi Speaks was looking at me intently, upon investigation, her business card looks almost just like mine…or at least with the same girl and green background…too funny.
And, finally, I was already a big fan of George from Crocs but after I thought my wallet was missing and this young man saw me in the state of “upset-ness”, he turned from a funny, silly, croc-loving guy to a sweet and adorable young man who cares. Don’t miss him, ever!
Part Four: The greatest famous person on the Earth
Jen Lancaster who is by far the most famous person I’ve ever met and happens to be the author of several books off of Best Seller Lists Everywhere recognized me when I approached her. I told her how I had ordered her book and received something different and we had a good laugh (That story is coming soon).
I think the reason I like her so much is I can relate to her writing because she is very much like me. She is the same age and she has a wonderful outlook….depending on who you ask. If you ask me, I have a great attitude and always have, if you ask Jen, she’d tell you the same about herself. Or as more than one blogger repeated this weekend, “It’s all about me”….it wasn’t Jen who said that but it is so very the way of the world.
So, if you haven’t purchased her new book, whatcha waiting for? Go, do it now.
Part Five: Two of the biggest fakes in the blogging world that I’ve ever met
As I mentioned, the whole experience is what you make it and there were 2 individuals (and I’m not naming names, they know who they are) who do not practice that whole “transparency” thing that has been preached ever so much at every conference I have attended.
I’m telling you, it’s one thing to be nice to me on twitter, to say nice things in comments on blogs but if you can’t look me in the eyes and be that same nice person, pfffffft, then so be it. I’ll be honest with you, one of these bloggers I had never met before Blogher and the other one I had met only once.
Both of the women were very clicky, very rude in the presence of their “buddies” and basically, I won’t go out of my way to be nice to them again. The same two people who return home and tweet nice things to me for the public to see acting as if they hadn’t just treated me like ass. Honestly, is that really necessary?
I mean, what happened to being transparent or being what you are in person as you present yourself online.
Part Six: The single most snotty and unbearable blogger I’ve ever met.
I met a blogger online a few months back. We seemed to connect. Everything was nice enough. Then, by some mark of the beast, she changed from a nice, sweet person to chat with, to a mean and nasty individual. This person made a name for herself at Blogher and trust me when I tell you, it’s not one that you would want to have labeled on you. Honestly, if you aren’t part of the click, then just move on, kissing ass won’t get you there any faster. OOPS!
Part Seven: People I missed and I may just cry because I wanted to meet/see them soooo bad.
I had major aspirations for meeting Backpacking Dad and reuniting with Tanis from Redneck Mommy and Jenny from The Bloggess. It is so wrong on so many levels because I really needed some of Tanis’s encouragement and Jenny’s good vibes…
Ok, so yea, Blogher was all that and a ball of wax. I did post already that the single most important thing I learned was that I prefer small groups. I was part of 2 of the most elite parties held at Blogher. The one which Carole hosted for the make-overs by the winners of the Slim Perfect contest, there were just six or seven of us hanging out there with food and wine for a few hours and hello, that was way cool.
The other party was the one that took place in the hotel room when I was with Beth, Kim and Stephanie (and I wish I had seen more of Stacie, she would have fit in nicely with our little party of people – call us clicky, whatever, we rock).
I did find that I enjoyed sitting in the lobby people watching a big part of the time and certainly it shouldn’t cost a fortune to sit in the lobby and people watch. Normally I save that particular activity for Christmas Eve when I love to go to the mall and watch the not-quite-finished shoppers run around in a frenzy. This year, I got a bonus shot of people-watching.
Never mind that I sat in the airport in Chicago on Monday, all day and Tuesday all day and into the evening watching people. Some were great, some made an ass of themselves and others were just fun to…watch.
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know that the biggest bloggy conference of the year is coming up and it’s rushing upon us quickly. So, with that, I give you…….the part of all time
If you are ready to get your party on – go see TypeAMomFluence and get ready to party it up. Come on plan to meet me there and be on the look out for the jewelry so you can win gift certificiate for yourself. You simple can’t go wrong…
