Average Jane

Average Jane, BlogHer Veteran

This year will be my seventh BlogHer Conference. That's 7. VII. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

Damn.

The good thing about having been to so many is that I am not stressed about it in any way. I'm bringing clothes I already had, with one exception that I purchased last weekend while shopping in Eureka Springs:

I am definitely bringing the most comfortable shoes I own, no matter how un-cute they might be. Even the sandals I'm packing to wear with this dress are low-heeled.

My only new tech goodie is this iPhone case from Uncommon. It looks much better in person, but my best camera *is* my phone, so I had to go with Photobooth to get this shot.

Uncommon offered me a free custom iPhone case to take to the conference and of course I said yes. I used my black and white blog design, although they can print any full-color image as well. If you'd like a 20% discount for a case of your own, find me at the conference or email me and I'll give you a card or email you a code.

Here's the photo without cropping so you can see what I look like now. I've changed my hair a lot since last year and I'm noticing that it seems to have made me invisible to people who should know me socially.

By the way, I am not getting my hair highlighted between now and the conference, so when we meet in person I'd appreciate it if you'd avert your eyes from the frizzy grey hairs leaping out of my part.

This year I'm rooming with Cagey and Liz, and my only extra-conference plan for the weekend is to visit the San Diego Zoo on Sunday with Susan Getgood before I fly home.

Pro conference tips? Okay, here are a few:

• Don't bring your laptop. You might think you'll need it, but you'll thank me for saving you from hauling it around various airports.
• Bring an extra bag. Last year I rolled up a duffel bag and packed it into my suitcase so I'd have another option for transporting swag. It saved me from having to ship anything and since I always fly Southwest, I didn't have to pay any extra for checking two bags on the way back.
• Remember what I said earlier about comfortable shoes? I wasn't kidding. Bring them. Wear them.
• Nobody really cares what you're wearing. Sure, it's fun to dress up for evening events but in most cases it doesn't make a substantial difference.
• You have business cards, right? Okay, good.

So that's all I have. I can't wait to go to the conference, reconnect with the people I've met before, meet new people and generally soak in the bloggerness of the whole thing. Will I see you there?

 

Average Jane Hates Crowds

I wouldn't go so far as to call myself agoraphobic, but I have an intense dislike of standing in large crowds. That's one of the main reasons I go to rock concerts so seldom these days.

It also affects my desire to be among the first to do certain long-awaited fun things, such as go to the new Harry Potter movie or check out the new Trader Joe's locations that finally opened in the Kansas City area today.

I'm very excited about both of those things, but I am exceedingly unwilling to allow other people to invade my personal space in the pursuit of either one. The movie can wait until next week (or maybe Sunday night) and I'll probably give Trader Joe's a few weeks to calm down before I venture out there.

"But what about BlogHer?" I hear you saying.

I know, right? Three thousand people at a conference sounds kind of challenging for someone like me. And it is. Back in the days when attendance was measured in hundreds, it was much easier for me to handle. These days I need to jump in for as long as I can take it and then retreat for a while to re-energize. Sometimes a nap is involved.

I'm actually calmer about the whole crowd thing than I used to be. Age and yoga have mellowed me to the point where I no longer get agitated by crowds. Instead, they just wear me out.

What about you? Do you thrive on crowds or are you more like me?

Average Jane Blogs Elsewhere

 I have a post up at BlogHer today: Small Blogs: The Art of the Personal Journal

It's about how documenting your life can be valuable for future generations. Until I started reviewing some of the family history that I included in the post, I didn't consciously realize where my long-held thoughts on the subject had come from.

My grandmother (pictured above) deserves the credit for my journal-style blogging. She was an actual journalist -- a newspaper reporter and columnist who often brought anecdotes from her life into her writing. One of my favorite stories about her career was about how she scored some interview face-time with President Harry S Truman thanks to good timing and a tiny bit of rule-stretching.

One of the reasons I call my blog "Average Jane" is that I believe there is potential value in recounting even the most pedestrian details of life. The world is changing so quickly that the diaries I cite in my BlogHer post describe a lifestyle that I think very few people in the United States still experience 70 years later.

Writing this post has made me want to refocus on my blogging to make sure I'm not letting chunks of my life slip by unrecorded. Not only are my "record-keeping" posts helpful for me later on, I hope that they'll hold some interest for readers today and long in the future.

Average Jane, Tourist

I arranged my trip to New York so I'd have some tourist time built in before and after the conference activities. When I got in on Thursday, the first order of business after checking into the hotel was to grab lunch, which I did with Cagey and Deb. Keith had recommended Heartland Brewery, so that's where we went. I had a very tasty hamburger, homemade fries and an incredibly hoppy IPA to drink.

 
After that, Cagey and I decided to walk up to Central Park, which was only a few blocks away. It was really warm out, so we weren't inclined to explore the park right then, but one thing got our attention on the way there:

This is Cagey with Dr. Jeckll outside the Jeckyll and Hyde Club. As soon as we saw the statues and the building's decorated facade, we were in instant agreement that - tourist trap or no - we had to stop there for a drink on the way back.

And so we did. We learned fairly quickly that we could avoid the "entertainment charge" by sitting at the bar, so we let the bartender choose one of the specialty drinks for us. We were served something fruity, very rum-heavy and delicious. Neither one of us can remember what the drink was called, and for that we blame the drink itself.

After I tweeted a photo of where we were, my friend @socreepy replied that she got, "horribly, awfully, mind-bendingly drunk there once." So we wisely stopped at one drink each.

On Sunday after the conference, my planned activity was a visit to the Central Park Zoo with my friend Susan Getgood on our "First (hopefully Annual) Self-Sponsored BlogHer Zoo Trip." It's a small zoo, so it took less than an hour to see the whole thing. Here are a few of my favorite photos:

Polar bear evaluating the possible tastiness of her visitors.

Sacked-out snow leopard

Susan, looking much more cool and unruffled than I managed to at that point in the zoo trip.

After buying souvenirs at the gift shop, we grabbed lunch at the pricier-than-you'd-expect Brooklyn Diner. I had the most transcendently delicious mac and cheese I have ever experienced. It was so wonderful that I didn't even care that it cost double what I'd generally pay for lunch at home.

Once we parted ways, I checked out of my room, stashed my luggage with the bellmen and relaxed in the lobby area for a while before heading to the Museum of Modern Art for the last phase of my New York exploration. 

For the first hour, I wandered fairly aimlessly and took a solid sitting break when my feet started to hurt. I was also unnerved by one of the Yoko Ono installations the whole time (read more about that from MamaPop, Schmutzie and Suebob - I concur with all of them) and was really starting to wonder if it had been a good idea to come. However, I rallied once I made it to the Matisse exhibit and subsequently to the modern art paintings on the floor below. I also ran into Suebob, Goon Squad Sarah and Clumber Kim there, so that made it more fun.

An airport shuttle was scheduled to come for Queen of Quirky and me around 4:25, so I went back a little early and rested back in the hotel lobby for a bit. The shuttle thing didn't work out exactly as planned, but we made it to the airport in plenty of time and were back home by 10 p.m.

So that's the last of my BlogHer adventures. I have some post ideas in waiting, so next we'll move on to something you may actually be interested in!

Average Jane Goes to Parties

If you're at all familiar with BlogHer, you know that there are some pretty awesome parties taking place before, during and after the conference. I have to admit that I like the idea of parties better than the reality sometimes, so I tend to take steps to ensure that I don't get overwhelmed by them.

The first one I went to on Thursday evening was at the Martha Stewart publishing empire's offices. They had lovely hors d'oeuvres and drinks and lots of tables set up to demonstrate various crafts and product lines, but there were so many people jammed into a relatively modest loft space that I had to take little wallflower breaks from time to time. 

After that was the People's Party, an official BlogHer event. That was my first big chance to start tracking down people I wanted to see. I was delighted to meet V from Juggling Scarves. We've been reading each others' blogs and following each other on Twitter for some time. I ran into her and her sister several more times throughout the weekend.

The only other private party I went to was on Friday evening after the Voices of the Year Gala. It was a lovely dinner at the Central Park Boat House, sponsored by Nintendo. As in previous years, I went along as Liz's +1.

Here's how we got there from the hotel:

The last big party I went to was on Saturday night: Sparklecorn. Here was this year's cake, made by none other than Charm City Cakes.

Yes, even the unicorn was made of cake. Chocolate, to be precise. Not shown in the photo were the acres of plain sheet cakes on either side. I had a piece that tasted like blueberry.

Sparklecorn was the one time that my roommates and I were all in one place at one time, awake:

I swear I am not flipping them off. I just grabbed my napkin in an unfortunate way.

Because I am the introvert I am, I had most of my best conversations in the foyer outside the party. I popped in and out for several hours, but eventually retreated to the Chill Lounge downstairs to hang out with a small group of bloggers I hadn't talked to yet. Yes, I skipped CheeseburgHer. I probably shouldn't have, but I'd reached my party limit by then.

Tomorrow will be my last New York post. I'll be telling you about the fun things I did before and after the conference. So what have you been up to all this time?

Average Jane Learns Things

This year, the BlogHer conference agenda was absolutely chock-full of interesting topics. At any given time I had difficulty deciding which session to attend. I generally take into account who is speaking so I can support my friends, but this year I had so many friends on the panels that I couldn't even attempt to see them all.

Here are the sessions I attended (titles are linked to the liveblog transcripts):

Writing Lab: Writing Inspiration: Stoke Your Creativity with Rita Arens, Jan Sokoloff Harness and Carleen Brice.

I enjoyed this one because it was loaded with practical take-aways for focusing your writing, coming up with ideas and finding the time to write (hint: turn off Twitter!).

After lunch (and all the meals at the Hilton were wonderful, by the way), I attended the Change Agents: Creating Tangible Social Change: How to Move People to Action panel with Beth Terry, Gina McCauley, Stephanie Himel-Nelson and Melissa Silverstein. 

It was very interesting to hear how all of the panelists were using their blogs to mobilize people to change their opinions as well as corporate and governmental policy.

My final session of Day One was Social Media is Bringing Sexy Back to Branding -- Do You Have the Social Media Strategy and Tools for Success? with Susan Getgood, Beth Blecherman and Kimberley Blaine. Apparently I forgot I had my camera with me, so no photo of this panel.

I recall that this session introduced me to some new sites that might be of interest. When I track down my notes, I'll come back and be more specific.

On the second day, I started out with Get Hired: Networking With a Purpose Via Social Media with Laurie Ruettimann, Ana Roca-Castro, Carmen Hudson and Heather McGough (NOT because I am job hunting, I'll have you know, but because I correctly predicted that it would be my only chance to see my pal Laurie).

My main personal takeaway from this session was that my LinkedIn profile needs a lot of work, considering that it's my only truly professional outpost online. I'm sure I'll get right on that.

During the break, I bought a copy of Professional Blogging for Dummies and had Susan Getgood autograph it for me. I can't wait to read it.

After lunch, I (gasp!) skipped out on the next session so I could relax a bit before my own panel. I used some of that time to briefly check out the official sponsored suites, then hung out in the Serenity Suite and met new people until it was time to head down to speak.

And yes, I should have written this post sooner because I know I didn't provide a lot of interesting detail. However, I will say that I enjoyed every one of the sessions I attended (except for the uncomfortable chairs).

Do you wanna hear about some fun parties? That's tomorrow's post.

Average Jane's BlogHer Highlights

I'll start by saying that this may have been my favorite BlogHer Conference to date. The keynotes and sessions were amazing, I saw tons of friends and made some new ones, and the venue left absolutely nothing to be desired.

I'll be posting little tidbits until I run out of topics, but I wanted to start with what I considered the personal highlights for me. (Because it's all about ME, ME, ME!)

1. Speaking on the Little Fish in a Big Pond - Understanding, Accepting and Loving Your Small Blog panel with Nora and Catherine.

Photo by lizriz

When you're speaking on a panel, it can be difficult to judge whether or not the audience is digging what you have to say. I had an idea that it was going well because people laughed at all the right junctures and also because the room kept getting more and more full throughout the discussion, rather than emptying out as sessions sometimes do.

As it turned out, this topic hit a nerve with many bloggers who enjoy blogging for its own sake and don't have ambitions to build media empires. After the session and throughout the evening, people kept coming up to me and telling me how much they appreciated the discussion, so it felt like a major triumph.

2. The Voices of the Year Keynote, Gala and Art Exhibit

In a nutshell, this program honored more than a hundred bloggers for their writing and design. Twelve bloggers presented their winning posts at the keynote and it was, as usual, one of my favorite parts of the conference. Ninety additional bloggers, including me, had posts selected as finalists. All of the honorees' posts were then divided up by visual artists who created artwork inspired by each post.

At first I didn't see "my" artwork because I didn't realize how many rooms there were in the exhibit. I walked around and enjoyed all of the other art and the ability to add little "thought balloon" stickers to the display to comment. Then my roommates found me and excitedly told me where I could find the photograph inspired by my post. 

If you click through the link to the original post, I've added a close-up of the artwork, which is called "I'm A Regular Here," and was created by Megan Reardon.

Of course, I also had to take photos of my friends with "their" art:

Kelli with the artwork inspired by her post, "Pissing off people Left and Right."

Liz with the artwork based on "Phone Karma," which she read as a keynote presenter.

Kelly, photographing one of two pieces of artwork inspired by her powerful post, "I'm Black Irish and I'm Proud."

I have lots of other stuff to share, but those two events were definite high points for me and remind me why I keep coming to the conference year after year. Thanks so much to Elisa, Jory and Lisa for making each year better and better!

Average Jane Has BlogHer Brain

People who are around me all the time know that I'm pretty unflappable. I take most things in stride and rarely display a lot of strong emotion.

Well, not this week. For whatever reason, this week's conference is making me lose my mind. I haven't been this excited since I still believed in Santa Claus. Every morning for the last several days I've been waking up with BlogHer-related stuff swirling in my head and it's taken every relaxation technique I know for me to get back to sleep.

I have a packed schedule for the trip. Tomorrow I leave early and get into La Guardia a little before 11 a.m. Queen of Quirky is on my flight, and we're planning to meet up with Cagey and cab share to the hotel. 

At some point in the afternoon, Cagey and I will touch base with our other roommates, Kelli and Dawn. Yep, we're going to have a fun room!

I have speaker training at 5, then two parties in a row. (I've decided that all party RSVPs are to be played by ear. If I'm too tired or have the opportunity to spend quality time with one of my many blog friends instead, the party loses.)

On Friday morning, I'm going to start the day with a brisk 5k walk in Central Park. Based on my usual 5k walk duration, I assume that I'll have plenty of time to shower and make it to the start of the conference day by 9 a.m.

I am beyond excited about the Voices of the Year event, and I can't wait to see if there's a piece of artwork based on the post I wrote. I'll be wearing my new dress to the gala and then to a Nintendo-sponsored dinner that I'm attending as Liz Rizzo's guest. 

I speak on Saturday afternoon, but I'll attend sessions all day before that. In the evening, I'm planning on going to Sparklecorn and CheeseburgHer. Lesson learned from last year: have dinner first.

On Sunday, my flight isn't until the evening, so I have time to do some touristy stuff. That morning, I'm going to the Central Park Zoo with Susan Getgood. I have no concrete plans after that, so if you're around NYC all day Sunday and you want to do something, let me know!

You can see why it's difficult for me to concentrate on anything besides the trip right now.

This is probably the last you'll hear from me until next week. I've decided not to bring my laptop and it seems like more trouble than it's worth to try to blog from an iPhone. But, you never know.

When I get back and finish boring you to death with post-BlogHer stories, I'll be starting a new project involving a couple of the cats. (Foreshadowing!)

Enjoy the rest of your week and weekend.

The Voice of Average Jane

I am absolutely delighted and honored to be included among the 2010 BlogHer Voice of the Year finalists, fittingly in the Geeky/Nerdy category. It's for my post, How Average Jane's Brain Works.

 

Randomly enough, all three of my 2010 BlogHer roommates are also finalists. Congratulations, Kelli, Kelli and Dawn! Congratulations to ALL of the finalists and presenters. I'm especially looking forward to hearing Liz read her blog post.

The list of judges is so impressive that I'm mainly just psyched that they all read my blog post. The fact that they chose it as a finalist is gravy.

I predict that this is going to be a great conference year. It's in New York City (woohoo!), I'm signed up for more parties than I can actually attend, I'm doing a 5k in Central Park and I get to speak on a panel.

Before that, though, I'm hosting a pre-BlogHer meetup in Kansas City this Saturday, July 24th. If you're anywhere in the vicinity, please join us! You can get more details and RSVP on Facebook.

The countdown begins...

Average Jane's First BlogHer Conference

This week, BlogHer put out a call for photos, BlogHer Conferences in Pictures: The Early Years, 2005-2009, which prompted me to go looking for photos from the inaugural conference held in San Jose in 2005. As it turned out, I didn't really have any.

Then I went back and looked at my blog posts about the event. There was one brief post about the conference itself, one about touring the Winchester Mystery House the day I arrived, and one about going to the San Jose Flea Market and doing some other sightseeing with Cagey the day we left.

As hard as it is to believe now that I'm preparing for my sixth BlogHer Conference, the first one didn't loom all that large at the time. Here's how it all went down:

I'd been blogging for more than a year when I heard about a women's blogging conference being held in San Jose. I thought it sounded like something I'd enjoy, so I enlisted Cagey as a traveling companion and roommate because who wouldn't want to vacation in California?

When we arrived, we got a rental car and set off to find something to eat. Next on our agenda was a tour of the Winchester mansion, which we both considered a special bonus of the conference's San Jose location.

We were both looking forward to meeting bloggers, but we timed things wrong for dinner, so we didn't end up socializing with anyone the first evening. The important thing to keep in mind is that we didn't know anyone at the conference. That statement blows my mind because I know so many bloggers now, but at the time I hadn't met any non-local bloggers in person.

As I mentioned in my one post about the conference, I did get to meet some bloggers whose blogs I'd been reading regularly, including Yvonne DiVita, Toby Bloomberg, Amy Gahran, Elisa Camahort, Jory DesJardins, Susannah Gardner and Eden Kennedy. It's not like me to be shy when it comes to meeting people, but somehow I failed to introduce myself to Alice Bradley. (I rectified that the following year). I also met Lisa Stone, Liz Rizzo, Ronni Bennett and Tish Grier that first year, among many others, I'm sure.

However, I didn't think to take photos during the conference at all even though I practically filled up my camera while we were sightseeing.

I remember lots of little details: the men's restrooms at the convention center changed into women's restrooms, the opening slideshow, the tables in the atrium where we hung out between sessions. Memories will just have to suffice, though.

To be perfectly honest, I really didn't learn my lesson about the photos until 2007. My photos from 2006 are sparse as well and mostly show big, amorphous groups - except for this good one of Toby Bloomberg, Susan Getgood and Yvonne DiVita:

At the time, I had no idea how important BlogHer and the people I met there would become in my life and career. Now I can't imagine a year going by without my attending a BlogHer Conference.

I'm very much looking forward to this year's conference, especially since I'll be speaking on a panel. As always, the highlight will be tracking down my favorite bloggers and talking to them in person. It's less than a month away. I can hardly wait!