July 28, 2009
BlogHer ’09: Overwhelming, Yet Amazing
Deep breath.
I realize I haven’t posted since my return from Chicago, and for that I am sorry. It turns out that my roomie and I did not have internet in our room (we used a special non-BlogHerCon discount code, which saved us moolah, so I’m not complaining), and the Wi-Fi throughout the conference area was spotty. I couldn’t blog. I couldn’t twitter. I couldn’t upload any photos to Flickr. It was crummy. I managed to check my e-mail once before losing my connection. It’s not anyone’s fault. Stick 1500+ women in one hotel, all trying to connect to the same internet network and you’d be lucky to get online at all.
I packed my bags (two rolling suitcases) on Wednesday and departed Thursday morning for the city of Milwaukee to meet up with Wisconsin Mommy. I left earlier than expected because I anticipated heavy traffic and road construction on Highway 41, but surprisingly it was smooth sailing to Richfield, and I decided to make a side trip to Hubertus to visit the Basilica of Holy Hill. It’s one of my favorite churches and the scenery is beautiful. I also bought two rosaries and filled a small bottle with Holy Water for the remainder of my trip. Don’t ask. It’s a Catholic thing. I’d explain it but non-Catholics might think we’re crazy. Perhaps we are.
Our drive to Chicago was uneventful. Since WM had never attended a BlogHer conference before, we spent most of our drive time discussing the conference and what to expect. When we arrived at the fantastic Sheraton (at 3:30), we went up to our rooms to change clothes, call our families to let them know we were safe and sound, and promptly went downstairs to attend our first party hosted by Mom Central.
It was at the Mom Central party that I ran into Elizabeth, my roommate of the two years past, and I also had the opportunity to chat with Stacy DeBroff and the other ladies of Mom Central. Forgive me, I cannot remember their names, but I know they were very sweet. I had a drink ticket that I used for a Shirley Temple and I think the bartender was laughing because that was the first non alcoholic drink she’d made.
Next, we walked in the rain over to the Social Luxe party at the Hilton. We were in awe of all the security in the hotel lobby and later learned that President Barack Obama was speaking at the hotel. I took a picture of the welcome sign:
The President is in the House!
The Social Luxe party was a lot of fun. I had worn my new shoes to walk over to the hotel, and holy hell the blisters! I had totally forgotten to break them in after I bought them and the backs of my ankles were bloody. It sucked. Thankfully, WM found a pair of Croc flip-flops (Sorry, Kristen, I had to wear them. HAD TO) and my pain was over.
I met Lotus and Leslie at the Social Luxe party and got to hang out with my old love Liz while we had a small plate of Hors d’œuvres and a cocktail (mine was a Pepsi, I gave my drink tickets to Catherine because you know, pregnant women don’t drink).
When we left the party it was raining even harder so we walked back to our hotel and later met up with The Redheaded Lefty. We decided to do dinner and took a cab to Ed Debevic’s. Yes, the place where they’re paid to be rude to the customer. It was hilarious. Our waitress was so funny, she looked like she was on the verge of laughing every time she came to our table to sling and insult.
The Redheaded Lefty
The food really wasn’t that great. I had a burger and fries and barely ate half. There just wasn’t any room in my belly, you know with the baby in there already.
After dinner we went to the People’s Party where I hooked up with a few of my BlogHer co-workers and several bloggers I hadn’t seen in a year. It was nice to see Queen of Spain and Goon Squad Sarah once again. I also got to see my dear friend Deb Roby, and met Miss Britt, which was so awesome. I love that girl.
I managed to hang out in the People’s Party (of which the line was long and people were pushing and shoving just to get in the damn door) for fifteen minutes before the claustrophobia set in. And also? I had been elbowed in the belly more than ten times. (When I woke up the next morning and headed to the shower, I noticed a huge bruise on the left side of my abdomen. I nearly cried because of the ugly shade of purple I was now sporting. And it hurt.)
I spent the next hour in the Ballroom hallway, where Sarah and Deb kept me company and Liz and Maureen checked on me every so often. The party was overwhelming. There were hundreds of people crammed in that small room, and I just couldn’t handle it.
I made it to bed before 11 p.m. that night, exhaustion had set in and I was ready to catch some Z’s.
Friday morning I woke at the early hour of 5:45. After showering and admiring my purple bruise, we went down to breakfast before the opening keynote. Maureen and I met up with Sarah and grabbed a table. Somehow Sarah had lost her iPhone and I set out to find it by calling it every few minutes. Thankfully, Gina had found it and I ran to the front of the Ballroom to retrieve it. Sarah was elated. I was glad it wasn’t lost forever. Easy to lose things at a large conference. I later heard that WhyMommy had lost hers the next night. I don’t know if she found hers. I sure hope so.
The opening keynote was great. I’m always in awe of Jory, Elisa and Lisa and all the time and effort they put into running and amazing conference. As a now 3-year veteran, I have to say that every year they impress me more and more. They are truly committed to the women of the blogosphere and I’m proud to know them.
I missed the first session to visit the Expo Hall so that I could connect with and thank the sponsors for making it possible for so many bloggers to attend the BlogHer conference. I loved talking with the folks at Tide. My husband does all the laundry because he’s very particular about which detergent he uses (only Tide) and has his own method to washing clothes. Liza Martindale Weiner (who worked in the Tide booth) gave me her business card and a few samples, and told me to have my husband contact her. She wanted to hear his thoughts on their new dryer bar. I graciously accepted.
I loved talking with the people at the Eucerin booth, too. My husband suffers from psoriasis and I learned that their Aquaphor product can help heal the skin and reduce the redness associated with psoriasis. Since I currently use their Redness Relief lotion for my rosacea, I was happy to learn that Eucerin cares about many different skin problems.
I know that many bloggers are writing posts about “swag hags” and “swag whores” and I’m shocked at some of the things being said. I’m well aware of the fact that many people forgot their manners at this conference and I’m hoping it’s because they were overwhelmed by the conference.
I went into the Expo Hall to meet with the sponsors and vendors, and since the BlogHer bookstore was in the same room, I wanted to purchase a few books by some amazing authors (Lenore Skenazy, Stephanie Wilder-Taylor and Dawn Meehan).
I didn’t go down only for the swag, but when items that interested me were offered to me, I accepted graciously. I engaged with our sponsors and listened to what they had to say. When they asked my opinions, I offered them honestly and I was happy to learn that these companies care about their customers and want to hear what we have to say.
It’s true. I received several reusable shopping bags in the expo hall, and I didn’t turn them down. I love using those bags at the grocery store (my husband is a department manager in our local grocery store) instead of burning another whole in the ozone with plastic and paper bags. However, I would never elbow a baby to get to a swag bag, and when I heard what happened to Amalah‘s sweet little Ezra, I was appalled. (Remember, it was at that same party that I got that huge freakin’ bruise to the belly. I’m still mad when I look in the mirror. It’s a nice yellow-green-blue-purple color now, three days later.)
After the Expo we went to lunch and I got my picture taken by the pasta-razzi, standing next to a gigantic jar of Ragu. I hate this photo. I don’t look pregnant, I look like I swallowed three watermelon.
Pregnancy is not flattering on me.
Lunch was delicious, but I felt sad because my friend Laura didn’t get to eat. She’s allergic to wheat and has Celiac’s disease, so she must follow a gluten-free diet plan. Nothing on the menu was gluten-free and she left the dining area in tears. (And later had a meal at restaurant that brags about it’s gluten-free menu only to have a severe allergic reaction because her meal was contaminated with gluten. How awful.)
I attended the second Mommyblogging session titled Balance is a Big, Fat, Lying, McLiar LIE for Moms Who Blog (and the rest of us too) and loved the things Rita Arens, Pauline (OHMommy), Angela Tseng and Lisa Belkin had to say.
As a mom and blogger I often find it hard to balance the time I spend online (most of which is spent working for the BlogHer Ad Network) with the time I need to spend with my family. At the end of my “work day” the last thing I want to do is blog (I read hundreds of blogs each day, and rarely find time to comment). I try to do things with Doug and Dawson and then later feel guilty for not blogging.
All of the speakers offered great tips on prioritizing and not feeling guilty if I just can’t crank out a post every day.
After this session I went back to my room to take a nap. I was so very tired. I was sad to miss the microblogging session, but I knew I’d be falling asleep in my chair had I stayed for that one.
I woke up an hour or so later and went to the Community Keynote with Ashley and Maureen. I laughed, I cried and I laughed and cried some more. Melissa of Stirrup Queens, Tanis of Redneck Mommy and Karen of Chookooloonks had me in tears, as well as TW’s reading as well. I laughed along with Bossy and JD.
I gave Grace Davis a standing ovation. Her post had me crying, but her lesson was so amazing.
Later we attended the BlogHer cocktail party, and sat at the very back of the room because the karaoke was very, very loud. VERY. I got to see WhyMommy and Cecily and White Trash Mom once again. I met Sarah, too. She is an AMAZING photographer. If only I had half her talent.
Post BlogHer cocktail party, Ashley and I went to the Type-A Momfluence party. We got upstairs just before it started only to stand in a huge, HUGE line. It was crazy to see all those people lining up at the door of a party. These diehards wanted to get one of 100 HP swag bags. We were numbers 120 and 121 in line — yes, someone actually counted (I didn’t really feel like standing in line for 40 minutes like another friend did. She has endurance, for sure), and when we got into the tiny, TINY corner room, I had a panic attack. I really wanted to try a chocolate thing from the chocolate fountain, but I got pushed by the many people behind me trying to cram into this small room. We made our way toward one of the exits and stood in the hallway before making a break for the bathroom. At least it was quiet and empty in there.
I felt terrible for leaving that party after only 10 minutes, but it was chaotic. People were still in line to get in as we were exiting. They must have wanted a chocolate martini, too!
Since everyone was trying to pile into the Columbus room for that party, we went up to the Mommy Needs a Cocktail party where we were able to have a latte and sit down and talk to people. I loved that party because the room was big enough for all of us. I didn’t get pushed or pulled once. And the latte was delicious. I had a cute little cookie, too:
"Bite Me!" Says the Cookie...
Post latte, we all went to our rooms to catch up on much needed sleep.
Saturday morning I woke up at 5:50 a.m. (again, before the alarm… my body is programmed) and I took the hottest shower possible. The water pressure sucked, but I felt so much better after washing my hair and scrubbing the sleep from my face.
Breakfast was delicious, but I skipped the Saturday morning keynote to try and check e-mails and do some BlogHer work. The internet still wasn’t working for me, so my pals and I went to the Advanced Social Media, Syndication and Stats session. The speakers, Denise Tanton and Corvida Raven offered their wealth of knowledge to the audience, and I admit, some of it was over my head. However, I did learn a lot. (Honestly, I was the only one in the room who did not know what an ego feed was. For real. No clue.)
After that session I went down to the Expo to meet Paula Deen. Her plane was late and she didn’t arrive until almost and hour and half later, so I went to lunch and came back. While waiting the second time, a very kind woman in the front row offered her seat to me because she saw I was pregnant. I thanked her and told her she was my new hero. She told me she was tired of waiting and wanted me to have the front row chair. Still my hero, because thanks to her, I got this great video (sorry for the background noise):
I’ve been a fan of Paula’s for years. When she walked into the Walmart booth I just about died. I was starstruck. But Ms. Deen was so gracious and so down to Earth, and she truly cares so much about her fans. I absolutely love her. LOVE her.
After getting my picture taken with Paula, I trekked my way up to the ballroom for the BlogHer Publishing Network session. Many of you know that I work as a headline editor for the BlogHer Ad network. It’s a job I love and I’m so honored to have, and I feel so lucky to do what I do. I read your blogs, every day, and choose the best blog posts that you’ve written to be featured in the links underneath the ads column.
Lisa Stone talked about the ad network and how it started, and touched on the FTC guidelines as well as BlogHer’s guidelines for the ad network. Gina Garrubbo, Jenny Lauck and Jenifer Scharpen did a wonderful job of answering questions and offering advice on how to get the most from our ad network. It was my favorite panel, mainly because I’m proud to work with these amazing women (and men!).
After the amazing panel I went to the closing keynote. Can I just say danah boyd rocks? I want an ‘h’ in my name, too! I love her!
Post keynote, Maureen and I went to grab our bags (we packed up that morning because we had to check out Saturday, since we live just hours north in Wisconsin and didn’t feel the need to stay another night) and made our way to the car parked in the valet garage.
I felt sad to leave. We didn’t stay for the Saturday cocktail party, and I’m told we missed a fantastic CheezeBurgHer party that several men from a bachelor party crashed, but truth be told I was missing my little boy and my husband. Perhaps it was due to all the pregnancy hormones and many emotions.
Looking back on the conference I realize I spent most of my time on the sidelines, observing everyone else. I was overwhelmed by the size of this year’s conference. I was having Braxton-Hicks contractions occasionally, and the constant elbowing of my belly, and being pushed and shoved made me nervous. And claustrophobic.
If you met me and thought I was unfriendly, I sincerely apologize. I am one of the friendliest women you’ll ever meet, and under non-pregnant circumstances, I’m certain I would have been less paranoid and more engaging. I hope you can forgive me. I feel awful for not meeing everyone.
There were so many bloggers I wanted to meet but didn’t have the opportunity, or just couldn’t find you in the crowds. I truly hope we can meet next year in NYC. I’ll have a baby with me, but I’ll be there and ready to talk and laugh with all of you.
Overwhelming, yet amazing. That’s what BlogHer ’09 was for me.
———-
My favorite photos from BlogHer:
The Dana Files & The Redheaded Lefty
Me with Mel of Stirrup Queens
Cecily of Uppercase Woman and Me
The Dana Files & Queen of Spain, The 2 Hottest Polish Girls on the Planet
The Two Hottest Mommybloggers from Wisconsin
Mocha Momma with the delicious Baby Uncensored
Posted by Dana @ 9:48 PM • BlogHer,The Mommy Files
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July 29th, 2009 at 7:40 AM, JD at I Do Things Says:
Hey, Dana!
Thanks so much for the shout-out AND the awesome recap. Damn, how did I miss that giant Ragu bottle?
Next year, NEXT YEAR, I swear, I’m going to the parties if I have to snort meth to stay awake.
.-= JD at I Do Things´s last blog ..I “Read” at BlogHer (Drugged) so you don’t have to =-.
July 29th, 2009 at 9:46 AM, Wisconsin Mommy Says:
I can’t believe you left out the part where we almost freakin’ DIED in the elevator. It’s gonna be a while before I set foot in another elevator without being nervous. I wonder if I can get a ground floor room next year in NYC???
.-= Wisconsin Mommy´s last blog ..It’s hard being on this side of the desk. =-.
July 29th, 2009 at 10:09 AM, dana Says:
JD, you had me laughing so hard! Loved it. Can’t wait to see you next year.
Wisconsin Mommy… Oh..I didn’t leave out the elevator death trap, I BLOCKED IT OUT. That was TERRIFYING for me. Never want to go through that ever again.
.-= dana´s last blog ..BlogHer ‘09: Overwhelming, Yet Amazing =-.
July 29th, 2009 at 1:47 PM, becky Says:
this was a great recap! and i had no idea that you did that work for blogher’s site! and omg YAY for meeting paula deen! i heart her!
.-= becky´s last blog ..Online community =-.
July 29th, 2009 at 2:23 PM, Leslie Says:
BlogHer was awesome, but sooo overwhelming for me. I’m still recovering! I’m so happy to have met you!
.-= Leslie´s last blog ..Who Says Bloggers Aren’t Real Writers? =-.
July 29th, 2009 at 8:12 PM, The Redheaded Lefty Says:
Holler, friend! It was WONDERFUL to see you and spend time with you this year. Glorious. You were a great preggers blogher.
July 31st, 2009 at 8:27 AM, Laura Says:
Sounds like such a fun conference — I hope to go one of these years. Getting drunk with people who live on the internet is a deeply cherished dream of mine!
.-= Laura´s last blog ..On how I hate the colors green and gold =-.
July 31st, 2009 at 10:53 AM, Liz@thisfullhouse Says:
I was SO HAPPY to see your smiling face and (after asking, of course) patting that sweet little baby belly of yours
.-= Liz@thisfullhouse´s last blog ..BlogHer IRL: Part Deux and Why I Should NOT Do This Sort of Thing for a Living =-.