First, I am very thankful to BornFree for sponsoring my trip to Blogher09. The following is a note from the President of BornFree, Ron Vigdor.
Hello Happy Housewife readers,
BornFree™ is very proud to sponsor Toni on her trip to BlogHer 2009. We are honored to work with Toni not only because of the quality of the content on her blog but because of the quality of her readers. The environment of TheHappyHousewife.com is friendly, supportive, down-to-earth, and informative. We’d like to take this moment to thank Toni for taking us to BlogHer and letting us sit in on this warm, living room environment she has created with all of you online. We’re a parent-founded company and know that we owe our success to mothers who carefully choose products for their children. If you have any questions about BornFree™ feel free to contact us directly by emailing moms@newbornfree.com.
Sincerely,
BornFree™ President
Ron Vigdor
The main reasons I am thankful BornFree sponsored my trip is because it gave me the opportunity to meet many new bloggers, give them some BornFree products to try, and of course trade birth stories! The BornFree sippy cups seemed to be in high demand and I quickly became known as “the sippy cup girl” at BlogHer.
What was BlogHer09? Simply put, BlogHer09 was a blogging conference. There were sessions, an exhibit hall, parties and lots and lots of free stuff. The reasons for attending would be to learn more about blogging and the blog world, network with other bloggers, network and listen to PR pitches, and to meet your bloggy friends. Everyone (and I mean everyone – there were some interesting people in attendance) is welcome to attend, but you do need to buy a ticket and register. BlogHer10 will be held in New York City, August 3-5 and registration is already open.
For those of you who were unable to attend BlogHer09, here is a quick recap of the weekend. First, BlogHer is huge! There were well over a thousand bloggers who attended the conference. To be honest, at times it was overwhelming and very loud. The sessions themselves were mediocre. I did not want to write that, but I want to be honest for those of you who are reading and are considering attending next year. The best session that I attended was the Homeschooling and Social Media session, moderated by Dana Loesch. This session was really informative, and I will share more in another post. The biggest problem with the sessions, in my opinion, was that they didn’t stay on topic and at times the people on the panels didn’t have adequate knowledge of the session topic.
The best part of BlogHer09 was networking. I met and talked to many great women and learned about many new blogs. Some of the highlights were having lunch with Danelle Ice of Homemaker Barbi, enduring a painful session with Alyssa of Keeping the Kingdom First, and talking cloth diapers and clogging toilets with Amy from Amalah. I also met Rusty and Holly from The Blog Frog. If you haven’t hopped over to my forum, click on the link in my sidebar and join a discussion or start one of your own. More on my time with them coming in another post as well.
A thousand thank yous to Mel who gave me a quick iPhone lesson and told me about Bump. A super cool application that allows you to exchange contact information with someone on your iPhone. I then proceeded to run into Mel about 10 times a day for the rest of the weekend. She is super nice and very tolerant of people who do not know how to use a cell phone.
I think Carrie and I from Money Saving Methods are forever bonded over our quest to find a bathroom. If you don’t read her blog and you want to save money, add her to your reader! Her site is loaded with deals, tips, and opportunities to make some extra cash.
I talked to many other people, learned about some really cool products, and even won a prizes this weekend. I will share more once I sort through all the business cards and fliers I received.
There were so many sessions, parties, lunches, and other events to attend it was impossible to do everything I wanted to do. I will highlight some of the highlights over the next week or two. I have to send a virtual hug to Jessica Smith for putting up with me on two flights and doing her very best to make a very sad little boy who was flying with us have a better day. She also introduced me to Get Clicky, a great way to track your blog numbers. I installed it a few hours ago and I am already hooked! But for now, a very sincere thank you to Kate for living with 47 boxes of BornFree swag for three days and not complaining one bit! More BlogHer09 highlights coming soon.
Toni-
Thanks so much for sharing ! It sounds like you had a great time meeting many others there. I can’t wait to hear more on the home school session. I would love to go to one of the Blogher’s someday. Thank you for being honest about the sessions. Not many would share that.
Sounds like you did well with all your BornFree swags!
How is the new house? Didn’t really have much time to settle in yet I bet. Two thumbs up to your hubby for holding down the fort.Don’t you love those sweet hubbys! Mine has held the fort together many a time. Well take care, enjoy Miss Cora ( and of course your other ones too! ) and relax, sounds like a wild few days!
Blessings-
Rachelle
Toni,
Lunch was the best! Thanks so much for the great lunch break and conversation… it was – as my husband put it – the best part of the whole trip for me
Danelle Ice
I’m so glad you’re being honest about everything! That is what I love about you. It sounds like a great experience. I would probably like it on a smaller scale. I think all those people might scare me, lol!
Wow! Born Free sounds awesome to have gave you that much swag to give away!
Thanks for sharing and for being honest. I can’t wait to hear everything else. Is the house a disaster? Do you have mountains of laundry?
How could I ever dream of complaining about living with 47 boxes after getting us lost and forcing you to walk about 5000 miles?? Oh, and the coffee…you might have made fun of my habit but you never once complained.
I had a great time being your roomie, as I knew I would. Thanks for putting up with me again. I miss you already!
Thanks for sharing about your experience. I would love to go next year. I did read over the session titles for this year’s conference and they only looked so-so. It seems like the biggest benefit is getting to meet other bloggers.
I really enjoyed reading this post and sincerely appreciate your honesty. Hope your move is going smoothly. I’m close to NYC where BlogHer ’10 will be, but I’ll have a 8 or 9 month old baby, so I’m not sure that would even be possible.
Thanks for the update. I’m still sorting thru all the stuff I collected from the homeschool convention last weekend (17th/18th). I was almost ready to register for BlogHer10, but not sure if I wanna do NYC. I’ll have to think about it. In the mean time, I will be anxiously looking forward to reading more about what you learned & saw at BlogHer09.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I like how honest you are about everything you write. I never have to guess where you really stand. Sounds like a fun time.
Sounds like you had a great time. I love blogging but to get to your level is overwhelming.
Toni-
You were on my “must meet” list at BlogHer. I felt a true connection with you thanks to our shared pregnancies and recent births. You are as genuine and kind IRL as you are right here on your blog.
So sorry I did not get a chance to say goodbye. I have a feeling we will be seeing each other again! Thanks for suffering through that session with me, too. Oh, and I am so excited to try the Born Free products you shared! They are new to me, so thanks for introducing them.
Blessings!
Thanks so much for your honest thoughts on the conference. Welcome home!
I had to laugh at your comment about you and Kate and those Born Free Boxes.
Thanks for letting me follow you around for a bit!
I’m glad that you had a good time but sorry that it wasn’t as great as you hoped it to be. Thank you for sharing how you really felt about Blogher. If I’m remembering right you really enjoyed Blissdom right? Was it a bit more informative and such? Course I guess as speakers vary each year, I’m sure that can vary the experience. I’m hoping to try to go to Blissdom but will just have to wait and see.
God bless,
Amanda
I’m glad you wrote about the sessions being mediocre. I didn’t want to feel like a snob, but just reading the other blog posts I kinda figured they might be.
For me a blogging event is mostly about the people, but I sure as heck want to learn a few things, too.
Great recap. Glad you met some awesome people and I hope to be able to meet you one day, too.
Nell
I’ll look forward to when you “highlight some of the highlights” of the conference in the upcoming weeks. Did you take any/many pictures?
- Stephanie
I loved meeting you and Kate, and appreciate you ladies keeping Sarah and I company at the Nikon event. I also enjoyed getting to know you, and would love to visit more in the future!
Hey there -
I just saw @DiaperDiaries giving you the #FollowFriday thumb’s up and when I saw you are in the DC area I thought I would stop by. So “hi” we are also in the DC area and it’s always fun to stumble upon other blogs living in the neighborhood! That’s been some crazy hot weather today, eh?
See you around the blogosphere,
Lisa-Jo
I just came across this post..and you crack me up! Thanks for not running away every time you saw me during the conference. I was really pleased to meet you and Kate
And I’m really enjoying reading your posts tonight.
mel!
Sorry to hear about the speaking wasn’t as well as expected. Sounds like a pretty good time over all though with getting to meet some wonderful bloggers!!
What a small world! Carrie from Money Saving Methods used to be my neighbor. We were both in the same MOMs club–super nice!
I love Carrie! She is so sweet, I met her at Blissdom and we reconnected at BlogHer!