Jul152009
A Slice of BlogHer
Filed under Social by Kim at 11:44 am on Jul 15 2009
So ever since Genie passively talked me into signing up to go to BlogHer*, I have been somewhat in denial of what the whole thing will be like. I have been somewhat in denial of the whole thing, based on the fact that I keep telling myself I can’t think about it until then end of the summer semester. Well, the time is nigh. And thankfully I had the opportunity to test the waters of this whole roomful of blogging strangers thing.
Sunday there was a pre-BlogHer gathering for locals at the National Harbor (you know that giant lit-up thing that went up on the south side of the city over the past few years? yeah, I didn’t really either.) at a gallery. Apart from Art-O-Matic, I think that’s probably the second time I’ve set foot in an art gallery (that was not a museum) in my life, so here’s to different experiences.
Reading the sign-up thread before the event, I was starting to get a little worried. It seemed like there were a fair – perhaps a very large – number of mommy bloggers on the list, and having not used my womb thus far for its intended purpose, I was beginning to wonder (out loud to anyone who would listen) if I was going to fit in. So, I was due for an attitude adjustment about how I can relate to moms. In any case, I managed to somehow wrangle Jen into coming, just in case I was feeling lost!
I did get one. I tried to chat with everyone at the event for at least a little while. It’s hard, at first, to get over the feeling that you’re interrupting everyone all the time and you should just hang back and wait to be invited to a conversation. (I think that dynamic doesn’t entirely apply to this kind of thing.) Maybe someone out there who attended could correct me if I’m wrong and let me know if I was being rude. But! The nice thing was that while most of the other folks present were moms, that didn’t stop us from finding common ground to talk and laugh and relate.
And a bonus, the mass cell phone emergence and twittering didn’t start until the event was almost over. People were too busy actually talking to each other!
Serious thanks to Devra for organizing! There’s even a flickr group with some photos.
*She just kept talking about how much fun she had! How could she!
1 lumpyheadsmomon 15 Jul 2009 at 12:23 pm
Rude? Not at all.
I think there was a slightly awkward moment at the beginning, when I first met you and Jen, when I just wanted to pepper you with questions like “tell me about yourself” and “what’s your blog about?” and “are you excited about BlogHer?” and “ohmigod help me find the alcohol” all at once, but I didn’t want to make you feel like you walked into an interrogation. So I held my tongue and just stood there stupidly for several minutes.
It was so nice to meet you. Thanks for ignoring my social brain-fart and not making me feel like a moron.
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Kim Reply:
July 15th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Ha! I thought you were cool as a cucumber, and *I* was the one being very awkward! I hope I didn’t blather on too much about ME without listening too. I did not think you were a moron, not a chance!
Thanks for being so friendly and I hope we meet again!
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2 Jenon 15 Jul 2009 at 12:41 pm
Hey, thanks for wrangling me! I had a great time! And now, of course, I’ll probably hear all the tales of the conference…start daydreaming wistfully of next summer… =)
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Kim Reply:
July 15th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
They are announcing the location of 2010 at the conference… I hope to find out it’s on the east coast. Not that I know anything about what I can do until way a long time from now!
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3 ParentopiaDevraon 15 Jul 2009 at 2:38 pm
You are awesome! I’m so happy you and Jen were there!
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4 ParentopiaDevraon 15 Jul 2009 at 2:39 pm
Oh, and I will see you, and your pristine womb, in Chicago! : )
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Kim Reply:
July 17th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Pristine. HEE!!! See you in less than a week!
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5 Thien-Kimon 15 Jul 2009 at 7:23 pm
It was great to meet you! And I was worried about feeling left out because I’m not attending BlogHer. I think once we all warmed up (and got some alcohol in our systems), it didn’t feel so awkward. I totally think you’re cool!
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Kim Reply:
July 17th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Yay! Thank you! I hope we didn’t all talk about going to BlogHer too much. I didn’t even drink, I just relied on my natural mouthiness.
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6 Lee Ann Thillon 17 Jul 2009 at 11:39 am
I responded to the comment you left on the BlogHer site regarding the Birds of Feather groups – and figured since you were in the childfree minority like me, I’d come over and check out your blog.
You’re braver than me for going to the pre-conference meet-up. Like you, I figured it would be all mommies. I was also afraid people would have kids in tow, and it would be one big play date. Whether or not that’s what it was in Philly, I’ll never know. Of course, I also get freaked out by a crowd of strangers, mommies or not, so BlogHer should be interesting for me. I’m glad to hear you found the meet-up better than you anticipated though, and it gives me hope that I won’t feel as lost as I fear when I’m there next week.
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Kim Reply:
July 17th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Hiya! Thank you for checking out my blog. I can promise you, the only kids you will see here will show up because I was practicing photography, and pretty much that’s about it. When my friend Genie has her kid (she is also a Type 1 diabetic btw), I might get a little woobly about it but mostly when it comes to kids I am totally unengaged.
Most of the mommies I met last weekend, the first thing out of their mouths was that they are not just mommies. I gather it can be hard when you take on that URL or name. But I talked to all sorts of folks about all sorts of things other than kids, and that was a relief.
I am really glad the BOF thread had a number of other non-moms on it. I will have a flock after all!! Phew. Definitely find me, I’m the one with the tattoos… well, one of the ones I guess.
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