Besides stalking fire trucks for three days, the BlogHer Writers ’11 conference was an absolutely amazing experience. I tweeted at the end of the conference day, “I don’t know. I’ll have to marinate on this… but I think #blogherwriters has been my fav blogging conference. Ever.”
I marinated on it. And I stand by that tweet.
Here’s why:
1) The programming was amazing. The BlogHer Events staff and Penguin did a phenomenal job at picking relevant, inspiring, insightful, funny, real people to speak on the panels. I learned so much — and not just the “fluffy bunnies” stuff of how great it is when you’re a published author. Some of it was big and scary and kind of “uh, is this really what I want to be doing?” But it was necessary information to share for those in attendance to have a full picture of publishing in today’s market. The not-so-scary stuff was just fantastic. I could go on and on and on. Suffice it to say, I finally feel encouraged enough to move forward. (Note: Check the LiveBlogs for what was said.)
2) The people were amazing. Dresden hit on it already, but the truth is that everyone was willing to talk about their book, the story that they have to tell. The conversations I had were real. The question of the opening reception became, “So, what’s your book?” And people answered the question. I saw women owning their ideas, their brilliance, their stories. No one was looking away for a bigger blogger to talk to. No one shrugged anyone off. It was real and fantastic. And it was freaking awesome.
3) No brands. Okay, Penguin was in attendance obviously, and some other great brand-sponsors were mentioned here and there, but otherwise, there was a total lack of brand presence — and it was intensely refreshing. Now, I love me some swag. I respect and appreciate that brands help pay for the stuff (venue, price, swag, etc) of other conferences. However, I’ve also been insulted by brand interaction before: the “you’re not big enough to talk to” attitude or the “I’m only here because my boss is paying me” attitude of total disinterest. There was none of that. Plus, no one had to rush off to interact with brands. With no expo hall, we interacted with each other and were all blessed by it.
4) The Mentor Brainstorming session was such a good idea that I’m sure someone, somewhere needs a promotion. I don’t know who came up with it, but it was a fantastic idea. Not only were we privy to a publishing professional, but our groups lead us through discussions on many topics relating to our chosen session. I feel like I left my session with a brain full of new information.
Enough gushing. Well, mostly.
The truth is that I’ve been to small conferences and big conferences alike, for everything from blogging to adoption to technology to faith and all the stuff in between. BlogHer Writers ’11 blew them all out of the water. Maybe it’s like someone else tweeted — I was among my people. Maybe the hard work of BlogHer and Penguin alike paid off in spades. Maybe I was finally ready to be in a certain place at a certain time talking about a certain subject. I don’t know why and what all came together to create the Perfect Storm of a conference, one that washed me up on the shores of an attainable dream island and said, “Conquer.” But I am glad that it happened.
I left New York feeling inspired and encouraged and ready to take the next steps. And that is what a conference should do for an attendee, no matter the topic.
