MMC Blog - The Inside Scoop
My “newbie” experience at BlogHer
I attended BlogHer on behalf of my team a few weeks ago thinking I was just going to learn more about the blogosphere. Well, I learned a lot about that but also took away a new appreciation for the growth of social media. I laughed to myself after walking in and within the first two minutes (before I’d even had a cup of coffee or checked in) I’d shaken hands with at least five bloggers thrilled to be in NYC celebrating their passion for blogging.
After finally getting checked in, I grabbed my breakfast and headed over to meet fellow MMC’ers who were at a table full of women, some wearing T-shirts that flaunted their blog’s masthead and others with babies strapped to their chest or back while handing out business cards. The conference kicked off with a quote from SugarMama saying “I personally would love to be the best mom I can be to my kids, but I don’t want to ever forget that my little girl dream was to be a writer.” I realized then that every person in the room was there fulfilling their own dream of writing and the blogosphere has opened a new door to help people reach that goal.
Over the course of the day, I attended several sessions which gave me a first-hand peek into issues bloggers face and gained tips on how to better interact with these busy folks. I also explored a field day of brand booths on-site, getting a photo with the Jimmy Dean sun after his new product announcement, traveling through the P&G Home Away from Home and also “testing” out the 2nd edition of Just Dance. It was a whirlwind but one of my favorite moments came at the end of the day when several bloggers had been chosen to read their posts from the year. It was like the Emmy’s for bloggers and was chilling to see what a community these folks have built. The very last blogger to read her post actually sang it to the tune of Wicked’s “Popular” while wearing a black sequined top and made me appreciate the sheer, genuine personalities I met throughout the day. Writing used to be known as a condensed, precise field and hearing true, unedited stories from blogger’s lives left me with an overwhelming need to…yes, update my RSS feed.
Great post, Ashley. I especially like your point that many of these bloggers are “fulfilling their own dream of writing and the blogosphere has opened a new door to help people reach that goal.” In trying to make sense of social media, people often try to define it in very narrow terms. But one of the things that is so revolutionary and wondrous to me about social media is that it can be whatever people want it to be – a platform for expression, an endless source of information for learning, a means to keep in touch with friends across the globe, a resource for finding true love. Oh god, I’m tearing over here!
Thanks, and glad you had a good trip!
Paula Berg
Linhart PR