I’ve been home from NYC for over 24 hours now and I feel I can rightly process the intensity that was Blogher10. Being it was my first ever blogging conference, it’s only right to announce that it was:
The most inspiring weekend of my life!
It’s true what everyone says about blog conferences. The best part is all the people you meet.
There were SO MANY more people I met but I was so busy being chatty that I forgot I even owned cameras. Honestly though, to be able to connect with like-minded individuals makes the whole conference fee worth it (no I was not sponsored.) The best was our lovely healthy living / fitness community because we are definitely the nicest gals on the net. I admitted some of my biggest ideas and fears about my blogging career to many of these ladies and I was always given the best advice or just a pat on the back saying “you can do it.” A weekend can’t get much better than that.
The one part of Blogher that was a bit disappointing was the brand representation. The mommy or family friendly brands were definitely in full force. Less of the brands that I would typically support / do business with were around.
But I visited everyone none the less. Mostly for picture opportunities.
The picture above is me sorting through my swag and wearing an Iams dog bandana hahaha.
Now onto the sessions. I had to wonder why so many people announced that they don’t attend sessions, because for me this was the meat and potatoes and I learned SO SO MUCH. I believe that the sessions will be posted on the Blogher website and I’ll let you know when they are. I will be checking out some of the sessions I couldn’t make it to. There were seven choices of session per time slot.
Here’s what I attended:
Usability For Beginning Bloggers
This was the session where I was told “your blog is broke, you need to stay after the session.”
This Year You’re In! Fashion Blogging Is Serious Business
Admittedly I only stayed for half because I decided I am definitely NOT cool enough to attend a fashion session. What was I supposed to do, raise my hand and say “Hi yes I’m Morgan from Life After Bagels and my boyfriend picks out all of my clothes so that I don’t wear pj’s all day and night and I was wondering what you thought of the most recent (insert cool designer) collection?”
Social Media Is Bringing Sexy Back – Do You Have The Social Media Strategy And Tools For Success?
AMAZINGLY informative. This one specifically inspired me to look into video blogging, because what’s funnier than Morgan in print, Morgan on video my friends. I also never thought of newsletters before. The panelists discussed Twitter and Facebook a lot. They mentioned that there are over five million (correction: five hundred million) people on Facebook. The biggest message I got was to put yourself out there in many forums because you’ll hit different people and obtain new followers at a greater rate.
Professional Blogging: Your Stats Are A Business Asset
This one was the most informative session I went to. What I took away from this session:
- I need a mission statement and a goal so that I know what drive to action I’m creating for my readers
- Influence is more important than visitors
- Content will always be the best way to keep visitors, build trust as a content provider
- Use internal, inbound, and outbound links in a smart way to create community and build trust with your reader
- If you truly want to make your blog a successful business, write a business plan
Fitness Blogging: Motivate Yourself And Your Readers
It was so nice to be around “my peeps” in this session. It was nice to be in a room with people that shared a similar mindset to mind. There were lots of great questions and answers in this session.
Humour Writing
I’m not sure why I went into this session armed with pad and pen to write down the exact science of being funny. This session was not a how to, in fact these ladies kind of said – if you’ve got it you’ve got it – in regards to the being funny aspect. I will tell you that this session ended up being so inspiring to me. I’ve never really been one to get into a very serious “women unite and conquer the world” mindset. I’ve never really been one to think about the gender struggles that women still face today. Probably because I work in a female dominated industry. The session got serious for a moment when Jessican Bern, one of the panelists, made a statement about women in comedy. She said; “don’t stop . . . because there’s power in numbers.” I took this to apply to the many goals I have about my writing and career right now. Sometimes when forging ahead at this very new passion of mine I think “this is too hard!”
And thanks to some funny girls, I will remember; “DON’T STOP”. I hope you will take that advice as well.
What is something you’re working on right now that gets too hard at times? What goals do you have that you need to be reminded “don’t stop?”
Oh my gosh – throughout your post I can sense that you are now newly fired up! I love it
I also walked away thinking about vlogging and newsletters! We’ll see if I actually follow through with that. I hate myself on camera, so that will be the first hurdle, but might actually help me overcome some body image issues.
I think FB is actually over 5 HUNDRED million users… definitely over 5 million… last time I checked it was close to the population of the US…
~J
Ah yes you are right, I must correct my error – thanks!
Wow, I’d love to hear more about what you learned at the “Usability For Beginning Bloggers”, especially if someone told you that your blog is broke!
I took the first steps into self hosting last night and hit a major road block. Wishing I could have gone to BlogHer this year – sound like I would have learned a lot.
Love the Iams bandana BTW!
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thanks so much for sharing your impressions and the “meat and potatoes” (the tempeh and flax, to be veg-friendly?!) of BlogHer10. I’m inspired to attend another year! good luck as you pursue you goals. and i love your writing style and blog content!
Morgan,
I envy your experience at BlogHer! It seems like a wonderful time, filled with great bloggers! I can’t wait to continue reading your blog, it seems like you really had a great time and came back inspired!
I SO SO SO want to go to BlogHer next year! I’ve heard so many good things about it lately and your blog is no exception! Thanks for sharing your experiences, and I totally agree with you that meeting all of the other bloggers would be one of the best parts – from what I read, everyone is SO NICE! I’ve got BlogHer 2011 marked on my calendar!
Morgan, I loved having the chance to meet you at BlogHer, despite the fact that we only got to chat briefly. I love the new design of your website!
I was in the social media session too, and I agree, I learned so much from it. I have always contemplated video blogging, or incorporating video into my blog more, I just haven’t fully jumped onboard with it. I unfortunately missed the Stats session so I was happy to read your notes from it. I’m glad you had a great conference experience! Hope to see you in San Diego next year
Kinsey
What? Your blog is broke? I don’t believe it!
Sounds like you had so much fun! I’m totally jealous.
I love the idea of a conference where bloggers get together because there is truly something to be said for spending time with like minded people who just “get it”. I think that one of these may be in my future in fact…
As for something that is challenging for me I’d have to say my 1/2 marathon training. I have kind of lost the running mojo I used to have and with 6.5 weeks left I need to get it back in a big bad way!!
I’ve never been to a blogger conference – but I really want to! It looks like a great experience. I can’t wait to see you put what you’ve learned into your blog
Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed your recap. I honestly think it might be the first one I’ve read that discussed your personal experience with the conferences and what you learned. So while I may not be personally going that route, I’m happy to have learned vicariously through you! Thanks!
Loved reading your recap of your experience! It sounds like so much fun and so informative. Getting to meet new people with the same interests would be amazing as well!
“Content will always be the best way to keep visitors, build trust as a content provide”
Couldn’t agree more. When I first started blogging, I wrote about things I thought people wanted to read. My readership didn’t really start to increase until I turned inward and focused more on the content I was delivering. You can do a million things to try to get readers, but good thoughtful content is always the number one way to get and keep them.
I have to admit though, I’m probably one of the few people who don’t want to be a full-time blogger, or turn my blog into a business. I have bigger dreams than that
I want to hug the Dough Boy. And yay-zers for lots-a SWAG!
Sounds like you got a lot of great information. I am a newer Blogger and as much as I love it I also wonder if I am making the difference I wanted to when I started. I have fitness goals but maybe I should set some blogging goals as well.
Are those Bioms you are trying on? I have a pair and love them. What did you think?
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