Saturday, July 28, 2007

BlogHer, Day Two...

It's 4 pm in ChicagoLand, and I'm almost to the point of total overload.

Got into Chicago Thursday morning about 6 am. after taking a red-eye from LAX. I woke about 1/2 hour before we landed and got to watch thunderstorms rolling across the land below us. Rain. Oh, shoot. But the weather cleared as the day went on, so I wasn't too unhappy.

I had flown in a day early to go to a ball game. White Sox/Tigers were playing at 1 pm. and I got to scratch one more stadium off my lifelist. (Big Yahoo!!). I sat right behind home plate, but up in the topmost row of the stadium. It took me about 5 innings to adjust to view before I really got into the game. Still completely well worth it! I left in the 9th inning for my cocktail party obligations with the score tied. (still don't know who won or when).

Here, I get to brag a little. I was at the game alone. I walked to the Red Line, asked for guidance, got to the right stop, and walked from the Chicago Loop to the City Center. Only had to ask a couple people if I was walking in the correct direction! And got to the parties on time. (three in a row).

Friday was the first day of BlogHer. I was a volunteer at registration, and a microphone wrangler at 2 of the sessions, so I worked most of the day. The sessions were great! If you want to read what went on, most sessions were liveblogged. Just check through the articles that were tagged BlogHer07

The cocktail party was held on the roof of center. We are at the very end of Navy Pier, so we got a great view of the city. Our entertainment was singer/blogger named Christine Kane... and she was fabulous! Then a bunch of us went out dinner at a pizza place. Back to our room, it felt like early evening. It WAS 11:30 pm. I didn't think I tired, but my head hit the pillow and I was gone.

Today I have been a social slug. I've spent 8 hours so far, talking to people in small discussions, trading business cards and (unfortunately) missing every session that was held today. Only problem with that? I was supposed to be live-blogging one of the sessions and completely missed it!

Thank goodness this conference is only 2 days long.

I'm now sitting in the ballroom where Elizabeth Edwards (yes, the wife of Presidential candidate John Edwards)... where she's talking about the support and experiences of her life. How online communities are unifying experiencings. Which is why she agreed to come to Blogher.

Who knows what will happen tonight. Eventually it will wind down. Tomorrow is much more relaxed, an unconference experience, before I fly home. I'll admit it, I've left my computer closed most of the time and my camera, too. This is a very face-to-face experience to me.

Today a bit of irony: our afternoon snacks were hotdogs, cotton candy and those big pretzels. Sponsored by Curves.

It's been a fabulous experience! I'm so glad I'm came and I'm sure that within 3 months I'll be eagerly awaiting next years. (oh, yeah.. we don't know where yet.) If you get a chance to come next year (wherever we are), please consider coming.

I also blog at: Deb's Daily Distractions and BlogHer on Mondays and Saturdays.

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