BlogHer 2014 Wrapup

Many bloggers write for love.  Although there are small hopes of fame and fortune, the chances of that happening are pretty minimal.  That's what I got out of this convention.  One of the few that achieved stratospheric heights was Arianna Huffington, the blogger who started Huffington Post.  She was the keynote opening speaker on Sunday, July 27.

Arianna Huffington with Guy Kawasaki

Part of why I was fascinated with listening to her was her fabulous accent.  But she also was talking about giving back to the community, which is outlined in her new book, Thrive.  Basically she says that we are overworked and that life should be more balanced and that should be the definition of success.  She was interviewed by Guy Kawasaki, tech writer and start-up extraordinaire.

The keynote speaker for the luncheon was actress, Kerry Washington.  She's enjoying her success at Scandal, one of the few television shows lead by a black actress.  Kerry has a natural, appealing personality which everyone at the luncheon appreciated.

In between keynotes, various sessions were held.  One that was valuable, involved using tools like Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter, Snapchat, etc. for driving traffic to your blog.

The mini-con that I went to about personal blogging was a waste of time.  It was supposed to be three hours long but I left after an hour and a half.  It was basically a panel of three bloggers with random stories.  I'm not against ad hoc examples, but I was looking for something with more numbers. 

I visited the Expo after the min-con and by that time, most of the displays were just giving stuff away.  There was a closing keynote but I didn't bother attending, instead I took a walk around downtown San Jose looking for a bag to hold all the convention stuff that I picked up.

Lining up for a Happy Meal

The closing party involved a McDonald's Happy Meal with your choice of champagne or other alcoholic beverage.  While dining, you can hear the musical scratches of DJ Reverend Run from the 80s group Run DMC.  There's a story behind this odd closing party meal.  Apparently, the first BlogHer convention was so small that afterwards, women gathered in one hotel room and ordered cheeseburgers all around.  Ever since, the BlogHer convention ended with a McDonald's meal.

"Reverend" Run electrifying the party crowd

I was glad to have gone to the convention, the best part was meeting other bloggers.  However, as a new blogger, I thought that there would be more information about the mechanics of blogging, such as marketing, setting realistic expectations and goals, what blogs do better, etc.  But maybe, in the world of blogging, there are no hard numbers but a lot of trying new things and discarding things that don't work.  Blogging is a personal creation and what works for one might not work for another.

Blogher Conference 2014 San Jose: Day One

It's been awhile since I've posted, but that is one of the reasons why I am here in San Jose, California.  I'm attending my first Blogher conference.

For those who don't know about Blogher, it's a community for women bloggers.  Their website is blogher.com.  They hold a conference each year to help women bloggers become better at blogging.  Of course, they don't bar men from attending, but the focus of Blogher is women centered.  One of the things I hope to be doing with this blog is to be consistent about posting.  I'm also curious whether I'm doing this blogging thing right.

The Blogher Conference held at the San Jose Convention Center is a big event and offers numerous sessions over the two days it's being held.  I've attended the Fundamental Blogging sessions because I consider myself a newbie.  Yesterday was my first day of the conference and it started off very smoothly.  There was a newbie breakfast and the buffet offered was delicious.



Blogher Breakfast Buffet had everything you'd want: danishes, croissants, muffins, pineapple chunks, strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon...YUMMMM!

There were introductions to one of the founders and one of the conference organizers, and we even had a veteran blogger at each table helping to facilitate.  Everyone had business cards with their blogs on them.  It didn't occur to me to even have a business card for my blog.  So this is one thing I know I have to address.  The conference had bloggers from all parts of the US and even from Canada, the Philippines, and Turkey.  Everyone I've met is friendly.  Afterwards, we went to the welcome keynote presentation.

 

The keynote sessions were well attended.

The conference also has an expo and the sponsors were varied. GoDaddy, Dixie (makers of paper plates and cups), Lysol, Angelsoft (toilet tissues), Glade, Bridgestone tires, and Skype were some that had big displays. It's pretty much domestic products-centered and tech-centered because Blogher was initially founded by what are called mommy bloggers. Meaning, these are the stay-at-home moms who started blogging to create a community to discuss ways to address challenges they encounter at home. Since the moms are at home, domestic product companies like P&G and Johnson&Johnson were some of the first supporters. They saw this mommy blogging community as another chance to address the decision-makers for domestic products. Pretty soon my conference bag was full of swag. In fact, I spent so much time at the expo that I was late to my first session.

The Angel Soft display was popular.  I got a coupon for free toilet tissue.  I don't know why I get excited over that but I am.  Did you notice their hashtag, "Sheet Happens"?  They wanted to feature that they offer more sheets of toilet tissue than Charmin.

 

Lunch offered vegetable wraps, roast beef sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, salad, and those gorgeous-looking fruit tarts.

Of course there was a break for lunch and another keynote presentation, and then cocktails for the evening with another light food buffet. I ate and tried everything...okay, I pigged out.Then there were suite parties that you could go to that were held by various sponsors.  By the end of the day yesterday, I was exhausted,stimulated, well fed, and ready to return to my hotel and sleep.  I'm writing this early in the morning Saturday because I woke up according to my normal wake up time -- inNew York.  I can't wait for the day to begin.