Understanding BlogHer ’09: My non-recap.

Every year for about a week and a half after the annual BlogHer conference, there is all kinds of buzz all over the blogosphere (are we still using that word, by the way?) and on Twitter.  The events of the days prior are rehashed ad nauseum and even those of us who were present begin to find ourselves overwhelmed by the information and misinformation that follows.

Lots of people had a horrible time in Chicago, and I feel sad for them.  But lots of people had a wonderful time in Chicago.  I’m one of the women who attended the conference and had a fabulous time.  In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that out of the last three years attending the conference, this year was the best yet.  Maybe this has something to do with the fact that I’ve been doing this for quite awhile now.  I have appropriate expectations for the conference.  I’m secure enough with the friendships I’ve built with fellow bloggers and I don’t feel like I have to do everything and see everyone while I’m there.  You just can’t.  Trying to do it all will leave you with the inevitable feeling of disappointment that so many first-time attendees gripe about when they get home.

This year I focused more on me and my own needs than about getting to the “cool” parties.  It’s not that I didn’t go to the parties that were open to everyone…I made an appearance at the People’s Party, but it was so crowded inside by the time I finished handing out drink tickets at the door that I found it nearly impossible to actually find many of my friends, and even harder to hear them once I did.  I stopped in at the MamaPop party but by the time I got there I was absolutely exhausted so I ducked back out and got comfy in my jammies in the hotel room, content to read the tweets that were coming from the party below.

The parties are awesome fun, usually, and I did enjoy my brief time at them this year, but my point is, they weren’t the focus of my time in Chicago.  My favourite parts of the conference this year took place in smaller venues, in smaller groups, when I could actually talk and listen and discuss.  The Stokke event at the Land of Nod was lovely…I had dinner afterward with just fifteen other expectant moms at a tapas restaurant where I got to know some other women I hadn’t met before.  Saturday night I had dinner with some fellow Aiming Low writers and the intimate setting and our ability to talk to each other and support one another finally felt to me like what I hoped BlogHer would be all about.

I didn’t intend to write a post about BlogHer, and certainly don’t feel the need to write a recap of the entire event.  If you were there, you already know how it went.  You know about the controversies that are taking place and there are other writers who do a much better job of summing them up.  If you weren’t there, the last thing you want to do is read another blogger’s rendition of an event you missed.  I get it.

I just wanted to share the fact that after three years I finally grasp the fact that BlogHer isn’t about doing everything or seeing everyone.  It’s about the small, brief moments you get that quality interaction, that warm glow of friendship in the corner of a dimly lit restaurant or cozy hotel lobby.

(L-R: Jen of Sarcasm in a Skirt, me, Brittany of Barefoot Foodie, Janet of IzzyMom and Anissa of #FreeAnissa.)