This week, I've been simultaneously writing about a conference and preparing to attend it. I'm going to BlogHer conference in Manhattan for the last few days this week.
My article was about the business side of mommyblogging and women blogging in general: why businesses want to work with women bloggers and what the women bloggers get out of it. I think it needed one more edit, but it's out of my hands now, so I'm going to try to forget about it. (Ugh. I'm obsessing.)
Getting ready for this conference is much, much nicer than the old academic conferences that I used to attend. I'm not trying to prove myself, so there's absolutely no pressure. In the old days, I wouldn't sleep for a few days before the conference, so I showed up all jittery and weird. This conference will be full of floral dressed women; that conference was full of suited old men and younger men in Docker's. At this conference, business cards will include pictures of children; at the other conferences, business cards featured university crests printed on cheap white paper.
I might squeeze out one more article about this conference. There's a lot to talk about. Martha Stewart and Katie Couric are keynote speakers. Even President Obama will address the women, via a live video feed.
My conference prep chores have included buying a new floral dress (must fit in!) and a keyboard for my iPad so I can jot down notes more easily. I'll get a hair cut the morning of the conference (an old trick), so I'll have nice, straight conference hair. I need to map out a plan for the sessions that I want to check out.
I've been snooping around the Internet seeing what the conference-goers are saying. They're excited to get some free stuff and meet people whom they've chatted with online. They hope to spy a few superstars. They want to learn more about SEO and twitter. They want to get away from their children and the daily chores. It's entertainment! It has nothing to do with getting tenure! Neat.