I’ve never been to a conference as big as the BlogHer conference. There were 5,000 bloggers at BlogHer ’12 this year in New York City.
Think about that. 5,000 bloggers – mostly female – in one place.
Yes, there was a smattering of men at BlogHer. In fact, the first person I met when I arrived at the Hilton was a dude. I commended him for having the fortitude to be at such a conference with so many women.
Though I missed President Barack Obama on Thursday, I did make it on time for my speaker orientation on Thursday and the Party at the Expo, where I mingled with bloggers and sponsors. (And, yes, you did read that correctly. Obama addressed BlogHer ’12 attendees because he understands the power of a female blogger.)
There was a lot of swag at BlogHer. A lot. Everything from bags of guacamole to vibrators. Seriously.
Prior to BlogHer, there was a lot of talk in the blogosphere and on Twitter about the event. What to expect, what to wear, what to attend. Lots and lots of chatter. I was slightly overwhelmed before I even left for the event. Knowing that I would be leading a workshop at BlogHer ’12 only added to the anxiety.
But there was nothing to fear about BlogHer ’12. My outfits were fine. I was able to walk up to random bloggers, introduce myself, and have meaninful conversations. My grammar clinics went well.
I met up with Alysia at Try Defying Gravity who lives in my home town in Massachusetts and found out I was going to be at BlogHer ’12 while dining with my best friend from high school. Instead of “speed dating” on Friday morning, I went with two other bloggers in the hallway to have a deeper conversation about our blogs. Then, there was that great breakfast I had on Saturday, where we all just started going around the table telling each other about our blogs, our work, and our challenges and actually started to give each other some great encouragement and advice. I met Jen (another Jennifer!) who is a fellow copywriter working in the nonprofit world.
There were small moments like these for three days that made the experience as a whole just amazing.
Of course, there were helpful and thought-provoking panels that gave me much to think about and act upon. There’s the mountain of blogger business cards I received. There were the parties, that I mostly skipped because I was just too darn tired by the end of the day. (While that made me feel old at first, it felt really nice to leave the chaos for a while and just eat dinner with my family.)
Oh, and having lunch with Martha Stewart and Katie Couric was pretty spectacular. Martha Stewart noted that the things she wasn’t good at were the things she hasn’t tried yet. And Katie Couric is reserving two seats in the audience of her new show, Katie, specifically for bloggers. They were inspiring, to say the least.
Heck, being with so many strong, powerful women with voices in one place was pretty spectacular and inspiring.
My brain is still recovering from all that was BlogHer ’12. So are my feet. I will be blogging more about my grammar clinic, and some of the conversations we had, next week. For now, I’m going to enjoy the rest of the week with my family here in New York.
Were you at BlogHer ’12? What were the highlights of your experience?
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So nice to meet you at the Katie Couric lunch session on Saturday! I had a whirlwind of a time and am now recovering LOL. I had so many highlights but one of my faves in the hallway was getting my picture taken with The Lorax – I am obsessed with him!
It was nice to meet you too, Agatha. Katie Couric was great, and so was the Lorax. 🙂 My kids would have loved all of the characters walking around BlogHer! I will definitely be checking your blog out .
It was my first time at BlogHer (or any blogging conference), and I thought it was amazing! I was apprehensive, since I’m relatively new to blogging, and I didn’t know a soul going into it. But like you, I met some incredible women, learned a TON, and walked out of there with a new sense of purpose and inspiration!
It was my first BlogHer as well. Everyone was so nice! I also feel like I have a newer sense of purpose and inspiration. Maybe we’ll meet up in Chicago next year! 🙂
Meeting up with you was definitely one of the highlights of the conference for me (especially our adventure in swag). I am so glad you were sitting next to me for the Voices of the Year so I wasn’t alone with my tissues.
And I’m so sorry I missed trying to get into your presentation.
The best part of the conference for me was meeting people I had connected with online. I learned more by standing (or sitting) in the hallways outside the panels than I did inside.
I hope we meet again. I feel like I have much more to learn from you.
Did you ever get that second Hot Wheels car? 🙂
(and thank you for the link!)
Haha. Our adventure in swag was pretty darn fun! 🙂
And how could I forget the tears shed at VOTY? I’m so glad we were at the same table for that. How emotional!
I went back up to the Hotwheels suite, but they were out of cars. Bummer.
Keep in touch! We’ll definitely have to meet up again sometime if we can.
I was not there, but have been following along from Twitter and crying myself to sleep over missing Katie Couric and The President. 😉 It sounds amazing and not just because of the swag. 😉
That was me last year! I told my husband I was going to go to the next BlogHer after seeing all the tweets about #blogher11. Luckily NYC wasn’t too far from Maine. It was amazing, and the swag was such a small part (no matter what people may say). I’m hoping to go to #blogher13 in Chicago next year!
Thank you so much for your sweet comment on my blog for my SITS Day. The experience of running a half marathon taught me a lot of lessons as a person and a trainer. I give my 110% to every one of my clients and would repeat exactly what I did (but with a little bit more training) with that one particular client. It’s who I am. Although if you told me we were jumping off bridges, I’ll have to let you do that one on your own. 😉
I hope you have a fab week! And I’m slightly jealous that you experienced BlogHer’12 🙂
(PS…I tried replying to your comment on my blog but your email address wasn’t connected to your Blogger account)
Thanks for the heads up, Taylor. I sometimes have issues commenting on Blogger-hosted blogs. I’ll take a look. And thanks for visiting my blog. I hope you’re having a great SITS Day!
ha! love it. This was totally my take on my first BlogHer this year. (and I totally got a vibrator.) Looking forward to following your posts!
The vibrators were certainly popular. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, Elizabeth!
Thanks for the recap Jennifer! I was not able to go to BlogHer, but followed along on Twitter. I really would like to go next year, but even getting to Chicago is a bit far. I love that you got to connect with other bloggers in person, I would love to do more of that! And that swag bag is cool! Stopping in from SITS and am your newest twitter follower!
Hi Raquel. Thanks for stopping by. BlogHer was great. Meeting so many bloggers was amazing. I hope you can get to one in the future. Hoping I can get to Chicago. We shall see!
I so want to go one of these years. I think it would be a blast.
It was great. I’m so glad I was able to make it. My husband and boys are already asking if we’re going to Chicago next year!
Oh, so bummed I couldn’t go, but it just wasn’t in our budget this year. And I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to make Chicago next year, but I think I’ll make an effort to follow along at home – I didn’t realize that was an option until after the conference this year!
Sounds like you had so much fun – and glad to hear your panel went well! If I had known they were giving away vibrators, I would have asked you to sneak one out for me!! That’s hilarious!
The BlogHer at Home was a new thing they did. I’m not sure how it worked. It was all so much fun. And the vibrators were a big hit. 🙂
I wasn’t there – but I enjoyed reading about your experience!
Stopping by from SITS Saturday Sharefest.
Thanks for stopping by, Katie!
Sounds like you had an amazing time!
Stopping by from SITS Sharefest.
It was great, Alison. Thanks for stopping by!