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