8th Annual BlogHer Conference – BlogHer ’13 – Part I
BlogHer is a phenomenon that illustrates the vast changes simultaneously developing in global communications, publishing, tech use, and within the structure and creation of society. Yep. Heady stuff. But it is true.
The amount of information we share online has increased exponentially over the last few years. How much information is actually housed in all the bits and bytes flowing along the data currents of the “interwebs?” Information, according to Gregory Bateson, may be defined as “differences that make a difference.” Much of the verbiage on the pages of sites and blogs is merely regurgitation of already transmitted information. Content that actually adds new information or novel presentations of previous data are few and far between. But I would argue that much of the new information being exchanged on the web is the product of women documenting their culture in a lasting format for the very first time. Yowza. I have an e-book that addresses this very subject coming out later this month. Don’t worry, I’ll let you know when it is available.
But what I really want to convey in this post is the absolutely staggering energy that is unique to over 5,000 social media influencers plus the concomitant corporations, organizations, and individuals that support the event in coordination, sponsorship, and service of the various conference processes. That is one of the top five aspects of the event to which I am most looking forward.
Top Five Things I Am Looking Forward to at BlogHer ’13
- The energy
- Re-connecting with my tribe/homies/bloggers of a certain age
- Meeting iconoclastic bloggers
- Identifying brands with which I would like to partner
- Learning about new tech, trends and tips
This will be my 5th annual BlogHer conference I have attended. I attended in ’07, ’08, ’11, and ’12. I also attended the first BlogHer Enterprise and Technology conference in March 2011. Near misses, when I tried to attend, registered, and had to change plans late in the process included the ’06 and ’10 annual conferences as well as the ’11 Writers Conference.
I participated in the BlogHer conference in Second Life® events in ’07 as a panelist/speaker as well an exhibitor who set up a the CodePink booth in the event space in the virtual world. I write about BlogHer, have had articles featured on blogher.com, and have been, and am, a participant in some components of the BlogHer Advertising Network. I am amenable to working with sponsors at BlogHer.
Register to attend.
Each conference is a completely different experience. The specialized ones such as the Tech and Entrepreneurial conference I attended can be downright cozy and personal. The first annual conference I attended had, I believe around 1300 attendees, but I also have seen the number of attendees reported as 800. This year the conference plans for around 5,000 attendees. It sells out. Major corporations sponsor the event, and the exhibitor floor now looks more like the Consumer Electronics Show than the academic conference with an open area or room for sponsors and booksellers, as it did when I first attended. Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center is a national venue. The first Consumer Electronics Show I attended was held there, way back in the early 1980s. Women writers have arrived. It is about time.
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This is the first of several blog posts about BlogHer ’13
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