Things I learned at the BlogHer conference; in no particular order. (Ahem, is that a semi-colon?)
1. You can NEVER have enough business cards. You will be passing them out on the plane, in the lobby of the hotel, the elevator, bathroom, lunchroom, at the sessions, exhibits and parties. The cards are of various shapes and sizes, and have avatars on them, pictures, and others are tied to packages of candy kisses or stationary. They are very clever and cool at the same time! (Pssst, you can get free business cards at Vista.com .)
2. You will meet far too many people to remember everyone. I tried to go through my cards each evening to try to imprint images on my brain.
3. When someone else pays for your conference AND your room, you are more likely to force yourself to go to every session and stay involved in as many activities as possible. You will not allow yourself to waste one minute of the day
4. When attending sessions, make sure you arrive at least 15 minutes before the session begins, or you will have to stand in the corner or sit on someone’s lap. If you have a question, don’t hesitate to stand up and say your name AND the name of your blog. When the audience erupts in applause and cheers, it just might be one of the HIGHLIGHTS OF YOUR LIFE. I still get chills thinking about it.
5. After you find out that you DO have a ticket to the conference, find out when and where all the parties are. Then, SIGN UP RIGHT AWAY. Apparently, many of the parties will only allow you in if you are on the “guest” list. AND, when Stiletto Mom invites you to a PRIVATE PARTY on a rooftop in Chicago, don’t HESITATE to go. You might just meet several FAMOUS authors and bloggers and one very cool (and CUTE) dude who sings. His name might be Chris Mann.
6. If you DO manage to sign up for a couple of parties, make sure you are one of the FIRST ones there so that you can get the good “swag” bags. (Apparently some people received Kodak video cameras. I can’t even think about it.)
7. There IS such a thing as too much swag.
8. Even if some amazing blog followers take up a collection and give you money to spend at the conference, you will still swipe Sweet and Low, honey and jelly packets from the coffee shops in the lobby, the Chicago Airport and the Oregon Airport.
9. Inevitably, if some amazing blog followers take up a collection and give you money to spend at the conference, when you get home your washing machine will die a HORRIBLE death, and you will spend what’s left of that money on a new one. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
10. There ARE angels in the world. And some of them blog.
