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I was excited and nervous on the first day of BlogHer. I wasn’t sure what to expect and I was really nervous about live blogging for the first time EVER! Vanessa and I arrived and peeked in at Jamie at the registration desk. She was busy and we were hungry so we headed to the main room for some breakfast. The room was lined with tables representing various companies all eager to speak with bloggers about what they do and hand out some free samples and products for us to try out. My favorite was the Wii area. They had two Wii Fits available for people to try out as well as a few Nintendo DS stations.
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Before the break-out sessions began we played a round of speed dating for bloggers. You’d start with a group of bloggers at a table and after a few minutes, two would leave and go to a new table. It was a great way to meet some of the other BlogHers.
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The first session I attended was DIY Content Syndication and Promotion. The live blog can be found here, if you missed it. It was a very interesting session and I’m excited about applying the information I learned to my current blogs and future blogs. I spent nearly an hour after the session editing it so it would be readable! That took a toll on my eyes. I ended up taking a break by Jamie at the registration desk.
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There was a bookstore at BlogHer and naturally I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. I ended up spending a little over $100 on books. Why couldn’t I just pick one?! I purchased Moose by Stephanie Klein (one of my blogging heroes!), Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler, I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley, No One Cares What You Had For Lunch by Margaret Mason, and Ultimate Blogs by Sarah Boxer.
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All very great books that I’ve been looking forward to reading. Expect reviews, especially on the blogging one. There was a table full of books related to blogs from inspiration to monetization and publicity. I’ll try to get a list of titles in case any of you would be interested in reading them.
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We also went to the Twenty-something Blogger meet-up. There were a lot more of us than I expected. We were well represented there. If only the entire 20SB community could have gone. That would have been awesome.
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I was feeling worn out so I grabbed Vanessa and Jamie and we went to Boudins at Fisherman’s Warf for some sourdough pizza. It was delicious, but it was WAY too eff’in cold. I bought a few souvenirs for people back home and looked longingly at Alcatraz in the distance. I really wish we had time to visit it. Le sigh. Our next stop what Ghirardeli so we could buy some chocolate. You’ll be happy to know that I came home with a bag full of random flavors. Not that you’re surprised, but we also stopped for some cupcakes at Kara’s Cupcakes. They were incredible. I’ve never run out of cupcake before frosting before.
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We missed out on the party at Ruby Skye that night. We needed a night to stay in and rest. I think traveling and the conference were very overwhelming. Plus it gave blog addicts like us a chance to catch up on a few blogs before passing out.
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Day Two was just as awesome. After sleeping in a bit, and consequently missing breakfast resulting in me paying $8 for a fruit cup & OJ, we started off the day at the Cafepress table. We really were after some awesome T-shirts, but I was easily sucked into signing up for a free year of a premium store. Sweet.
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Before attending any break-out sessions I made it a point to meet Stephanie Klein at her book signing. She’s one of my favorite authors. I really loved Straight Up and Dirty. I remember reading it while in ATL and nodding along because I felt the same way sometimes.
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Day two was busy. Not only was I live-blogging two sessions, but there were like four others I wanted to attend as well as a Chicago bloggers meet-up. I started the day with Building traffic via content and community. It was by far one of my favorite sessions. I have a lot of notes on this one as well as some helpful links. I’ll make that into a separate post.
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From there I went to live-blog “Coming Out” via blog. The women in that session were beyond incredible. They were sincere, raw and amazing. The entire room was proud to be there, I could tell.
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I zipped on over to catch the end of There’s More to Monetization than Advertising. I heard this was a really helpful and interesting session. I haven’t had a chance to review the live blog, but I imagine it’s pretty awesome.
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The session I was most looking forward to was Blog to Book Redux. The panel was made up of bloggers turned authors. I was surprised how many people in the audience were either published or working on a book. I felt like I should have taken more away from this session than I did. I think I was overwhelmed. Hopefully re-reading the live blog will help it sit better with me.
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Jamie and I headed over to the Chicago Bloggers Meet-Up. There weren’t too many of us, but they were all new faces, for me at least. I was a bit disappointed because the session quickly turned into a Mommy Bloggers in Chicago session. As a 20-something, childless woman, I couldn’t really relate to what was being said.
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I think that concludes the sessions I attended. I’m still catching up on the live blogs of the ones I missed. Be sure to check them out here.
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Stay tuned for blogging the keynote with Dooce & Stephanie Klein, the Macy’s after party and our wine fail video.
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