Blogher 2007 - Day 1 - Must Post Blog Before I Can Sleep
Although I am exhausted, I must post a blog, after all, I am in Chicago attending Blogher 2007 with my Literature Life podcast co-host, Caroline. For those of you not in the know, Blogher is a blogging conference, geared toward women. Funny enough, it’s the largest blogging conference, PERIOD, regardless of gender.
Although, I did see some men…even talked to a few. Hell, I took a picture of one. I admit it. They did exist at the conference, even if they were surrounded by women. Speaking of the women, there are an insane amount of mommy bloggers. It seems to be a real phenomenon. I had no idea. I also had no idea that pack horses should be brought to conferences. Why? Well, there is an amazing amount of swag that seems to be being given away – I have a bag full of things from T-shirts to oversized pens the size of my arm. And, yes, I will be taking it all home with me…somehow.
I just made it through day one and panels on self branding, public speaking, writing reviews in blogs, and a panel on blogging being more than words (aka in art or paintings or photographs).
The panels were extremely helpful and I will be spending some more time in the near future when I can think clearly pontificating about them and what should become of my blog site. I think some changes are in store! There are some great ideas out there and I plan on at the very least, ruminating over them.
The first session, about self branding, though, was the one that probably affected me most from this, day one. It is something I obviously have an issue with on this blog. What they mean by self branding, is basically, your “niche” in 3 to 4 words. I can’t describe this blog in 3 to 4 words at the moment, although I had a fantastic suggestion from a fellow blogger, Alison, about making this an LA girl blog…and, you know, that could almost work! It’s something to keep pondering - what is my niche that I want to talk about to the world? It’s a question I knew would eventually come knocking at my door, and it has…full force. What will I write about from this day forward? What is my brand?????
I came here looking for questions like that and the hopes of motivation to finding answers to them. I have definitely found that here. They say that the internet is so impersonal, but what I am coming to realize from this conference, is that through blogs the internet has also created a different sort of community, a community of strangers with similar interests, who are intimately sharing those interests with one another, when otherwise they would possibly never meet or share anything. How great is that?
Tune in for more, as Blogher continues…
