Earlier today, I volunteered my stepdaughter Katy to craft a post on her experience at BlogHer '08. Not only because she's a bright, baggage-free 15-year-old, but also because it's healthy for 'we the jaded' to see social media through fresh eyes.
Here's our guest post from Katy (soon to be starting a music blog at Electroqute):
BlogHer '08 was not only my very first BlogHer, but also my very first conference, ever. (I now know where Christine gets all the swag that she's constantly bringing home and handing out to the family). The Westin St. Francis was a beautiful location to have it in, but I spent a lot of time trying not to get lost in the labyrinthine halls.
I wasn't sure what to expect, having never been to a conference, and never really having a blog. But I was lucky - everyone welcomed me with open arms when I told them I was here to learn how to blog. The first day, Friday, Christine actually had a meeting, so I was there alone for the first half of the day. At the ice breaker I met a lot of really awesome people, some of which confided in me that, they too, didn't know anybody.
I was surprised as to the level of depth and complexity of blogging, how complicated it is and how much thought people put into it. The first session I went to was FAQs for beginning bloggers, where I met even more people who had never blogged before! It was really fun, and I learned a lot about different platforms and blogging etiquette. Then came the second session, on DIY syndication, where I learned about the different social bookmarking sites, and how to use them best to your advantage. That was also a very fun one. The writing workshop, however, bored me sightly. I'm sure other people found it interesting, but it just didn't hold my attention. Once that was done, that was it for day one of BlogHer. Well, there was also a party at RubySkye...but it was for 21+ only, so we went shoe shopping instead.
Saturday also had 3 sessions, the first of which was really interesting, about Building Traffic via Content and Community. The next two sessions were kind of dull, but of course I got more free stuff. =] The final event was a sojourn across the street for a closing party sponsored by Macy's - which was really, really cool! They closed off the departments for handbags, shoes, furniture, and lingerie. In handbags they had cheese and crackers and champagne, with some white jasmine sparkling tea for people like me, underage, or the pregnant women. Al the rest of the departments had assorted tiny treats, most of which were delicious. Free makeovers, too. =]
With this formal introduction into the world of blogging, I'm excited to start reading people's blogs. There's a lot of diversity in the types of women who blog. I also think it will be really fun to start a blog, but I also realize it might take me a while to get good at it, and I may not necessarily have much time for it. I'll try though, and it'll be fun finding the blogs of the women that I met this past weekend.
Now Christine gets to edit my post, because my blogging skills are pretty much nonexistent.
-- Katy Newton
