"Why Are You Going To BlogHer?"

I was asked too MANY times pre-BlogHer why I was going. For a lot of people, even those in touch with theFor cupcakes. Duh. Blogosphere, the concept of flying all the way to NYC just to talk about typing sounded ridiculous. I attempted my explanation then, but here are my reasons now:

Those faces you see in profiles or on twitter?

They are people. I know. CRAZY CONCEPTS I’M THROWING OUT HERE, PEOPLE, but hear me out. With a blog, you get whatever you take from it. You read in your mindset and over time, or even after one post, you’ve created an image of this person and their life.

That image is likely FAR, FAR off from the Real McCoy. I know with me, for example, you get up-front honesty, but you don’t get my passion and sarcasm. You don’t see my loudness coming from a tiny person. You don’t get how much I love my children or how dearly I appreciate others opinions. Or how accepting I am that some live lives that I don’t - and I completely respect that. (to each their own, dears)

I learned truck loads about others from a handful of deep, meaningful conversations. Heck, I even learned more from sharing stories (that they have likely blogged or will eventually) when they came from their mouthes in their words with their mannerisms.

Why is this even important? Well, it’s important to me. I love connecting with those who read my blog and those whose blogs I read. Now I feel like I’ll “take more” from each post or each tweet, which makes me a very lucky gal.

I was a volunteer, so not only was I “involved”, but I took what I was doing seriously.

In the smaller sessions, a mic in the face wasn’t really even all that necessary for the majority of the crowd. However, it was a symbolic “I have the torch, so I’m now the speaker” gesture. I felt a sense of accomplishment after each session. It was something I’d never done before, and it gave me more confidence and an appreciation for those who have the balls to speak before others. (Not big on public speaking, but I think this job gave me a little nudge in the “you could do it if you had to” arena).

Practice in Professionalism.

Getting up isn’t the problem (that’s what she said, no?), but getting dressed, coordinated, packed up and out the door by X:00 AM isn’t on my daily to-do. I’m a stay-at-home mom and that is one of the few things I don’t have on my list. BlogHer gave me the opportunity to explain my writing, offer myself and my brand to companies, and have intellectual dialogue for a full 3 days. I even found myself using bigger words on a more frequent basis, words that sit in my vocabulary stew going foul, as opposed saying things like “Who spilled the juice?” and “Did you flush the potty?” daily for months on end.

Not only was I representing myself, but I was also representing Kelly and Twenty70Hosting - and I loved it. Not only did I find it refreshing to engage others about what Twenty70Hosting has to offer, but I was surprised by how easy it was to talk about a company that offers such wonderful service. It was PR bliss (in other words - a geek out moment).

It’s an experience
For those who asked me why, I’d now like to re-tort this: why not? Aside from those not able to do this for any number of reasons, I was able to make the trip. It made sense - I’m a blogger, a writer, an attention whore, and freelancer and this was a conference that stroked all of those parts. Prrrr.

What a brand wants, what a brand needs
(Stop singing old-school Christina Aguilera for 2 seconds)

Online, in print, on tv, you have an image of companies like P&G, Playskool, Lorac, and Brita, but what having a PR representative in person does is bring it to a different level. They ask you questions - they want answers - WE are THEIR market and what we have to say is of actual importance.

During the Voices of the Year session, in which individual posts were selected for their brilliance and read aloud by the blogger, the topic of talking about our VAGINAS was brought to our attention (in a rather awesome way). She mentioned the current ads run by Kotex. You know what’s awesome right now? I didn’t even have to look that up - I KNEW IT WAS KOTEX.

Because, you see, at some point, they listened to us. Kotex heard us complain that we weren’t skipping through valleys, bleeding blue fabric softener and wearing white jeans. They understand we don’t want to “bless our gifts” or don’t have “happy periods”.

When companies get good information, we get better products. Period. (oh! the pun!)

That the NYTimes article on “mommy bloggers” can suck it
We are what companies are looking for - and hundreds came to find us at BlogHer. I am proud to be a part of that. Our opinions matter and aside from that - we are journaling our lives, experiences and opinions. So the term and stigma attached to whatever image the Times was attempting to create? Can eat it.

That Big Girl Time
I ate when I was hungry. I peed when I needed to. I slept in crumb-free sheets and only packed MY THINGS (mind blowing, actually) when I needed to go somewhere. It was something I needed, desperately. Yes, I missed my children dearly and spoke with them often, but BlogHer was an opportunity for me to be Amanda and not just Mommy.

New. York. City.
There are vacations and places that you visit and get tired of. This would never be one of those places for me. “Why are you going to BlogHer???” - reply? Dude. It’s in New York City.

I went to get food tonight. It required that I get IN my car and DRIVE to get MCDONALDS. Why can’t I just walk out my front door a few blocks and find 100 things healthier and tastier? Because I don’t live in New York City.
Sigh.

Grateful
I had the best roommates and made crazy awesome connections with people I now call friends. And for whatever reason, today I cleaned the house without an OUNCE of “pissiness”, bitterness, or even a snarky remark under my breath upon finding approx. 1 full cup of crushed Fruit Loops inside the small fan that sits on the boys’ night stand. Why? Because being away from my children and my home made me grateful. Grateful that I had them, that they missed me, and that they are healthy and MINE.

I was grateful that I had enough time away from them to TRULY miss them - the kind of missing that made me jump in front of 6 people to get off the plane, shove my way through to the front to get my bag off the carousel, arrive at my car and not stop at my mother’s for a rest, but rather gun it home. The kind of thankfulness that makes you drop your bags and run to your children.

and BlogHer gave me that.