Have you ever been to a conference? I know, I know. Silly question. Let me rephrase, have you ever been to a blogging conference? Different story, huh? Well, I’ve been to a few now. The big one was BlogHer; there had to have been hundreds of people there, heck, could have been as many as a thousand. There were political bloggers, mommy bloggers, gardening bloggers, mid-life bloggers, home-schooling bloggers, travel bloggers, basically, everything-under-the-sun bloggers. BUT, I did not meet a single nature blogger. (Well, OK, there was one.) Why is that? Aren’t we interested in meeting other bloggers and have heated discussions about which is the best platform; the pros and cons of stat tracking; SEO; Twitter? Don’t we want to float from party to party handing out blog cards and high-fouring our pokens?
The agenda usually has a little something for everyone; what with the traditional keynotes and breakout sessions, but there are also lunches where you can sign up to meet like-minded souls; speed-dating blogger-style-where you tell the person next to you who you are, what your blog is about and why you are there. There is also a newbie event or 2 that allows everyone to stick a toe in the water, before plunging in.
I love going to blog conferences. I’ve met great people, found terrific blogs, swilled martinis with mommies from Missouri, shared snaps with sisters from Seattle and hugged the Twiterati. I encourage you to consider going. Speaking of which, Wren and I are going to be at the BlogHer conference in Chicago in a few weeks. If you are going, give us a shout-out (I’m @birdingbev on Twitter and Wren is @wrenaissance) and we can meet for lunch, or a drink, or take a walk.
PS from Wren: If you live near Chicago or will be visiting there at the end of July, we’re planning a meetup on Saturday the 25th. Contact either of us as above.
3 Comments
the “Science Online” blogging conference that takes place each Jan. near Raleigh, NC. always has some nature bloggers (and many who straddle the nature/science domains). Last year they even had one whole talk session devoted to ‘nature blogging’ (headed up by “grrlscientist” who usually sits atop your list).
Thanks for mentioning the ScienceOnline conference. We know all about that one; in fact, I gave the presentation on Blog Carnivals at the conference and integrated the Nature Blog Network into the talk.
Mike’s also presenting, along with BirdChick, at the upcoming Midwest Birding Symposium.