I attended my first Blogher conference over the weekend, something I've been itching to do for about three years. Like many participants, I've been struggling with what to say about it.
Tuesday night, after reading a dozen rants (some of them very good) about selling out, offensive sponsor- and stuff-related behavior, and laudable new reviewer policies, I dug through my backpack and purse and piled up all the stuff I brought home from Blogher 09:
That's it (not including the kiwi and piece of candy that I ate and a couple of missing pens).
I did bring home a few things (not SWAG) from Blogher that I'm really pleased with:
- a little stack of business cards of bloggers I met,
- I kid-size I-Love-Canada t-shirt and a jar of honey butter (OMG that stuff's good), a gift from my lovely roommate,
- and, a book that will be great fodder for blogging and frugal living which I was given by another blogger after we discussed my new adventure.
There are some interesting definitions of SWAG or schwag over at Urban Dictionary, but however your spell it, it and behavior at Blogher regarding it are all over the twitter-verse and blog-o-sphere this week.
There was a lot of adrenaline at Blogher. Hundreds of bloggers (mostly women) were meeting in person for the first time friends with whom they'd developed a deep personal connection in a virtual world. Others were seeing friends they hadn't in a year or more. Some were taking their very first weekend away from the kids and family. Others were showing off new babies who were along for the ride. Many, like me, we just astounded to be in the company of so many talented writers and trying to soak it all in.
I don't know if humans are hardwired or conditioned to get excited about free stuff. Maybe we are easily conditioned because of our wiring. Whatever the cause, the mounds of free stuff only added to the excited atmosphere. I've already blogged about how, in this culture, we confuse stuff with happiness. In my opinion, the stuff rage at a conference is really only a symptom of the larger cultural problem.
It totally makes sense to me that companies would want access to this group of women. Word of mouth marketing, into which blogging seems to fall, is king these days. Research shows that women make the majority of the household purchasing decisions and women rely on other women for advice on what to buy. But as Nikon learned this weekend (see babies), marketing in social media is not without risks. I know that some local businesses in my area live in awe and fear of reviews on our neighborhood moms listserv.
I've been quietly around the blog-o-sphere for a while now and the Blogher stuff controversy doesn't worry me all that much. Now, it may have been that I skipped the nighttime parties to hang with a travel-worn toddler and missed the worst of it. It may have been that I attended every session I could and ran up to the Kid Corps suite to nurse down an overstimulated 20-month old during breaks rather than up to suite 1029 where, apparently, many exclusive goodies could be found. But, I've got to believe that I'm not alone in having gone to Blogher for the expertise and camaraderie without having gotten too swept up in all the stuff.
While I don't want to belittle the genuine concern of the many bloggers posting their dismay at greedy behavior and a changes in their community, I think a lot of the annoying behavior of newly-sponsored or wanna-be-sponsored bloggers is sophomoric, but it's growing pains and will pass. Part of the reason it will pass is that the community won't put up with it and another part is that it will simply run out of steam.
I will be participating in Blogher's official call for feedback because I do think there's a lot that conference organizers can do to rein in unofficial sponsors and improve the experience for everyone. And I heartily endorse Z-recommends new "keep-no-stuff" review policy and other clear disclosures for blogger-reviewers.
I've read a number of the bloggers harshly criticized in the media for review posts. Honestly, even though some of their non-commercial content is interesting, I'm not willing to wade through all the product reviews, give-a-ways, and site-warmings to get to it. But that's me. Clearly, someone is getting value out of that content. But, if you are gushing about products and companies all the time on your blog, I kind of assume you are getting something out of it besides a warm fussy feeling and I'm not likely to think of you as an impartial judge. Again, that's me. There's a lot of room on the internet. I'll end up somewhere else, both for product recommendations and content.
On to babies.
There was a kerfuffle about an exclusive Nikon party and a mom who was refused entry with baby. Now, I agree with both Kristen at Motherhood Uncensored and Katie at MamaPundit. A mom shouldn't simply assume baby is always welcome but Nikon shouldn't have been so clueless. As I mentioned above, I skipped the after-hours parties. But if Maya had taken a nap on Friday afternoon, I would have ducked into the Blogher cocktail party (6-8ish), because Blogher was quite welcoming of babies. But parents have to acknowledge that having a baby around isn't always convenient.
We generally take Maya a lot of places, so long as we think it will be fun for everyone involved. I'd hate to moms like Steph of Adventures in Babywearing not come to Blogher '10 and bring baby because of fear of judgment. If I had been traveling with pre-crawling Maya, I probably would have just worn her throughout this year's conference. Since younger Maya was also more tolerant of wacky sleep schedules, I probably would have made it to the cocktail party and might have checked out a later party as well (or gone to bed, one of those). Because, as Meagan of Happiest Mom notes, it depends on the baby and the event. Many party organizers would have been reachable in advance and it sounds like Bowlher was quite baby friendly.
Overall Impression: I'm glad I went (flight problems not withstanding). My guess it will be months before I have a real sense of how useful it all was. I didn't learn anything that rocked my world but picked up a lot of little things, heard some interesting presentations, and came away with a lot of ideas and some new friends. Not bad for the 30 hours we ultimately spent in Chicago (there's a pending post on horrendous air travel with a fantastically wonderful toddler).
Hmm. There was a lot of swag at the local BlogHer back in October, but my favorite piece turned out to be the actual meeting of kindred local spirits. My guess is you'll be glad you went. I've been meaning to go for years but have never actually made it.
Cheers from a fellow MOtH!
Posted by: Madame Meow | August 04, 2009 at 09:17 PM