Everytime someone asks me if I had a good time on my trip, a huge grin spreads across my face and I reply “I had the best time”. Whenever someone asks me what I did in New York, I’m at a complete loss for words. I haven’t even managed to get a rundown of BlogHer up here. All I can manage to come up with is “I had a great time”. And I did. Have a great time. (Cue cricket chirps now). Seriously, I don’t know what the problem is. I finally got all of my pictures uploaded, and I thought that would be helpful, but still I’ve got nothing. Today though, today I make an effort.
First of all, lets talk about the conference. I’m not going to give a day-by-day rundown of all that I did. Kizz has done an excellent job of this. I will say that I sat in on some really great panel discussions, the first of which was about finding your passion and finding a way to do what you love. This was a great session for me to start with because it’s where I decided that I did need to make some changes to the blog. It was the session that got me all fired up and ready to go.
From there, I went to a panel discussion about sex and blogging about sex. This was great fun and enlightening (don’t worry mom, I’m not turning this blog into a sex-talk blog) and they had an awesome swag bag for those of us in the audience.
The next day of the conference, I went to a session about dealing with loss and grief on the internet. All of the people on the panel are amazing and brave and I completely respect them, but this session solidified my decision that there were things that I just won’t blog about. I am perfectly okay with this.
The last session I went to was on how to make my pictures ten times better. I gleaned lots of useful knowledge from this one, particularly that I need Photoshop (or Lightroom, which is what Chris is pushing for) on my computer.
I think what I got most out of the conference was the wonderful people I met. Ananda was one of the first people I met and she was so nice and helpful. We talked about the joys and trials of teaching yoga. Boni was one of those people I met at the beginning of the conference who was always a reassuring face in the crowd throughout the conference. She also gave me some great resume advice. I met soooo many people I can’t even begin to keep them all straight.
There was Zahra who just made me laugh and Stephanie who I’m totally going to connect with when we start planning our trip to Kansas City, Missouri. Everyone was so encouraging and wonderful. During one of the lunches a woman at my table said something about the fact that there didn’t seem to be any “mean” girls present. I think it’s because those of us that are into the whole blogging thing were probably once the victims of those “mean” girls.
And I think the only way I’m ever going to get any of this typed up for the blog is if I keep BlogHer separate from all the sightseeing stuff. Also, I still don’t even know what to say about all the sightseeing stuff.
it’s a lot.
a whole big fat juicy gob of lot. and more.
and you’ve done quite well with the photos, and Kizz is giving the conference a good run down…
it will settle in your brain and in your heart and then it will bubble back up. and it’ll come out when and where and how it’s supposed to.
the fact that you went and had the best first trip ever is really, just enough.
i love that big grin on your face when asked about it though.
Heh, mean girls don’t go to stuff like that! They can’t be dominants! They only succeed when they can be dominants.
It was so great meeting you too. And I still haven’t done a real re-cap of BlogHer, because I am also at a loss for words when trying to describe it. What gives? I thought it was just me. I know I had a great time, and I was inspired and I learned a lot. What did I learn? Ummmmm. A lot. Really. Luckily I took great notes. I’m not yet sure how great they are, and once things calm down a little at work I plan on reading over them to remember it all. What I do already remember? All the great, smart, funny ladies I met. Like you. That I will never forget.
Well, I’ve only just got round to looking at my Blogher notes – so you are way ahead of me! It was great to talk to you at breakfast on the Saturday about growing food. I got back to my tiny fruit and veg plot in London to find that most of the tomatoes had split, pears had fallen and been eaten by squirrels, and courgettes that had become the size of marrows!
Diane! It wasn’t until I got to the part in your comment where you mentioned London that I remembered you. Of course I remember you! I know what you mean. My desk at home is a wreck of cards and flyers and advertisements. I feel your pain over the garden situation. We’re eating cucumbers and cantaloupes at my house. That’s it. I’m ready to pull things out and start planting for the Fall. Gald to hear you made it home safe and sound!