Gonna Get Myself Connected

Aaaaaah, BlogHer. I started meeting and connecting with people right at the airport yesterday. I was sitting at the gate and looked up from my magazine right at Liz Henry's purple shock of hair. She introduced me to Rick Bucich and Lea Armstrong from Tinyprints.com. We were all standing there talking and texting when Mary came over and said, "Are you bloggers?" So nice to meet another local blogger!

And this is exactly how it goes at BlogHer - people will come to you and introduce themselves and be friendly, and I make a point of doing the same thing. Even if I feel too tired or shy to talk, I'll still have a smile ready. Because for me, it's all about connecting. The panels and sessions are great, but I don't mind if I miss a few. There are three categories of people to meet:

• People I already know, and am thrilled to see again
• People whose names I've heard/blogs I've read, but whom I've never met in person.
• Entirely new-to-me people and blogs.

Here are some more of the fine women (and men) I met:

• Michelle of Everyday Celebrating
• Rachel of Rabbit Write
• Lorraine of My Busy Kit
• Ellie of Expateek
• Andrea of Heathen Mom
• Grace of Miss Grace's Disgrace
• Jenny of Three Kid Circus
• Kevin of Moms who blog
• Aparna of Parentella
• Hetal and Anuja Two women whose names I forgot, of Show me the Curry!
• Dominique King of Midwest Guest
• Summer of Blogfully Yours. Note to self: she lives in Salt Lake City, and if she hasn't met Kalyn and Naked Jen, she really should.

And some of my blogging friends I've bumped into:

• the magnificent Grace Davis
• Naked Jen. Yes, that naked Jen.
• Sarah Dopp, of course, because she's my roommate
• Karianna, who gave me a KARIbiner :-)
• Jane, the one and only Mamacita
• Deb Roby, whose ten percent rule I am going to adopt
• my favorite food blogger and practically my personal chef, Kalyn

And I had no idea that my employer Motorola was one of the sponsors! I visited their booth in the exhibit hall, and shook hands with Becki the Techie, whose name I recognized from several email exchanges.

And I got some great swag - always great swag at BlogHer! Fun kids stuff (a Mr. Potato Head), fun tech stuff (a couple of USB sticks), fun girlie stuff (EOS lip balm), and fun health stuff (a DVD titled "Pain Free" from Andrea Metcalf, with Pilates and Yoga workouts for back and shoulder health - great for all us desk jockeys).

But enough words. How about some pictures?

Comments

[Rabbit]

It was so nice meeting you! Thanks for the link...so jealous you got a mr. potato head :-)

[Elkit]

Really great to meet you too, Rabbit! We keep talking about your great dress and your Rabbit necklace. And I don't think I told you, but I really like the shade of lipstick you were wearing; it suited you so well.

[Summer]

It was very nice to meet you at the "Speed dating" exercise. Unfortunately I was not able to meet up with the other bloggers you mentioned. Thank you for thinking of me though and for your efforts!

Man is it good to be home!

[Elkit]

Hi Summer! Maybe you'll meet Kalyn and Naked Jen in town. Grace Davis is organizing a local "BlogHer debrief" for the Bay Area - perhaps you'll feel inspired to do the same? For me, that's one of the great things about BlogHer: not just meeting new people, but finding local people to stay in touch with.

And yes, it's good to be home!